Sonja van der Westhuizen

Summerhouse by Yiğit Karaahmet

17 June, 2025

Translated by Nicholas Glastonbury — It’s not often we come across Turkish crime fiction, much less examples influenced by Nabokov and Highsmith, but Yiğit Karaahmet has produced an original, atmospheric debut with LGBTQ+ themes. Summerhouse is set on Büyükada, an island just off Istanbul, and…

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Red Tide by Irma Venter

By Sonja van der Westhuizen

9 June, 2025

Translated by Karin Schimke — Renowned South African crime author Irma Venter plunges readers into the arid expanse of the Great Karoo where the little town of Carnavon harbours old grudges, secrets and an unsolved murder that took place three years back. The plot revolves…

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The Grown-Up by Saskia Noort

By Sonja van der Westhuizen

28 May, 2025

Translated by Jai van Essen — Readers of domestic noir will revel in Dutch writer Saskia Noort’s dark new thriller that unravels the psychological aftermath of a mother’s sudden disappearance. Set against the backdrop of Amsterdam, The Grown-Up combines the suspense of a missing persons…

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Splintered Justice by Kim Hays

By Sonja van der Westhuizen

24 April, 2025

Kim Hays returns with Splintered Justice, the fourth book in her Polizei Bern series and we get to return to the seemingly serene yet sometimes shadowy Swiss city. In this latest instalment, detectives Giuliana Linder and Renzo Donatelli take on two cases that force them…

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White King by Juan Gómez-Jurado

By Sonja van der Westhuizen

28 March, 2025

Translated by Nick Caistor — White King concludes Spanish crime author Juan Gómez-Jurado’s the popular trilogy featuring Antonia Scott, which was adapted for television in Amazon’s Red Queen series last year. Is it a goodbye the brilliant but asocial investigator and her witty sidekick, Jon…

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Leo by Deon Meyer

By Sonja van der Westhuizen

6 March, 2025

Translated by KL Seegers — Six months ago, detectives Benny Griessel and Vaughn Cupido were demoted from their posts as part of Cape Town’s elite crime-fighters, The Hawks, after an incident with the corrupt State Security Agency. Reassigned to Stellenbosch, a university town about 30…

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Saint of the Narrows Street by William Boyle

By Sonja van der Westhuizen

27 February, 2025

Brooklyn native William Boyle sets his latest novel in Gravesend, a changing part of the New York borough. It has the hallmarks of a classic, reminiscent of great American novels like Dennis Lehane’s Mystic River, and cements Boyle’s reputation as a master of noir. 28-year-old…

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The Department by Jacqueline Faber

By Sonja van der Westhuizen

25 February, 2025

Jacqueline Faber’s debut novel is a dark academic thriller perfect for readers who enjoyed Joanne Harris’s St Oswald trilogy or Leigh Bardugo’s Ninth House and Hellbent. The story centres around the disappearance of a college student at an unnamed university in America’s South, and the…

Crime Fiction Lover

About author

Summerhouse by Yiğit Karaahmet

Red Tide by Irma Venter

The Grown-Up by Saskia Noort

Splintered Justice by Kim Hays

White King by Juan Gómez-Jurado

Leo by Deon Meyer

Saint of the Narrows Street by William Boyle

The Department by Jacqueline Faber

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