Review: Paths of the Dead by Lin Anderson

Paths of the Dead by Lin Anderson, August 2014, 400 pages, Pan, ISBN: 1447245660

Reviewed by Amanda Gillies.
(Read more of Amanda's reviews for Euro Crime here.)

This latest book by Lin Anderson is another in her Rhona MacLeod series and is first rate. Rhona is a highly skilled forensic expert and Anderson’s series brings her vividly to life. She is an intelligent, feisty female and it is a refreshing change to read a book that centres on a successful, professional woman who loves what she does.

In this latest instalment, Rhona is called upon to examine the body of a young man that has been found inside a Neolithic stone circle near Glasgow. The body is face down and its hands have been removed which, according to Rhona, suggests some kind of ritual killing – reinforced by a stone inside the mouth, with the number 5 on it. DI MacNab, newly promoted and keen to prove himself, is of the opinion that the victim is part of the gangland drug scene but, when another body is found in another stone circle, he is forced to change his mind.

PATHS OF THE DEAD sees Rhona working closely with several of the men in her life and it is interesting to observe the tensions between the men as they circle around her, vying for her attention and becoming a bit aggressive and jealous with each other. The way Rhona handles it all is superb. She keeps them all in their place and manages to continue to be professional, even when not all of the others are!

As the body count increases, so MacNab is forced into realising that this killer may have something to do with his own past. He puts his promotion, as well as his life, on the line as he goes in search of the man responsible for all this death. Rhona is left wondering what he is up to and, as she puts the pieces of the puzzle together, is forced to witness something that could change her relationship with MacNab for ever.

I love Lin Anderson’s series about Rhona MacLeod. It is always a delight to be asked to review another one of her books. PATHS OF THE DEAD is yet another fantastic tale. I am keener than ever to find out what happens next!

Highly recommended.

Amanda Gillies, November 2014.

And the Winner of the Martin Beck Award is...

Received this great news today re Jorn Lier Horst:

Jørn Lier Horst's THE HUNTING DOGS is the winner of the The Martin Beck Award 2014 given by the Swedish Crime Writers' Academy (Svenska Deckarakademin) for the best crime novel in translation. It is one of the most prestigious international crime-writing awards. The Jury says; An original, thrilling novel about a policeman's struggle on the edge between disaster and restoration of justice. THE HUNTING DOGS is published by Lind & Co in Sweden. They have also acquired rights for CLOSED FOR WINTER and THE CAVE MAN in the same series.

The Hunting Dogs is available in English, translated by Anne Bruce and published by Sandstone Press.

Website Updates - November 2014

I've updated the main files on the Euro Crime website today. Euro Crime includes both British and other European crime fiction writers (that have been published in English); non-British/European born crime writers who are strongly associated with British/European crime fiction (eg. Donna Leon), and crime writers in translation from outside of Europe.

Just a couple of reminders regarding the New Releases page:

1. The main by month/by author pages refer to when a book is published (in English) anywhere in the world however the 'by category ie historical, translated etc' is specific to the UK eg Emily Brightwell's series which was published in the US in the 1990s (and on) is only now being published in the UK and so her books are appearing in the 2014 Historical list.

2. When a book is released "early" in ebook I am taking the publication date as to be when the print edition comes out (this is the rule we use for determining Petrona Award eligibility).

As always, if you spot something wrong or missing, please do let me know.

New: The list of eligible titles for the International Dagger 2015 is visible here.

Here's a summary of the usual updates:

The Author Websites page now lists 1032 sites.

In Bibliographies there are now bibliographies for 2177 authors (10,848 titles of which 2856 are reviewed).

I've added new bibliographies for: Yukito Ayatsuji, Samuel Bjork, Amanda Carmack, Alan Carter, Javier Cercas, Pamela Christie, Torkil Damhaug, Oscar de Muriel, S J Deas, Julianna Deering, Marc Dugain, Simon Duke, Eric Faye, Nik Frobenius, Eric Giacometti & Jacques Ravenne, Bear Grylls, Marcus Hunnebeck, Gary Inbinder, Ragnar Jonasson, J G Jurado, Lene Kaaberbol, Robert Karjel, Elias Khoury, Heda Margolius Kovaly, Gabi Kreslehner, Sergey Kuznetsov, Herve Le Corre, Manel Loureiro, Reijo Maki, Antonio Manzini, Andrew Marr, Ben McPherson, Sara Moliner, Ahmed Mourad, Rebecca Muddiman, Gilles Petel, Patrick Philippart, Tore Renberg, Ray Robinson, Tony Schumacher, Catherine Shepherd, Mel Sherratt, Arild Stavrum, Jessica Stirling, Anton Svensson, Robert Thorogood, Carl-Johan Vallgren, David P Wagner, Sarah Ward, A N Widdecombe and Patricia Wynn.

