debut

The Department by Jacqueline Faber

25 February, 2025

Jacqueline Faber’s debut novel is a dark academic thriller perfect for readers who enjoyed Joanne Harris’s St Oswald trilogy or Leigh Bardugo’s Ninth House and Hellbent. The story centres around the disappearance of a college student at an unnamed university in America’s South, and the…

iBook Kindle Print Reviews

An Ethical Guide to Murder by Jenny Morris

By DeathBecomesHer

10 January, 2025

Last year I read and reviewed Here One Minute by Liane Moriarty, and it changed my attitude to flying. The book’s central character is an elderly woman who stands up on a flight between Hobart, Tasmania and Sydney, Australia and proceeds to tell each of…

iBook Kindle Print Reviews

Deadly Animals by Marie Tierney

By DeathBecomesHer

20 December, 2024

In a world populated by off-kilter characters, it takes a certain something to make a protagonist memorable for a crime fiction reader. For me there are just a handful that stick out – Elizabeth in Emma Healey’s Elizabeth is Missing, for example; Liz Nugent’s Strange…

Features

Best debut crime novel of 2024 shortlist

By crimefictionlover

18 November, 2024

It’s always a pleasure to welcome new crime writers into the fold, and 2024 has been a vintage year for first class debuts. CFL readers are a discerning lot, and this super sextet they have nominated offer an eclectic mix, to say the least. Let’s…

Kindle Print Reviews

You Can’t Hurt Me by Emma Cook

By Dave Bradley

7 November, 2024

This is Emma Cook’s first crime novel, but it arrives with the confidence of an accomplished author. And so it should, because although this standalone mystery is her first book of genre fiction, Cook is an experienced newspaper editor and author of several non-fiction works….

Print Reviews

Holy City by Henry Wise

By RoughJustice

3 June, 2024

Like so many novels in the noir sub-genre, Holy City by Henry Wise reveals the links between its main character’s past and their present predicament, and how, no matter which choices they may make, their fate is almost predetermined. However, what sets it apart from…

iBook Kindle Print Reviews

The Lagos Wife by Vanessa Walters

By Sonja van der Westhuizen

6 March, 2024

Nicole Oruwari had it all. Even though she took a risk trading the UK for Nigeria for the sake of love, she had two lovely sons, a husband and a life of luxury in Lagos with staff to cater to her every whim. Nicole was…

iBook Kindle Print Reviews

Paper Cage by Tom Baragwanath

By Sonja van der Westhuizen

29 February, 2024

There’s truth to the adage write what you know. New Zealand author Tom Baragwanath follows this advice by setting his debut novel in Masterton, where he’s from, resulting in a strong and authentic sense of place. On the other end of the spectrum, he defies…

Crime Fiction Lover

The Department by Jacqueline Faber

An Ethical Guide to Murder by Jenny Morris

Deadly Animals by Marie Tierney

Best debut crime novel of 2024 shortlist

You Can’t Hurt Me by Emma Cook

Holy City by Henry Wise

The Lagos Wife by Vanessa Walters

Paper Cage by Tom Baragwanath

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