Past Lying by Val McDermid
Publication of a new police procedural featuring Val McDermid’s intrepid Detective Chief Inspector Karen Pirie is something to get excited about. The streets of Edinburgh have never been so ominous – or empty – as when this story takes place in April 2020, at the…
Australian crime drama Black Snow comes to BBC Four
If you thought Australian television’s finest output was confined to 1990s afternoon soap operas, then prepare to recalibrate. The country has produced numerous gripping crime dramas over the past five or six years, and the latest – Black Snow – arrives in the UK at…
The Hurricane Blonde by Halley Sutton
Salma Lowe is Hollywood Royalty. Or thought perhaps it would be more accurate to say that she comes from a bona fide Hollywood dynasty, but her own star has fallen somewhat. Salma’s mother is the famous Vivienne Powell, film star and method acting guru. Vivienne…
Unforgotten season 5 comes to PBS Masterpiece
With its in-depth and always emotional cold case investigations, Unforgotten is one of the best crime shows to appear on UK television in recent years, and from 3 September 2023 viewers in North America will be able to enjoy the fifth series of the programme….
The Good Ones by Polly Stewart
Two ways to sum up the experience of reading Polly Stewart’s mystery/thriller The Good Ones come immediately to mind. One is: ‘Everyone’s a hero of their own story,’ and narrator Nicola Bennett is fixated on what she sees as her own role in the disappearance…
The Epilogue of August by Jennifer Milder
This captivating debut mystery novel by Jennifer Milder unwraps the title character’s secrets like a succession of nesting boxes. It demonstrates the truth William Faulkner captured when he said, “The past is never dead. It’s not even past.” Janus is a middle-aged woman living in…
Something Bad Wrong by Eryk Pruitt
Screenwriter, filmmaker and bar owner Eryk Pruitt is no stranger to crime fiction that depicts the dark side of the American South, and has a growing reputation in rural noir storytelling. Something Bad Wrong is his third crime novel and was partly inspired by the…