The Crime Warp

R D Wingfield’s three original Frost books were some of the first crime novels that I read back in 1992, just as the TV series came out.   I loved the books as the Frost character brought this almost anarchic quality to them.   As you read the book, you lost all sense of time as Frost rushed round, juggling multiple cases, dragging the latest hapless DC with him, in an increasingly sleep deprived state, finally solving all the cases much to Mullett’s disgust.   I read all of Wingfield’s later Frost books and when he died in 2007 I thought that would be the end of Frost. I was a little apprehensive when I saw that James Henry was writing a series of prequels to the Frost series, but decided to try the first book.   I wondered whether someone else would be able to capture both the style of writing and Frost’s character, which in the books is so different to that portrayed by David Jason in the TV series A Touch of Frost.   I wasn’t disappointed and...

I’ve chosen just three books for November as I’m going to try and concentrate on posting more individual book reviews in the run up to Christmas.   Of this month's picks, only The Late Scholar hasn’t yet been published, although with a 5 December publication date it’s not so far away.   I think you’ll like the mix – new author, established author and a bit of cosy – what else could you ask for?   Romancrimeblogger   Down Among the Dead Men by Ed Chatterton: This is Chatterton’s second book, featuring newly promoted DCI Frank Keane and the Major Incident Team in Liverpool.   The crime scene is a dead husband and wife, which looks initially like a murder-suicide.   However, the couple’s teenage son Nicky is missing.   Uncertain whether he is looking for the killer or another victim, Keane discovers a link between the missing boy and his holiday job on a film being shot in the city.   Keane knows time is running out to find Ni...

When I started writing this post I wasn’t quite sure how I would bring the three parts together seamlessly.   I think I’ve got it and hope you think so too. I’ll start with our birthday (it was actually 29 th October, but it’s taken me a little longer than planned to get this post written) – The Crime Warp is one year old, and we’re all really chuffed with how well it’s taken off.   The Crime Warp now gets over a thousand hits a month and we believe that’s because we’ve kept to our aim of featuring the newest and best in contemporary crime fiction.   We’ve focused mainly on book reviews, but also had author interviews and occasional giveaway competition such as the signed David Baldacci novel The Hit  ( and there’s another giveaway at the end of this post! ).  What we’ve been surprised about is that over a third of our hits are from outside the UK.   Many are from the US and there are others from as far afield as Europe, the Far East and even Austr...

Lee Child – Never Go Back (Bantam Press, 2013) Same Old, Same Old – Like your shower in the morning, your first coffee of the day. Not just refreshing, but necessary somehow.   Jack Reacher has found a nook in the lives of his fans. Lee Child’s latest novel treads the same well worn groove – comfortable, predictable even, yet hugely enjoyable. In ‘Never Go Back’ Reacher returns to his old unit, the 110 th Special Unit. It is here he is confronted with a sinister conspiracy and hooks up with its current commanding officer, Major Susan Turner. The size XS brunette with the mischievous twinkling eyes finds herself in a spot of bother and entices Reacher to give up his solitary state – for a while.   With her help he investigates a conspiracy that reaches into the highest levels of the military. What is the connection with those serving in Afghanistan? What could possibly be so profitable as to cause so much hostility towards those poking around? Will this be Reacher’s...