New Poll - Violence

I just finished listening to Open Book from a couple of editions ago, the one that featured NJ Cooper and Tania Carver (Martyn Waites).

Publishers apparently wanted a UK equivalent to the best-selling US female writers who have a high violence content in their books such as Chelsea Cain and Karin Slaughter and Martyn Waites said that he could do that. He has now co-written with his wife, The Surrogate and The Creeper. Publishers believe that women love to read about violence against women, written by women. So, what do you think? I've put a poll on the top-right of the blog, to see if you agree or disagree with that statement.

Book & TV News: Luther

Though I only made it through 1 episode of Luther, it seems to have been popular enough for more episodes and spin-off books. From The Bookseller:

Neil Cross, author and creator of BBC1's crime series "Luther" is to write three spin-off novels for Simon & Schuster.

The first of the three novels will be a prequel to the TV series, revealing the story behind the case that drove Luther to the edge, destroyed his marriage and nearly cost him his job. It will be titled Luther: The Calling; the other titles are tbc.

The first series of "Luther", starring Idris Elba, aired on BBC1 in May 2010. It has since been syndicated in over 10 territories. At an Edinburgh Television Festival event yesterday [30th August], BBC One Controller Jay Hunt announced that "Luther" will return in 2011, with two two-hour specials.

S&S is planning a "major" hardback launch of the first Luther novel in August 2011. The publisher will continue to publish Cross' non-Luther novels.

Read the whole article here.

TV News: Sherlock S2 & DVD

The BBC has released more information about the recommissioning of Sherlock:

Following a highly successful launch with over 7.5m viewers watching the first episode in July 2010, Sherlock returns for three new 90-minute episodes in Autumn 2011

"Sherlock was the hit of the Summer."

Talking of the Sherlock recommission, co-creators, Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat, say: "We've been overwhelmed by the warmth of response to our new Sherlock Holmes and John Watson and can't wait to take them on three new adventures next year. There'll be baffling new puzzles, old friends and new enemies – whether on two, or four legs. And we might well be seeing the cold master of logic and reason unexpectedly falling. But in love? Or over a precipice? Who can tell?"

In the meantime the DVD of the first series of Sherlock is available to buy today, online price is around £13. The special features include an unaired 60 minute pilot.

Special Features

60 minute pilot episode

Commentaries:
Episode One - Steven Moffat, Mark Gatiss, Sue Vertue

Episode Three - Benedict Cumberbatch, Martin Freeman, Mark Gatiss

Synopsis:
A contemporary take on the classic Arthur Conan Doyle stories, Sherlock is a thrilling, funny, fast-paced adventure series set in present-day London. Co-created by Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss, Sherlock stars Benedict Cumberbatch as the new Sherlock Holmes and Martin Freeman as his loyal friend, Doctor John Watson. Rupert Graves plays Inspector Lestrade.

John Watson: doctor, soldier, war hero, lost soul. Fresh from fighting the war in Afghanistan, a chance encounter brings him into the world of Sherlock Holmes: loner, detective, genius. A woman in pink lies murdered in an abandoned house. The fifth victim of a seemingly motiveless killer. Inspector Lestrade is the best Scotland Yard has got. But he knows he’s nothing compared to a young man called Sherlock. Sherlock can tell a software designer by his tie, an airline pilot by his thumb. He has a unique analytical brain unlike anyone else in the world, who earns his living and staves off boredom by solving crimes. The weirder and more baffling the better…

The two men couldn’t be more different, but Sherlock’s inspired leaps of intellect coupled with John’s pragmatism soon forge an unbreakable alliance. Across three, 90 minute, thrilling, scary, action-packed and highly entertaining television movies, Sherlock and John navigate a maze of cryptic clues and lethal killers to get at the truth.

The world’s favourite detective has come out of the fog. With sparkling scripts and unforgettable performances from the two leads, this is Sherlock for a new generation.

