The Crime Warp

Available here It gives me great pleasure to welcome Caroline Mitchell onto The Crime Warp today. Caroline has kindly agreed to be grilled as part of her Truth and Lies Blog Tour. Truth and lies features a detective inspector named Amy Winter who is desperate to follow in her superintendent father’s shoes. However after his funeral she receives a letter from prison and discovers her biological parents, Jack and Lillian Grimes, are ‘The Beasts of Brentwood,’ Britain’s worst serial killers. But Amy must put her horrors aside if she is to help the victims of the families whose lives the serial killer couple have blown apart. Liz: Where did the inspiration for Truth and Lies  come from? Caroline: I was talking to my husband about genealogy when the idea popped into my head. What’s the worst thing Amy Winter could find out about herself? I wanted to throw something at my protagonist which would truly devastate her. I don’t make life easy for my char...

Available here Although the Bennett books are stand-alone reads I do always recommend that readers progress through the series in order. I assure you that even though I’m a true Yorkshireman this is not said for pecuniary reasons on my part but in order for the reader to see the development of the characters and their working relationships. Introducing the characters, no matter what part they play within the books, is one of the joys of writing a series. However, it does not allow me to take anything for granted even if a large percentage of my readers are fully aware of the characters’ foibles and nuances. Every book is tackled as if nobody has read the previous offerings.

Available here Blurb  Eva is desperate to leave London and head north to uncover her past. Fostered as a child, she is determined to find out why her parents refused to have her back and cut all contact. Celia is deeply concerned about Eva’s quest. Friends for many years, she can see the pitfalls of such a move and follows Eva, certain she can convince her friend to forget about her past and focus on the future. In Whitby, Eva meets with Gareth with whom she used to be in a relationship. He is furious with Eva and sets out for revenge. Why is Gareth so angry and why is Celia so hell bent on stopping Eva from meeting her biological parents? In a place where secrets go back many years, is it possible for everyone to forget what went before or are they all too damaged to salvage anything from it? Revenge, madness and murder feature in this thriller that has a final twist at the end. Author Biography J.A. Baker was born and brought up in the North East of...

Not a new book, but so much fun. Set in 1976, during the early stages of a communist Laos, the book features the 72 year old coroner, Dr Siri Paiboun, who, to the annoyance of many, interprets his role as chief (and only) pathologist in this fledgling country, to include finding the killers of the murdered corpses who end up on his slab. Annoying party officials isn’t good, as you can be sent up North for re-education, but annoying murderers is potentially even more lifestyle limiting.  This book is entertaining on so many levels: A charming protagonist, a quirky supporting cast, lovely descriptions of an exotic Asian location, and a political and social set-up so alien to most of us. Being of an older generation and having grown up in central Europe, I’m familiar with Communism in a way that many young readers today wouldn’t be. The concept that individualism is an evil concept that needs to be stamped out, added to the stubborn survival of superstition, religion, witchc...

Remember Maigret? The French police detective series by Georges Simenon, first published between 1931 and 1972? Penguin is now publishing the entire series of Maigret novels, all 75! It’s been a while since I read one and I never did read Maigret and the Lazy Burglar , first published in 1961. The book is classified as a novel, but at only 152 pages, it’s more like a novella. Having said that, the plot covers all the elements you would expect from a good solid crime book: an engaging protagonist, a mysterious murder, a tricky investigation and lots of lovely atmosphere created by a colourful supporting cast. Simenon was an elegant writer with a natural grasp of the human mind. I was discussing children’s books with a friend earlier today and we agreed that unlike the meandering books of our childhood, nowadays children preferred plots with lots of action. I reckon the same goes for readers of thrillers and crime books. People now expect a faster pace, more obvious emotio...