New Issue of Crime Review

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 George Mann in the Countdown hot seat:
http://crimereview.co.uk/page.php/interview/5618

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

This week’s reviews are:

HARRY POTTER: A HISTORY OF MAGIC by The British Library, reviewed by Linda
Wilson
The companion volume to the British Library exhibition which marks the 20th
anniversary of the publication of the first of the Harry Potter books.

THE BUTTERFLY TATTOO by Philip Pullman, reviewed by John Barnbrook
Chris Marshall has a part-time job working for the Oxford Entertainment
Company, in the town where he lives. As a result, while working at a
college ball, he encounters and helps a beautiful girl and their lives
become interlinked.

NEVERMOOR: THE TRIALS OF MORRIGAN CROW by Jessica Townsend, reviewed by
Linda Wilson
Morrigan Crow has been on the Cursed Children’s register from birth and is
fated to die at midnight on her 11th birthday. But she is given a second
chance by the enigmatic Jupiter North.

AN ENGLISH MURDER by Cyril Hare, reviewed by John Cleal
In the cut-off ancestral home of Warbeck Hall, the dying Lord assembles his
closest relatives for what will be their last Christmas together. One is
murdered and it falls to another guest to find out why.

A MAIGRET CHRISTMAS by Georges Simenon, reviewed by Arnold Taylor
Three Simenon short stories, set at Christmas.

THE DEATHS OF DECEMBER by Susi Holliday, reviewed by Kati Barr-Taylor
When an advent calendar arrives at the police station, it’s the beginning
of a murderous lead-up to Christmas.

PORTRAIT OF A MURDERER by Anne Meredith, reviewed by John Cleal
Adrian Gray was an unpleasant man, greedy, capricious, bullying. Each of
his six children had reason to want him dead. During their annual Christmas
visit to his lonely manor house, one of them acts.

PERSONS UNKNOWN by Susie Steiner, reviewed by Kati Barr-Taylor
A man dies with one name in his mind – Saskia. But was she his lover or his
murderer? 

THE ROOSTER BAR by John Grisham, reviewed by Chris Roberts
Law students Mark, Todd and Zola are struggling under a mountain of debt.
Realising they have been scammed, they start looking for payback.

THE BUTCHERS OF BERLIN by Chris Petit, reviewed by Arnold Taylor
An old man shoots and kills an apartment block warden and then himself.
When it turns out that he was Jewish and when other, apparently linked,
murders begin to occur, the Berlin police force comes under pressure.

WILD CHAMBER by Christopher Fowler, reviewed by Sylvia Maughan
A small boy dies following an incident in a road tunnel. A gardener sees a
murder in a London park. Inspectors Bryant & May work against the clock to
find out what connects the events.

DARK WATER by Parker Bilal, reviewed by Chris Roberts
Exiled policeman Mekana is induced to visit Istanbul to help British
Intelligence prevent a chemical warfare specialist falling into the hands
of a dangerous terrorist.

THE SECRET HISTORY OF TWIN PEAKS by Mark Frost, reviewed by Ewa Sherman
The co-creator of the landmark TV series Twin Peaks brings more information
and mystery from the iconic fictional town.

THE LAST BEST FRIEND by George Sims, reviewed by Chris Roberts
Literary dealer Ned Balfour gets a telegram from his friend Sammy Weiss
imploring for help with a terrible decision. The next thing Ned hears is
that Sammy is dead.

DEATH MAKES A PROPHET by John Bude, reviewed by John Cleal
The cult of Coo, a quasi-Egyptian religion, is riven by jealousies, greed
and ambition which lead to murder.

ROCCO AND THE NIGHTINGALE by Adrian Magson, reviewed by Linda Wilson
Inspector Lucas Rocco has to investigate a murder on his patch, as well as
provide protection for someone the Interior Ministry wants kept alive.

FREEFALL by Adam Hamdy, reviewed by Jim Beaman
The death of a journalist triggers an investigation, but a police
detective, an FBI agent and a photographer are soon caught up in a wider
conspiracy.

TRENT’S LAST CASE by EC Bentley, reviewed by Kate Balfour
A wealthy, unpopular American magnate is found dead in the grounds of his
English country house. Amateur detective Philip Trent suspects murder, not
suicide.

FOX HUNTER by Zoe Sharp, reviewed by Linda Wilson
Charlie Fox is on the trail of her former lover and ex-boss Sean Meyer who
appears to have gone on a murderous rampage, targeting the men who brought
Charlie’s army career to a brutal end.

BLACK DAHLIA, RED ROSE by Piu Eatwell, reviewed by Kim Fleet
America’s infamous murder of a young woman in 1947 comes under the
spotlight.

Season's greetings.

Sharon