Crime Review Update

In our new edition of Crime Review (www.crimereview.co.uk) this week we
have 16 reviews, together with Elly Griffiths in the Countdown interview
hot seat:
Crime Review can be followed on Twitter: @CrimeReviewUK
Linda Wilson can be followed on Twitter: @CrimeReviewer
Sharon Wheeler can be followed on Twitter: @lartonmedia

This week’s reviews are:
HAND OF GOD by Philip Kerr, reviewed by Sharon Wheeler
London City’s star striker collapses during a Champions League match in
Greece – and manager Scott Manson finds himself investigating in a country
that is starting to crumble.

AS CHIMNEY SWEEPERS COME TO DUST by Alan Bradley, reviewed by Linda Wilson
When a mummified body falls out of a chimney on Flavia de Luce’s first
night at her new school, life at Miss Bodycote’s Female Academy suddenly
takes an interesting turn.

KITTY PECK AND THE CHILD OF ILL-FORTUNE by Kate Griffin, reviewed by John
Cleal
Kitty Peck is the reluctant heiress to Paradise, the criminal East End
empire of her grandmother Lady Ginger. She is reunited with her estranged
brother in Paris, and is persuaded to take a child back to London – but it
is soon clear someone is determined to kill the little boy.

SILVER BULLETS by Elmer Mendoza, reviewed by Chris Roberts
Mexican detective Edgar ‘Lefty’ Mendieta investigates a murder – there are
plenty of suspects, but the use of a silver bullet is something new.

WOLF WINTER by Cecilia Eckback, reviewed by John Cleal
Finnish immigrant Maija and her daughters are left alone on a grim
mountain. The girls find a murdered man, but locals and the authorities
dismiss it as a killing by animals.

A DEVIL UNDER THE SKIN by Anya Lipska, reviewed by Sharon Wheeler
Janusz Kiszka is your man if you need a fixer in London’s Polish community.
But this time his investigations are too close to home as he searches for
his missing girlfriend Kasia.

NORTH OF BOSTON by Elisabeth Elo, reviewed by Sylvia Wilson
Pirio Kasparov is rescued from the shipwreck of her friend Ned’s lobster
boat. It is written off as a hit-and-run accident, but Pirio is not
convinced and decides to investigate for herself.

THE SHADOW PUPPET by Georges Simenon, reviewed by Arnold Taylor
Maigret is summoned late at night by a telephone call from the concierge of
an apartment block in the Place des Vosges. She tells him that a man is
dead and that she suspects murder.

HAPPINESS IS EASY by Edney Silvestre, reviewed by Chris Roberts
A misunderstanding transforms a kidnapping into an opportunity for the
intended target, but extreme danger for a totally innocent party.

ONE BOY MISSING by Stephen Orr, reviewed by John Cleal
Detective Sergeant Bart Moy returns to his fading outback home town after
the accidental death of his son and becomes involved with a child abduction
and murder investigation while trying to work out his own problems.

HELSINKI NOIR, edited by James Thompson, reviewed by Chris Roberts
Under the surface of a peaceful Finnish social democracy lie some
disturbing undercurrents, tales of society’s most damaged, in this dark
collection of short stories.

THE QUICK by Lauren Owen, reviewed by John Cleal
When Charlotte Norbury travels to London to find her younger brother who
has disappeared, she finds herself involved with a mysterious vampire
society.

THE BOY THAT NEVER WAS by Karen Perry, reviewed by Linda Wilson
Three-year-old Dillon was lost when an apartment block in Tangier was
swallowed up by an earthquake, so when Harry thinks he sees his son on the
streets of Dublin five years later, he’s elated. But will anyone believe
him?

CLOSER THAN YOU THINK by Karen Rose, reviewed by Sylvia Maughan
Faith Frye is driving over to the old house that she has recently inherited
from her grandmother, when a young woman appears in the road. Faith swerves
and crashes her car.  She survives the accident but appears to have
stumbled upon a horrendous mystery that leaves her in mortal danger.

THE SECRET BABY ROOM by DD Johnston, reviewed by Linda Wilson
Soon after Claire and her husband move to Manchester, she sees a woman and
a baby in a derelict tower block that’s due for imminent demolition.

ABSENCE OF LIGHT AND OTHER CHARLIE FOX STORIES by Zoe Sharp, reviewed by
Linda Wilson
Charlie Fox returns in a collection of short stories and a novella spanning
Charlie’s career in close personal protection work.

Best wishes

Sharon