‘You must be the only person who hasn’t read this book.’ So commented the bemused bookseller who recently rang up my purchase of ‘The Girl on the Train’, about a year and a half after the entire rest of the world read it. ‘Or maybe you already have…?’ he began, obviously beginning to doubt my […]
When is a patient not a patient? When they have no desire to get better, and every intention of causing you harm… Jenny Blackhurst’s debut novel, ‘How I Lost You’, caught my eye a few months ago at Crimefest16. It looked fascinating but somehow slipped out of my immediate TBR pile and disappeared. Having found […]
“I did something terrible, Grace. I hope you can forgive me.”‘ Charlie’s last words to best friend Grace have haunted her since Charlie died four months ago. What can Charlie possibly have done? It can’t be worse than what Grace did…can it? What’s it about? After her best friend dies, Grace feels set adrift. In […]
So you’re an apartment manager and you blog about your experiences. What’s the logical next step? Writing a story about an apartment manager, of course. Heck, why not be ambitious and aim for a whole series of books? As Erin Huss, owner of The Apartment Manager’s Blog, says on her Goodreads page, “I have a […]
Last year I read and LOVED G. J. Minett’s debut novel, ‘The Hidden Legacy’. Since then I’ve been looking forward to reading his second novel, so I was delighted to be offered the opportunity to read it ahead of publication. ‘Lie in Wait’ is very different from Minett’s first novel – there’s an ongoing police investigation as […]
You might think this story is about a ring. That’s only the lure. It’s a story about deception, myth, manipulation and family feuds, and it positively seethes with blackmail and corruption. What’s the story? Tim Harding agrees to do a favour for a friend by bidding on his behalf at an auction for an ancient […]
I’m always a little dubious when I’m told that ‘only’ one person can join the dots. What, exactly, makes DS Aector McAvoy so special that he is the only police officer able to see a connection between three seemingly disparate murders? It seems to be his conscience and a determination, sadly not shared by all […]
Jane Austen knew what she was doing when she made the relationship between sisters central to her novels. Elizabeth Bennet needs Jane’s gentle reminders that people are capable of more than Lizzy is minded to give them credit for, and Jane needs periodic, pragmatic dousing with Lizzy’s realism. Marianne and Elinor are even more obviously […]
I first heard of Matt Bendoris at Crimefest where he was moderating a panel on tech in crime writing. I liked his approach, his questions and his description of his second novel ‘DM for Murder’. (I think it was partially the idea of Piers Morgan being no more…) Unfortunately, having read the book, I think […]
Some books really do give you precisely what the blurb promises. Mavis Doriel Hay’s ‘The Santa Klaus Murder’ is one of them. Hay is an author whose three detective novels had long been forgotten, but a few years ago the British Library opted to bring all three out of retirement by reprinting them in their […]