Wolves in the Dark
Written by Gunnar Staalesen — A knock comes in the night and a hungover Varg Veum answers the door. Police detective Hamre has come, this time not for help, but rather with a warrant for Veum’s arrest. Both men are fast closing in on retirement age,…
The Ginza Ghost and Other Stories
Written by Keikichi Osaka, translated by Ho-Ling Wong — Tokyo has changed a great deal in the past century or so. There have been two catastrophic earthquakes, heavy bombing during World War II, and spiralling property prices that led to an eventual collapse. On the…
Bad Blood by Brian McGilloway
There is an impressive sweep to this novel that raises the deeply divisive social issues of racism and homophobia while throwing in a dash of Brexit to spice the mix. If that wasn’t enough it does all this against the backdrop of a Northern Ireland…
Dis Mem Ber
Written by Joyce Carol Oates – This collection of mostly longish short stories features Oates’s sly humour and penchant for the off-kilter. There’s something just a little bit obsessive, just a little wrong about many of the protagonists who appear. Sometimes, there’s a lot wrong. Someplace along…
The Day She Disappeared
Written by Christobel Kent — The tagline of this psychological thriller had me on the back foot. ‘Your best friend will always be there for you… won’t she?’ Cue, betrayal by the bestie who is supposed to look out for you? Wrong. No, the real clue…
The Dark Isle
Written by Clare Carson –– In the concluding part of the Sam Coyle trilogy, the daughter of an undercover agent travels to Orkney, where she spent childhood holidays. Sam wants to find out the truth about the death of her father who was killed in action. She believes…