New Reviews: Bolton, Cotterill, Delaney, Keating, Nesser, Staincliffe, Sutton, Toyne, Vowler

Nine new reviews have been added to Euro Crime today. We say goodbye to Sarah Hilary as a reviewer today but look forward to her debut novel Someone Else's Skin which is released in 2014. Thank you for all your contributions Sarah. Her final review, below, is of Tom Vowler's What Lies Within:

Michelle Peckham reviews Like This, For Ever by S J Bolton in which Lacey Flint and co are in pursuit of a serial killer of ten-year-old boys;



Lynn Harvey reviews The Woman Who Wouldn't Die by Colin Cotterill, the ninth outing for the elderly Laos Coroner Dr Siri;


Terry Halligan reviews Luke Delaney's debut, Cold Killing which introduces DI Sean Corrigan;


I recently reviewed the audio book of Into the Valley of Death by H R F Keating writing as Evelyn Hervey;



JF reviews Hakan Nesser's The Weeping Girl, tr. Laurie Thompson which focuses on Ewa Moreno a former colleague of the retired Van Veteeren;


Susan White reviews Blink of an Eye by Cath Staincliffe, an author who "never fails to impress";

Rich Westwood reviews Henry Sutton's My Criminal World;



Amanda Gillies reviews Simon Toyne's The Tower, the final and best part of the Sanctus trilogy

and Sarah Hilary reviews Tom Vowler's debut crime fiction novel What Lies Within.




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: Cotterill, Crouch, Griffiths, Johnstone, MacBride, Marston, Nykanen, O'Brien, Staincliffe & new Competition

New month, new competition. During May (closes 31st) you can enter a competition to win a copy of Tessa Harris's The Anatomist's Apprentice. The competition is open to UK residents. Answer the question and fill in the form here.

Here are this week's reviews of which there are 9 again. There are also more updates to the new releases pages (see below):

Michelle Peckham reviews the delightfully named Grandad, There's a Head on the Beach by Colin Cotterill, the second in the Jimm Juree series set in present-day Thailand;

Susan White reviews last month's competition prize, Every Vow You Break by Julia Crouch set in New York state;

Lizzie Hayes reviews the paperback release of Elly Griffith's A Room Full of Bones the fourth in this North-Norfolk set series;

Amanda Gillies may have found her top read of 2012 in Doug Johnstone's Hit & Run, set in Edinburgh;

Staying in Scotland, Lynn Harvey reviews Stuart MacBride's standalone, Birthdays for the Dead;

Down in Devon, Terry Halligan reviews Edward Marston's The Stationmaster's Farewell where railway detective Robert Colbeck is sent to Exeter;

Moving to Finland, Maxine Clarke reviews Harri Nykanen's Nights of Awe, tr. Kristian London the first in the Ariel Kafka series, set in Helsinki;

Terry also reviews Martin O'Brien's The Dying Minutes the seventh in the Jacquot series set in the South of France

and Maxine also reviews Cath Staincliffe's Split Second.

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. Titles by Tony Black, Bernadette Calonego, Alexander Campion, Rebecca Cantrell, Donato Carrisi, Karen Charlton, Alys Clare, Lesley Cookman, A J Cross, Victor del Arbol, Thomas Glavinic, J M Gregson, Wolf Haas, Max Kinnings, Priscilla Masters, Carol McCleary, Catriona McPherson, Barbara Nadel, Ann Purser, Pauline Rowson, Gerald Seymour, Linda Stratmann, Stefan Tegenfalk, Will Thomas, Kerry Tombs, Morley Torgov, Peter Tremayne, Neil White and Edward Wilson have been added to these pages this week.

Favourite Discoveries 2011 (3)

Today's instalment of favourite discoveries of 2011 comes from Lynn Harvey who blogs at Little Grey Doll as well as reviewing for Euro Crime. She has chosen a tv series and an author.

Lynn Harvey's Favourite Discoveries of 2011

It goes without saying that a Scandi-Noir fan like I thinks first of The Killing (original Danish version), because I was indeed hooked and transfixed by it, as was almost everybody. If I could, I would mention the other Scandi-series that had me glued to my telly chair this year: BBC4's showing of that most excellent Icelandic comedy of dysfunction, The Night Shift. But it has to be said that apart from petty pilfering and the violent onslaughts that the increasingly unhinged shift manager inflicts upon staff and customers alike, The Night Shift isn't really a crime story.

So it is with some surprise that I find that my most joyous crime-reading discovery of 2011 is set all the way over in South East Asia with the slightly off the wall crime novels of Colin Cotterill.

