The Crime Warp

A murdered woman buried on an isolated beach, her killer sending texts and tweets to her family, DI Helen Grace's issues with her superior officers escalating, her team divided, her personal mission to find her nephew influencing her actions, her allies divided and another girl missing believed abducted by the social media serial killer and... very few clues to follow... DYNAMITE!

In The Burning Man London's on fire, riots abound, banks are being targeted and a murderer is using the resulting chaos to camouflage his crimes.  Unfortunately he doesn't factor in The Peculiar Crime Unit and Detectives Bryant & May who take the investigation as far back as Guy Fawkes times.

In Prey, the third of James Carol’s Jefferson Winter books the action starts from the get go and never really stops.  I read this in one compulsive sitting (much to the annoyance of my husband who wanted to go to the pub) and was hooked from the minute Winter walked into a café and saw a mysterious women sitting in the corner.  When she stabbed the chef in the eye before she escapes leaving an old newspaper headlining a double murder from six years previously, just to get Winter’s attention, I knew I was in for the long haul.

Ruthless (book 3 in the Scott & Bailey series) was released in October last year and I've been saving it for a rainy day. Thank God it rained last week because I spent a pleasant few hours enjoying this book!  For those of you up to date on the TV series, Ruthless takes us back to just after Rachel's marriage to Sean (so by my reckoning Ruthless the book is one series behind the TV)

  Harlan Coben doesn’t just deal us the dirt in this one, he deals us the consequences , the emotions, the arguments for and against and a damn good story to boot.  His skill is in taking the little things and making them big,  in seeing simplicity and making it complex, in telling a story and then building up the tension...  This is The Stranger 

In Prayer for the Dead   jou rnalist Ben Stephenson is found murdered  in the depths of the Gilmerton Coves and DI Tony McLean is forced into an unlikely alliance with his old enemy journalist Jo Galbraith in order to solve the crime.

Fifty Shades of Grey Fedora  edited by Robert J Randisi : If the whole fifty shades of Grey leaves you wanting more maybe you could try the Private Investigator equivalent with this raunchy assortment of short stories from the likes of John Lutz, Sara Paretsky and Christine Mathews.

  Like many people, the first crime novel I read that was set in Eastern Europe was Gorky Park, with what was at the time a mix of an unusual setting and a far from charming, but somehow captivating protagonist, Arkady Renko.  It was a great introduction to crime outside the UK.  Since then I’ve sampled crime from around the world including Australia, America, Ireland, Germany France, Italy and of course Scandinavia, home one of the most popular part of the crime fiction genre. Though crime fiction is now truly international with a vast array of settings, I still keep an eye out for novels set in the former Soviet Union, such as The 12 th department by William Ryan or ones that have some kind of East European connection, like Anya Lipska’s Kiszka and Kershaw series.  I think it’s because part of my family is from Eastern Europe, that I find something compelling about that setting.  So, when I saw Tom Callaghan’s book, A Killing Winter, was set in K...

Like Dickens, Andrew Taylor distils his fascination with crime into thoroughly satisfying fiction. His historical research is impeccable, his suspense gently drip-fed, chilling horrors suggested, cliff-hangers keep you guessing and then he upends all your expectations.  The Silent Boy is an absorbing sequel to his epic Scent of Death , which was set in turbulent Manhattan during the American War of Independence, and shares the same central protagonist, Edward Savill.

With Mother's Day looming I thought I'd dedicate a review section on recent crime fiction with a maternal link... the choice available to me was enormous so I've settled on only five.  What I found fascinating about my big five was that each boook took a slightly different slant to the Maternal element.  for example How I lost You deals with a mother who murdered her child whilst the Missing Place explores the dynamics of two mothers whose independant sons have disappeared.  Vanished looks at a complex family structure in a child abduction with hiddenn motives.  Crash and Burn is about the 'missing' girl Vero, whilst the final in my selection Hold Still By Lisa Regan demonstrates the worries and trauma of being a single mum holding down a demanding full time job as a Police Officer and suffering the consequences of bad Maternal decisions by her own mum.

I was so lucky to get hold of a proof copy of Past Crimes recently and quickly realized this is one of those “stand out” books that are simply a joy to read .   The protagonist, Van Shaw, receives a note from his estranged grandfather, asking him to come home.   Only five words – “ Come home, if you can ”.   It’s the last three words – “ if you can ” - that echo in his head.   Three words that make Van Shaw travel back to Seattle to find his grandfather shot in the head.   Van Shaw decides to stay in Seattle and resurrects the criminal skills his grandfather taught him to track down the killer and find out the reason that made someone finally kill the old man. Having enjoyed the novel, I was pleased when Glen Erik Hamilton agreed to guest blog on The Crime Warp – here he is, talking about his inspiration and that chain of thought that created Past Crimes and the story of Van Shaw. A few years ago, my wife and I had a decision to make. ...

    The Girl On The Train  by Paula Hawkins is a poignant, cleverly narrated psychological thriller told through the point of view of the three female protagonists.  It's cleverly executed with many twists and turns, a heart wrenching back story and a varied and believable cast of characters.

I've read a few of Caro Ramsey's novels in the past and one (of the many) aspects of her writing that appeals to me is that she always creates at least one (and often more) character with an unusual and interesting aspect to them.  In the Night Hunter Elvie, a high functioning autistic medical student with an underlying medical condition that presents in her physical appearance is the main character.