Crime Review Update

We feature new 20 reviews in each issue of Crime Review (
www.crimereview.co.uk), together with a top industry interview. This time
it’s author Leigh Russell in the Countdown hot seat.
We’re on Twitter at:
Crime Review: @CrimeReviewUK
Linda Wilson: @CrimeReviewer
Sharon Wheeler: @lartonmedia

This week’s reviews are:
THE MURDER ROAD by Stephen Booth, reviewed by Linda Wilson
DI Ben Cooper investigates the murder of a lorry driver whose truck gets
stuck under a low bridge near an isolated Derbyshire hamlet.

BURIED by Graham Masterton, reviewed by John Cleal
The mummified bodies of a family and their pets found beneath the
floorboards of a cottage point to an execution during the Troubles.

THE QUIET DEATH OF THOMAS QUAID by Craig Russell, reviewed by Chris Roberts
PI Lennox subcontracts ‘Quiet’ Thomas Quaid for a simple theft, but things
go awry and Quaid ends up dead. Lennox is determined to find out why.

BLACK RIVER by Tom Harper, reviewed by Fiona Spence
A lost city. The world's deadliest jungle. When your life depends on it,
who can you really trust?

THE FINAL WORD by Liza Marklund, reviewed by Ewa Sherman
Crime reporter Annika Bengtzon is revisiting an old story of a young woman
murdered by her violent boyfriend. She also reports on the court case of
the savage killing of a homeless man. But the mysterious disappearance of
her sister leaves her distraught.

THE SILENT ROOM by Mari Hannah, reviewed by Linda Wilson
A Special Branch officer, believed to have gone rogue, is taken from a
hijacked prison van after being refused bail. Most believe DI Jack Fenwick
has been sprung by his dodgy mates, but his former sergeant believes he’s
been taken against his will and is an innocent man.

CUT TO THE BONE by Alex Caan, reviewed by Sharon Wheeler
DCI Kate Riley and DS Zain Harris find they have millions of suspects when
a popular internet vlogger goes missing.

THE WOMAN WHO WALKED INTO THE SEA by Mark Douglas-Home, reviewed by Linda
Wilson
Violet Wells was abandoned as a baby. When she finds out that her mother
committed suicide just after giving birth, Violet is determined to learn as
much as she can about the woman who gave her up.

DEADLY HARVEST by Michael Stanley, reviewed by Chris Roberts
Samantha Khama, a new recruit to Botswana CID, takes the disappearance of
young girls seriously, especially when it appears that they may be ending
up in traditional medicine for those seeking power.

STREET SOLDIER by Andy McNab, reviewed by Linda Wilson
Tough teenager Sean Harker is up to his eyes in trouble and a spell in a
Young Offenders’ Institute looks like only digging him deeper in the mire,
but then an unexpected offer gives him the chance to turn his life around.

HONKY TONK SAMURAI by Joe R Lansdale, reviewed by Chris Roberts
When an old lady catches Hap and Leonard on camera assaulting a dog abuser,
they feel a little pressure to accede to her request that they investigate
the disappearance of her granddaughter.

A POISONOUS PLOT by Susanna Gregory, reviewed by John Cleal
Tensions between town and gown threaten full-scale warfare in 1350s
Cambridge as physician/corpse examiner Matthew Bartholomew and senior
proctor Brother Michael try to solve a series of murders and mysterious
deaths.

SKIN AND BONE by Robin Blake, reviewed by Linda Wilson
Preston Coroner Titus Cragg is called in when the body of a baby is
discovered in the town’s notorious tanning yard.

A DEATH AT FOUNTAINS ABBEY by Antonia Hodgson, reviewed by John Cleal
John Aislabie, one of the wealthiest and most hated men in England, has
been threatened with murder. Thomas Hawkins is blackmailed into
investigating and must hunt those responsible, or lose the woman he loves.

THE LONDON CAGE by Mark Leggatt, reviewed by Jim Beaman
Connor Montrose needs to take control of a secret weapon that could destroy
all the communications and defence systems of the world. Meanwhile the CIA
are on his trail and want him dead.

THE DETECTIVE AND THE DEVIL by Lloyd Shepherd, reviewed by John Cleal
Constable Charles Horton of the River Police investigates the brutal
killing of a clerk and his family in London’s East End and is drawn into
the secretive world of the East India Company.

BROKEN CHORD by Margaret Moore, reviewed by Sylvia Maughan
A brutal murder occurs in a family villa in Italy. With everyone under
suspicion the murky side of each character gradually unfolds. Will
Inspector Dragonetti be able to cut through all this to find the culprit?

BLACK ARTS by Andrew Prentice and Jonathan Weil, reviewed by John Barnbrook
Jack lives in Tudor London, in a secluded alley with his mother, until, on
the verge of entering life of organised crime, he encounters a world he did
not know existed, a world of red-handed priests, demons and magic.

THE MURDERER IN RUINS by Cay Rademacher, reviewed by Arnold Taylor
The body of a young woman is found hidden behind a wall in the wartime
rubble that used to be Hamburg. She has clearly been strangled but, that
apart, there are no clues.

THE SILENT ONES by William Broderick, reviewed by John Cleal
Father Anselm is approached by the head of a minor Order to trace a missing
priest who ran from a police station while being questioned over an
allegation of child abuse.

Best wishes

Sharon