Sonja van der Westhuizen

Sonja van der Westhuizen: Top five books of 2024

23 December, 2024

2024 has been a year of exceptional crime fiction in translation, but then again, hasn’t every year? With four of my five favourite books originally written in Italian, Norwegian, Japanese and Spanish, it’s been a truly cosmopolitan reading year. Reading fiction from around the world…

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White City by Dominic Nolan

By Sonja van der Westhuizen

18 December, 2024

Dominic Nolan’s White City is a gritty, evocative story set in 1950s London, a city in ruins after World War II. While many crime novels set in the city focus on the East End, here we’re up west, in and around Notting Dale, Soho, White…

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The Ice Retreat by Ruth Kelly

By Sonja van der Westhuizen

13 December, 2024

Welcome to The Ice Retreat, a wellness resort located 3,200 metres above sea level on the summit of Mount Turin in the Swiss Alps with breathtaking views over the Lauterbrunnen valley. Here, a three-day healing and cleanse session will cure all forms of pain through…

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Going to the Dogs by Pierre Lemaitre

By Sonja van der Westhuizen

19 November, 2024

Translated by Frank Wynne — Crime Fiction Lovers already recognise that Pierre Lemaitre is a master of the thriller whose books can be hard, unsettling and downright violent at times – such as his Camille Verhoeven novels. So don’t be fooled by the cosy-style cover…

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Blood Ties by Jo Nesbo

By Sonja van der Westhuizen

17 October, 2024

Translated by Robert Ferguson — In 2020, the leading Norwegian crime author Jo Nesbo took a diversion from his Harry Hole detective novels and created The Kingdom, a Scandinavian answer to rural noir. Inside, he introduced us to Roy and Carl Opgard, brothers with some…

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Bonehead by Mo Hayder

By Sonja van der Westhuizen

13 August, 2024

In 1999 the world was introduced to British writer Mo Hayder’s violent and disconcerting debut, Birdman. She went on to write 10 more crime novels, including seven in the Jack Caffery series, before she unexpectedly passed away of motor neurone disease in 2021. Readers lamented…

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The Night of Baba Yaga by Akira Otani

By Sonja van der Westhuizen

30 July, 2024

Translated by Sam Bett — Even though strong female protagonists are nothing new in contemporary manga or animé, it’s not often we come across them in Japanese crime fiction novels. Yoriko Shindo is not only a memorable character, she also defies traditional gender roles in…

Kindle Print Reviews

The Wreckage of Us by Dan Malakin

By Sonja van der Westhuizen

2 July, 2024

It’s been two years since Dan Malakin‘s thriller The Box kept readers glued to the pages. With his latest crime thriller Malakin conjures up a story reminiscent of Gillian Flynn’s popular Gone Girl, asking the question: “Did the husband do it?” 32-year-old Astrid Webb is…

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