The Crime Warp

Available here Ok, so I like books with twists, but someone needs to issue a warning on this one, for the twists are aplenty. I should have started reading fuelled by coffee and on high alert.  Instead, I opened it at bedtime and was quite happily reading along, feeling the characters, enjoying the scene setting, loving the backstory ... and then ... WHAM -  The first twist hit me right between the eyes (and it's a damn good one too), and there I was wide awake with little hope of settling down till I'd read one ... no two ... no three... chapters more .... So, here you have it - this one is Twisted by title, Twisted by nature and Twisted throughout ..... I LOVED IT!  Blurb BEFORE YOU READ THIS BOOK I WANT YOU TO KNOW THREE THINGS: 1. The police are looking to charge me with  murder. 2. No one knows who I am. Or how  I did it. 3. If you think you've found me. I'm coming for  you next. After you've read this book, you'll know: the tru...

I am loving this My Life of Crime Series. You just never know what you're going to get and today is no different as I welcome the debonair Malccolm Hollingdrake to the blog.  Malcolm  writes a crime series set in Harrogate built around two main characters, DCI Cyril Bennett and DS David Owen. The latest book, ‘The Third Breath’, is book seven. He is currently working on the next in the series with a working title of ‘Treble Clef’. Malcolm now has a website and all the links to the books are available there. Links also on the site for the available audiobooks now available. www.malcolmhollingdrakeauthor.co.uk            www.malcolmhollingdrakeauthor.com So over to you now, Malcolm.  Two books that influenced and explain why: This has to be the hardest question for me as I simply don’t read. Strictly speaking that’s not true as I read certain things but I have never had a reading habit. I will read biographies and...

What do ´ schadenfreude´ and gratitude have in common? Not much you would assume, but dig deep into Sara Paretsky´s 19 th V.I. Warshawski novel ´Shell Game´ and you might understand my little dilemma with regard to these words. What is more comforting on a cold winter day when you are cozied up on the sofa with a drink (insert your choice here), book in hand – especially if that book has an intrepid hard nosed P.I. who is constantly fighting not just villains but cold, hunger, exhaustion, carrying off bruising the size of the Great Lakes and human (bite) as well as frost bite. You might think that the vicarious enjoyment taken from her constant discomfort is schadenfreude, but to be fair, on closer examination it is more akin to gratitude – gratitude that you are not that crazy and a lot a lot more risk averse. So, if you vicariously want to take on international insurance and stock fraud, art looting from Syria, asshole real estate developers as well as Russian mobsters,...

It never ceases to amaze me  that when I ask crime writers about themselves, they have such a diverse range of tastes and tales to tell. Today, I'm pleased to welcome Bernie Steadman to The Crime Warp, and believe me she is no exception.  Thanks so much for coming along, Bernie! Bernie taught English for many years but only dabbled in short fiction and poetry until a few years ago when she took to writing full-time.    She completed her debut novel,  Death in the Woods  when she escaped the classroom and could finally stop marking essays. This was the first in the West Country Mysteries series featuring DI Dan Hellier and his Exeter-based team. There are now three in the series,  Death on Dartmoor  and  Death on the Coast  completing the series.    Bernie lives in a small town in East Devon and her novels are set in and around the ancient Roman city of Exeter,  which has seen its fair share of murder a...

Available here Blurb Recovering from injuries sustained in a road collision, DI Bliss is taken directly from hospital to a fresh crime scene and ordered to investigate the vicious stabbing and murder of Jade Coleman. When Bliss realises the victim had reported being stalked, and that two of his own team members had been drafted in to take her statement, he is then given the unenviable task of interviewing both of his detectives. Increasingly it appears that the stalker may be their killer. However, several other people soon become part of the team’s suspect list. Bliss also finds himself being questioned about his own past, and has to battle to defend himself whilst continuing to investigate the vicious murder. Soon more questions arise. Why would anybody target the victim, Jade Coleman? Why are the team unable to identify her close female friend? And why did Jade recently leave her job without any explanation? With his work cut out, and his te...

What excites me about My Life of Crime series , is that we delve beneath the surface of the writer. Crime authors are so generous in letting their readers get to know them better and I'm sure you'll agree this blog post by Carmen Radtke does just that.  Carmen has worked as a newspaper reporter on two continents and always dreamt of becoming a novelist. When she found herself crouched under her dining table, typing away on a novel between two earthquakes in Christchurch, New Zealand, she realised she was hooked for life. Carmen was born in Hamburg, Germany, but now lives in York, UK. To make life more interesting, she also writes historical woman’s fiction under pen name Caron Albright. A Matter of Love and Death is her first romantic suspense novel published under her alter ego’s name. T hanks so much for sharing some of yourself with your readers.  So, over to you now Carmen ... Two books that influenced me:   The first one was Mark Twain’s Ad...

I love reading Young Adult books and not only because I'm doing doctoral research on the 'teen voice'. I love them because I find them though provoking and informative. They never fail to take me into the teen psyche and when I'm in there I never cease to be astounded by the variety and range of issues affecting teens. The messages from the three I have chosen to review  today will stay with me for a long time to come. 

Available here Blurb Keep your friends close and your enemies closer… An addictive and shocking psychological thriller. A friend who won’t let you escape. When Karin is taken on a romantic break by her loving partner Aaron, she can’t wait for him to propose. But her surprise weekend quickly becomes a nightmare from which she may never escape. Who wants everything you have. They are staying by the beach at the Midland – a grand hotel where Karin used to work. And where Karin’s dangerous and obsessive ex, whom she has been trying to leave behind for years, is waiting patiently for her to return. Who won’t stop until your life is in ruins. Now all of Karin’s darkest secrets are being dragged into the light and her friends are turning against her. When one of them is murdered, Karin begins to realise just how treacherous relationships can be… Author Bio June Taylor is a UK psychological thriller writer. Keep Your Friends Close is her second book for Harper...