The Early Cases of Akechi Kogoro by Edogawa Rampo
Translated by William Varteresian — Edogawa Rampo was the pen name of Taro Hirai, a Japanese author active from 1923 until his death in 1965. He is known as the father of Japanese detective fiction and his work – particularly his early writing – proved that…
NTN: The Forgotten Addiction by Michael Lion
This is Michael Lion’s second novel and it follows on from The Butcher’s Granddaughter in 2009, also published by American independent New Pulp Press. Lion has found a novel way to update the PI genre – by making the protagonist in his series a snitch….
Music for the Dead by Luis Gutiérrez Maluenda
Translated by Nick Caistor – It’s not often that a crime novel calls to mind the work of Boris Vian, the multi-talented French saxophonist, writer, translator and publisher who, when asked to discover the latest American noir author and translate his work into French, decided…
Compulsion by Bruce W Perry
Karl Standt has a back story. The former New York cop, now a private investigator, is still regaining his health after broken bones and a drug addiction were the price he paid for tracking down a missing heiress. All this happened in Gone On Kauai,…
Critical Mass by Sara Paretsky
As all die-hard crime fiction fans know, some of the world’s best-selling authors aren’t happy unless they churn out book after book in a series featuring a recurring central character. After a while, some of those characters begin to feel like friends. Sadly, others get…
Rose Gold by Walter Mosley
It is the mid 1960s and in Los Angeles black folks have, to a degree, been replaced by young political activists and hippies as the biggest perceived threat to the white middle classes – and the LAPD. Even so, PI Ezekiel ‘Easy’ Rawlins is surprised…
CIS: Lost classics by Arthur Lyons
All too often when I cite Arthur Lyons (1946-2008) as one of my favourite crime writers I am met with a blank expression or something like: ‘Who? Never heard of him…’ Likewise, when I was researching some background material for this article, there was a…