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 James Swallow 

in the Countdown hot seat:
http://crimereview.co.uk/page.php/interview/3969

We’re on Twitter at:
Crime Review: @CrimeReviewUK
Linda Wilson: @CrimeReviewer
Sharon Wheeler: @lartonmedia

This week’s reviews are:
FADE TO BLACK by Steve Mullins, reviewed by John Cleal
The apparent return from the dead of a cult film icon forces media man Root
Wilson – who wrote his obituary – to search for the truth. A series of
twists ensure Root becomes a suspect for murder himself – as well as a
possible next victim.

DIRTY WAR by Dominique Sylvain, reviewed by Arnold Taylor
An up and coming Parisian lawyer is found murdered - burned alive next to a
swimming pool in Paris. Lola Jost, whose assistant was murdered in a
similar fashion, feels she has to see if there is any link between the two
deaths.

WE WERE KINGS by Thomas O’Malley and Douglas Graham Purdy, reviewed by
Chris Roberts
The discovery of a body in Boston harbour, tarred, feathered and shot, is
just the beginning of a savage struggle during a hot and humid summer.

DARK CORNERS by Ruth Rendell, reviewed by Sharon Wheeler
Carl, a young writer, sells a friend some slimming pills which
inadvertently cause her death – then blackmail and murder follow.

FOLLOW ME BACK by Nicci Cloke, reviewed by Linda Wilson
Lizzie Summersall has disappeared and it’s the talk of the school.

GHOSTS OF KARNAK by George Mann, reviewed by Linda Wilson
The vigilante known as the Ghost must take on some seemingly unstoppable
man-machine hybrids and battle a mysterious cult determined to bring a pair
of ancient Egyptian gods back to power.

THE REDEEMERS by Ace Atkins, reviewed by Chris Roberts
Sheriff Quinn Colson resigns, but still becomes involved when a burglary
becomes complicated by the shooting of a deputy, and a battle to retrieve
some very revealing financial records.

EDGAR ALLAN POE AND THE LONDON MONSTER by Karen Lee Street, reviewed by
John Cleal
Edgar Allan Poe summons his detective friend C Auguste Dupin to London to
solve a mystery.

THE BLOGGER by James Raven, reviewed by Linda Wilson
When a popular blogger falls to his death, DCI Jeff Temple and his team
have to weather the inevitable media storm.

 FEAR THE DARKNESS by Becky Masterman, reviewed by John Cleal
Retired FBI undercover agent Brigid Quinn is settling into marriage and a
slower life as a private investigator. When she reluctantly takes on a case
of what looks like accidental drowning, her world turn upside down.

BLACK WATER LILIES by Michael Bussi, reviewed by Jim Beaman
Set in the home village of the artist Claude Monet, it’s the story of 13
days that begin with a murder and end with another. What is the connection
with rumours about a painting of black water lilies?

A CLIMATE OF FEAR by Fred Vargas, reviewed by John Barnbrook
A woman is thought to have committed suicide in her bath but Commissaire
Adamsberg refuses to be convinced. Further apparent suicides, linked by the
drawing of a strange symbol convince the investigating team that they are
pursuing a serial killer.

MAIGRET’S DEAD MAN by Georges Simenon, reviewed by Arnold Taylor
Maigret has to choose whether to believe a woman who thinks everybody is
trying to poison her and a man who rings him out of the blue, asking for
his immediate help.

THE HIDDED LEGACY by GJ Minett, reviewed by Linda Wilson
The death of one girl and the mutilation of another leaves a lasting and
painful legacy that can’t remain buried for ever.

CORRIDORS OF THE NIGHT by Anne Perry, reviewed by Sylvia Maughan
Hester Monk is working in a local hospital one night when a small girl
accosts her and begs Hester to follow her down an unfamiliar corridor. What
Hester finds is quite shocking.

RECIPES FOR LOVE AND MURDER by Sally Andrew, reviewed by Anthea Hawdon
Tannie Maria runs a cooking and agony aunt column in her local newspaper,
the Klein Karoo Gazette. When a correspondent is found killed Tannie must
put all her common sense and cooking skills to find the murderer.

THE BLOOD STRAND by Chris Ould, reviewed by Ewa Sherman
Jan Reyna, a British police detective, returns to the Faroe Islands where
he was born when his estranged father is found unconscious in a car, with a
shotgun by his side. Traces of someone else’s blood are found at the scene.

THE GIRL IN GREEN by Derek B Miller, reviewed by John Cleal
Journalist Thomas Benton is persuaded by ex-US soldier Arwood Hobbes to
return to the Middle East to atone for their failure to save a girl in the
aftermath of Operation Desert Storm 20 years before.

PROMISES OF BLOOD by David Thorne, reviewed by Chris Roberts
Lawyer Daniel O’Connell is distracted from a client’s unusual bequest when
his friend Gabe is accused of a knifing, a crime he strongly denies.

MISSING PIECES by Helen Gudenkauf, reviewed by John Cleal
Journalist Sarah Quinlan investigates a decades old mystery that has forced
her husband to live a lie.

Best wishes

Sharon
www.crimereview.co.uk