Sonja van der Westhuizen

Sonja van der Westhuizen: Top five books of 2023

21 December, 2023

It’s been an interesting year for crime fiction trends. We’ve had it all, whether it’s the closed circle mystery novels with hen parties set a remote islands or mountain tops, the return to the gothic crime mystery a la Daphne Du Maurier, or crime fiction…

iBook Kindle Print Reviews

The Wolf by Samuel Bjork

By Sonja van der Westhuizen

17 December, 2023

Translated by Charlotte Barslund — If you’ve been enjoying Samuel Bjork’s Munch and Krüger novels, The Wolf will take you back in time to their first case. If you’ve yet to discover them, then this prequel to I’m Travelling Alone is where their story begins….

Kindle Print Reviews

Yule Island by Johana Gustawsson

By Sonja van der Westhuizen

12 December, 2023

Translated by David Warriner — An infamous manor house on a small Swedish island. A wealthy family with secrets. A string of unexplained deaths. In the first of a new series, French crime author Johana Gustawsson, who has Nordic roots, combines elements of the traditional…

iBook Kindle Print Reviews

This is How We End Things by RJ Jacobs

By Sonja van der Westhuizen

23 October, 2023

The Breakfast Club meets The Secret History in mystery author RJ Jacobs’ new dark academia thriller. This is How We End Things, like Donna Tartt’s The Secret History, takes place on an American college campus. In this case, it’s the fictional Hampden College in Shepard,…

Kindle Print Reviews

The American Boyfriend by Ivy Ngeow

By Sonja van der Westhuizen

2 October, 2023

For Phoebe Wong, exchanging the miserable British weather for the balmy Florida Keys with her new boyfriend for a few weeks seems like the ideal vacation, even though she only met Carter 11 months ago on LinkedIn and they haven’t spent much time together. He’s…

iBook Kindle Print Reviews

The Girl in the Eagle’s Talons by Karin Smirnoff

By Sonja van der Westhuizen

22 September, 2023

Translated by Sarah Death — She’s back. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is no longer the Lisbeth Salander we were introduced to 18 years ago in Stieg Larsson’s first Millennium novel. Now older and more responsible, Lisbeth is co-owner of Milton Security with her…

Kindle Print Reviews

Cult by Camilla Lackberg and Henrik Fexeus

By Sonja van der Westhuizen

7 September, 2023

Translated by Ian Giles — Bestselling Swedish author Camilla Lackberg teamed up with celebrity mentalist Henrik Fexeus to write Trapped, which was published last year. Now, the pair have returned with the second in the series featuring germophobe police officer, Mina Dabiri, and obsessive compulsive…

iBook Kindle Print Reviews

The Discreet Charm of the Big Bad Wolf by Älexander McCall Smith

By Sonja van der Westhuizen

21 August, 2023

Think back to the most violent, twisted and darkest Scandinavian crime fiction you’ve ever read. Now imagine the polar opposite and you might be close to Alexander McCall Smith‘s Scandi Blanc series – his own cosy version of Nordic Noir. You won’t find graphic murders…

Crime Fiction Lover

About author

Sonja van der Westhuizen: Top five books of 2023

The Wolf by Samuel Bjork

Yule Island by Johana Gustawsson

This is How We End Things by RJ Jacobs

The American Boyfriend by Ivy Ngeow

The Girl in the Eagle’s Talons by Karin Smirnoff

Cult by Camilla Lackberg and Henrik Fexeus

The Discreet Charm of the Big Bad Wolf by Älexander McCall Smith

Navigation

Recent Comments

Astrid: Murder in Paris season 5 arrives on More4

Best crime author of 2024 shortlist

Best crime author of 2024 shortlist

Astrid: Murder in Paris season 5 arrives on More4

Crime Fiction Lover: Top five books of 2025

Categories