A gazetteer of British crime: The North East
Several hours of motorway misery separate the gentle charms of the South West – our previous gazetteer article – from a region which is blessed with plenty of charm, though not all of it is as gentle. The dramatic North East gives us the rugged grandeur of its…
Taking Pity by David Mark
We’ve followed the careers of Hull author David Mark and his police detective Aector McAvoy since the writer’s debut novel back in 2012. Aector McAvoy’s journey began in The Dark Winter, where we met the detective sergeant and his son as they enjoyed a hot chocolate in a cafe…
First look: Taking Pity
Number four in David Mark’s DS McAvoy series has landed on the doormat – and it is sporting a bleakly atmospheric cover photo for the UK market. Quite what the bleached animal skull featured on the US cover is supposed to convey, we’re not really…
Sorrow Bound
We interviewed former journalist David Mark after his previous novel Original Skin won universal praise in crime fiction circles. The intriguingly named lynchpins of that book, Aector McAvoy and Trish Pharoah are back. Their stamping grounds remain the unlovely Humberside port of Hull. In an…
Sorrow Bound by David Mark
There are books that make you want to race to the finish. And occasionally they leave you feeling a bit deflated and cheated, because that killer ending somehow falls flat. Sorrow Bound isn’t like that. Instead, I found myself slowing, trying to make the pleasure…
The Crooked Beat by Nick Quantrill
Hull. The 1980s. A rough and tumble city in northern England, trying to come to terms with itself as traditional industries fade, and new challenges beckon. Police. Honest coppers and bent coppers. Criminals prepared to laugh at the former and use the latter for their…
Everyone Lies
Written by AD Garrett – Is this author’s name new to you? Then take note – because you’ll be hearing plenty more about AD Garrett, the pseudonym for the writing collaboration of prize-winning thriller author Margaret Murphy and Professor Dave Barclay, a world-renowned forensics expert…