The Crime Warp

Here is a book that is bang up to date with the prevailing Zeitgeist, especially in the US. Three women become unwilling players in a game of high finance, corruption and murder. The author, Cristina Alger, never mentions the Trump family, but it’s not hard to see parallels with her presidential candidate and his son. The Banker’s Wife has a well-structured, pacey plot taking in the world of super rich (and corrupt) private bankers in Geneva and the political and financial machine of the American East Coast. I personally am not interested in high fashion, luxury brands and ostentatious wealth, and the same probably goes for many of the crime readers and writers I’ve met in the UK, but for those who like to fantasize about the glamorous lives of the super-rich, then this is the book for you. Travelling with Louis Vuitton luggage, flying on private planes, collecting seriously expensive art for investment purposes, wearing ridiculously expensive watches … Having said that, th...

Tomorrow is my youngest son's birthday and it's also nearly Mothers' Day and these two things together got me thinking about the theme of motherhood in my writing. Each of my kid's birthdays are the days when I wonder about myself as a mother. Have I done a good job? Could I have done better for them? What could I have changed? In many families throughout the world, mothers will be celebrated, spoiled and remembered ... as they should be. But, hey, I write crime fiction, so, not all the mothers in my stories are ones you'd want to celebrate, spoil or remember. That's not to say that I only write about 'bad' mothers - I don't. Some of the mothers in my books are brilliant! Nor is it to say that all 'bad' mothers are one hundred per cent to blame for their actions. Nor do I blame mothers (parents) for their children's actions.  So... in the world of DI Gus McGuire, motherhood raises its head in a variety of ways and with a variety o...

Norman M. Brown has loved writing for more than two decades. He has always considered a combination of decent fiction and good coffee as providing the best way to unwind and slip out of ordinary life for a while. Having grown up in Central Scotland, he studied English at Stirling University, where he began penning poetry, drama scripts and short stories. However, his real commitment to writing resulted from spending a snowy winter attending some fireside writing workshops in Perth. More recently, Norman’s love of crime fiction led him to create the weary detective Leighton Jones. Having based his debut novel for Bloodhound Books- The Girl on the Bus- around this character, Norman felt so intrigued by him that he decided to give Jones at least two more outings. Carpenter Road the second novel featuring Leighton was be published in  June 2018  to critical acclaim, and Toys in the Dust is due for release in March 2019. Aside from his family, Norman’s other passio...

While most crime writers have to do research the hard way, Stefan Thunberg just needs to hang out with his family. His father and brothers were Sweden’s most notorious bank robbers, a gang dubbed The Military Gang by the media. Is it any wonder then that a lot of the background of the book is based on fact? I'd be curious to know how much of the personalities of his fictitious characters is based on fact as well. The statement on the back cover pretty much sums up this exciting Swedish thriller: 'Two brothers, two betrayals, one destiny'. Do you have a brother?If so, to what extent do you trust your brother? The novel centres on Leo Duvnjak, Sweden’s most notorious criminal, who is set free from prison. He seeks out his brothers in crime, now law-abiding citizens. What are his intentions? To add to the mix, Leo befriended Sam Larson in prison, a man convicted of murdering his father. His brother is actually a cop, Detective John Broncks. Another set of brothe...

This is a an article with something in it for everyone. Dylan fans will be engrossed, aspiring authors will be inspired and crime writers will see what a bit of luck, a dash of chemistry and a shed load of talent can produce. Thanks so much to Carol and Bob for this guest blog piece. The Crime Warp is humbled by your sincerity and chuffed to bits that you took the time for us. So, over to ..... drum roll ... The very lovely Bridgestocks ...

Mari Hannah is chair of this years Theakston's Old Peculier crime festival in Harrogate as well as being their reader in residence. This year she'll be leading the festival' Big Read. She is also a multi award winning author, and once you've read The Scandal , you'll now why. Number three in Mari Hannah's Oliver and Stone series set in Northumbria, The Scandal is a gritty, well researched, edgy police procedural with a main protagonist with flaws as well as merits. DS Frankie Oliver, is nicely balanced by her boss and work partner DCI David Stone. Don't you just love it when the dynamics between the two lead detectives drive the plot forward? Mari Hannah is a practiced hand at the police procedural and the story trots along at a fair old pace. The Blurb When an young man is found stabbed to death in a side street in Newcastle city centre in the run up to Christmas, it looks like a botched robbery to DCI David Stone. But when DS Frankie...

How much did I love this book ? Let me count the ways: It has a great start, plunging you into straight into the heart of the mystery. The setting is beautifully sketched; the dying town of Riversend, with its dried up river bed and forlorn empty houses, the scrubby wasteland all around. As for the climate: I could feel the heat, I struggled to breathe the hot, dry air. My eyes too were blinded by the searing sun. And I forgot that I live in colder and wetter climes. I was instantly intrigued by the characters, all of them, from the town drunk to the enigmatic beauty running the local book shop.   The intricately woven and yet pacey plot had me guessing and guessing again, all the way through. I haven’t read much Australian crime, and if it’s all like this one, I’ve been missing out. Chris Hammer, himself a journalist, sends his troubled protagonist Martin Scarsden to Riversend in the drought-ridden outback to find a story that will sell papers. Some peo...

  The First Day by Phil Harrison I’m going to start off with the Irish one. When you think of Irish writers, what comes to mind? I think of lyrical literary skills, sin and guilt. Generations of priest-ridden Irish folk weighed down by guilt and fear of hell, counteracted by sparks of energy, a lust for life and sometimes a bit of genius. In The First Day, an illicit love affair between a pastor and a young student cause ripples which will impact with full brutality not only on them, but onto the next generation, even migrating with them from Ireland to America. Set in Belfast, the sectarian conflict is woven into this dark tale. The Irish might have emigrated to escape their past, but they always took their sins and their guilt with them. Phil Harrison is an accomplished writer and if you like thought-provoking and disturbing books that deal with the full range of human emotion, including violence and cruelty, then this is for you. Published in paperback by Fleet in...