Reviews: Alaux & Balen, Bauer, Bilal, Fowler, Hannah, Judd, Shepherd, Todd, Whitney

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

Please welcome new reviewer Ewa Sherman who makes her debut today.

A reminder that FriendFeed is being withdrawn on 9 April, so our crime and mystery group has new home on Facebook - Petrona's Crime and Mystery Friends. It's a closed group but there are admins in all time zones so you won't have to wait long to be approved. Do join us - new members are very welcome!

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

New Reviews

Laura Root reviews Jean-Pierre Alaux & Noel Balen's Deadly Tasting tr. Sally Pane the fourth in their cozy Winemaker series;

Michelle Peckham reviews Belinda Bauer's The Shut Eye;

Lynn Harvey reviews Parker Bilal's The Burning Gates, the fourth in his Makana series set in Egypt;


Mark Bailey reviews Christopher Fowler's Bryant & May - The Burning Man, the twelfth in this series which features London's Peculiar Crimes Unit;

Amanda Gillies reviews Mari Hannah's Killing for Keeps the fifth in the Detective Chief Inspector Kate Daniels series;


Ewa Sherman reviews Alan Judd's Inside Enemy which is the fourth in the Charles Thoroughgood series;

Terry Halligan reviews Lynn Shepherd's The Pierced Heart, the fourth in the Charles Maddox series;

Terry also reviews Charles Todd's A Fine Summer's Day a prequel in the Inspector Rutledge series

and Susan White reviews Rebecca Whitney's debut, The Liar's Chair.

Forthcoming titles can be found by author or date or by category, here along with releases by year.

Review: The Shut Eye by Belinda Bauer

The Shut Eye by Belinda Bauer, March 2015, 304 pages, Bantam Press, ISBN: 0593072871

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

Detective Chief Inspector John Marvel is on his way home to Debbie, when he spots a woman on a ledge, about to jump off onto the rails in front of a train. He tells her a small white lie, that the trains are now longer running as it's after 8pm, and saves her life. The woman is Anna Buck, married to the car mechanic, James Buck, and they both live next door to the garage where he works. Sadly, outside their house, in the cement of the garage forecourt are five small footsteps preserved in cement, the footsteps of her missing four year old boy, Daniel. Anna is badly affected by his disappearance, cleaning the flat with bleach on a daily basis, and looking after a baby that is just a doll. But then she finds a flyer for a meeting in a church featuring the TV psychic, Richard Latham, and she takes the first steps to change, by leaving her house properly for the first time. She goes to the meeting to see what Latham can tell her, because she knows Daniel is not dead. Can she afford to pay him for a consultation? Can he help her find Daniel?

As a foil perhaps to this sadness, the superintendent takes Marvel off his current case (finding a missing girl called Edie) and tells him to find out what has happened to his wife's dog Mitzi (a poodle). Sandra, the wife, is also using Latham to try to find out where Mitzi is, but is refused help. At the meeting, Anna and Sandra connect and Anna takes a photo of Sandra and the poodle away with her. But in a surprising development, Anna has an odd reaction to the photograph, and suddenly has a vision that she can't interpret. Is she getting visions like Richard Latham? Like a 'shut eye'? Could she help to find the dog? What do the visions mean?

A quirky, intriguing story, set in the year 2000, but with the feel of 50 years earlier, particularly in the character of John Marvel, a brilliant but idiosyncratic detective. Anna is a fragile, yet strong-minded character, and the story is focused on her determination and obsession with finding her lost child. Bauer very cleverly builds up the tension precisely and carefully, drawing on our sympathy and engagement with the two main characters. And despite its gentleness, the story slows builds to a dramatic conclusion, as the stories of the lost children (and dogs) are played out. I very much enjoyed this book, and thoroughly recommend it.

Michelle Peckham, March 2015

New Reviews: Bauer, Carol, Hilary, James, Knox, Leather, Magson, Morris, Rankin

Here are nine reviews which have been added to the Euro Crime website today, four have appeared on the blog over the last couple of weeks and five are completely new.