I've updated the bibliographies (ie added new titles) for: Jean-Pierre Alaux & Noel Balen, Tasha Alexander, M J Arlidge, Jo Bannister, Stephanie Barron, Colin Bateman, M H Baylis, M C Beaton, Carrie A Bebris, Parker Bilal, Mark Billingham, Harry Bingham, Tony Black, Sara Blaedel, S J/Sharon Bolton, Stephen Booth, Alan Bradley, Conor Brady, Simon Brett, Ken Bruen, Declan Burke, Andrea Camilleri, Jane Casey, Kimberley Chambers, Paul Charles, P F Chisholm, Alys Clare, Rory Clements, Barbara Cleverly, Martina Cole, Chris Collett, John Connor, Julie Corbin, Gary Corby, Roberto Costantini, Colin Cotterill, Mason Cross, Judith Cutler, Lisa Cutts, David Stuart Davies, Anders de la Motte, Jason Dean, Mary-Jane Deeb, P C/Paul Doherty, Clare Donoghue, Carola Dunn, Steven Dunne, Kate Ellis, Roger Jon/R J Ellory, Kjell Eriksson, Charles Finch, Paul Finch, Sebastian Fitzek, Conor Fitzgerald, Judith Flanders, Elena Forbes, Karin Fossum, Frances Fyfield, Gillian Galbraith, Pascal Garnier, Elizabeth George, Robert Goddard, Alex Gray, Alex Grecian, Michael Gregorio, Susanna Gregory, J M Gregson, Elly Griffiths, M R Hall, Lotte and Soren Hammer, Mari Hannah, Tom Harper, Oliver Harris, Tessa Harris, Cora Harrison, Cynthia Harrod-Eagles, Elizabeth Haynes, Veronica Heley, Mandasue Heller, Peter Helton, Peg Herring, Kati Hiekkapelto, Matt Hilton, Anthony Horowitz, Jorn Lier Horst, Anna Lee Huber, Graham Hurley, Arnaldur Indridason, Viktor Arnar Ingolfsson, David Jackson, Peter James, J Robert Janes, Quintin Jardine, Martin Jensen, Will Jordan, Emma Kavanagh, Jim Kelly, Christobel Kent, Simon Kernick, Philip Kerr, David Khara, Laurie R King, Rob Kitchin, Bill Kitson, Deryn Lake, Jens Lapidus, Leena Lehtolainen, Pierre Lemaitre, Donna Leon, Peter Lovesey, Stuart MacBride, Shona/S G Maclean, G M Malliet, Marco Malvaldi, Michael Marshall, Edward/A E Marston, Priscilla Masters, Peter May, Brian McGilloway, Pat McIntosh, Russel D McLean, Dreda Say Mitchell, Thomas Mogford, Frederique Molay, Frank/T F Muir, Amy Myers, Barbara Nadel, Hakan Nesser, Stuart Neville, Chris Nickson, Harri Nykanen, Martha Ockley, Nick Oldham, Hakan Ostlundh, James Oswald, Tony Parsons, Anne Perry, Kate Rhodes, Phil Rickman, Peter Robinson, Jacqui Rose, Rosemary Rowe, Pauline Rowson, Rob/Robert Ryan, Manda Scott, Gerald Seymour, Yrsa Sigurdardottir, Alexander McCall Smith, Dan Smith, Alexander Soderberg, Gunnar Staalesen, Cath Staincliffe, Aline Templeton, Johan Theorin, Franck Thilliez, Simon Toyne, M J Trow, Helene Tursten, Antonin Varenne, Luca Veste, Jason Webster, Lee Weeks, Neil White, Kerry Wilkinson, Robert Wilson, Edward Wilson, Jacqueline Winspear and Jake Woodhouse.

