The Crime Warp

I think the last Scandi crime novel I read was Will Dean's Black River , but I have to say, Karin Nordin's Where Raven's Roost was as evocative, compelling and intriguing as Dean's Tuva series and I can't wait to read more about Detective Kjeld Nygaard.  But first, to whet your appetite, here's the blurb.  Where Ravens Roost blurb Available here The raven cawed at him, craning its neck unnaturally. As it dug its hooked beak into the mess of dried grass and twigs that made up its nest, a shiny glimmer reflected off a low-hanging bulb. Kjeld edged closer to get a better look. It was a human tooth. Detective Kjeld Nygaard wants nothing more than to forget his family and Varsund, the small mining town he once called home, even exist. But while on suspension after his last case went disastrously wrong, his estranged father Stenar leaves a message on Kjeld’s phone claiming he’s seen a murder. But with no evidence and Stenar suffering from Alzheimer’s, the local poli...

Martina Cole Receives 2021 CWA Diamond Dagger Martina Cole is the recipient of the highest honour in British crime writing, the Crime Writers’ Association (CWA) Diamond Dagger. The long-reigning Queen of Crime Drama is a publishing powerhouse. Martina has written 25 novels, all published by Headline, seventeen of which reached No.1 and her books have collectively spent over 4 years in the bestseller charts. Total sales stand at over 17 million copies, making her Britain’s bestselling female crime writer and with  The Faithless  she became the first British female adult audience novelist to break the £50 million sales mark since Nielsen Bookscan records began.  Her books have been translated into 31 languages and adapted for multiple stage plays and television series.  PhotoCredit: Bill Waters Martina’s own story is as remarkable as any bestseller plot. Martina grew up on an Essex council estate and Ronnie and Reggie Kray once visited her family’s home when she was a...

I'm a little ashamed to admit it, but I hadn't read any Carol Wyer books till these ... and now I've discovered she has other series too! So, watch this space as no doubt there will be more Wyer reviews to follow. Published by Bookouture. The Birthday Blurb Available here One hot summer’s afternoon, five-year-old Ava Sawyer went to a party. She never came home… Two years later, Ava’s body is found and another little girl,  Audrey Briggs , goes missing. Audrey also attended  that  party … Leading the investigation is  Detective Natalie Ward . A mother of two teenagers, this case chills her to the bone, and is a disturbing reminder of the last job she worked on. One that still keeps her awake at night… Natalie soon discovers that Ava’s mother has some worrying gaps in her alibi and as she digs deeper, she’s sure Ava’s father is not telling the full story. And what did the owner of the garden centre  Elsa  see that day? Something that she’s not telling Natalie...

I am delighted to welcome Donna Morfett onto The Crime warp today. Donna is a book and crime fiction enthusiast and her support for authors is boundless. I have had the pleasure of being interviewed by Donna and we had a real laugh. So over to Donna ... 1.   What is your blog called and what do you feature on it? Donnas Interviews, Reviews and Giveaways – Features book reviews, other bloggers reviews, new releases, cover reveals, and soon to feature blog tours. I also share details of a couple of podcasts and am soon to launch my own. There are also giveaways and author interviews. Tell me a bit about how and why you started your blog. Its all Duncan Brockwells fault!! He was worried about an upcoming release so I suggested to him an interview that I could post on my page at the time, British Crime Fiction, and to his beta group. It could then be shared around the various book groups and would reach a lot of people which would hopefully help the book sales. He thought it was ...

Thanks to Hera Books and Netgalley for my copy of this book I've come to expect a high octane, addictive read from Charly Cox's Detective Alyssa Wyatt's series and in Alone in the Woods I was most certainly not disappointed.  But first .... Here's the blurb Alone in the Woods Available here The sudden appearance of a man’s booted feet had Addis snapping her mouth shut. Screaming, she kicked out at the tall, muscular guy as he dragged her from beneath the desk... It was a scene from a horror movie; Gabriel Kensington and his wife Lydia found, brutally slain in their luxurious home in New Mexico. The frantic, whispered phone call from their teenage daughter Addis, spending the evening with best friend Emerson, quickly alerts the authorities to the killings – and worse, that the killer is still inside the house.  But when detective  Alyssa Wyatt  and the squad appear at the house, the unthinkable has happened – the girls are nowhere to be found.  Waking up in a d...

It gives me great pleasure to welcome Dave Sivers's DCI Lizzie Archer to the dock. let's see how well she fares under pressure when grilled on The Crime Warp ...  Available here Tell us a little about DCI Lizzie Archer’s background Lizzie grew up in London. Her dad was a police officer, which she supposed influenced her own decision to join the police. She rose to the rank of DI and was identified as a potential high flyer at the Met until an arrest that went wrong left her facially disfigured, wrecking her self-confidence and her personal life, and stalling her career. She transferred to Thames Valley and Buckinghamshire’s Aylesbury Vale hoping to rebuild in what she expected to be a bit of a sleepy hollow. It hasn’t quite worked out that way. The Fields of Wheat moment… What is the most rebellious thing   Lizzie   has ever done? She’s not an especially rebellious type, but has more than once carried on pursuing a line of enquiry her boss has expressly...

Delighted to be part of this fabulous blog tour. Huge thanks to the author and Rachel's Random Resources for inviting me.  A Deadly Deal is set in 1986 (around the time I was at Uni, so it's an era of nostalgia for me) and is about corruption and deceit. What appealed to me most about this book is the attention that is given to characterisation, which is always a key factor for me. I'm looking forward to reading more about Rupert Brett and the shenanigans of '80's London.    It's already had some fab reviews and I am looking forward to reading it myself - It's near the top of my ever growing TBR pile.  For now though, here's the blurb ...  A Deadly Deal Moneymakers are king, no matter their methods. When an honest man stumbles into their world of deceit, will they drag him down to destruction? London, 1986. Rupert Brett is eager to make his mark. But even though he’s newly qualified to tackle jobs within the cutthroat property brokering industry, h...

Delighted to see the shiny new cover for Tony J Forder's Degrees of Darkness. I read this book last year, but as today is shiny new cover day, I thought I'd share it with you on The Crime Warp.  Blurb Available here Nothing is ever entirely black or white. Pre-teen girls are being abducted from their homes and their families murdered. When Frank Rogers, ex- DI with the Metropolitan Police, is told that his own daughter is missing, his son a victim, he sets aside his grief to help old colleagues investigate the case.  Soon Frank’s face is all over the news. And in an unexpected turn of events, the killer contacts the police to say he is willing to talk. But only to Frank. When the body of the first abducted girl is discovered, Frank realises the investigation has become a race against time to save his daughter’s life.  In order to solve the case, Frank must work out how the killer is choosing his victims. To do that, he must first enter the killer’s mind. But is ...