Duffy by Dan Kavanagh
You don’t find many crime novels with a blurb – “exciting, funny and refreshingly nasty” – by Martin Amis. That literary connection is a clue to the real identity of Dan Kavanagh. According to the entertaining yet spurious author biography, Kavanagh is an Irishman who…
The House of Dolls by David Hewson
With his three novelisations of Danish sensation The Killing, British crime writer David Hewson has elevated the TV tie-in novel into a literary event. He’s even started a trend in crime adaptations that build on original television scripts: Erin Kelly is readying her take on…
Death Can't Take a Joke by Anya Lipska
Act I, Scene 1 – Canary Wharf, a prime business district which has been redeveloped from the decaying former docklands of East London. A young policewoman is trying to enjoy an over-priced latte. There is a strange birdlike flurry of movement in her peripheral vision,…
The Bird That Did Not Sing
Written by Alex Gray — As Glasgow prepares itself to host the Commonwealth Games, a mysterious explosion devastates an area of woodland close to one of the venues. Police and the fire service investigate, but the motive for the blast remains a mystery. Months later,…
Truth Dare Kill by Gordon Ferris
Over the last five years, Gordon Ferris has established himself as a distinctive Scottish voice in crime fiction. He’s written one successful series featuring private detective Danny McRae, and another with investigative journalist Douglas Brodie. Truth Dare Kill was his debut, though it’s worth revisiting…
The Hangman's Song
Written by James Oswald — Edinburgh. The present day. A busload of prostitutes is being shipped out of Leith Docks, to pastures new. Who is behind this traffic? Who is the mysterious Russian pimp who has muscled in on a local operation? Meanwhile the man…