Holiday Reading - Crime Express

I slipped into my rucksack, the two latest Crime Express novellas from Five Leaves: The Okinawa Dragon by Nicola Monaghan and The Quarry by Clare Littleford, numbers 4 and 5 in the imprint. I've blogged about the first three novellas, (by John Harvey, Stephen Booth and Rod Duncan) here and reviewed them on the Euro Crime website, here.

Jack deals in cardboard, selling expensive and rare gaming cards to rich collectors. He makes plenty of money, travelling the world. He meets millionaire Henri, the man who has everything. Well, almost everything. Henri wants the elusive Okinawa Dragon, a one-off card given to a Japanese businessman who refuses to sell. A plan is hatched, and Jack is soon on his way to Osaka to complete Henri’s collection. There is only one way to get hold of something somebody doesn’t want to give.


A frightened phone call from her young daughter sends Jenny Carter into the darkness of Quarry Woods, seventeen years after she swore she’d never return. What she finds there triggers a journey back to a horrific event in her own childhood – an event which now threatens the present.

Bookwitch also reviews Claws by Stephen Booth and the Crime Express concept, here.

Crime Express, first wave

I've mentioned Five Leaves Publishing a couple of times on the blog and I recently received this press release which has more details on the coming titles which include the return of Resnick, in John Harvey's 'Trouble in Mind'.

Five Leaves Publications, a small independent in Nottingham, is launching a new imprint, Crime Express, which comprises short novellas by well-known crime writers.

The first three books – launched in early October – are by John Harvey, Stephen Booth and Rod Duncan. John Harvey and Stephen Booth are two of Britain’s best selling crime writers, while Rod Duncan’s trilogy of Leicester inner-city crime stories has build a growing reputation. John Harvey won the Crime Writers Association Cartier Diamond Dagger earlier this year.

All the books are published in a uniform series format, as flapped paperbacks, 160mm x 110mm and retail at £4.99.

Ross Bradshaw of Five Leaves said “I’ve always been attracted to the ‘long short story’ and I’ve been thinking of a way of publishing them for years. This smaller format - 80-96 pages – is big enough to create a spine, and I’ve always liked flapped paperbacks!” He continued “I’m pleased to start the series with three great writers, all of whom I know from the region.”

The Stephen Booth book features a new story by his main characters, D.C. Ben Cooper and D.S. Diane Fry; John Harvey engineers a meeting of two of his main characters, Charlie Resnick and Jack Kiley while Rod Duncan explores the world of stage psychics.

Five Leaves plan to publish three volumes a year in the series, with Nicola Monaghan (winner of the Betty Trask award for her first novel) and Claire Littleford included in the next batch. In 2009 the series expands to include non-fiction, the first being on the films of Raymond Chandler novels.

Crime Express’ first books will be available from 1st October:

John Harvey Trouble in Mind 978 1 905512 25 6

Stephen Booth: Claws 978 1 905512 24 9

Rod Duncan: The Mentalist 978 1 905512 26 3