Better The Blood by Michael Bennett
Better the Blood begins with a prologue set 150 years ago depicting a violent act of colonisation. Six soldiers are celebrating the capture and killing of a Maori chief by having their picture taken alongside his hanging corpse. The picture serves as inspiration for the…
Jewish Noir II: Tales of Crime and Other Dark Deeds
Edited by Kenneth Wishing & Chantelle Aimée Osman — In his lively introduction to Jewish Noir II, legendary New York crime fiction author Lawrence Block sums up every Jewish holiday in three sentences: “They tried to kill us. We survived. Let’s eat!” While the last…
What Follows by Dylan H Jones
What Follows is the first in a new California-set series featuring detective Roscoe Tanner of the Oakland Homicide Division. It’s written by the Welsh writer Dylan H Jones, who now lives on the West Coast and has clearly soaked up the local vibe. He’s also…
Alias Emma by Ava Glass
Ava Glass is a new name to us here on Crime Fiction Lover. In fact, it’s the pseudonym for the successful and prolific British YA author Christi Daugherty, creator of the Night School and Number 10 series. The surname Glass even comes from a character…
The Twist of a Knife by Anthony Horowitz
Book four in Anthony Horowitz’s clever Hawthorne series feels like a non-starter. It begins with Horowitz, who is not only the narrator but is an active participant in the story, telling Daniel Hawthorne that he’s not interested in writing another book about the former Metropolitan…
The Garden of Angels by David Hewson
As the last survivors of the horrors of World War II pass on to the next world, are we in danger of forgetting the Holocaust and therefore its salutary lesson for humanity? That’s the question that underpins this novel and it’s why the dual timeline…
The Damned Lovely by Adam Frost
This contemporary noir novel takes a few pages to settle into, even if you’re familiar with the Cali hardboiled lingo it’s not easy to follow but persevere and it’s well worth it. Adam Frost has a distinctive voice, his narrator is a fascinating character and…