I reviewed Killed at the Whim of a Hat for Euro Crime. This is Cotterill's first outing with a new heroine, the woman journalist Jimm Juree, and is set in Thailand. But never having read any of Colin Cotterill's books before and in order to do my homework, I read one of his books set in Laos and featuring pathologist and reluctant shaman, Dr Siri Paiboun. The book that I chose was Curse of the Pogo Stick; foreign setting, social observation, a sense of the absurd, dark reality, black humour, and a helping of the paranormal - just my cup of tea. Although the title does make me wince a little, I love an imagination that can provide the visions of long-suffering shaman Dr Siri Paiboun's regular bruisings at the hands of a pair of tough guy skeletons in the Other Realm. Perhaps it is because I am also a fan of comics and graphic novels that this kind of visual imagination - Colin Cotterill is also a cartoonist - appeals to me. The book also describes the darker reality of life for a minority cultural group amidst the state and politics of 1970s Laos - so not all laughs then. Cotterill's writing is a truly happy discovery for me. So thank you, Euro Crime.

The Killing Series 1 & 2 will be available as a combined box-set from 19 December on R2 DVD, just in time for Christmas, or as individual series box-sets.

You can read Lynn's Euro Crime reviews here by searching for her name.

Colin Cotterill's books with reviews are listed here on the Euro Crime website.

New Reviews: Bayard, Cotterill, Durbridge, Hannah, McDermid, Neville, Ohlsson & New Competition

New Competition: Win a copy of Strangled in Paris by Claude Izner (UK only)

Here are this week's new reviews:

Amanda Gillies reviews Louis Bayard's The School of Night set in modern day, and Elizabethan England;

Lynn Harvey reviews Colin Cotterill's Killed at the Whim of a Hat which is now out in paperback and she makes an unexpected comparison with a well-known US series...;

I review the audio version of Francis Durbridge's Tim Frazer Again read by Anthony Head;

Susan White reviews Sophie Hannah's Lasting Damage which is now out in paperback, and which reminded her of Barbara Vine's earlier work;

Maxine Clarke reviews the new Tony Hill-Carol Jordan from Val McDermid, The Retribution;

Terry Halligan reviews Stuart Neville's debut, The Twelve aka The Ghosts of Belfast (US) which he thought was brilliant and original

and I also review the debut from Kristina Ohlsson: Unwanted, tr. Sarah Death which is gripping despite being a bit predictable.

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 Declan Burke, Patrick Conrad, David Hodges, Arlene Hunt, Eva Joly & Judith Perrignon, J D Mallinson, Zygmunt Miloszewski, Harri Nykanen, Sam Ripley and Norman Russell have been added to these pages this week.

New Reviews: Bale, Chance, Cotterill, Evans, Hall, le Carre, MacLeod

Two competitions for March, both close 31st March:
1.Win a signed copy of Complicit by Nicci French UK only
2.Win From the Dead by Mark Billingham UK & Europe only

Here are this week's reviews:

Terry Halligan reviews the paperback release of Tom Bale's Terror's Reach;

Amanda Gillies reviews Alex Chance's Savage Blood, which she loved;

Michelle Peckham reviews the first in a new series (presumably) from Colin Cotterill, Killed at the Whim of a Hat set in Thailand;

Lizzie Hayes reviews Geraldine Evans' Deadly Reunion the latest in this "marvellous series";

Susan White reviews Tarquin Hall's The Case of the Man Who Died Laughing set in India;

Geoff Jones reviews John le Carre's Our Kind of Traitor

and Maxine Clarke reviews Torquil MacLeod's Meet Me in Malmo the first in a projected series featuring Inspector Anita Sundstrom.

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

New Reviews: Cotterill and Marklund

One competition for October and it is open internationally closes 31st:
Win one of five copies of Someone Else's Son by Sam Hayes

Here are this week's reviews. [Sorry for there only being two. I've had a cold/migraine induced sickness which meant the time I had allocated to do the reviews was spent in bed! I did want to get Maxine's review of Red Wolf up as a) it's great and b) the book came out just a couple of days ago]:

The latest (and is it the last?) in the Dr Siri series by Colin Cotterill has just come out in paperback - Love Songs from a Shallow Grave, reviewed by Michelle Peckham and

Maxine Clarke reviews the long awaited Red Wolf by Liza Marklund, tr. Neil Smith.

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

The Merry Misogynist - cover opinions

Colin Cotterill's The Merry Misogynist is the sixth in his Dr Siri Paiboun series set in 1970's Laos.

There are three covers to consider today: the US one on the left which is to be published on 1 August, the UK hardback in purple or the recent UK paperback (below) which marks the beginning of a new look for this series.

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 Colin Cotterill?

Here is the Euro Crime review, by Michelle, of The Merry Misogynist.

US -------------------------------------------------UK (HB)

---------------------------------------------UK (PB)

New Reviews: Cotterill, Fossum, Glynn, McKinty, Russell, Southey

Two competitions for July and one is open internationally:
Win one of ten copies of Jail Bird by Jessie Keane (Worldwide)
Win one of five copies of The Assassin's Prayer by Ariana Franklin (UK & Republic of Ireland only)

Here are this week's reviews:

Michelle Peckham reviews Colin Cotterill's The Merry Misogynist in which Dr Siri Paiboun has a serial killer to catch;

I take a look at the new Karin Fossum, Bad Intentions, tr. Charlotte Barslund which covers some familiar Fossum themes;

Maxine Clarke is very impressed with Winterland by Alan Glynn;

Terry Halligan reviews Adrian McKinty's Fifty Grand which has a Cuban detective searching for her father's killer, in Colorado;

Amanda Gillies reviews Leigh Russell's Road Closed, the second in her DI Geraldine Steel series

and Rik Shepherd reviews Secret Lament by Roz Southey set in an 18th century Newcastle whose population includes spirits of the dead.