OT: The Return of Caturday

Meet Miss Nancy, who has joined the Euro Crime stable of cats, making the total 4 again. Nancy has been with us since early September. She is just over a year old and has been in a rescue place from birth. She is very timid, even still, but has improved noticeably. She can be stroked but not picked up but we are working on it. Here she is settling into her new bed. Both armchairs now have cat beds in them and the settee often has two cats on it - leaving little room for humans - though there's always the floor...

Publishing Deal News: Kati Hiekkapelto

Orenda Books have signed up Kati Hiekkapelto and her book The Defenceless - the sequel to The Hummingbird which was published by Arcadia. Both are translated by David Hackston.

From Book Trade:

Karen Sullivan, of the newly formed indie publisher Orenda Books, is delighted to announce the acquisition of WEL ex USA rights for Finnish crime writer Kati Hiekkapelto's The Defenceless. The novel will be translated by David Hackston and published in 2015.

Karen says, 'I'm ecstatic to have signed Kati for Orenda, and very much look forward to publishing the sequel to The Hummingbird, with fabulous protagonists Anna and Esko returning for a new series of crimes. Kati is a fresh, stunning new voice on the Nordic noir scene, and she's also an extraordinary woman. You can expect to see lots of her in the coming year, with a film in the pipeline and numerous festival appearances booked.'

Kati says, 'For a Finnish writer, being published in English has always been a bit of a pipe dream, as it's often difficult to find a publisher. Working with Orenda Books seems like double luck! With Karen's passion for and devotion to her writers, nothing seems impossible! I'm really happy to work with her.'

International Dagger Speculation (2015)

It's time to consider the titles eligible for the 2015 CWA International Dagger.

Here's the list so far of translated crime novels published between June 2014 and May 2015 ie the period of eligibility. There's 94* so far (cf 88 last year). NB. Only 1 book per author can be submitted for consideration.

For ease of purchase/library reservation here they are listed by UK month of publication:

In addition to the list I have set up a Good Reads widget on the right-hand side of the blog. This allows the covers to be visible plus you can add them to your wish-list on Good Reads. Should you wish to, you can subscribe to this list through RSS. I've added as many as I can find though I have used the original covers if the English one isn't on Good Reads yet.

In the list below I've also included the country of birth and gender of the author(s) plus the translator's name (where I can find it) and the publisher.

*this total includes titles published by Amazon Crossing, which I have flagged. I am not sure if these count as UK publications however I imagine people interested in this list will also be interested in these books. Also listed but not eligible are ebook only publications and short story collections. I have left them in for the same reason.

June 2014

Andrea Camilleri - Angelica's Smile (Italy, M) (tr. Stephen Sartarelli, Mantle)
Javier Cercas- Outlaws (Spain, M) (tr. Anne McLean, Bloomsbury)
Arne Dahl - To the Top of the Mountain (Sweden, M) (tr. Alice Menzies, Harvill Secker)
Marc Dugain - The Avenue of Giants (France, M) (tr. Howard Curtis, Europa Editions)
Karin Fossum - The Murder of Harriet Krohn (Norway,F) (tr. James Anderson, Harvill Secker)
Viktor Arnar Ingolfsson - Sun On Fire (Iceland, M) (tr. Bjorg Arnadottir & Andrew Cauthery, AmazonCrossing)
Hans Olav Lahlum - The Human Flies (Norway, M) (tr. Kari Dickson, Mantle)
Marco Malvaldi - The Art of Killing Well (Italy, M) (tr. Howard Curtis, MacLehose)
Georges Simenon - The Mahe Circle (Belgium, M) (tr. Sian Reynolds, Penguin)

