‘I had no interest in turning my gaze to my family. I was more interested in the strangeness of others.’ Yorkshire, 1979. Margaret Thatcher has just been elected and the news channels are brimming with news about the Yorkshire Ripper, both his crimes and the hunt for him. Meanwhile, two best friends are navigating life […]
One Murder. Fifteen Suspects. Can You Uncover The Truth? As the strapline suggests, this is a crime novel that, to a greater than usual degree, invites the reader to solve the case alongside the investigators. Personally, I like to sit back and see what happens, but I was intrigued by the narrative style of this […]
‘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 […]
Obviously, it was the title that intrigued me. For her debut novel starring a serial killer who decides to murder her entire biological family, Mackie chooses Lady MacBeth’s demands to the witches as an epigraph: ‘Unsex me here, And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full of direst cruelty. Make thick my blood.’ […]
Jim had lured the Watcher out on the seas. Jim had shaken the shadows. If the sentences above intrigue you, this book may be for you. If they leave you shrugging and wondering where the plot is, then you may be best advised to read something else. What’s it about? Sam is seven when she […]
With so many potentially brilliant books I want to read, sometimes choosing the next one feels like a challenge. So, as this year’s Crimefest approaches, I’ve set myself an actual challenge: to read some of the books by the panellists which are already gracing my shelves (some of which I doubtless picked up at the […]
Would you play a game to save your life? I’m a big fan of psychological thrillers and the premise for ‘Play for me’ was definitely intriguing: ‘LJ must give the performance of a lifetime, if she wants to avoid a deadly final curtain call…’ What’s it about? LJ’s life is going downhill – fast. She […]
‘Dark, disturbing and authentic.’ This was the CWA judging panel’s judgement and I completely agree with this description (whilst noting that I don’t know enough about prisons to comment accurately on the third, but the officers’ attitudes feel plausible). So why did ‘The Woman Before Me’ win the CWA’s debut dagger? What’s it about? Rose […]
‘Like a good detective story myself,’ remarked Miss Howard. ‘Lots of nonsense written, though. Criminal discovered in last chapter. Every one dumfounded. Real crime – you’d know at once.’ In renowned Belgian detective Hercule Poirot’s debut outing (in novel form, at least), everyone involved thinks they know at once who the killer is, but do […]
I’m going to start with an unusual disclaimer here… If you already know you want to read this book, don’t read my review – don’t read any reviews – and definitely don’t read the praise inside the front cover! What’s it about? Sal and Charlie are married. They love each other – supposedly – but […]