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

New Reviews: Breckon, Cotterill, Hall, Jungstedt, Pineiro, Strong

January competition reminder: 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:

Rik Shepherd reviews the Ian Breckon's debut novel, set in WW2: Knight of Swords;

Michelle Peckham reviews the paperback edition of Colin Cotterill's Curse of the Pogo Stick the fith in the Dr Siri series;

Maxine Clarke reviews M R Hall's The Disappeared, the follow up to the award-winning The Coroner;

Laura Root reviews the paperback release of Mari Jungstedt's Unknown, tr. Tiina Nunnally (US: The Inner Circle), the third in the Inspector Knutas series set on Gotland;

I review Argentinian author Claudia Pineiro's delightfully gossipy Thursday Night Widows, tr. Miranda France

and Terry Halligan reviews the re-release of Terence Strong's Stalking Horse set during the first Gulf War.

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

Reviews: Billingham, Blake, Bolton, Cotterill, Fitzgerald, Parot & New Competitions

Three new competitions for August, prizes are: The Third Pig Detective Agency by Bob Burke, Relics of the Dead by Ariana Franklin and Blood Law by Steven Hague (some restrictions apply).

Here are this week's reviews:

Tom Thorne is back in Mark Billingham's Blood Line, which reviewer Craig Sisterson calls a "taut tour de force";

Rome in AD 608 is the setting for Conspiracies of Rome by Richard Blake reviewed by Terry Halligan who found it to be "one of the most atmospheric historical novels I've read in years";

Amanda Gillies calls S J Bolton's Awakening "superb" despite her snake phobia;

Michelle Peckham reviews Dagger Winner Colin Cotterill's fourth Laos mystery Anarchy and Old Dogs concluding it's "an entertaining read that is thoroughly recommended";

Maxine Clarke has mixed views on My Last Confession by Helen Fitzgerald

and Laura Root has another enjoyable excursion into pre-revolutionary France in the third of the Nicolas Le Floch series by Jean-François Parot, The Phantom of Rue Royale.

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

New Reviews: Burdess, Cotterill, Edwards, Fossum, McAuley, Meyer

Here are this week's new reviews and details of the competitions:

Latest Reviews:

Terry Halligan reviews Wendy Burdess's The Meticulous Messenger set in Revolutionary France and England, and which sounds charming;

Maxine Clarke reviews the third of Colin Cotterill's Laos based series, Disco for the Departed - which stars an ancient coroner;

Liverpool resident Laura Root gives the thumbs up for Waterloo Sunset by Martin Edwards which sees the return of Liverpudlian lawyer Harry Devlin;

Karin Fossum's departure from her Inspector Sejer series, Broken, is not strictly a crime novel but Fiona Walker writes that it "is certainly a novel of suspense";

Amanda Gillies reviews the paperback edition of Players by Paul McAuley and highly recommends it

and though not Euro Crime, it is translated crime, I review the audio book of the latest from Deon Meyer - Devil's Peak - an engrossing tale coupled with an award-winning narrator in Saul Reichlin.


Current Competitions:

Win a copy of Death on a Branch Line by Andrew Martin*

* no restrictions on entrants


Win a copy of Blood Lines by Grace Monroe**

** UK/Europe only

and more from Colin Cotterill

From today's Publisher's Lunch:

FICTION
Mystery/Crime
Colin Cotterill's sixth and seventh "Dr. Siri" novels, featuring the septuagenarian Laotian state coroner introduced in THE CORONER'S LUNCH, to Laura Hruska at Soho Crime, by Richard Curtis of Richard Curtis Associates (NA).

Foreign rights to the series to Albin Michel in France, Quercus in the UK; Text Publishing in Australia; Fanucci Editore in Italy; Sony Magazines in Japan; and Goldmann in Germany, by Danny Baror of Baror International.

Canadian rights to Knopf Canada, by Soho Crime.

This refers to the sixth and seventh titles. There's four titles already out there, though we're lagging behind a bit in the UK, but Quercus are helping us to catch up. So what's the fifth?

Maxine Clarke recently reviewed for Euro Crime, the first in the series, The Coroner's Lunch and wrote:

I was lost in admiration at this wonderful book: for the convincing and sympathetic portrait of a man and his little circle of friends and their lives; and for the exciting and clever dramas that, in the end, come to a completely satisfying conclusion, even solving a mystery very personal to Siri himself as well as making neat, barbed little points about how the regime is undermining any semblance of the values its constant propaganda asserts.

Colin Cotterill is an extremely talented author who, by his lightness of touch and his simple, direct writing style, draws the reader in totally to a complex, many-layered world. The book is so full of beautiful little touches and nuances that you cannot fail to be won over. I'm very glad indeed I read this superb book, and I urge you to do so as well.