The Crime Warp

Pretty ghoulish for cosy crime, what with a number of gory murders in a sleepy place in the West country that reminds me of Midsummer. Jess Castle, the protagonist, has deserted her lecturing post in Norse, Celtic and pagan mythology (or some such) at Cambridge University and has come back home to find things changed, not just because people are dropping like flies, but because her father has a new housekeeper and he has taken up cycling – at his age. How dare he remove the cheesy little fox figure which Jess’ mother had so loved!  At a complete crossroads in her life, out-of-sorts Jess starts helping with the investigation into these gory murders as clues lead the police to believe that witchcraft or pagan worship is involved. Having someone local who can read Runes is definitely handy. I was hoping that Jess would fall for the police officer in charge of the investigation, but a former beau keeps turning up. I never did trust a man who dresses that well and yes, he is ...

I don't think there is a Karin Slaughter book that I haven't enjoyed and I have to say I find her a very versatile writer, from her Grant county series to her Will Trent series and from her stand- alones like the historic Cop Town to last year's The Good Daughter . And, I have to say Pieces of Her is among the best of them. It is complex, gritty, thought provoking and get's right to the heart of the emotions of the two main female protagonists.   A brilliant read! Blurb You’ve known her your whole life… Andrea Oliver knows everything about her mother Laura. She knows she's always lived in the small town of Belle Isle; she knows she’s a pillar of the community; she knows she's never kept a secret in her life. but she’s hiding something… Then one day, a trip to the mall explodes into a shocking act of violence and Andy suddenly sees a completely different side to Laura. and it could destroy you both… Hours later, Laura is in hospital, her fa...

  Ackley Bridge is a Channel 4 Drama about a diverse town just outside Bradford. The action centres around a school which has been specifically created to cater for Ackley Bridge’s diverse communities. For me the strength of this drama lies in its diverse cast of strong actors and its willingness to explore key issues that are relevant to the diverse society we live in today. It is particularly relevant today, with increased calls for inclusion in the creative industries.  I have lived in Bradford for over thirty years and, those of you who know me, will know that I often describe my adoptive city as ‘Warm and Rich and Fearless’ – in my opinion Ackley Bridge is the same. Its warmth spawns from its Northern heart- that closeness that I experienced in my Scottish upbringing and now enjoy hear in Bradford, that resilience in the face of adversity and that down to earth attitude that underpins all of the above. Its richness lies in its ability to cele...

Wow … wow … wow. This book gets three wows from me. When I saw the following quote by Mark Billingham on the back cover of Green Sun ,‘The most powerful cop novel ever written’, I thought, hmmm, let me be the judge of that (me as in reader, not me as in reviewer).  Well, I can’t say Green Sun is the best cop novel ever written, haven’t read them all, but what I can say, is that it is excellent indeed. I intentionally don’t find out about the author before reading a book, but this one is so authentic that you wonder if it’s autobiographical. And to some extent it probably is.  The author Kent Anderson is a US Special Forces veteran, his protagonist Hanson fought in Vietnam. Kent Anderson was a police officer in Oakland, Hanson too is a cop in Oakland. Anderson taught college level English, Hanson too was an English lecturer before becoming a cop again.  The structure of the book is interesting as well. Each chapter is a self-contained episode in the lif...

Available here Murder at The Book Club Betsy Reavley is renowned for her dark psychological thrillers like the chilling  The Optician’s Wife and Pressure and in Murder at the book Club she heads in a different direction – ands NAILS it. The Murder At The Book Club is a tense, tightly plotted police procedural whodunnit This is certainly my kind of crime book – a bit of Agatha Christie, a tot of MC Beaton and a whole lot of Reavley sass. When it comes to human nature, nothing much is surprising. However, in a sleepy Cambridgeshire town you don’t expect such dark waters to run through your book club and you certainly don’t expect there to be a murderer in your midst. So, when a body is discovered on the common with all roads leading back to the book club , everything becomes a whole lot more sinister. The characters are beautifully drawn and Reavley shows a keen eye for picking out idiosyncrasies and setting them onto the page – each character has a life...