A big year for Ian Rankin, and Rebus
Today we say happy 56th birthday to Ian Rankin, and the date also marks the first appearance of Rebus in 1987. “It was 28 April. Wet, naturally, the grass percolating water as John Rebus walked to the grave of his father, dead five years to the day,”…
A Fine House in Trinity by Lesley Kelly
Remember the old saying ‘you can choose your friends, but you can’t choose your family’? Well, what if you have a pretty bad taste in friends too? Many people seem to have this problem, including Joe Staines, or Stainesie as he’s better known in his…
First look: Rather be the Devil by Ian Rankin
A new John Rebus book is as welcome as a cool pint of Guinness on St Patrick’s Day. An appropriate date, then, for us to bring you a first look at Ian Rankin’s latest opus – and the cover is even green! Rather Be the Devil…
In Place of Death by Craig Robertson
Reading crime fiction is an education. Imaginative modes of death notwithstanding, you get the lowdown on some pretty unusual subjects. For example, everything this reviewer knows about geocaching came from the pages of Code, a YA thriller by Kathy and Brendan Reichs. To my ever-expanding…
The Damage Done by James Oswald
James Oswald is no longer a well-kept secret for fans of slightly off-beat crime fiction. Now publishing his sixth novel in the Inspector McLean series, he has been called ‘the new Ian Rankin’ and ‘the next big thing in crime fiction’. We spotted his talent…
In the Cold Dark Ground by Stuart MacBride
Logan McRae is one of the more endearing Scottish coppers who has risen to fictional fame over the last two decades. Formerly a detective sergeant, he is now in uniform again and has been banished to the bleak north coast of Aberdeenshire, away from his…
Coffin Road by Peter May
A brand-new standalone from the pen of Peter May is always going to be near the top of a crime fiction reader’s wish list, and in many ways Coffin Road doesn’t disappoint. It certainly begins dramatically enough, as a man washes up on a beach….