The major recent news for fans of Scandinavian crime fiction is that the shortlist for the Petrona Award, which is for the best Scandinavian crime novel (in translation), has been announced. All the details are on the Petrona Award website.

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

New Reviews

Lynn Harvey encourages you to read Belinda Bauer's Rubbernecker which is now available in paperback;

Michelle Peckham reviews James Carol's Broken Dolls, the first in the ex-FBI profiler, Jefferson Winter series;

Michelle also reviews Sarah Hilary's striking debut, Someone Else's Skin which introduces DI Marnie Rome;


Rich Westwood reviews Christina James's In the Family, set in the Lincolnshire fens;

I venture off-topic with Annie Knox's Paws for Murder;

Terry Halligan reviews Stephen Leather's Lastnight - is it the end for Jack Nightingale?;

Terry also reviews the first in a new series from Adrian Magson, The Watchman;

Geoff Jones reviews R N Morris's The Dark Palace, the third in the Silas Quinn series



and Mark Bailey reviews Ian Rankin's latest "Rebus", Saints of the Shadow Bible.



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.

New Reviews: Bauer, Conrad, Cookman, Harvey, Kelly, Leonard, Littell, Tope, Walker

Here are nine new reviews and a reminder of the competition:
Win the 'Nikki Heat' novels by Richard Castle (UK only) - closes 31 January 2013.

I have been posting the reviewers' favourite reads of 2012 over the last couple of weeks (one more still to go) and then I'll be counting up the votes and announcing the winner(s).

This week's new reviews:

Michelle Peckham calls Belinda Bauer's Rubbernecker "a great book";

Last week I reviewed on the blog, Patrick Conrad's No Sale tr. Jonathan Lynn, an unusual book which film buffs should particularly enjoy;

Geoff Jones reviews the latest in Lesley Cookman's Libby Sarjeant series, Murder in the Monastery set in Kent;

Terry Halligan reviews John Harvey's Good Bait newly released in paperback;

Susan White reviews Erin Kelly's The Burning Air calling it "a compelling read";

Peter Leonard's Back from the Dead is released this month and Lynn Harvey catches up with the first part of Harry Levin's story in the paperback edition of Voices of the Dead;

Laura Root reviews Robert Littell's who "injects fresh life into an oft told tale" in the Young Philby;

Lizzie Hayes reviews Rebecca Tope's The Windermere Witness the first in a new series set in the Lake District and featuring florist Simmy Brown

and Amanda Gillies reviews Martin Walker's The Devil's Cave, the fifth in the Bruno, Chief of Police series set in France.

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.

New Reviews: Bauer, Benn, Hunt, Kallentoft, May, Neville & a New Competition

To introduce the New Year, a new competition and reviews of 6 books (5 of which are published on 5 January). There's a bit of a snowy-woods theme in terms of covers this week (see the Euro Crime homepage...)

Win Death of the Mantis by Michael Stanley (no geographical restrictions).

Here are this week's reviews:

Maxine Clarke reviews Belinda Bauer's Finders Keepers which continues the Exmoor setting of the previous two books;

Laura Root reviews Tom Benn's promising debut set in Manchester, The Doll Princess the first in the hero/anti-hero Bane series;

Irish author Arlene Hunt's latest book The Chosen is set in the US, and Terry Halligan describes it as an exciting read;

Michelle Peckham reviews the mass-market paperback release of Mons Kallentoft's Midwinter Sacrifice, tr. Neil Smith and Michelle thinks lead character Malin is a close relation to The Killing's Sarah Lund;

Amanda Gillies reviews Peter May's second part of his 'Lewis trilogy' The Lewis Man which stand equally well in its own right

and Lynn Harvey calls Stuart Neville's third book, Stolen Souls "a seriously good crime novel".

Previous reviews can be found in the review archive.

Forthcoming titles can be found by author or date or by category, here and new titles by Sara Blaedel, Andrea Camilleri, Conor Fitzgerald, Barry Grant, Colin Murray and Ruth Rendell have been added to these pages this week.