July 2014

Donato Carrisi - The Vanished Ones (Italy, M) (tr. Howard Curtis, Abacus)
Roberto Costantini  - The Root of All Evil (italy, M) (tr. N.S. Thompson, Quercus)
Sander Jakobsen - The Preacher (Denmark, B) (tr. Sander Jakobsen, Little Brown (Sphere))
Herman Koch - Summer House with Swimming Pool (Holland, M) (tr. Sam Garrett, Atlantic)
Dominique Manotti - Escape (France, F) (tr. Ros Schwarz & Amanda Hopkinson, Arcadia)
Deon Meyer - Cobra (South Africa, M) (tr. K L Seegers, Hodder)
Hakan Nesser - The G File (Sweden, M) (tr. Laurie Thompson, Mantle)
Nele Neuhaus - Bad Wolf (apa Big Bad Wolf) (Germany, F) (tr. Steven T Murray, Pan)
Andreas Norman - Into a Raging Blaze (Sweden, M) (tr. Ian Giles, Quercus)
Dan T Sehlberg - Mona (Sweden, M) (tr. Rachel Willson-Broyles, Scribe Publications)
Edney Silvestre - Happiness Is Easy (Brazil, M) (tr. Nick Caistor, Doubleday)
Jean Teule - The Poisoning Angel (France, M) (tr. Melanie Florence, Gallic)
Joakim Zander - The Swimmer (Sweden, M) (tr. Elizabeth Clark Wessel, Head of Zeus)

August 2014

Jussi Adler-Olsen - Alphabet House (Denmark, M) (tr. Steve Schein, Hesperus Press)
Maurizio de Giovanni - By My Hand (Italy, M) (tr. Antony Shugaar, Europa Editions)
Lars Kepler - The Sandman (Sweden, B)  (tr. Neil Smith, Blue Door)
Gabi Kreslehner - Rain Girl (Austria, F) (tr. Lee Chadeayne, amazoncrossing*)
Marco Malvaldi - Three Card Monte (Italy, M) (tr. Howard Curtis, Europa Editions)
Kanae Minato - Confessions (Japan, F) (tr. Stephen Snyder, Mulholland Books)
Fredrik T Olsson - Chain of Events (Sweden, M) (tr. Dominic Hinde, Little Brown)
Tore Renberg - See You Tomorrow (Norway, M) (tr. Sean Kinsella, Arcadia Books)
Andrea Maria Schenkel - The Dark Meadow (Germany, F) (tr. Anthea Bell, Quercus)

September 2014

Kati Hiekkapelto - The Hummingbird (Finland, F) (tr. David Hackston, Arcadia)
Arnaldur Indridason - Reykjavik Nights (Iceland, M) (tr. Victoria Cribb, Harvill Secker)
Sergey Kuznetsov - Butterfly Skin (Russia, M) (tr. Andrew Bromfield, Titan Books)
Henning Mankell - An Event in Autumn (Sweden, M) (tr. Laurie Thompson, Harvill Secker)
D A Mishani - A Possibility of Violence (Israel, M) (tr. Todd Hasak-Lowy, Quercus)
Kristina Ohlsson - Hostage (Sweden, F) (tr. Marlaine Delargy Simon & Schuster)
Arild Stavrum - Exposed at the Back (Norway, M) (tr. Guy Puzey, Freight Books)

October 2014

Sara Blaedel - Only One Life (Denmark, F) (tr. Erik J Macki & Tara F Chace, Little Brown (Sphere))
Andrea Camilleri - Hunting Season (Italy, M) (tr. Stephen Sartarelli, Mantle)
Philippe Georget - Autumn, All the Cats Return (France, M) (tr. Steven Randall, Europa Editions)
Keigo Higashino - Malice (Japan, M) (tr. Alexander O Smith, Little, Brown)
Pekka Hiltunen - Black Noise (Finland, M) (tr. Owen Witesman, Hesperus Press)
Steffen Jacobsen - Trophy (Denmark, M) (tr. Charlotte Barslund, Quercus)
Liza Marklund - Borderline (Sweden, F) (tr. Neil Smith, Corgi)
Leif GW Persson - Falling Freely As If in a Dream (apa Free Falling, as If in a Dream) (Sweden, M) (tr.  Paul Norlen, Doubleday)

November 2014

Roberto Ampuero - The Neruda Case (Chile, M) (tr. Carolina de Robertis, Souvenir Press)
Elsebeth Egholm - Dead Souls (Denmark, F) (tr. Don Bartlett & Charlotte Barslund, Headline)
Pascal Garnier - The Islanders (France, M) (tr. Emily Boyce, Gallic Books)
Sissel-Jo Gazan - The Arc of the Swallow (Denmark, F) (tr. Charlotte Barslund, Quercus)
Anne Holt - The Lion's Mouth (Norway, F) (tr. Anne Bruce, Atlantic)
Herve Le Corre - Talking to Ghosts (France, M) (tr. Frank Wynne, MacLehose Press)
Fuminori Nakamura - Last Winter, We Parted (Japan, M) (tr. Allison Markin Powell, Soho Crime)

