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 Muhammad Khan in
the Countdown hot seat:
We’re on Twitter at:
Crime Review:
@CrimeReviewUK
Linda Wilson:
@CrimeReviewer
Sharon Wheeler:
@lartonmedia
This week’s reviews are:
PAST TENSE by Lee Child,
reviewed by Sylvia Maughan
Jack Reacher happens upon
the home town of his long-deceased father. Patty and Shorty’s car breaks down
near an isolated motel in the same area. After a long, eventful time for all
concerned they separately arrive at the same place – a dark, isolated forest.
THE BODY IN THE CASTLE WELL
by Martin Walker, reviewed by Linda Wilson
When the body of a rich and
well-connected American art student is found down a well in the grounds of a
castle, Bruno, Chief of Police, must work out whether she fell or was pushed.
THE ELEPHANT OF SURPRISE by
Joe R Lansdale, reviewed by Chris Roberts
Crime-fighters Hap and
Leonard rescue a girl targeted by the Dixie Mafia and battle to protect her in
the middle of one of the worst storms seen in East Texas for years.
THE LIBRARIAN OF AUSCHWITZ
by Antonio Iturbe, reviewed by John Cleal
The part-fictionalised
story of Czech-Jewish schoolgirl Dita Polachova who spent years in the horror
of Auschwitz-Birkenau where she administered a small library of smuggled books
in the world’s strangest school.
ELEVATION by Stephen King,
reviewed by Madeleine Marsh
A man in the small town of
Castle Rock is losing weight but not mass.
WOLF PACK by CJ Box,
reviewed by Chris Roberts
Joe Pickett is re-installed
as game warden for Wyoming’s Twelve Sleep County, and takes action against a
drone operator, which brings him into conflict with the FBI and a team of killers
known as the Wolf Pack.
THE SCANDAL by Mari Hannah,
reviewed by Linda Wilson
A stabbing in Newcastle
city centre comes as a shock to DS Frankie Oliver when the victim turns out to
be someone she knows.
THE TRUTH WAITS by Susanna
Beard, reviewed by Kati Barr-Taylor
When Anna discovers the
body of a young girl on a deserted beach in Lithuania, her perfect life begins
to unravel.
MURDER IN
BELGRAVIA by Lynn Britney, reviewed by John Cleal
A
dissolute Irish aristocrat is stabbed in his own bedroom. His wife refuses to
talk to a male officer. Chief Inspector Peter Beech and his specially-formed
team must sift the criminal underworld of World War 1 London to find the truth.
TWISTED
PREY by John Sandford, reviewed by Chris Roberts
When US
Congressman Porter Smalls’ car is forced off the road, local law enforcement
are not persuaded it was intentional. But Smalls knows Lucas Davenport, who he
trusts to find the truth.
A GIRL
CALLED JUSTICE by Elly Griffiths, reviewed by Linda Wilson
When
Justice Jones arrives at her new boarding school, she fully expects to hate it,
but then she discovers there’s a murder to get her teeth into, and suddenly
things don’t seem quite so grim.
FOR THE
MISSING by Lina Bengtsdotter, reviewed by Ewa Sherman
Detective
Inspector Charlie Lager is sent from Stockholm to investigate the disappearance
of teenager Annabelle in Gullspång. She dreads being back in her small home
town, full of quiet despondence and ghosts from the dark past but must deal
with the case and her own anxiety.
THE BLUE
by Nancy Bilyeau, reviewed by John Cleal
Huguenot-descended
Genevieve Planché longs to be an artist but is sent to become a porcelain
decorator and becomes involved with industrial espionage that may aid England’s
enemy.
THE
RHYTHM SECTION by Mark Burnell, reviewed by Arnold Taylor
Stephanie
Patrick loses almost all her family – father, mother, brother and sister – to a
terrorist bomb on an aircraft. Her entire life disintegrates and she becomes a
prostitute. When she is presented with an opportunity to get her revenge
on the bomber, she is quick to grasp it.
GOLDEN
STATE by Ben H Winters, reviewed by John Barnbrook
In Golden
State the most serious offence is to lie – punishable by exile. Specially-skilled
Speculators are sensitive to lies and seek out liars. Such talents make it
difficult for a Speculator who suspects that the State is lying.
RATHER TO
BE PITIED by Jan Newton, reviewed by John Cleal
DS Julie
Kite, settling into her new job in rural Wales, is faced with a murder mystery
which will test her abilities to the full.
BETTY
CHURCH AND THE SUFFOLK VAMPIRE (audiobook) by MRC Kasasian, reviewed
by Linda
Wilson
Inspector
Betty Church is not pleased to be posted to the sleepy backwater town in
Suffolk where she grew up, but when a murder enlivens Sackwater, Betty is
promptly in her element again.
AMONG THE
RUINS by Ausma Zehenat Khan, reviewed by Chris Roberts
Canadian
policeman Esa Khattak is on holiday in Iran when he receives an unofficial
request to investigate the murder of a political filmmaker.
GIVE UP
THE DEAD by CB Hanley, reviewed by John Cleal
Edwin
Weaver joins the contingent of William de Warenne, earl of Surrey, as it
marches for the Kent coast to prevent the reinforcement of Prince Louis’ invading
French army. When a series of suspicious ‘accidents’ puts the earl’s life in
danger, he soon realises the enemy is closer at hand.
THE
COLOUR OF THE SUN by David Almond, reviewed by Linda Wilson
It’s not
every day of the summer holidays that you get to see a dead body. And it’s not
every day that you think you know the killer.
Best
wishes
Sharon
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