Monday, December 21, 2020

Crime Review Update: New Issue of Crime Review for 12/21/2020

Here’s our final issue of 2020. Season’s greetings to everyone and thanks for all your support. We’ll see you in the new year …

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 Craig Robertson in the Countdown hot seat: http://crimereview.co.uk/page.php/interview/8969

We’re on Twitter at:

Crime Review: @CrimeReviewUK

Linda Wilson: @CrimeReviewer

Sharon Wheeler: @lartonmedia

 

This week’s reviews are:

 

THE THURSDAY MURDER CLUB by Richard Osman, reviewed by Viv Beeby

The Thursday Murder Club meet once a week in the Jigsaw Room at Coopers Chase luxury retirement village - to keep their brain cells working by 'solving' cases from long ago.  But when the members witness real-life murder, they employ all the tricks of their former trades in the race to solve a series of brutal killings.

 

THE FEY AND THE FURIOUS by Ben Aaronovitch and Andrew Cartmel, reviewed by Linda Wilson

Peter Grant is roped into the fast, dangerous world of illegal street racing, and thrust into a world he has absolutely no desire to visit again.

 

SHERLOCK: THE COMPLETE SERIES ONE BOXSET by Steven Moffat, Mark Gatiss, Steve Thompson and Jay, reviewed by Sharon Wheeler

The BBC’s adaptation of Sherlock Holmes gets the manga treatment in this boxset that includes The Great Game, The Blind Banker and A Study in Pink.

 

GALLOWS ROCK by Yrsa Sigurðardóttir, reviewed by Ewa Sherman

Detective Huldar and child psychologist Freya join forces again to work on a complicated case where a banker is found hanging from Gallows Rock, an ancient execution place, and a ysterious small boy is in the man’s luxurious empty flat.

 

MIDNIGHT AT MALABAR HOUSE by Vaseem Khan, reviewed by Chris Roberts

In an India still adjusting to independence, a junior female detective is assigned to investigate the murder of a prominent English diplomat.

 

ALEX RIDER: THE GRAPHIC NOVEL COLLECTION by Anthony Horowitz and Antony Johnson, reviewed by Linda Wilson

The first five Alex Rider books in graphic novel format plunge the reluctant teenage spy into a variety of dangerous missions.

 

THE BURYING GROUND by David Mark, reviewed by John Cleal

Disgraced academic Cordelia Hemlock is in the graveyard of a village in the shadow of Hadrian’s Wall when a storm brings down a tree which crushes a mausoleum, revealing a fresh corpse among the crumbling bones.

 

THE MARCH FALLEN by Volker Kutscher, reviewed by Chris Roberts

Gereon Rath and his fiancée Charley Ritter tackle a series of murders involving ex-servicemen, as the Nazis consolidate their grip on Germany.

 

DEAR CHILD by Romy Hausmann, reviewed by Kati Barr-Taylor

Hannah and her mother Lena have escaped hell. But Lena is injured, and the world around Hannah is alien and terrifying.

 

THE DANCE OF THE SERPENTS by Oscar de Muriel, reviewed by John Cleal

Paranormal investigators Inspectors Frey and McGray find their lives under threat by Royal order in a Gothic world of blood, bats, folklore, superstition and murder.

 

THE WINDSOR KNOT by SJ Bennett, reviewed by Linda Wilson

When a visitor to Windsor Castle is found dead in suspicious circumstances, everyone hopes the investigation can be wrapped up before it hits the press. But when the police and MI5 seem no nearer to a solution, the Queen has to take time out of her day job to make some enquiries of her own.

 

THE MESSAGE by Mai Jia, reviewed by Chris Roberts

Crucial information is leaked from a wartime intelligence unit. There follows a battle of wits between ‘Ghost’, who leaked the intelligence, and the man sent to uncover Ghost’s true identity.

 

THE DEVIL AND THE DARK WATER by Stuart Turton, reviewed by John Cleal

Does the devil haunt a ship bound from Indonesia to Holland? Soldier Arent Hayes must find out.

 

LOST by Leona Deakin, reviewed by Linda Wilson

Naval officer Captain Harry Peterson is caught up in a terrorist bomb blast and goes missing for three days. Psychologist August Bloom is called in by Peterson’s girlfriend to investigate. When he’s found, he’s lost all memory of the last few years.

 

ONE DARK, TWO LIGHT by Ruth Mancini, reviewed by Chris Roberts

Solicitor Sarah Kellerman discovers a police sergeant in a critical care ward, apparently unidentified. When her client is questioned about the officer’s injuries, Sarah has suspicions about the police accusations.

 

ANGOLA by Fabien Nury, reviewed by Linda Wilson

Tough anti-hero Tyler Cross accepts a job in the ultimate profit-making prison, Angola. His chances of getting out again don’t look good, but Tyler doesn’t give up easily.

 

WHEN HELL STRUCK TWELVE by James R Benn, reviewed by John Cleal

Boston detective Billy Boyle is on the track of a French traitor betraying the Resistance movement in the run-up to the liberation of Paris.

 

THREE by DA Mishani, reviewed by Kati Barr-Taylor

Orna, Emilia and Ella have questions and insecurities, causing each of them to turn to Gil. And he may have all the answers, but Gil is a liar.

 

BLACK SOULS by Gioacchino Criaco, reviewed by Sylvia Maughan 

Three boys born into poverty in southern Italy stay together as they grow up and eventually make a lot of money in the big cities in the north of the country. But it comes at a cost.

 

SAVE ME FROM DANGEROUS MEN by SA Lelchuk, reviewed by John Cleal 

Private investigator Nikki Griffin takes an apparently run-of-the mill case involving tech secrets, which snowballs into murder, involvement with the FBI, and a team of hitmen.

 

Best wishes

 

Sharon and Linda 

www.crimereview.co.uk

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