December 2014

J G Jurado - The Tipping Point (Spain, M) (tr. Martin Michael Roberts, Weidenfeld & Nicolson)
Leena Lehtolainen - Snow Woman (Finland, F) (tr. Owen Witesman, amazoncrossing*)
Leena Lehtolainen - The Bodyguard (Finland, F) (tr. Jenni Salmi, amazoncrossing*)
Kazuaki Takano - Genocide of One (Japan, M) (tr. Philip Gabriel, Mulholland)
Stelian Turlea - Greuceanu (Romania, M) (tr.  tbc, Profusion International Creative Consultancy)
Antonin Varenne - Loser's Corner (France, M) (tr. Frank Wynne, MacLehose Press)

January 2015

Marcus Hunnebeck - Mark of Cain (Germany, M) (tr. Steve Anderson, amazoncrossing*)
Manel Loureiro - The Last Passenger (Spain, M) (tr. Andres Alfaro, amazoncrossing*)
Nele Neuhaus - The Ice Queen (germany, F) (tr. Steven T Murray, Pan)
Harri Nykanen - Behind God's Back (Finland, M) (tr. Kristian London, Bitter Lemon Press)
Patrick Philippart - Mortal Ambitions (Belgium, M) (tr. Patrick F Brown, amazoncrossing*)
Catherine Shepherd - Fatal Puzzle (Germany, F) (tr. Julia Knobloch, amazoncrossing*)
Carl-Johan Vallgren - The Boy in the Shadows (Sweden, M) (tr. Rachel Willson-Broyles, Quercus)
Ferdinand von Schirach - The Girl Who Wasn't There (Germany, M) (tr. Anthea Bell, Little, Brown)

February 2015

Jussi Adler-Olsen Buried (apa The Marco Effect) (Denmark, M) (tr. Martin Aitken, Penguin)
Zoran Drvenkar - You (Croatia, M) (tr. Shaun Whiteside, HarperCollins)
Jorn Lier Horst - The Caveman (Norway, M) (tr. Anne Bruce, Sandstone)
Martin Jensen - A Man's Word (Denmark, M) (tr. Tara F Chace, amazoncrossing*)
Mari Jungstedt - The Dangerous Game (Sweden, F) (tr. Tiina Nunnally, Doubleday)
Camilla Lackberg - The Scent of Almonds and Other Stories (Sweden, F) (tr. tbc, Harper)
Hans Olav Lahlum - Satellite People (Norway, M) (tr. Kari Dickson, Mantle)
Jens Lapidus - Life Deluxe (Sweden, M) (tr. Astri von Arbin Ahlander, Macmillan)
Jean-Patrick Manchette - Fatale (France, M) (tr. tbc, Serpent's Tail)
Sara Moliner - The Whispering City (Spain & Germany, F & F) (tr. Mara Faye Lethem, Little Brown)

March 2015

Raja Alem - The Dove's Necklace (Saudi Arabia, F) (tr. tbc, Gerald Duckworth & Co Ltd)
Cilla & Rolf Borjlind - Third Voice (Sweden, M & F) (tr. Hilary Parnfors, Hesperus Press)
Michel Bussi - After the Crash (France, M) (tr. tbc, W&N)
Michele Giuttari - Death Under a Tuscan Sun (Italy, M) (tr. Isabelle Kaufeler, Little, Brown) (not on Good Reads)
Pierre Lemaitre - Camille (France, M) (tr. Frank Wynne, Maclehose Press)