New Reviews: Cregan, Desai, Kitson, Nesser, Pears, Staincliffe

Two competitions for August and one is open internationally closes 31st:
Win one of three sets of Lockdown and Deadlock by Sean Black (Worldwide)
Win one of five copies of Inspector Cataldo's Criminal Summer by Luigi Guicciardi, tr Iain Halliday (UK & Europe)

Here are this week's reviews, which include several novels which, though crime-related you may have to hunt in the fiction section for...:

Paul Blackburn reviews the urban gothic thriller, The Levels by Sean Cregan, which is set on the East Coast of America;

Maxine Clarke goes to India in Kishwar Desai's Witness the Night writing that "Although the book does not hold up too well as a crime novel, it is excellent";

Amanda Brown reviews Bill Kitson's second DI Mike Nash book, Chosen concluding that it's "a good addition to the rich wealth of British crime fiction";

Geoff Jones review the latest paperback release in Hakan Nesser's "absorbing series" - Woman With Birthmark, tr. Laurie Thompson;

Terry Halligan reviews the lengthy Stone's Fall by Iain Pears writing "this is historical fiction par excellence"

and I review Cath Staincliffe's The Kindest Thing which technically has a crime in it but is more about love and loss (hankies may be required).

Previous reviews can be found in the review archive and forthcoming titles can be found by author or date, here.

TV Cover for Aftermath

Spotted yesterday in Waterstone's: Peter Robinson's Aftermath has been reissued with Stephen Tompkinson as Banks on the cover. No news yet of the transmission date of this ITV series.

Crime Writers on Open Book

The current edition of Radio 4's Open Book has a plethora of crime writers in it:

Dreda Say Mitchell talks to former bookseller Tim Waterstone about his new novel. Writer Fay Weldon discusses how she has used Maori myths in her new book. And crime writers NJ Cooper and Tania Carver* explain why they have been encouraged to write under names which mask their real gender.

You can listen again or download the podcast.

N J Cooper=Natasha Cooper
Tania Carver=Martyn Waites and wife

Mark Billingham will be on the next show (Sunday).

TV News: Dirk Gently

It appears that a pilot episode of Douglas Adams's Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency is being made for BBC Four. From the BBC's press-release:

Dirk Gently

Anti-hero Dirk Gently operates his eponymous detective agency based on the "fundamental interconnectedness of all things." He is lazy, untidy, dismissive, an awful boss and his methods verge on the criminal.

When Dirk sets out to solve an apparently simple and harmless disappearance of a cat from an old lady's house, he unwittingly uncovers a double murder which, in turn, leads to a host of even more extraordinary events.

From the author of Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, Douglas Adams, this one-off pilot of Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency is adapted by Bafta-award winning Howard Overman (Misfits). It is the first time this celebrated character has appeared on screen.

Jo Nesbo on Front Row

Mark Lawson recently interviewed Jo Nesbo on Front Row. You can hear the 8 minute piece from the 22nd minute in, on the Front Row page.

Jo Nesbo's bibliography.

Other Norwegian crime writers available in English.

Trailer Thursday - Deathtrap

I mentioned the play Deathtrap a few weeks ago. There's now an extended trailer, see below.

The play opens on 7th September at the Noel Coward Theatre.

TV News: Law and Order UK

From the ITV press release issued today:

LAW & ORDER: UK – SERIES 3

The cream of British acting talent are back together for the third series of the hugely successful ‘Law & Order: UK’. Series 1 and 2 have proved a huge hit with viewers, averaging 5.9 million viewers an episode. The programme covers diverse storylines taken from the original hit US series but all with a distinctly British perspective. Now the teams are back to solve more perplexing crimes and bring the perpetrators to justice.

BRADLEY WALSH is DS Ronnie Brooks, a real East End, copper’s copper, friend and partner to the charming DS Matt Devlin, JAMIE BAMBER whose approach to policing is part seduction part force. Both report to DI Natalie Chandler, HARRIET WALTER, a working mum who would back them to the end.

While the CPS team comprises BEN DANIELS as dedicated Senior Crown Prosecutor James Steel, a man on a mission for justice; FREEMA AGYEMAN , as hard working, strong-willed young prosecutor Alesha Phillips; and BILL PATERSON as their respected boss CPS director George Castle, a man trying to balance his ideals with the bigger picture.

