News

I think I need to lie down...

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On the Radar — So many fascinating crime books are being released at the moment, we wouldn’t blame you if you felt the need to lie down. Our reviewers certainly feel that way at the moment. The publishing industry is a veritable Gatling gun spraying…
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Features

Andre: Top five books of 2013

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Setting is hugely important to a crime story and my favourite novels took in Oslo, Cardiff, Istanbul, Baghdad, Edinburgh and Devon. Yet it’s an entirely Anglo-centric list of authors; where is the Scandinavian, French and Italian crime-writing contingent? I’ve always been a fan of translated…
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Features

MarinaSofia: Top five books of 2013

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Over the last year I’ve read many good crime books – even a few excellent ones – but my final choice for the top five surprised me. They aren’t all books that I’ve awarded an enthusiastic five stars. They weren’t all necessarily my ‘type’ of…
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iBookKindlePrintReviews

NTN: The Stone Boy

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Written by Sophie Loubière, translated by Nora Mahony — Sophie Loubière won the Prix Lion Noir in France with this tricksy yet subtle psychological thriller. She has written several books but The Stone Boy is the first to be translated into English, so we’re claiming…
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News

The CWA's 2013 Dagger Awards

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Last night saw the UK’s Crime Writers’ Association celebrating its 60th anniversary, and six of its envied Dagger Awards were given out. It’s fitting that on Bastille Day, two French authors shared the International Dagger Award – Pierre Lemaitre (pictured) for Alex, and Fred Vargas…
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iBookKindlePrintReviews

The Ghost Riders of Ordebec

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Written by Fred Vargas — A new Fred Vargas novel is always a happy event for her legions of admirers, whether in the original French or translated into English, and she has won the CWA International Dagger three times. She is not as prolific as other…
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Features

French crime fiction: five to discover

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French readers are voracious consumers of crime fiction. One in five books sold in France is a polar – a shortening of roman policier, which means crime novel. All the major publishing houses have an imprint or series specialising in crime fiction or noir novels, usually…
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