The Martian Girl
Written by Andrew Martin — What a great title for a crime novel, and with the cover swirling together current and historical London landmarks and a locket holding a photograph of a blindfolded young woman in the middle, perhaps you’re getting a good idea where this…
Resume Speed and Other Stories
Written by Lawrence Block — This entertaining collection of short crime fiction combines old and new short stories, plus one novella by the award-winning and amazingly prolific American author Lawrence Block. Never before appearing in collections, the seven stories have been plucked from an 56-year…
Bearskin
Written by James A McLaughlin — For his debut, James A McLaughlin provides an interesting spin on rural noir, itself an increasingly popular genre. Rather than focusing on the drama arising from conflict within poor rural communities, McLaughlin makes his protagonist an outsider. Rice is a…
The Anomaly
Written by Michael Rutger — The Anomaly Files is a YouTube channel that owes no small debt to the X-Files. Depending on your point of view, its purpose is either to challenge lazy and self-serving scientific consensus, or to provide clickbait for teenage boys and…
Quicksand
Written by Malin Persson Giolito, translated by Rachel Willson-Broyles — Colorado, Las Vegas, Florida – mass shootings are seen as an American phenomenon, but eight years ago Norway witnessed one of the worst such events and it is a Scandinavian book that is one of…
The Dead Ex
Written by Jane Corry — There’s something about Jane Corry’s writing that resonates with crime fiction lovers. Her 2016 book My Husband’s Wife was a psychological thriller that kept readers wrong-footed to the end. It received five stars when we reviewed it, a piece that is…
The Death of Mrs Westaway
Written by Ruth Ware — Cornwall has proved a rich source of inspiration for many a writer. From Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca to, more recently, In Her Wake by Amanda Jennings and Robert Goddard’s Panic Room, its rugged coastline and windswept landscapes have provided ripe…