The new cases faced by the teams are even more compelling and shocking then those featured in previous series. They include: a toddler being led to his death, a 16 year old girl found dead in her home in the middle of the afternoon, a prison officer shot dead on a council estate, a mysterious killer using a bayonet to slay his victims, the stabbing of a student and the murder case of DS Matt Devlin’s best friend.

Guest stars across the new series include: Rupert Graves, Deborah Findlay, Kevin Doyle, Rocky Marshall, Patrick Malahide, Ruth Gemmell, Matthew Marsh, Celyn Jones, Wunmi Mosaku, and Robbie Gee.

‘Law & Order: UK - Series 3’ is brand new and exclusive to ITV1, Thursdays from 9^th September at 9pm

Elegy for April - Cover Opinions

This week's selection for "cover opinions" is the two very different hardback editions of Benjamin Black's Elegy for April, the third in his Quirke series, which is set in 1950s Dublin.

Both editions are published in 2010. The US edition (on the left) came out in April, the UK edition (on the right) is to be published on 1 October.

So what are you thoughts on the US and UK covers? Which would entice you to pick the book up if you were not familiar with Benjamin Black?

Here is the Euro Crime review, by Laura, of Elegy for April.

My Hands are Tied - Cover Theme

Covers with predominantly women's hands tied, including a copy-cat cover. I've added in a "feet" one too.
Reviews of The Dispossessed, Gagged and Bound, The Birthday Present.

New Reviews: Creed, Forrester, Franklin, Neville, Nickson, Sjowall & Wahloo

Two competitions for August and one is open internationally:
Win one of three sets of Lockdown and Deadlock by Sean Black (Worldwide)
Win one of five copies of Inspector Cataldo's Criminal Summer by Luigi Guicciardi, tr Iain Halliday (UK & Europe)

Here are this week's reviews, which this week include several historical novels:

I review Adam Creed's second outing for DI Staffe, Willing Flesh set in a seedy, modern-day London;

Terry Halligan goes back to the Elizabethan era for James Forrester's debut novel Sacred Treason;

Norman Price travels back to Henry II's time when he reviews Ariana Franklin's, fourth Adelia Aguilar outing, The Assassin's Prayer in which the leads traipse off to Sicily;

Back in modern-day, Laura Root reviews Collusion, Stuart Neville's follow-up to the very well-received The Twelve (apa The Ghosts of Belfast);

Michelle Peckham travels back to eighteenth century Leeds in The Broken Token by Chris Nickson

and Maxine Clarke reviews the penultimate title in the classic Martin Beck series by Sjowall and Wahloo, Cop Killer, tr. Thomas Teal.

Previous reviews can be found in the review archive and forthcoming titles can be found by author or date, here.

OT: It's Cat-urday

Haven't had a cat photo or three for a while, I think. Foxy's up to his usual tricks. The bad weather means he's actually in the house in daylight...

(The vet commented on his pink collar!)


This one's from a few days ago when the scratch on his nose was more visible, if you zoom in. (I found him bleeding from a 3 inch scratch across his face a couple of weeks ago but it seems to fading now):

Started Early, Took My Dog - Ebook prices

I've had a Sony ebook reader for a while now and have used it quite a lot for free books and review copies. I haven't bought many books as it seems ludicrous to pay lots more for an electronic copy than a paper copy, so I'm very pleased that WH Smiths have reduced their prices by 50%.

I thought I'd illustrate the range of prices for the same ebook with Kate Atkinson's Started Early, Took My Dog which has just been published.

Print RRP = £18.99
Epub RRP = £19.40

Amazon Print: £8.16
Amazon Kindle: 5.71

Bookdepository Print: £12.51
Bookdepository Epub; £14.55

Waterstones Print: £8.99
Waterstones Epub: £18.23

WH Smiths Print: £8.99
WH Smiths Epub: £9.70

The cheapest Epub version (of this title) I've found is at Kobo at £5.71 and they are currently offering £1 off all ebooks this weekend if you use the discount code smashing1.

