Fighting injustice
On the Radar — Whether it’s racism in the South (or anywhere else for that matter), women’s rights or wrongful convictions and cover-ups, crime fiction authors are often at the front of the queue when it comes to highlighting contentious social issues. This week, two…
Everything's bigger in Texas: 11 of the best lone star crime novels
Crime fiction expert Craig Sisterson brings us a selection of the very best crime fiction set in the Lone Star State… Texas. A single word that evokes a dizzying array of vivid images, and stereotypes. A place of romanticised cowboys during frontier days, and romanticised…
MarinaSofia: Top five books of 2017
2017 was the first year in a long time that I didn’t get to travel very much physically, but I’ve more than made up for it via my reading. This is the freedom that reading crime fiction can give you, and I always enjoy novels…
Bluebird, Bluebird
Written by Attica Locke — Trust Attica Locke to write something timely, urgent and true about troubled race relations in present-day America. As she has said in interviews, she wrote Bluebird, Bluebird before President Trump’s election, an event which has changed the book without her…
CIS: My classics by Attica Locke
The leading American crime author Attica Locke is known for writing emotive and intelligent thrillers. Black Water Rising and The Cutting Season received rave reviews and award nominations, and Pleasantville was one of our favourite books set in the American South during 2015. Next week,…
The race is on
On the Radar — Troubling as it may be, race is high up on the political agenda at the moment. Crime authors, being perceptive and instinctively focused on justice, are not sitting on the fence. This week our lead books present what looks like two…
Attica Locke talks about Pleasantville
After The Cutting Season and Black Water Rising, African-American author Attica Locke returned to the crime bookshelves earlier this month with the release of Pleasantville. We’ve been sent a short video with the author, where she talks about her writing. It might surprise you to…