Crime, Glorious Crime, summer selection

I assume you already have your summer reading picked out, but in case you haven’t, I have posted a selection of various approaches to crime writing. We gravitate towards the type of books we have come to enjoy most, but sometimes it’s good to break out and try something different.

The Wrong Case by James Crumley:

Black Swan have reissued this American classic, first published in 1975, when everything was classier than it is now. If you want to read the most exquisite description of someone getting drunk, being drunk or being a hopeless drunkard, then this is the book for you. ‘The Wrong Case’ is seriously well-written vintage detective fiction. This type of American Noir makes you pause and think about what life would be like off the treadmill of lifestyle and achievement. Achingly cool.

Summary Justice by John Fairfax:

Courtroom drama is not usually my cup of tea, even if it is littered with dead bodies. However, the protagonist William Benson is an unusual criminal barrister and this is a well-written stylish novel. The author John Fairfax has a way with characters and with words: ‘…her voice had the colour of cheap tobacco,’ was not the only phrase that caught my eye. Elegantly murderous.

Published by Little, Brown, 2017

Dark Asylum by E.S. Thomson:

Historical crime is my thing. This is the second book featuring the enigmatic protagonist Jem Flockhart, apothecary in a dark, grimy and evidently violent Victorian asylum. A grotesquely mutilated corpse is found on the premises and Jem pursues the mystery of the murderer through the most miserable places of Victorian London: brothels, graveyards, gallows, … Justice can be a gloomy business. I like reading historical crime, but I’d rather live in the 21^st Century (so far).

Published by Constable, 2017

End of Watch by Stephen King:

I reckon this gentleman doesn’t need much of an introduction. If you enjoyed Mr Mercedes and Finders Keepers, you will love this book. Serial killer Brady Hartfield is locked-up in a secure hospital, unresponsive and seemingly passive, so how can he be involved in new cases of suicide and murder? It will take a brilliant trio of investigators to figure this one out. Stephen King – on form!

This last of the Mercedes killer trio is published by Hodder & Stoughton, 2017

 

Real Tigers by Mick Herron:

Entering British thriller territory now. Jackson Lamb - anti-hero spy master? Leader of the lost? Or pathetic slob? Would you trust him with your life or is he more likely to get you killed? I’d love to see Mick Herron’s spy thrillers involving Slough House on television. This author, more than any other, is converting me to the spy thriller genre. Exciting, engaging and rewarding.

Published by John Murray, 2016

(Indiana Brown)