38) The Spy and The Traitor by Ben MacIntyre This was recommended to me while we were on holiday by our friends Claire and Matt, who said it was "as good as a thriller, except it's real". And how right they were. It's an amazing tale of the most famous Russian mole who spied for… Continue reading Year 4 / Book 38: The Spy and the Traitor
Category: thriller
Year 4 / Book 35: The Liar
35) The Liar by Steve Cavanagh I’ve read a couple of books by Steve Cavanagh (The Defence and Thirteen) and I like the cut of his authorial jib. The main hero of his legal thrillers, Eddie Flynn, is a likeable ruffian with a Perry Mason-esque ability to make things happen in the courtroom, whilst having… Continue reading Year 4 / Book 35: The Liar
Year 4 / Book 33: The Chain
33) The Chain by Adrian McKinty I’d never heard of Adrian McKinty, but I’d seen this book rocket up the bestselling charts, and wondered about it. And then, what do you know, someone had left the hardback in the place we were staying - thank you mystery person in mid-to-South France. Because it was great… Continue reading Year 4 / Book 33: The Chain
Year 4 / Book 32: Blood Orange
32) Blood Orange by Harriet Tyce This one had been lying dormant on the Kindle for a while, and a holiday seemed as good a time as any to see whether it was as thrilling as some of the reviews had suggested. It’s a bit like Anatomy of a Scandal or Apple Tree Yard meets… Continue reading Year 4 / Book 32: Blood Orange
Year 4 / Book 31: Past Tense
31) Past Tense by Lee Child Yes folks, it’s Jack Reacher time. I think I’ve been reading these at a steady one a year for a long time now - someone in Acton generally buys the most recent one and leaves it in May/June time at the station community bookshelf: which is how this beauty… Continue reading Year 4 / Book 31: Past Tense
Year 4 / Book 25: London Rules
25) London Rules by Mick Herron If you like spy thrillers or crime, and also enjoy a wry smile and some sharp, sardonic wit, then you have probably already read the first four of the Mick Herron-penned Slough House series. At this point, reading one of these feels like the literary equivalent of having a… Continue reading Year 4 / Book 25: London Rules
Year 4 / Book 23: IQ
23) IQ by Joe Ide This crime thriller has been tucked away in the depths of the Kindle for a while: I bought it having read a review (I forget where) that basically said it showcased the arrival of a hip-hop Sherlock Homes for the 21st century . Which, at worst, sounded like it might… Continue reading Year 4 / Book 23: IQ
Year 4 / Book 20: Girl Zero
20) Girl Zero by A A Dhand Back into police procedural land, and into the world of A A Dhand and his creation, Harry Virdee. The world in question is Bradford, which makes a refreshing change from London or, at a push, Edinburgh, where I often feel like most fictional crime in the UK seems… Continue reading Year 4 / Book 20: Girl Zero
Year 4 / Book 17: Dying Fall
17) Dying Fall by Elly Griffiths I've read quite a few books by Elly Griffiths over the last couple of years, and they are pretty uniformly entertaining. Whilst mildly undemanding on the whole, the main characters are what raises her books above the norm a little - Ruth Galloway is a forensic archaeologist and single… Continue reading Year 4 / Book 17: Dying Fall
Year 4 / Book 10: My Sister, the Serial Killer
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
Dog-eared Man: a book a week 