News: Karin Fossum

There is confirmation on Karin Fossum's Norwegian Agent's page that the tenth and latest Inspector Sejer novel, 'The Caller', has been bought by Harvill Secker:

Karin Fossum´s latest novel in the Konrad Sejer-series, Varsleren (The Caller), was recently sold to Italy and France. It has now been sold to ten countries all together.

Karin Fossum has found a new French publisher after an auction won by Seuil. They will publish her latest novel Varsleren. Italian Sperling & Kupfer also just bought the rights for this novel. The other countries to publish this book are: Denmark (Gyldendal), Sweden (Forum), UK (Harvill Secker), Germany (Piper), Spain (Random House Mondadori), Estonia (Eesti Raamat), Belgium (Standaard) and the Netherlands (Ambo Anthos).

Varsleren received great reviews in Norway when it was launched last year:

'Hardly anything beats a good, psychological thriller, and The Caller is an exquisite example of that.'
–Dagbladet

'To read The Caller is a refreshing reminder of what good crime is like.'
–Aftenposten

'A new victory for Karin Fossum […] The quivering excitement takes off from page one.'
–Dagsavisen

'The Caller is Karin Fossum’s best novel since The Indian Bride.'
–Adresseavisen

Here is the blurb from the same website:

“Hell Begins Here,” says the card that detective Konrad Sejer finds outside his door late one night. Earlier that day the young couple Lily and Karsten found their baby in a pool of blood in the pram. The little community is plagued by events that frighten them all. But does the perpetrator intend to follow through or is it all a bad joke? The Caller is Fossum’s tenth novel about Konrad Sejer.

Trailer Thursday - Amberville

Amberville by pseudonymous Swedish author, Tim Davys is now out in paperback. It's the first of an unusual trilogy, as you can see from the blurb and trailer below:

Eric Bear thinks he has escaped his violent past, but when crime boss Nicholas Dove threatens Eric's beloved wife Emma Rabbit, Eric has no choice but to do what he asks: find a way to remove Dove's name from the Death List. Problem is, no one knows if the Death List really exists. Nevertheless, Eric gathers his old team together - sadistic male prostitute Sam Gazelle, sweet but dangerous Tom-Tom Crow, and wily Snake Marek - and they set off to find the elusive list. What Eric learns will forever change the way he thinks about his life, his family, and his town.

Trailer

Death Wore White - cover opinions

The second of Jim Kelly's new series was reviewed on Euro Crime at the weekend, but I'd like to look at the covers from the first book in the series, Death Wore White.

Both editions were published in 2009. The US edition (on the left) came out as a hardback, the UK edition (on the right) came out as a paperback original.

So what are you thoughts on the US and UK covers? Which would entice you to pick the book up if you were not familiar with Jim Kelly?

Here is the Euro Crime review, by Pat, of Death Wore White.





(This series is set in North Norfolk, a rural part of England, so I'm a bit puzzled by what looks to be an American squad car! ps If you click on the US cover you can read the writing.)

International Competition - Win 2 books by Sean Black

The current competition for copies of Lockdown and Deadlock by Sean Black is open internationally and closes on 31 August.

Enter the competition here.

Euro Crime has now reviewed Lockdown and Deadlock.

Between the Lines, reveals 5 things you didn't know about Sean Black.

And finally you can sample each book via the widgets below:

Strike a Match - cover theme

I was browsing the crime ebooks last night and spotted these two on the same page. The cover on the left was used in 2008 (Xlibris) and the one on the right (Little, Brown) is out next month.

