Friday, July 03, 2020

Crime Review: Crime Review Update for 7/3/2020

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 Chris Whitaker in the Countdown hot seat:


We’re on Twitter at:

Crime Review: @CrimeReviewUK

Linda Wilson: @CrimeReviewer

Sharon Wheeler: @lartonmedia


This week’s reviews are:


SIX WICKED REASONS by Jo Spain, reviewed by John Cleal

A controlling father is murdered during a party on a yacht. All of his children, re-united for the occasion to celebrate his intended new marriage, have motives for revenge.


ROBERT B PARKER’S BLOOD FEUD by Mike Lupica, reviewed by Chris Roberts

Sunny Randall’s relationship with her ex Richie is on again, so when he gets shot you know she is going to do something about it.


THE CURATOR by MW Craven, reviewed by Linda Wilson

When body parts start turning up in Cumbria, National Crime Agency investigators DS Washington Poe and civilian analyst Tilly Bradshaw are called in to make sense of an increasingly complex puzzle.


THE OATH by Klaus-Peter Wolf, reviewed by Ewa Sherman

Former chief of police Ubbo Heide is enjoying a peaceful seaside retirement until a gruesome package containing a severed head turns up on his doorstep. Soon a headless body is found on the local beach. However, it is not just one victim.


A GOOD MAN by Ani Katz, reviewed by Kati Barr-Taylor

Thomas Martin is a caring, loving, reliable husband, father, son and brother. Until he isn’t.


BY FORCE ALONE by Lavie Tidhar, reviewed by John Cleal

A new and very different take on the Arthurian legend that combines detective novels and thrillers with poetry, science fiction, historicals, children’s stories and autobiographical works.



LONG RANGE by CJ Box, reviewed by Chris Roberts

Wyoming game warden Joe Pickett and hawk wrangler Nate Romanowski become entangled when the wife of a judge is killed by a sniper.


A CONSPIRACY OF BONES by Kathy Reichs, reviewed by Linda Wilson

Forensic anthropologist Dr Tempe Brennan is drawn deep into the murky world of conspiracy theorists and child abusers as she tries to unravel the mystery of a faceless corpse.


ASK ME NO QUESTIONS by Louisa de Lange, reviewed by Kati Barr-Taylor

Kate Munro is convinced it was more than a random attack that put a woman in a coma – and even more so when she finds out who the victim is.


IT WALKS BY NIGHT by John Dickson Carr, reviewed by John Cleal

Prefect of the Paris city police Henri Bencolin must solve the grisly murder of the Duc de Saligny at a fashionable Parisian gaming house.


BOBBY MARCH WILL LIVE FOR EVER by Alan Parks, reviewed by Chris Roberts

When a young Glasgow girl is abducted, detective Harry McCoy is sidelined by a rival who’s been given charge of the case.


THE HAVEN: DEADFALL by Simon Lelic, reviewed by Linda Wilson

Lily is missing. Ollie and the rest of the Haven’s council vow to get her back, no matter what the cost.


INTO THE DARK by Karen Rose, reviewed by Sylvia Maughan

A young abused boy tries to save his young brother from his stepfather whom he subsequently sees murdered. As a witness he then becomes a target.


FUGITIVE 13 by Rob Sinclair, reviewed by John Cleal

Aydin Torkal has spent a year on the run from western intelligence and the brotherhood of jihadi insurgents he betrayed. MI6 agent Rachel Cox, probably the only person who believes him an ally in the war on terror, receives a coded message from him warning her not to trust her own
colleagues and must choose between her career and the truth.


THE HARD STUFF by David Gordon, reviewed by Chris Roberts

A terrorist is in town with some top-quality smack for which he insists on payment in diamonds. Joe Brody intends to steal them – twice.


THE REUNION by Guillaume Musso, reviewed by Linda Wilson

A reunion at a high-end college in the French Riviera threatens to uncover secrets that some former pupils had hoped were long buried.



THE MISSING WIFE by Sam Carrington, reviewed by Kati Barr-Taylor

Sleep-deprived new mother Louisa can trust no one – not her husband, nor her best friend, and certainly not her ex.


PERDITION’S CHILD by Anne Coates, reviewed by John Cleal

Hannah Weybridge investigates the deaths of Australian men who have come to England to search for lost relatives.


THE MAN ON THE STREET by Trevor Wood, reviewed by Linda Wilson

When a homeless man sees the report of a woman’s search for her missing father, he thinks he might have been the only witness to a possible murder. The police don’t seem very interested in what he has to say, but the man’s daughter is desperate for help, so against his better judgment, Jimmy Mullen gets involved.


DEPARTING SHADOWS by Paul Charles, reviewed by Chris Roberts

DI Christie Kennedy investigates a hit-and-run outside the Gomorrhian Embassy and finds his path to the truth entangled in diplomatic complications.


Best wishes


Sharon and Linda


No comments: