A Death in Denmark by Amulya Malladi
It’s not often crime fiction lovers will come across a Kierkegaard quoting, sharply dressed detective who is also a jazz musician. However, that’s just what we get in Gabriel Praest, an ex-cop from Copenhagen who provides a promising start to Amulya Malladi’s new series. Gabriel…
The Second Cut by Louise Welsh
Louise Welsh’s The Cutting Room was a sensation when it was published in 1999. It was a brilliant debut from a provocative new voice in British crime fiction, infusing a Gaelic vibe with a creepy gothic air. Tartan noir credentials firmly established, there was a…
The Strangers of Braamfontein by Onyeka Nwelue
The Strangers of Braamfontein is one of those crime novels that hits you in the gut and before you can recover another powerful blow is delivered. It’s a story of corruption, gangland violence, sex trafficking, modern slavery and murder. All of this is seen from…
This Land is No Stranger by Sarah Hollister and Gil Reavill
Our continuing fascination with crime fiction from the Nordic regions has led to several non-Scandinavian authors setting their novels in Sweden, Norway, Iceland and even the Faroe Islands. However, just because you put your characters in Sweden doesn’t necessarily make your novel Nordic noir. Fortunately,…
Waiting for the Night Song by Julie Carrick Dalton
Debut author Julie Carrick Dalton deserves praise for making concerns about important social issues – climate change and immigration – an integral part of her new novel. It isn’t always easy to do that without turning a book into a lecture or consciousness-raising exercise. In…
Forgiving Stephen Redmond by AJ Sidransky
In 2008, workmen tearing down a clutch of derelict Washington Heights rowhouses make a grim discovery. Behind the plaster of an upstairs bedroom is the body of a man sitting in a chair, wearing a hat. To the dismay of the demolition foreman, NYPD detectives…
Motive X
Written by Stefan Ahnhem, translated by Agnes Broome — Motive X is the third instalment in Swedish author Stefan Ahnhem’s successful Fabian Risk series and continues where Eighteen Below left off. The Risk family is still carrying the scars of being terrorised by a serial…