It seems many journalists harbour a desire to branch out into fiction. Today on Buried Under Books I’m privileged to be interviewing journalist and prize-winning short-story writer turned debut novelist Mary McCluskey about her emotionally complex novel, ‘Intrusion’. In this dark and psychologically acute tale, a once happily-married couple are struggling to cope with the […]
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 […]
Stag nights have changed significantly over the years. No longer just an opportunity for a drink or three down the local boozer with your best mates, nowadays stag dos – and their not-to-be-outdone female companion, hen dos – and more likely to see the potential groom flying off to Prague or Amsterdam with every male […]
‘Little Lies’ is Liane Moriarty’s sixth book, and it’s her best yet. I’ve previously read and thoroughly enjoyed two of her earlier books, ‘The Husband’s Secret‘ and ‘What Alice Forgot‘, though I had minor reservations about each, mostly around the amount of time and space given to the development of particular characters in each story, […]
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 […]
Obsession can be innocent or deadly. With Joe, it’s deadly. When Guinevere Beck enters Joe Goldberg’s bookshop, she has no notion of the consequences their mildly flirtatious banter will enable. Joe ought to know better. Joe has experienced consequences before. But from the moment he sees Beck and salivates that ‘You’re so clean you’re dirty’, […]
‘Chains of Sand’ opens with a girl trapped in the rubble of her house. This perfectly constructed chapter illustrates the key themes of the book in slightly less than two full pages: loyalty, fear, peace, conflict, violence, feminism, extremism, the quest for knowledge, and the senseless brutality of every life lost. This girl, we will […]
I loved the premise of this book. Missing schoolgirl Bethan Avery suddenly seems to be writing letters to an agony aunt asking to be rescued, but Bethan went missing nearly twenty years ago and is presumed dead, so this must be a hoax, surely? The police dismiss the letters as a cruel joke, but when […]