New Reviews: B Black, S Black, Kelly, Mallo, Moss, Sherez

Two competitions for August and one is open internationally:
Win one of three sets of Lockdown and Deadlock by Sean Black (Worldwide)
Win one of five copies of Inspector Cataldo's Criminal Summer by Luigi Guicciardi, tr Iain Halliday (UK & Europe)

Here are this week's reviews, which this week aren't restricted to Europe!:

Laura Root reviews Benjamin Black's third Quirke book, Elegy for April concluding that it "is another slice of classy Emerald Noir";

Michelle Peckham reviews one of this month's competition prizes Deadlock by Sean Black, set in the US and is one for fans of fast, action thrillers;

Terry Halligan reviews the second in Jim Kelly's new Norfolk-based series, Death Watch writing that "detective fiction needs more books of this high quality";

I pop over to 1970s Argentina in Ernesto Mallo's Needle in a Haystack, tr. Jethro Soutar which is rather a bleak read;

Maxine Clarke reviews Australian author, Tara Moss's Hit which has its first UK publication

and Geoff Jones is in Greece in Stav Sherez's The Black Monastery.

Previous reviews can be found in the review archive and forthcoming titles can be found by author or date, here.

TV News: The Killing (Forbrydelsen) is Commissioned

A thirteen part tv series called The Killing*, based on the Danish series, Forbrydelsen, has been commissioned in the US:

New York, NY – August 11, 2010 - AMC announced today a full series order for the pilot that was formerly known as The Killing, from writer and executive producer Veena Sud (Cold Case). Sud has signed on to also serve as the showrunner for the series, which is currently untitled. Set in Seattle, the series is based on the wildly successful Danish television series “Forbrydelsen” and tells the story of the murder of a young girl and the subsequent police investigation.

The series ties together three distinct stories around a single murder including the detectives assigned to the case, the victim’s grieving family and the suspects. The story also explores local politics as it follows politicians connected to the case. As it unfolds, it becomes clear that there are no accidents; everyone has a secret, and while the characters think they’ve moved on, their past isn’t done with them.

Production on the series begins this fall in Vancouver and season one consists of 13, one-hour episodes. The series is slated to premiere in 2011 on AMC.

Read the whole article at Deadline Hollywood.

*the series is to be renamed but that's all I have at the moment!

Spiral Series 2 on DVD

The second series of the brilliant French crime series Spiral (Engrenages) came out on 9 August on R2 DVD. Also available is a box set of the first two series which may or may not be cheaper than buying the series individually, depending on where you buy your DVds from. Series 2 is £12.99 on amazon and play.com

This recent article on Spiral in the Sabotage Times, which includes a brief interview with Audrey Fleurot "Ms Karlsson", gives the glimmer of hope that Series 3 will be shown on BBC4 later in the year.

Review: The Double Comfort Safari Club by Alexander McCall Smith (audiobook)

The Double Comfort Safari Club by Alexander McCall Smith, read by Adjoa Andoh (ISIS Audio Books, 2010, CD ISBN:978-0-7531-2794-0)

The Double Comfort Safari Club is the eleventh in the Botswanan Mma Ramotswe series. Mma Ramotswe's No.1 Ladies Detective Agency has a couple of cases to solve; a friend of Mma Ramotswe thinks her husband is having an affair and a letter from America sends Mma Ramotswe and Assistant Detective Mma Makutsi out into the Okavango Delta (but not until disk 6 out of 7), and of course, Mma Makutsi's enemy Violet Sephotho is up to no good.

But this series isn't about detection really, it's about love and kindness, family and tea. Where everyone in Botswana is connected through tenuous family links (by Western eyes) and favours are willingly done and repaid.

There is much pleasure to be gained from Mma Ramotswe's observations, such as this when meeting a man in a bright blue shirt, who may be having an affair:

"She knew the warning signs with middle-aged men - they were like a set of traffic lights that glowed brightly in the dark. Greater attention to grooming? Bad sign. Pulling-in of the stomach to conceal paunch? Bad sign. Purchase of a more powerful car in bright red? Very, very bad sign."

And there is a hilarious trip on the river later on for Mma Ramoswe and Mma Makutsi, and in contrast there is also a poignant explanation as to why relatives who have died are referred to as late, rather than dead.

The Double Comfort Safari Club is a feel-good read which is wonderfully performed by Adjoa Andoh. Adjoa Andoh has narrated the latest four in the series and at least according to amazon will be doing the next in the series, The Saturday Big Tent Wedding Party, out in March 2011.

Blood Harvest - cover opinions

S J Bolton's third standalone novel, Blood Harvest is one of the four finalists in contention for the 2010 CWA Gold Dagger.