April 2015

Bernhard Aichner - Woman of the Dead (Austria, M) (tr. Anthea Bell, W&N)
Maurizio De Giovanni - Viper (Italy, M) (tr. tbc, Europa Editions)
Mons Kallentoft - Water Angels (Sweden, M) (tr. Neil Smith, Hodder)
Elmer Mendoza - Silver Bullets (Mexico, M) (tr. Mark Fried, MacLehose Press)
Jo Nesbo - Blood on Snow (Norway, M) (tr. Neil Smith, Harvill Secker)
Hakan Nesser - The Living and the Dead in Winsford (Sweden, M) (tr. tbc, Mantle) (moved to July 2015)
Dolores Redondo - The Invisible Guardian (Spain, F) (tr. tbc, Blue Door)

May 2015

Andrea Camilleri - Game of Mirrors (Italy, M) (tr. Stephen Sartarelli, Mantle)
Christoffer Carlsson - The Invisible Man from Salem (Sweden, M) (tr. tbc, Scribe)
Pascal Garnier - Boxes (France, M) (tr. Melanie Florence, Gallic Books)
Antonio Manzini - Black Run (Italy, M) (tr. tbc, Fourth Estate)
Erik Axl Sund - The Crow Girl (Sweden, M) (tr. Neil Smith, Harvill Secker)

You can see which of these titles have been submitted for consideration, on the CWA's website.

Radio News: Foreign Bodies returns tomorrow on Radio 4

Mark Lawson's Foreign Bodies returns tomorrow (17/11) at 13.45 on Radio 4, for series 3. This time, "Mark Lawson examines how mystery novels have reflected five different political systems".

The first episode is about Cuba and Communism:

To complement Radio 4's major dramatisations of The Havana Quartet by Cuba's leading crime writer, Leonardo Padura, Mark Lawson examines how mystery novels have reflected five different political systems in a new series of Foreign Bodies.

In today's programme Mark Lawson explores fictional investigations of Cuba after the Castro revolution with Leonardo Padura, author of The Havana Quartet, and Caroline Garcia-Aquilera, a Cuban-American writing from exile in Miami.

Following episodes cover USA (Anti-Communism), Poland (Post-Communism), Australia (Commonwealth Democracy) and Nigeria (Post-Colonialism).

Cover news: Snowblind by Ragnar Jonasson

In case you missed this on Twitter, Orenda Books have unveiled the cover for Ragnar Jonasson's Snowblind. Snowblind is being translated by Quentin Bates (author of the Gunnhildur series) and will be published in June 2015. This will make it eligible for the 2016 Petrona Award (for publications in 2015) and eligible for the next CWA International Dagger (ie not the current one - list of eligibles coming soon I promise).

New Reviews: Chisholm, Cleeves, Collett, Indridason, Jacobsen, Kitchin, Marklund, Nickson, Webster

Here are nine reviews which have been added to the Euro Crime website today, one has appeared on the blog since last time, and eight are completely new.

NB. You can keep up to date with Euro Crime by following the blog and/or liking the Euro Crime Facebook page.

New Reviews

Terry Halligan reviews the sixth in P F Chisholm's Elizabethan Robert Carey series, An Air of Treason, in which is tasked to discover who killed Amy Dudley;

Susan White reviews the latest in Ann Cleeves's Shetland series, Thin Air;

Terry also reviews Chris Collett's Dead of Night, the seventh book to feature one of the few fictional Birmingham coppers, Tom Mariner;


Lynn Harvey reviews the latest (and possibly last) in the 'Older' Erlendur series, Strange Shores by Arnaldur Indridason tr. Victoria Cribb. (NB. The recent Reykjavik Nights features a younger Erlendur.)

Susan also reviews Trophy by Steffen Jacobsen tr. Charlotte Barslund, which she "thoroughly recommends";


Rich Westwood reviews Rob Kitchin's Stumped, a "slightly blacker comedy set in Dublin, Manchester and the West of Ireland";

Michelle Peckham reviews Liza Marklund's Borderline tr. Neil Smith, which see reporter Annika Bengtzon on the other side of the media fence when her husband gets kidnapped;


Michelle also reviews Gods of Gold by Chris Nickson, set in 1890's Leeds

and if you weren't already convinced by Lynn's review earlier in the year then Laura Root's review should ensure that you give Jason Webster's Blood Med a go.


Previous reviews can be found in the review archive.

Forthcoming titles can be found by author or date or by category, here along with releases by year. NB. Forthcoming releases by category for 2015 are now available.

