The Unspeakable Acts of Zina Pavlou by Eleni Kyriacou
Over the past year or two we’ve seen a flurry of book titles containing the names of women. These often fall into the quirky and offbeat or cosy categories. The Unspeakable Acts of Zina Pavlou is not one of them. Quite the contrary. In 1954,…
Calico by Lee Goldberg
Lee Goldberg’s latest novel is something of a head-scratcher. Just what category does it fit into? It’s a modern-day police procedural, it’s a Western, it’s historical crime fiction, it’s… like nothing you’ve ever read before! Welcome to Calico – your reading experience is never likely…
Scarlet Town by Leonora Nattrass
We seem to be blessed with a burgeoning historical crime fiction scene in Britain at the moment and Leonora Nattrass is one of the most impressive newcomers. Her debut Black Drop struck a chord with readers and critics alike in 2021, which was followed by…
The Siberia Job by Josh Haven
The collapse of the Soviet Union was one of the most important geopolitical events of the last half century, the effects of which are still being felt. The disappearance of the controlled economy and its hierarchy left a chaotic vacuum which is fertile ground for…
The Detective Up Late by Adrian McKinty
It’s been nearly 12 years since we reviewed The Cold Cold Ground, the first novel in Adrian McKinty’s Sean Duffy series. For reasons that baffle us, books like Rain Dogs, Gun Street Girl and I Hear the Sirens in the Street have been successful with…
Evergreen by Naomi Hirahara
Canada and the United States both share a dark period of history that happened during World War II. Citizens of Japanese descent were ordered to give up their homes and businesses and sent to live in internment camps with harsh living conditions. In 2021, the…
The Continental Affair by Christine Mangan
The Continental Affair tells the story of two strangers, initially adversaries, but eventually lovers, both trying to escape their pasts. It is set in the 1960s, and Algerians are rising up against their French colonial rulers. Henri used to work for the police force. It…