There are two covers to consider today: the US hardback on the left which was published on 8 June and the UK hardback on the right which was published in April. The UK paperback is scheduled for May 2011.

So what are you thoughts on the US and UK covers? Which would entice you to pick the book up if you were not familiar with S J Bolton?

Here is the Euro Crime review, by Michelle, of Blood Harvest.

Tudor Crime II

I posted back in March about the rise of Tudor-era crime fiction and here are a couple more titles to add to the wish list, if you like that sort of thing, both published this month:

The Courier's Tale by Peter Walker
Reginald Pole, diplomat, friend of scholars, cardinals and artists, and cousin to Henry VIII, is first seen stealing into the Medici chapel at dead of night to catch a forbidden glimpse of Michelangelo's masterpiece of funerary sculpture. But as the king's representative in Italy, and an admired scholar himself, it falls to him to make the case for Henry's divorce from Katherine of Aragon. And it falls to the hapless Michael Throckmorton to become Thomas Cromwell's courier to Pole in Rome. In Peter Walker's imaginative novel, in which two worlds, increasingly opposed, are beautifully evoked, we see these famous events that saw England become a Protestant nation through the eyes of the luckless courier. The dubious privilege of being courier to Cromwell and the King, makes of Michael Throckmorton's life a tragicomedy of endless journeys back and forth between England and Italy. And even though in time he becomes the loyal friend of the disgraced Pole, who can never risk returning to England while Henry lives, this is no compensation for the childhood love who appears to have been lost along the way.

Sacred Treason by James Forrester
London, 1563. England is a troubled nation. Catholic plots against the young Queen Elizabeth spring up all over the country. The herald William Harley - known to everyone as Clarenceux - receives a book from his friend and fellow Catholic, Henry Machyn. But Machyn is in fear of his life... What secret can the book hold? And then Clarenceux is visited by the State in the form of Francis Walsingham and his ruthless enforcers, who will stop at nothing to gain possession of it. If Clarenceux and his family are to survive the terror of the state, he must solve the clues contained in the book to unlock its dangerous secrets before it's too late. And when he does, he realises that it's not only his life and the lives of those most dear to him that are at stake...

2010 Gold, Fleming & Creasey Awards - Finalists

The shortlists for the Gold, Steel and John Creasey CWA Daggers have now been whittled down to 4 finalists per category. From the ITV3 website:

CWA GOLD DAGGER 2010
• Blacklands, Belinda Bauer
• Blood Harvest, S J Bolton
• Shadowplay, Karen Campbell
• The Way Home, George Pelecanos

CWA IAN FLEMING STEEL DAGGER 2010, SPONSORED BY IAN FLEMING PUBLICATIONS LTD
• A Loyal Spy, Simon Conway
• The Dying Light, Henry Porter
• Innocent, Scott Turow
• The Gentlemen’s Hour, Don Winslow

CWA JOHN CREASEY (NEW BLOOD) DAGGER 2010
• Acts of Violence, Ryan David Jahn
• The Pull of the Moon, Diane Janes
• Rupture, Simon Lelic
• The Holy Thief, William Ryan

Harrogate Crime Writing Festival News

A recent email from the organisers of the Harrogate Crime Writing Festival, has this to say about next year's programme:

The 2011 Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival, Harrogate will take place 21 - 25 July.

Programme Chair Dreda Say Mitchell has put together an astounding line-up of Special Guests for a festival that will take its flavour from the 'grittier and true crime end of the spectrum'.

The Special Guests confirmed for 2011 are:

Lee Child | Martina Cole | Tess Gerritsen | Dennis Lehane | Howard Marks

You can book now, details are on the website.

May 2010 Competition Winners

Here are the winners of May's competitions.

The 5 winners of Michael Stanley's A Deadly Trade were:

Vivien Baird
Chris Bray
Claire Butler
Rik Shepherd
Katrina Skeoch

The 3 winners of Bad Penny Blues by Cathi Unsworth were:

Ann Baldwin
Robin Brooksbank
Karen Gwilliam

Congratulations to all the winners and I hope they enjoy their books.