Review: Gods of Gold by Chris Nickson

Gods of Gold by Chris Nickson, August 2014, 224 pages, Severn House Publishers Ltd, ISBN: 072788428X

Reviewed by Michelle Peckham.
(Read more of Michelle's reviews for Euro Crime here.)

In what I'm sure will be a new series of stories from Chris Nickson, once again set in Leeds, the era is now the slightly more modern one of 1890, and the new hero of the story is Inspector Tom Harper. Tom is soon to be married to a strong female character called Annabelle; a woman who runs several businesses, including a pub, she makes a good foil to Tom.

As the story opens, Tom is pounding down Briggate, running after a criminal, but unfortunately loses him. He is then alerted to a case of a missing girl called Martha. Her mother Betty is in Armley Jail, and she should be still living with her father Col Parkinson. But she hasn’t been seen for a few days, and Col claims that Martha's been sent to his sister in Halifax. But is he telling the truth? Before Tom can start investigating further, all leave is cancelled due to the gas strike. Replacement workers are being brought in to make sure that the gas supply is able to continue. Of course this is an era when houses were lit by gas lamps, and industries depended on the supply of gas. As such the threat of an interruption to gas supply would have a big effect on the local economy, and the police are needed to keep order. But then Col is found dead, and it looks like suicide. Except that a few things look suspicious, and Col was seen with a couple of shady looking characters just before he was found dead. And Betty tells the police that he doesn’t have a sister in Halifax.

Tom is tasked with finding Martha, and Col's killers, and then the perpetrators of yet another murder that happens in the melee of the replacement workers, strikers and policemen. Gradually the two plot lines throw up some connections, and Tom is able to make some progress with his investigation, with a few twists and turns along the way.

The feel of the book is somewhat similar to Nickson's earlier books, with the back story of Tom and his relationship with his wife to be, and his professional relationship with his juniors, and with his senior commanding officer. And there is a bit of necessary negotiating to do with the leader of the local union, to help the plot along. It's interesting to see a more modern updated Leeds, with the little bits of local history thrown in. If you liked the original series of Chris Nickson books, you’ll like this one, even perhaps a little more.

Michelle Peckham, November 2014

Publishing Deal - Gunnar Staalesen & Don Bartlett

Great news in yesterday's Bookseller - a new publishing deal for Gunnar Staalesen:

Newly launched independent Orenda Books has signed three books from a Norwegian crime writer.

Karen Sullivan, the former managing editor at Arcadia Books, signed world English rights for three titles by Gunnar Staalesen, We Shall Inherit the Wind, No One is Safe in Danger, and Where Roses Never Die [] the books will be translated by Don Bartlett, who has previously translated works by Jo Nesbo.

Staalsen was previously published in the UK by Arcadia.

Sullivan said: "This is a landmark signing for Orenda, and I’m absolutely thrilled to have the opportunity to publish Gunnar Staalesen, who is not only one of the finest international crime writers around, but undeniably a father of Nordic noir. Author of over 25 crime thrillers featuring Bergen PI Varg Veum, the time is ripe for Gunnar to achieve the worldwide recognition he deserves."

We Shall Inherit the Wind will be published in June 2015, with the other titles following in 2016 and 2017. Staalesen will make festival appearances to promote the titles.

Some 1946 Titles (for Past Offences)

The latest monthly challenge over at Past Offences is to read a book in November, published in 1946. Here are a few classic crime titles to choose from, first published in English in 1946, pulled from my database:

Margery Allingham - Wanted: Someone Innocent
Margot Bennett - Away Went the Little Fish
Agatha Christie - The Hollow (apa Murder After Hours)
Joan Coggin - Penelope Passes Or Why Did She Die?
Joan Coggin - The Mystery at Orchard House
Edmund Crispin - Holy Disorders
Elizabeth Daly - Somewhere in the House
Elizabeth Daly - The Wrong Way Down
Erle Stanley Gardner - The Case of the Borrowed Brunette
Erle Stanley Gardner - The DA Breaks a Seal
Richard & Frances Lockridge - Murder Within Murder
Georges Simenon - The Couple from Poitiers
Josephine Tey - Miss Pym Disposes
Boris Vian - I Spit on Your Graves
Patricia Wentworth - Pilgrim's Rest (apa Dark Threat)