The Crime Warp

The Crime Warp loves to support debut novelists so we're extremely pleased to have Judith Baker with us today.  Her debut novel Undercurrent was released on 28th March. So now we're settled down with the Jammie Dodgers and a mug of coffee we can begin.

How many piles of books do you have on your bedside table? I now have two bedside tables with two piles each. As my friends will confirm I’m not very tidy, but I do have a book system: current crime fiction, novels I never got around to but mean to read one day soon, an assortment of books loaned to me by patient friends and, as yet, unread non-fiction books. The advantage of such an embarrassment of riches is that when I get a craving for a particular genre or period, I can usually lay my hands on something of interest quickly. So when, last week, I got a whopper of a hankering for something set in Ancient Rome I managed to locate M.C. Scott’s Rome: The Emperor’s Spy. I heard Manda Scott speak at the Harrogate Crime Festival, but never got around to reading any of her works. She struck me as an interesting person who would have a lot to say and I’m only sorry I didn’t read any of her works sooner, perhaps her well-known Boudica series. ‘The Emperor’s Spy’ is set during the...

Available on Amazon Click  here Newly returned to his home turf of Anglesey after thirty years with the London Metropolitan police,  DI Tudor Manx is faced with unresolved family issues, hostility from colleagues and a series of murders that point to  a serial killer on the island.

I listened to the Audible Audiobook of Live by Night over three weeks whilst out on my morning walks.  Apart from The Godfather, this is the only gangster thriller I’ve ever read/listened too, and was really pleased that I did! Joe Coughlin is the youngest son of a Boston police captain.  He’s chosen a life of crime as Prohibition provides incentives for a lucrative life outside the law.  Joe’s career in crime moves from Boston to Florida and finally to Cuba, as he moves from city to city, falls in love and tries to answer the question of whether he’s an outlaw, his preferred view, or a gangster, or whether there’s a real difference, because both are underpinned by violence, murder and rejection of the law. I really liked listening to Live by Night – Lehane creates a strong atmosphere throughout the novel, not just by creating a compelling picture of individual people and places, but by showing how people’s lives were affected by the impact of ...

It’s the time of year when folks start thinking about going on holiday. Italy for a change? How about Tuscany? As a lover of Italian crime, the fictitious kind of course, I was drawn to Death in the Tuscan Hills, my first Inspector Bordelli mystery and the fifth one so far. I wasn’t disappointed. When you get to a certain age, that of the author Marco Vichi and not surprisingly also that of the protagonist, you might be forgiven for thinking about getting away from it all. You’ve worked hard, life hasn’t live up to expectations and you want to go somewhere quiet and start over. Inspector Bordelli is tired, disillusioned and jaded. And his heart was broken – or was it his ego? Hard to tell with many Italian police inspectors.   Not all of us can buy an old farmhouse in Tuscany when that happens, but that is what Bordelli does. He moves out into the country and starts a vegetable garden. He even finds a stray dog to share his solitude. You wouldn’t think that’s a promising s...

New Blood Showcase: Criminally Good Class of 2017 2017’s debut crime authors were celebrated at a new event designed to showcase and support new writing talent. Hosted by the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival and sponsor, HW Fisher, at Carmelite House in London on 16 March, the New Blood Drinks Reception, invited authors from across the crime genre who have a debut coming in 2017.  

Owen is in the enviable position of having three books released this year, so The Crime Warp is lucky he's managed to squeeze us in to his very busy schedule.  A huge welcome to fellow Scot Owen Mullen... over to you, Owen.

Faye Kellerman is the author of the Rina Lazarus and Peter Decker, the husband and wife team with a difference. With over thirty books under her belt, Kellerman has been nominated and won various literary awards since the start of her writing career in the 1980's.

I first came across Mick Herron last year when I reviewed Real Tigers , Herron’s third book in the Slough House series. Spook Street is number four in the series, a book I’ve been waiting for which means expectations have been high!

Michael was one of the debut authors who appeared at Bloody Scotland 2016 and The Crime Warp is honoured to have him here today.  Welcome Michael...

There are so many great crime fiction writers out their that occasionally I let one of my favourites drift for a few books to catch up on some others and then I indulge my 'guilty pleasure' by reading a couple form the same author at once... that's what I've done with the fantastic last two Harry Bosch books from King of American crime fiction Michael Connolly.

Malcolm Hollingdrake is a prolific writer with three books in the DCI Bennett books under his belt as well as some earlier works, all of which are available on Amazon. I am pleased to say, also that Malcom is a local man, living in that hotbed of crime, Harrogate.  It's really lovely to have you here on The Crime Warp hot seat Malcolm.  So let's get started...