There were no competitions in June but July's competition winners will be announced shortly.

New Reviews: Bale, Camilleri, Cross, La Plante, Moffat, Nesser, Robinson

Two competitions for August and one is open internationally:
Win one of three sets of Lockdown and Deadlock by Sean Black (Worldwide)
Win one of five copies of Inspector Cataldo's Criminal Summer by Luigi Guicciardi, tr Iain Halliday (UK & Europe)

Here are this week's reviews, including an extra one this week:

Paul Blackburn reviews Tom Bale's second Sussex based thriller Terror's Reach;

I review The Wings of the Sphinx by Andrea Camilleri, tr. Stephen Sartarelli the latest in the loveable Montalbano series;

Craig Sisterson reviews Captured by Neil Cross which is now out in paperback;

Terry Halligan reviews the newest Anna Travis book from Lynda La Plante: Blind Fury;

Amanda Gillies reviews G J Moffat's follow-up to Daisychain - Fallout, set in Glasgow;

Maxine Clarke reviews the fifth Inspector Van Veeteren novel, The Inspector and Silence by Hakan Nesser, tr. Laurie Thompson

and Norman Price is pleased to get re-acquainted with Alan Banks in Peter Robinson's Bad Boy, which came out last week.

Previous reviews can be found in the review archive and (a recently expanded list of) forthcoming titles can be found by author or date, here.

Silence & Villain

Yesterday saw the publication of two books eligible for consideration for the International Dagger 2011: Silence by Jan Costin Wagner and Villain by Shuichi Yoshida. I've added the widget for Villain below from which you can read the first few pages:



The full list (so far) of eligibles can be found here.

More Euro Crime Reviews Quoted

Another two quotes from Euro Crime reviews have appeared on recent publications.

Craig Sisterson's review of Lennox by Craig Russell is quoted on the front page of the paperback:


and Amanda Gillies's review of Sarah Rayne's Ghost Song is quoted on the back of the upcoming paperback release of House of the Lost.




More citations can be found here.

Ruso and the Root of all Evils - Cover Opinions

Much to consider today - the same book has two titles, two covers and two author names (sort of).

Ruth or RS Downie's third Roman book is Persona Non Grata in the US and Ruso and the Root of all Evils in the UK. Here are the two recent paperback covers to muse over.

So what are you thoughts on the US and UK covers? Which would entice you to pick the book up if you were not familiar with Ruth/R S Downie?

Here is the Euro Crime review, by Paul, of Ruso and the Root of all Evils.

Blood Rose - Cover Theme

The top two are recent releases, the third is from 2008.

Hello to Jason Isaacs

The Bookseller announced today that Kate Atkinson's Jackson Brodie books are to be televised. Brodie will be played by Jason Isaacs, who is already familiar with the role as he is the narrator of the abridged editions.

Kate Atkinson’s Jackson Brodie character is to come to TV screens next year in a new adaptation for BBC1.

“Case Histories” will be a six-part series adapted from the Transworld author’s mystery novels Case Histories, One Good Turn and When Will There Be Good News? The stories revolve around private detective Brodie, who will be played by Jason Isaacs, who was Lucius Malfoy in the Harry Potter movies.

New Competition -Two books by Sean Black

Euro Crime has three sets of Lockdown (paperback) and Deadlock (hardback) by Sean Black to giveaway. Just answer the simple question and include your details in the form below.

This competition is open internationally and will close on 31 August 2010.
Only 1 entry per person/per household please.
(All entries will be deleted once the winners have been notified.)

New York. It may be Christmas in New York, but for ex-soldier turned elite bodyguard Ryan Lock, it's business as usual: his mission is to protect one of America's most ruthless businessmen. A Bloody Shoot-Out. Suddenly gunshots ring out. People run for cover. Innocent people are mown down. Amid the chaos, Lock's hunt for the killers turns into an explosive game of cat and mouse. A Deadly Secret. Lock's search for the truth takes him from the rooftops of a New York skyscraper to a heavily fortified warehouse on the Hudson where he confronts one of the world's most dangerous women. As the clock ticks towards midnight on New Year's Eve, all routes into and out of Manhattan are sealed, and Lock realises that not only is his own life in terrible danger but so are the lives of millions of others...

