10) My Sister, The Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite Well this was quite a gear-change from anything else this year. I described it to my wife Katie as like a Netflix crime series spliced up for the millennial generation and repackaged into chapters. It is dark, darkly funny, funnily disturbing and disturbingly dark; not necessarily… Continue reading Year 4 / Book 10: My Sister, the Serial Killer
Category: thriller
Year 4 / Book 8: The Hunting Party
8) The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley I was excited about reading this; a bit of light, crime relief after some heavier reading. The premise was good too: a bunch of posh-ish friends going away for New Year's in a secluded country house somewhere in Scotland, and then a body is found as they find… Continue reading Year 4 / Book 8: The Hunting Party
Year 4 / Book 7: Ghost Wall
7) Ghost Wall by Sarah Moss This came from the Christmas pile of gifted books, and was added to the list after reading multiple positive reviews in the 'books of the year' round-ups. And bloody hell, does this book deserve it - it's an absolutely compelling novella, which gripped me from start to frenzied finish.… Continue reading Year 4 / Book 7: Ghost Wall
Year 4 / Book 5: Brothers in Blood
5) Brothers in Blood by Amer Anwar This is a fast-paced thriller in which we are introduced to Zaq Khan (and later his friend Jags), who is plunged into the middle of a family feud which escalates rapidly into a tale that is darker, more violent and more complex than it first appeared. I struggled… Continue reading Year 4 / Book 5: Brothers in Blood
Year 4 / Book 2: Force of Nature
2) Force of Nature by Jane Harper I very much enjoyed Jane Harper's runaway bestseller The Dry (see my review of that from Year 2) with its tale of small-town murder in a parched, drought-ridden Australia. This follow-up, Force of Nature, finds the same policeman (Aaron Falk) working in the finance department, tracking down money… Continue reading Year 4 / Book 2: Force of Nature
Year 3 / Book 52: The Defenceless
52) The Defenceless by Kati Hiekkapelto Holidaying in Helsinki, and for my final book of Year 3 of Dogeared Man, I wanted to read a Finnish novel and remembered I had downloaded this many moons ago on to the Kindle. It’s the second novel by Hiekkapelto to feature Anna Fekete, a policewoman whose origins lie… Continue reading Year 3 / Book 52: The Defenceless
Year 3 / Book 51: The Midnight Line
51) The Midnight Line by Lee Child It wouldn’t be a year of reading if I didn’t slip in a cheeky Lee Child along the way. This was the latest that I’ve read (I know there are others already released) and I would place it firmly in the upper middle of the Jack Reacher canon… Continue reading Year 3 / Book 51: The Midnight Line
Year 3 / Book 49: East of Hounslow
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
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
