Sonja van der Westhuizen

Greedy by Callie Kazumi

12 March, 2026

Ed Cook is a British immigrant living in Tokyo with his Japanese wife, Sayuri, and their toddler daughter, Kaori. Having been unemployed for six months, Ed spends his days in illegal pachinko parlours or betting on horses. He has squandered their savings and his daughter’s…

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One True Word by Snæbjörn Arngrímsson

By Sonja van der Westhuizen

7 March, 2026

Translated by Larissa Kyzer — Icelandic children’s author Snæbjörn Arngrímsson makes a complete genre U-turn with his first crime novel, a psychological thriller with a unique premise and a distinctly unsettling perspective. Júlía, a freelance writer, is in a bit of a fix. During a…

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Holy Boy by Lee Heejoo

By Sonja van der Westhuizen

3 March, 2026

Translated by Joheun Lee — K-pop hysteria is taken to a new extreme in Lee Heejo’s Holy Boy, which is the author’s first novel to appear in English debut. The story is equal parts psychological horror and crime novel, and is set in 1990s South…

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A Gift Before Dying by Malcolm Kempt

By Sonja van der Westhuizen

20 February, 2026

Drawing on 17 years in the Arctic working as a criminal lawyer, Canadian author Malcolm Kempt has set his debut novel in the region. A Gift Before Dying follows Sergeant Elderick Cole, a disgraced cop exiled to the rugged landscape of Cape Dorset, Nunavut. This…

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The Living and the Dead by Christoffer Carlsson

By Sonja van der Westhuizen

22 December, 2025

Translated by Rachel Willson-Broyles — Fans of Nordic noir will be on the look out for The Living and the Dead by Swedish criminologist and author Christoffer Carlsson. Following on from Under the Storm and Blaze me a sun, it won Best Swedish Crime Novel…

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Blackwater by Sarah Sultoon

By Sonja van der Westhuizen

19 December, 2025

Blackwater marks the third appearance of intrepid news reporter Jonny Murphy, who first appeared in Dirt. He’s the creation of international news journalist Sarah Sultoon, who writes what she knows. Murphy’s latest investigation takes him 50 miles from London to Blackwater Island, on the fictional…

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The Writing in the Water by John Ajvide Lindqvist

By Sonja van der Westhuizen

18 December, 2025

Translated by Michael Meigs — Most people associate Swedish author John Ajvide Lindqvist with horror, but he’s finally taken a leap into the world of crime fiction. Our only question is: why didn’t he do it sooner? The writing in the Water is the first…

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