Book Reviews : Old Peculier Crime writing Festival : The New Blood panel 2016

The New Blood panel at Theakston's Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival is always one of my favourite.  Each year the new talent just seems to get better and better and 2016 is no exception.  As usual it is chaired by the Queen of Crime, Val McDermid and should be an interesting panel.  I'll not be missing it.  Read on for a snappy review of each of the four New Bloodites 2016.


A Rising Man by Abir Mukherjee (5th May 2016)
Set in Calcutta 1919 A Rising Man is a fascinating exploration of life in India under the British Raj... it's also a damn good mystery/ police procedural. 
Captain Sam Wyndham, an opium addict war veteran suffering from PTSD and grieving his recently dead wife, arrives in Calcutta.  Within a fortnight he finds himself investigating the murder of 'fixer' MacCauley, found dead outside a brothel in a rough end of town with a note stuffed in his mouth intimating that Indian terrorists are to blame.  Then, when a guard is left dead on a train by robbers who steal nothing, Wyndham suspects things are not as they seem, despite all roads of investigation leading to Bengali agitator, Sen. 
A Rising Man combines a really good story that reflects life in Calcutta.  It grounds us in the British air of superiority of the time and exposes the unjustness of the British Raj by grounding us in the history of the time, like the Amritsar shootings perpetrated by a British Officer, leaving hundreds of innocent people dead.  In Wyndham and 'Surrender Not', Mukherjee has created India's version of Poirot  and Hastings or Holmes and Watson.  A definite five star read and a well deserved place on the New Blood panel.
Available on Amazon kindle £9.49, HB £9.09, PB £13.63 or free on audio trial download.  Click here

The Wolf Road by Beth Lewis (30th June 2016)

What do you do when you discover that, Trapper,  the man who has looked after you since you were seven is really a serial killer? ... Well Elka escapes his clutches and travels along the dangerous Wolf Road in search of the parents she hasn't seen in years. 
Set in the aftermath of an unspecified apocalyptic occurrence, The Wolf Road is told in the first person, through the unique voice of Elka.  Lewis has created a believable compelling character in Elka who is part child, part woman and mostly incredibly brave and resourceful.  Her journey sees her trying to evade both the 'law' who are hunting Trapper and trapper himself as well as deal with a series of challenges along the way. 
Beautifully written and smoothly plotted another five star from me.
Available on Amazon Kindle £7.99, HB £12.08, PB £7.99, £2.99 Audio Download.  Click here

Clinch by Martin Holmen (May 2016)
Set in 1930's  and beautifully translated by Henning Koch,

Clinch is an atmospheric study of Stockholm's underbelly.   Harry Kvist is a compelling character; a once famous boxer, is down on his luck, existing by drinking in seedy bars and making ends meet though debt collecting..  Then after a threatening visit to a debtor, Kvist finds himself under suspicion of killing the man when he is found dead.  There follows a fantastic journey that takes us from the seediest areas of Stockholm to the most opulent   as Kvist attempts to clear his name. Convincingly brutal in places, with an undertone of continual violendce, Clinch is a powerful read but not for the feint hearted.
Available on Amazon Kindle £2.99 and PB £8.99.  Click here 

Tenacity by JS Law (Jul 2015)
Tenacity starts with a bang and just doesn't stop from

beginning to end.  It's written with passion and skill and, in Danielle (Dan) Lewis, we have a formidable and feisty female protagonist.  Shortly after  his wife is brutally murdered a sailor hangs himself and Dan must investigate to see what(if any) links the murder with the suicide.  Law, beautifully explores the tension created by a woman detective investigating an all male crew in a claustrophobic environment.  Her portrayal of the tensions and closed in feeling is fantastic as Dan has to cope with suspicion, the testosterone fuelled environment and resentment.  Their are few calm waters in this read and the reader should be prepared or a bumpy , but satisfying, voyage. A unique and enjoyable story that is wholly addictive. Tenacity deserves its place on the New Blood panel

Available on Amazon kindle £3.99, PB £7.99 or audio download £6.99 click here