The Collector
Written by Fiona Cummins — In January 2017 I was lucky enough to be given a debut novel to review. It stayed with me through thick and thin and ended up being one of my favourite crime fiction books of the year. That book was…
Shame on You
Written by Amy Heydenrych — Social media. We can’t live without it these days, no matter how much we’d like to. Love it or hate it, our lives are played out on Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat and Instagram feeds. For some, garnering likes is the be…
Sherlock Holmes and the Miskatonic Monstrosities
Written by James Lovegrove — Last year’s Sherlock Holmes and the Shadwell Shadows was a hugely enjoyable crossover that pitted HP Lovecraft’s eldritch horrors against Arthur Conan Doyle’s master detective. The contest ended in a draw with Holmes and Watson’s worldview irrevocably altered to assimilate the…
NTN: Lloyd Otis interviewed
You may have seen the buzz surrounding Dead Lands online over the last few weeks. Lloyd Otis’ debut crime novel is a police procedural set in 1970s London, which seems a whole world away from us today. It’s a strange tale of hidden identities and…
The Word is Murder
Anthony Horowitz’s latest novel – the first in a series – has it all. There’s a challenging mystery in which a wealthy middle-aged widow appears to predict her own murder; an intriguing protagonist in the form of disgraced ex-copper Daniel Hawthorne, who has a nose…
CIS: Why Maisie Dobbs is already a classic
Is it paradoxical to call Jacqueline Winspear’s book a classic when it was first published not quite 15 years ago? Though Maisie Dobbs hasn’t acquired the patina of age, the legion of fans for the 13-book series would no doubt enthusiastically endorse its classic status….
The Cossack
Written by KJ Lawrence — Though this debut espionage thriller kicks off with a murder in winter 2014, it’s not the usual intercontinental bloodbath. In fact, in a nice twist, the killer – a Russian hit man named Mikhail Petrov – is having serious second thoughts…