New Reviews: Anderson, Cottam, Fitzgerald, Hogan, Meyer, Ohlsson, Widdecombe, Wiley

Here are eight reviews which have been added to the Euro Crime website today, two have appeared on the blog since last time, and six 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

Amanda Gillies reviews Lin Anderson's Paths of the Dead, the latest in her Rhona MacLeod series set in Glasgow;

Michelle Peckham reviews F G Cottam's The Lazarus Prophecy - what links a monastery with a serial killer?;

Lynn Harvey reviews Conor Fitzgerald's The Memory Key, the fourth in the Alec Blume series set in Rome;

Terry Halligan reviews Phil Hogan's A Pleasure and a Calling about a more than nosy estate agent;

Terry also reviews Deon Meyer's Cobra tr. K L Seegers, the fourth book to feature South African cop Benny Griessel;


Michelle also reviews Kristina Ohlsson's Hostage tr. Marlaine Delargy, the fourth in the series;

Susan White reviews A N Widdecombe's The Dancing Detective which has a murder at a "Strictly Come Dancing"- type of competition


and Geoff Jones reviews Michael Wiley's Blue Avenue set in Florida.



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.

New Reviews: Black, Ewan, Jordan, McGilloway, Meyer, Nesbo, Perry, Quigley, Simms

Here are 9 new reviews which have been added to the Euro Crime website today:

Susan White reviews Helen Black's Blood Rush, the fourth in the Lilly Valentine, family care lawyer, series;

Terry Halligan reviews Chris Ewan's first standalone novel, Safe House set on the Isle of Man [& currently 20p as an e-book in the UK];

Amanda Gillies reviews the first in Will Jordan's Ryan Drake series set in the US: Redemption which is now out in paperback;

Brian McGilloway's latest Garda Inspector Ben Devlin book is also out in paperback, The Nameless Dead, reviewed here by JF;

We conclude our reviews of Deon Meyer's superb collection of South African crime novels with Lynn Harvey's review of Dead at Daybreak tr. Madeleine van Biljon;

Maxine Clarke reviews Harry Hole's first case, in Jo Nesbo's The Bat tr. Don Bartlett set in Australia;

Terry also reviews the paperback release of Anne Perry's Dorchester Terrace starring Thomas Pitt;

Lizzie Hayes reviews the first in a new series by Sheila Quigley, Thorn in My Side

and Mark Bailey reviews Chris Simms' Scratch Deeper the first in a new series, featuring Detective Constable Iona Khan and set in Manchester.

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: Brodrick, Brooks, Ceder, Chatterton, Conway, Dahl, Kray, Meyer, Upson

Here are 9 new reviews which have been added to the Euro Crime website today:

Terry Halligan reviews William Brodrick's The Day of the Lie, the fourth in the Father Anselm series;

Susan White reviews Kevin Brooks' Until the Darkness Comes the second in the John Craine, private detective, series;

Maxine Clarke reviews Camilla Ceder's follow-up to Frozen Moment, Babylon tr. Marlaine Delargy which sees the return of Gothenburg detective Christian Tell and co.;

Mark Bailey reviews Ed Chatterton's first foray into adult crime fiction, A Dark Place to Die set in Liverpool;

Lynn Harvey reviews and thoroughly recommends Rock Creek Park by Simon Conway;

Earlier this week I reviewed The Blinded Man by Arne Dahl, tr. Tiina Nunnally also published as Misterioso;

Lizzie Hayes reviews Roberta Kray's Nothing But Trouble which is now out in paperback;

Terry wishes all books he reviewed were as good as Deon Meyer's Heart of the Hunter tr. K L Seegers

and Susan also reviews Nicola Upson's Fear in the Sunlight the fourth in this series featuring Josephine Tey, now out in paperback

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: McDermid, McGilloway, Masters, Meyer, Moffat, Rimington, Sherez, Williams, Winspear

Here are 9 new reviews which have been added to the Euro Crime website today:

Maxine Clarke reviews Val McDermid's The Vanishing Point, a standalone with a couple of brief cameos from an earlier book;

Lynn Harvey reviews the paperback release of Brian McGilloway's Little Girl Lost which she is pleased to see is the first in a new series;

Lizzie Hayes reviews Priscilla Masters's Smoke Alarm, the fourth in the Martha Gunn, Coroner, series;

Earlier this week Michelle Peckham reviewed Deon Meyer's Dead Before Dying tr Madeleine van Biljon and we also interviewed the author;

Amanda Gillies reviews G J Moffat's Protection, the fourth in this series which has takn a different (and more appealing to Amanda) direction;

Geoff Jones reviews the paperback release of Stella Rimington's Rip Tide;

Terry Halligan reviews Stav Sherez's A Dark Redemption which is the first in a new police series;

Terry also reviews Andrew Williams's The Poison Tide set in the First World War

and Susan White reviews Jacqueline Winspear's eighth Maisie Dobbs book, A Lesson in Secrets now out in paperback and a series Susan calls "a real treat".

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.