His mission should have been straightforward: to keep one man alive for one week. One prisoner - Super-intelligent and brutally violent, Frank 'Reaper' Hays is a leading member of America's most powerful white supremacists prison gang. One bodyguard - Ex-military bodyguard Ryan Lock has been hired to protect him. His mission is to keep Reaper alive for a week until he can be brought to trial. One week to stay alive - But Lock soon realises that he faces the toughest assignment of his career - just to survive ...

Website updates - August

I've been slaving away on the website but unfortunately ran out of time yesterday for new reviews and the new competitions (I hope to sort the competitions out today).

I received a request a while ago for an "England" tab in my Books by Country of Birth section. I wasn't able to sort that out until I returned by database to Access which I did recently and now have the benefit of "update queries". So, as there was nearly 900 authors without any country of birth filled in on my database, I have gritted my teeth and made the assumption that they were born in England. So I do apologise if I've got that wrong for some authors. Please let me know and I will change it asap. Consequently the England page is rather long.

A more recent suggestion was about viewing the reviews by reviewer. Unfortunately my website isn't interactive and you aren't able to filter the reviews page down so instead I have set up individual pages for each reviewer. You can see the names/links if you scroll down to the review archive section on the reviews page.

And, in the New Releases page I've added releases for 2011 by category.

I've also uploaded the usual updates to the Euro Crime website:

The Author Websites page now lists 841 sites.

The New & Upcoming Releases pages have been updated.

In Bibliographies there are now bibliographies for 1584 authors (8143 titles with links to 1785 reviews):

I've added new bibliographies for: Bernardo Atxaga, G M Best, Kenneth Cameron, James Conan, Alex Connor, Gary Corby, Thomas Enger, Patrick Gooch, Barry Grant, Elizabeth Haynes, James Henry, Ali Knight, Bruce MacBain, Kathleen McCaul, Gerard O'Donovan, Felix Palma, Ben Pastor, Roger Pearce, John Phelps, Rod Rees, Joh F Rice, Guy Saville, Dan Smith and Simon Toyne.

I've updated the bibliographies (ie added new titles) for: Jane Adams, David Armstrong, Maureen Ash, Colin Bateman, Belinda Bauer, Simon Beaufort, Cara Black, Stephen Booth, Rhys Bowen, Christopher Brookmyre, Jane Casey, C S Challinor, Joanna Challis, Roy Chester, Alys Clare, Ann Cleeves, Rory Clements, Sean Cregan, Charles Cumming, David Stuart Davies, John Dean, David Dickinson, Ruth (R S) Downie, Kate Ellis, Alan Glynn, J G Goodhind, Dolores Gordon-Smith, Alex Gray, Susanna Gregory, J M Gregson, Elly Griffiths, June Hampson, Sophie Hannah, Tom Harper, C S Harris,Cynthia Harrod-Eagles, Veronica Heley, Matt Hilton, Graham Hurley, Graham Ison, Quintin Jardine, Jessie Keane, Jim Kelly, Simon Kernick, Hans-Werner Kettenbach, Alanna Knight, Roberta Kray, John Lawton, Robert Lewis, Matt Lynn, Ian McFadyen, Andy McNab, Dreda Say Mitchell, Aly Monroe, Ian Morson, Steve Mosby, Amy Myers, Barbara Nadel, Malcolm Noble, J A O'Brien, Nick Oldham, Anne Perry, R T Raichev, Imogen Robertson, Luis Miguel Rocha, Priscilla Royal, William Ryan, Mark Sanderson, Teresa Solana, Sally Spencer, Oliver Stark, Mel/Melvin R Starr, Jon Stock, Abbie Taylor, The Mulgray Twins, James Thompson, M J Trow, Simone van der Vlugt, Jeri Westerson, Michael White and Emily Winslow.

If you spot any errors or omissions do let me know.