Features

Paul Burke: Top five books of 2023

It was a truly impressive year for crime fiction and I got to review some special novels for Crime Fiction Lover – all that in spite of the glut of celebrity novels, some ghost written, which attracted a lot of attention but added little to…
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The Leftover Woman by Jean Kwok

Chinese American author Jean Kwok writes not just about her cultural identity as an emigre but about her life experiences, including as a professional ballroom dancer. Kwok’s books have risen up the bestseller lists and received many accolades, and even appear in academic reading lists….
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His Favourite Graves by Paul Cleave

New Zealand author Paul Cleave has won multiple awards and been on bestseller lists, but isn’t yet a household name as a crime fiction author in Britain or North America. That could change – each new novel offers something different and he is a master of…
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Committed by Chris Merritt

Committed is a spy story cum conspiracy thriller with some psychological noir in the mix, and perhaps this isn’t surprising given the author’s background. The British writer Chris Merritt is a former diplomat, a psychologist specialising in PTSD and works as a cyber security consultant….
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Noir Burlesque by Enrico Marini

Translated by Dan Christensen — Italian writer and illustrator Enrico Marini moves further towards the dark side with his latest graphic novel, Noir Burlesque. It’s five years or so since he released Batman: The Dark Prince Charming, and his latest work is an overt homage…
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The Exploit by Daniel Scanlan

There’s plenty to ponder and the stakes couldn’t be higher in this explosive cyber crime thriller. Following on from The Hacker, The Exploit is the second outing for FBI Special Agent Ericka Blackwood and once again she’s pitted against her Dark Web nemesis, Dantalion. Dantalion…
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Nowhere to Hide by Max Luther

The lone wolf has an irresistible pull for some crime fiction lovers. In action thrillers like this, the protagonist can be as unconventional as the author likes, which means this is an area where the genre is free to grow and develop. It feels like…
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The Murder Wheel by Tom Mead

Tom Mead’s debut, Death and the Conjuror, introduced us to amateur sleuth Joseph Spector. It landed with a splash, readers taken with the author’s ingenious double locked-room murder mystery, which played well on one of the oldest formats in the genre. The Murder Wheel is…
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