Viral by Helen Fitzgerald
Versatile authors who write standalones often aren’t as highly revered in the crime fiction genre as series writers. This might be Helen Fitzgerald’s downfall. I admit I too like the stalwarts who consistently and reliably churn out stories about familiar and well-loved characters and settings….
Where It Hurts by Reed Farrel Coleman
Reed Farrel Coleman’s Moe Prager series of novels brought him considerable critical acclaim. The James Deans alone won the Anthony, Barry, and Shamus Awards as well as being a finalist in others. His writing is hardboiled for sure, but goes beyond genre into literary territory…
Spy Out the Land by Jeremy Duns
It might sound strange for a reviewer to describe rough, tough, bloodthirsty crime thrillers as their comfort zone, but it’s good to step away from the genre you know and love occasionally. Welcome to the world of spies, double agents, double-crossing and danger, evoked in…
The Newsmakers by Lis Wiehl with Sebastian Stuart
Erica Sparks is a TV news presenter who has come up the hard way. She is not so much from the wrong side of the tracks, as from a place where you couldn’t even see the railway with binoculars. Now, having conquered alcoholism and survived…
The Invisible Guardian by Dolores Redondo
Translated by Isabelle Kaufeler — The Baztan valley in the Pyrenees in the north-east of Spain is misty, rainy and remote. Immersed in Basque traditions and superstitions, it creates an atmospheric backdrop to a novel which combines police procedural with a disquieting sense of the…