Interview: Deon Meyer

Today sees the UK publication of Deon Meyer's 7 Days, the latest in the (Captain) Benny Griessel series. Deon's previous two books, Trackers and Thirteen Hours were both shortlisted for the CWA's International Dagger.

I'm very chuffed that Mr Meyer has answered some questions for Euro Crime:

At the recent Harrogate Crime Writing Festval (HCWF), Jo Nesbo was asked what question would he ask his favourite authors and he replied: "Why do you write?". So that's my first question: Why do you write?

Good question. And there is no simple answer, because the reasons have changed over the years. I started writing because the urge and need to do it (I’ve had it since my early teens) became overpowering, because it was the only thing I’ve ever been reasonably good at,  because I wanted to somehow say ‘I’m here’, and, to be honest, back then, I also hoped being a writer would get me laid (it didn’t).

Nowadays, I still write because of the never-ending urge, but also because I love being read, and I have a deep appreciation and gratitude for my agent and all the publishers who have invested so much in me. But most of all, I now write because sometimes, it is a real joy.

You were asked by Barry Forshaw at HCWF whether you had a favourite character and you said it would be like trying to name a favourite child but do you think your readers have a favourite character - are you always being asked when's the new Benny/Mat/Lemmer - and if so why do you think that character is more popular?

Yes, that’s the question most readers ask. I’m fascinated and delighted by the fact that readers all have their different favourites. But I honestly don’t know why a specific character is more popular. (I can only hope that it is because I try to make them as human as possible.)

I love the fact that your books are linked by a "family" of characters eg with the main character in one book making a cameo in another - how did this come about? Was it planned or did it just develop? 

It definitely wasn’t planned. As a matter of fact, I initially made a firm decision never to write a series (fat lot of good that did me), but I never anticipated how you grow attached to characters. It is one of the most weird and wonderful things about being an author (and the reason, methinks, why most fiction writers are a little bit bonkers):

When writing a book, we get to spend eight or ten or twelve hours every day, month after month, with characters who don’t exist. And during this mysterious process, they slowly turn into real flesh-and-blood people. Perhaps because the subconscious can’t distinguish between actual and fictitious individuals when you live and breathe their thoughts, triumphs and tragedies so intensely, for so long.

For me, they become like very good friends, or family members. After I’ve finished a book, I keep thinking about them, miss them, and (here is the barmy part) worry about them.

That’s why they keep coming back.

You act as an ambassador for your country (South Africa) when you're on tour - and I think you may be unique in this - have you considered getting into politics? 

Because politicians are so good at fiction? Good grief, no! It is a privilege to be an informal ambassador for my wonderful country (mainly because there are so many misperceptions about South Africa out there), but I think I would make a lousy politician – I see too many sides of an argument …

Do you think your books are so popular in the UK because they provide a perspective on life in South Africa, or is is "just" because they are excellent thrillers?

I have absolutely no idea.

How different are your books in their original Afrikaans compared with their English translations? (You mentioned at HCWF that extra explanations were added to the American edition.)

Thanks to my brilliant translator Laura Seegers, the only small difference is a few additional bits of information when needed to clarify matters for the international audience. And, of course, the glossary at the back of the book. And because Americans are slightly less familiar with South Africa, we added a few extra paragraphs in some of the US editions.

Do you have anything to do with the translation process, eg discussions with the translator?

I am very much involved with the translation process. Once Laura has done her excellent work, Isobel Dixon (my agent) and I read carefully, and we often have long e-mail arguments about single words. Of course, Laura usually wins…

Is there any author to whom you are regularly compared in blurbs, etc? If so, is this annoying?

I’ve been greatly honoured by comparisons with John le Carré, Henning Mankell and Stieg Larsson. It’s never been annoying, always thrilling.

You mentioned at HCWF that Val McDermid was one of your heroes. Which other authors do you read? (A certain Michael Connelly makes an appearance in 13 Hours...) 

This is one of the most difficult questions to answer, because I read and enjoy everything - from J.M. Coetzee to William Gibson, with everything in between.

Growing up, I cut my thriller and crime teeth on the great masters: John D. MacDonald, Ed McBain, John le Carré, Frederick Forsyth, Ted Allbeury, Robert B. Parker ... And I still admire them all.

Current authors I love to read and have huge respect and admiration for are Michael Connelly, Robert Harris, Ian Rankin, Dennis Lehane, Lee Child, Michael Ridpath, John Sandford, Val McDermid, George P. Pelecanos, Douglas Kennedy, Mark Bowden, C.J. Box, Anthony Beavor, Harlan Coben, David Morrell, Jeffrey Deaver, Ken Follett, to name but a few.

I can't get enough of Stephen Pinker, love biographies and travel writing, read at least one newspaper every day, one news magazine every week, three motorcycle magazines every month ...

Which (other) South African authors should we be reading?

South African literature – and our crime fiction in particular – is blossoming. Chris Karsten, Mike Nicol, Margie Orford, Karin Brynard, Andrew Brown, Sifiso Mzobe, Peter Church, Wessel Ebersohn, H.J. Golokai, Joanne Hichens, Jassie Mackenzie, