A Beautiful Madness by Lee Thompson
Lee Thompson has previously written horror, but A Beautiful Madness is his first crime book. It has a classic noir set-up with a dysfunctional family whose dirty secrets refuse to stay buried despite everyone’s best efforts. The themes reminded me of Tom Piccirilli (The Last…
The Innocent by Taylor Stevens
Taylor Stevens has a remarkable insider view of religious cults. She was herself raised in the Children of God cult, moved all around the globe, denied basic education, and sent to beg on the streets by cult leaders. When she finally broke free of the…
The Corners of the Globe by Robert Goddard
James ‘Max’ Maxsted is a former RAF pilot who had successfully battled the Germans in the skies above the Western Front. In the first book in this trilogy, The Ways of the World, Maxsted traded the RAF for the intrigue of 1919 Paris, where he…
Mr Mercedes by Stephen King
Suspense has always been Stephen King’s stock-in-trade, but he’s increasingly turning to crime too. The much-admired Joyland was published last year in the Hard Case Crime series, and his latest book more than lives up to the publisher’s description of a riveting mystery thriller. This…
A Dark and Twisted Tide by Sharon Bolton
That there London. It has featured in films, telly shows, songs and, of course, crime novels. But whether you see the place as a bustling metropolis or smelly, overpriced and somewhere south of Watford Gap, I doubt you’ve ever given much thought to the possibility…
The Weight of Blood by Laura McHugh
Tragedy seems to follow at Lucy Dane’s heels. When she was a little girl Lucy’s beautiful young mother, Lila, vanished after entering a cave known as Old Scratch near the town of Henbane, isolated deep in the Ozark mountains. Residents of the area know everything…