49) East of Hounslow by Khurrum Rahman If there’s one word I wasn’t expecting to use to describe a “drug-dealer turned spy to infiltrate terrorist cell” story, and that word is *fun*. But this book by Khurrum Rahman is enormous fun - indeed, one could even use the word rollicking. It rattles along at a… Continue reading Year 3 / Book 49: East of Hounslow
Category: crime
Year 3 / Book 48: Anatomy of a Scandal
48) Anatomy of a Scandal by Sarah Vaughan If you've read Apple Tree Yard by Louise Doughty or The Party by Elizabeth Day, then you may well enjoy this book, as it struck me as a combination of the two - the courtroom drama and scandal of the former, mingled with the party politics and… Continue reading Year 3 / Book 48: Anatomy of a Scandal
Year 3 / Book 47: A Rising Man
47) A Rising Man by Abir Mukherjee This is the first of the series of Sam Wyndham novels by Mukherjee, and they've been on my list for a while, after they won a few crime prizes way back when. There's another two in the series that have been published since, so I have some catching… Continue reading Year 3 / Book 47: A Rising Man
Year 3 / Book 46: A Climate of Fear
46) A Climate of Fear by Fred Vargas I love the Commissaire Adamsberg books by Fred Vargas: they are amongst the most engaging, intriguing, bizarre and unusual crime series out there, and this is another great addition (number 8) to the collection. This one manages to combine a mystery involving a historical association (linked to… Continue reading Year 3 / Book 46: A Climate of Fear
Year 3 / Book 43: Thirteen
43) Thirteen by Steve Cavanagh If there is a finer strapline on the front of a book this year than "The serial killer's not on trial....he's on the jury", then I will be surprised. And that pulled me in to read this page-turner from Steve Cavanagh which doesn't disappoint. Well, it disappoints if you are… Continue reading Year 3 / Book 43: Thirteen
Year 3 / Book 41: Snap
41) Snap by Belinda Bauer I've been a Belinda Bauer fan for a while, having read Blacklands, Finders Keepers, and Rubbernecker, all of which I found to be a cut above the normal crime fiction - primarily because of truly gripping plots and a darkness combined with believability which other authors can't achieve. So I… Continue reading Year 3 / Book 41: Snap
Year 3 / Book 40: You Were Never Really Here
40) You Were Never Really Here by Jonathan Ames Sometimes life seems to set you up to read a particular book, regardless of whether it had been on your mind to or not. Such is the case with this short hard-boiled crime novel from Jonathan Ames - I'd picked it up from the bookshare outside… Continue reading Year 3 / Book 40: You Were Never Really Here
Year 3 / Book 35: The Intrusions
35) The Intrusions by Stav Sherez Towards the end of last year, I discovered Stav Sherez's Carrigan and Miller series, and ended up reading the first two in the series, A Dark Redemption and Eleven Days which I thoroughly enjoyed. I've been saving up the third instalment, The Intrusions as a summer holiday treat, and I'm delighted… Continue reading Year 3 / Book 35: The Intrusions
Year 3 / Book 34: Sins As Scarlet
34) Sins As Scarlet by Nicolas Obregon I much enjoyed Obregon's debut Blue Light Yokahama and at the end of that review, I said "keep an eye out for Obregon's next novel". And here we are with Sins As Scarlet, which brings the same lead protagonist-detective, Kosuke Iwata, but is set in Los Angeles rather… Continue reading Year 3 / Book 34: Sins As Scarlet
Year 3 / Book 33: A Quiet Flame
33) A Quiet Flame by Philip Kerr I'm slowly working my way through Philip Kerr's wonderful Bernie Gunther novels, which combine a Chandler-esque wit with the perils and history of 1930s-40s (Nazi) Germany. As I wrote in a previous review, Kerr very sadly died earlier this year, which is all the more reason (as far… Continue reading Year 3 / Book 33: A Quiet Flame
Dog-eared Man: a book a week 