‘The Nancys and the Case of the Missing Necklace’ introduces Tippy Chan, her Uncle Pike and his boyfriend Devon. ‘We need to look for the head,’ I said. Devon swung around. His and Uncle Pike’s eyes bugged out at me. ‘What?’ I said. ‘Isn’t it our biggest clue?’ My uncle tapped his lip. ‘She does […]
Having read and loved all Young’s ‘Stasi’ books, I was keen to read his new standalone novel, ‘Death in Blitz City’. Though this tale is set in Hull in 1942, when the most heavily bombed city outside London was suffering badly under German bombs, for Detective Chief Inspector Ambrose Swift, one particular death demands his […]
‘Joshua Kane was not like other people. There was no one like him.’ Luckily, there’s no one quite like Eddie Flynn, either. Ex-conman, now a defence attorney, Flynn has a moral code and a knack for tricks that makes him enemies but, crucially, wins cases. Welcome to another thrilling courtroom drama from Steve Cavanagh, heir […]
This story is just as much fun as I thought it would be. And thinking is key here: Turton’s plot ultimately depends on the interactions of multiple characters and subtle manipulations that will transform the island and islanders in ways they cannot anticipate; only in the final pages will the full drama be understood. What’s […]
How do you solve your own murder? Regular blog readers will know how much I love a high concept crime thriller, especially when it works as brilliantly as ‘Not Quite Dead’ does. What’s it about? When Jet Mason is brutally attacked on Halloween, she’s left with a brain injury that will kill her within seven […]
‘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 […]
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 […]