The Crime Warp

R:  Hi Mark, welcome to the Crime Warp.  It’s great to see you here just as your new book The Dying Hours is hitting the bookshops.  But you’re not just a crime writer are you? MB:  Thanks for having me. I suppose I’ve dabbled in a few other areas – all part of a concerted effort to avoid a proper job. I tried acting and later became a stand-up which I did for twenty years or so. I’ve always written though – from stories at school to TV scripts later one – so writing books for a living feels like what I should have been doing all along. Crime writing is a far nicer world than comedy anyway. If you want to experience a world of sick and twisted minds and murderous ideas, you should hang out with comedians for a while . R:  I’ll pass on that thanks!  I did read somewhere that you thought comedy and crime writing have a similar structure and approach.  Could you explain that a bit more? MB:  Well it’s all about when you reveal...

I highlighted Mark Billingham’s new Thorne novel in an earlier post.  Although I’ve not read all of his books – I’m more of a dabbler - the ones I have read have been enjoyable and I particularly liked his recent non Thorne novel, Rush of Blood, where nothing was quite what it seemed throughout – just as you thought you’d understood one of the characters, their lives are revealed to be a little more complicated than you first thought.     Well, to Thorne.... h e’s been busted down to uniform as a punishment for his reckless actions in Good as Dead.  The freedoms he had as a detective are gone.  He now has to attend the muster for each shift and go out on patrol to deal with the daily grind of volume crime.  His personal life has changed, seemingly for the better though – shacked up with Helen Weeks and slowly becoming a father figure for Weeks’ boy Alfie . Thorne becomes suspicious about what looks like an elderly couple that have just commi...

How To Fall by Jane Casey I picked this up in a charity shop not realising it was actually a Young Adult book.   However, having read a Maeve Kerrigan book of Casey's before I thought it'd be interesting to read this myself before passing it on to my daughter to read. Jess Tennant is a sixteen year old who, with her mother, is spending the summer in her mothers home village.   Jess is dubious about this as her mother has been estranged from her   family since before Jess was born and she has never met her aunt (her mother's twin) or her family.   The only thing Jess knows about them is that her cousin, who was the spitting image of Jess, died the previous year in a fall off the cliffs. When Jess meets her cousins she becomes intrigued as to why her cousin, who was reportedly very happy, would commit suicide.   Jess, despite being warned off by some of the local teens, the police and her dead cousin's best friend, determines to solve the...

Cemetery Girl by David Bell Cemetery Girl by David Bell is a psychological drama that really penetrates the psyche of the main character Tom Stuart.  This book will make you question and analyse every motive and action. Bell writes so convincingly that you will face a whirlwind of emotions; heartbreak, distrust, frustration, hatred, fear, hope, guilt and many more.     This is a fantastic read and I wholeheartedly recommend you buy it ASAP   Initially I was drawn to Cemetery Girl for two reasons.   First, unusually, this story of a missing 12 year old girl is told from the fathers point of view and secondly rather than a police procedural about finding the abductor, this is actually a deep and penetrating expose of not only the father's emotions but also how past events have impacted on the type of father he is. Caitlin Stuart disappeared four years ago and now her mother wants to move on by having...

The Cold Nowhere by Brian Freeman I was lucky enough to receive a copy of The Cold Nowhere to review, as its UK release date is 9 th May 2013 (HB £12.99, ebook £12.99).   This is the latest in Freeman’s, Jonathan Stride series and I find each book just gets better and better; classic Police procedural, combined with riveting characters and a damn good plot. Ten years ago, six year old Cat Mateo, cowered under the porch and listened to her dad repeatedly stab her mum and then shoot himself.   She was found by Stride, who was friendly with the mother and daughter and who had tried to protect them. Then, sixteen year old Cat turns up at Stride’s home, covered in blood and drenched in Lake water.   She claims that someone is trying to kill her.   Stride, checks out her story, which is corroborated and is convinced she is at risk.   His partner, Maggie, is not convinced of Cats’ innocence, particularly when she discovers the teenager always carrie...

I thought it would be a nice change to preview a selection of books with a European setting.   I’ve chosen three this month and if you pick just one of these, I’m pretty sure you’ll have a satisfying read. Romancrimeblogger Chilled to the Bone by Quentin Bates   I met Quentin Bates a few years ago at a crime writing event in Winchester when Frozen Out, his first Officer Gunnhildur novel was published.   I liked the theme of the first book where the dirty deeds revealed by “Skandalblogger” and the crimes that followed, reflected accurately much that was happening in Iceland at the time.   This new book continues with an excellent mix of authentic Icelandic life and plenty of good crime.   Bates starts with the death of a wealthy shipowner found tied to a bed.   His demise looks to be more embarrassment than foul play, until Gunnhildur’s investigation turns up links to organised crime.   Then comes a more dangerous link - the revelatio...