New Reviews: Bauer, Fowler, Gomez-Jurado, Hannah, Leather, Russell, Walker, Walters

Here are this week's new reviews:

Michelle Peckham reviews Belinda Bauer's sequel to the award-winning Blacklands, Darkside which is now out in paperback;

Rich Westwood reviews Christopher Fowler's Bryant & May off the Rails and catches up with London's oldest serving detectives...;

I review Juan Gomez-Jurado's The Traitor's Emblem, tr. Daniel Hahn which is more history than mystery;

Susan White reviews Sophie Hannah's Little Face and also reviews the "Flipback" format it came in;

Terry Halligan reviews Stephen Leather's sequel to Nightfall, Midnight which continues the story of Jack Nightingale with his sold-off soul;

Amanda Gillies adds Craig Russell's character "Lennox" to her list of favourites, here in in his second outing: The Long Glasgow Kiss;

Lynn Harvey reviews the fourth in Martin Walker's Bruno, Chief of Police series set in France: The Crowded Grave

and Maxine Clarke reviews Trust No One by Alex Walters (already known to Euro Crime readers as Michael Walters) which is set in Manchester (rather than Mongolia).

Previous reviews can be found in the review archive.

Forthcoming titles can be found by author or date or by category, here and new titles by M K Bates, Laurent Binet, Patrick Easter, Karin Fossum, Christopher Fowler, Tom Grieves, Ewart Hutton, Arnaldur Indridason and Craig Russell have been added to these pages this week.

New Reviews: Bates, Bauer, Magson, Marrinan, Nesbo, Newman

Two competitions for January, both close 31st January:
1.Win Assassins of Athens by Jeffrey Siger UK only
2.Win A Noble Killing by Barbara Nadel (International)

Here are this week's reviews:

Maxine Clarke reviews what sounds like a cracking debut: Frozen Out by Quentin Bates (US: Frozen Assets) which introduces Icelandic detective: Gunna the Cop;

Paul Blackburn reviews CWA prize-winner Belinda Bauer's second book, Darkside set five years on from Blacklands;

Terry Halligan reviews the first in a new series from Adrian Magson: Death on the Marais introducing a Parisian cop who has been sent to a Picardie village;

Laura Root reviews Patrick Marrinan's impressive debut, Scapegoat, which draws on the author's legal experience;

I review Jo Nesbo's The Leopard, tr. Don Bartlett an exciting police-procedural/thriller with my favourite detective, Harry Hole

and Lizzie Hayes reviews Ruth Newman's second book, The Company of Shadows which has a Coben-esque sounding premise.

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

Blacklands - Cover Opinions

This week's selection for "cover opinions" is the US and UK covers for Belinda Bauer's Blacklands which has just won the CWA Gold Dagger.

So what are you thoughts on the US (LHS) and UK (RHS) covers? Which would entice you to pick the book up if you were not familiar with Belinda Bauer?

If you have read it, how well does the cover match the story?

Bonus question: Does it winning one of the UK's highest crime fiction awards make you more likely to read it?

Here is the Euro Crime review by Paul of Blacklands.

New Reviews: Bauer, Benacquista, Blake, Cleeves, James, Scott

Just a few hours left to enter the January competition: 3 copies of A K Shevchenko's Bequest are up for grabs. There are no geographical restrictions. Details of how to enter can be found here.

Here are this week's reviews:

Paul Blackburn reviews the much talked about (in the UK) Blacklands by Belinda Bauer which made his 'top 5 reads of 2009';

I review the violent black comedy that is Tonino Benacquista's Badfellas, tr. Emily Read which may make my 'top 5 reads of 2010';

Amanda Gillies praises the second in Richard Blake's Roman Empire series, now out in paperback - The Terror of Constantinople;

The last part of Ann Cleeves's Shetland Quartet, Blue Lightning, is out this week and Maxine Clarke's review will want to make you read it and the previous three if you haven't already;

Terry Halligan continues to be impressed with the Roy Grace series by Peter James; the latest - Dead Tomorrow is now out in paperback

and Michelle Peckham reviews the reissue of Manda Scott's The Crystal Skull, now prefixed with 2012 (nb. the film 2012 is not based on it) and is the third euro crime reviewer to enjoy the book very much.

Previous reviews can be found in the review archive and forthcoming titles can be found here.