‘Historians estimate that at least eighty per cent of Italian Jews survived the war.’ Kat Devereaux’s author’s note explains that this fact was due, in large part, to the persistence and determination of the individuals and groups who committed to rescue Jews trapped in Italy when the Nazis occupied and patrolled it. This hidden history […]
We all knew that the Harrogate Killer must still be alive. After all, their death was only confirmed by forensic testing, (AKA ‘expensive but cheatable laboratory tests completed by someone who could potentially – and in the horror fiction world, easily – be bribed or misled’,) not by anyone actually eyeballing their blood soaked corpse. […]
‘You accused Mia of being a witch and bewitching your father. Do you remember that? When a young woman is found murdered at the foot of Pendle Hill, the obvious suspect is Will Perkins, a local schizophrenic who recently denounced Mia as a witch and sought her arrest. When DCI Liam Doyle and his team […]
‘A shadow moved between her and the sun, and a pang of relief went through her. Help was on the way.’ Murder can be brutal. It can be banal. But in DCI Geldard’s Norfolk, a ten year old murder is top of Greg’s priority list, until a rash of unsolved disappearances becomes something more sinister. […]
Would you know if you had married a serial killer? Of course you would, you think, by which you mean you would never have married him. But before you scoff too vigorously, you should know that Sonia Sutcliffe had no idea. One day, when her husband returns from a weekend away, Martha watches him put […]
‘Jack Palmer had seen the movies: when aliens invade, humans will come together to save the world.’ Unfortunately for Jack, when a superior alien race decide to invade earth, it seems the films are wrong: cowed by their brutally dispassionate taskmasters, whose punishment for every infarction, however minor, is instant death, most humans rapidly learn […]
Welcome to the world of DI Ridpath. After a serious brush with melanoma that forced him to take nine months off work, he’s ready to return to his post – but his boss has decided to sweep him into the long grass. His crime? Being ill on the job. Shunted into a new role as […]
This was my introduction to ‘Sunshine Noir’, which is apparently similar to Nordic Noir but set in brighter, sunnier climes, specifically, in ‘Facets of Death’, in Botswana. I am late to the party, both to the subgenre and to the world of Detective Kubu, but I’m glad to have finally investigated this treasure. Speaking of […]
Vultures and elephants, murder and corruption. What more could a book need? Ok, it’s only one elephant, but a very clever one. Meet Ganesha, a young and ingenious companion for (former) Inspector Chopra, sent to him by his missing uncle, for reasons unknown. Chopra owns a detective agency and this was my first introduction to […]
‘I’m not a romantic you know. I never was.’ Charlotte Lucas’ well-known rejection of Elizabeth Bennett’s emphasis on romantic love is put to the test in this re-imagining of the world of Jane Austen’s ‘Pride and Prejudice’. Could Elizabeth have been wrong in her prediction that Charlotte will regret her choice of husband? Readers of […]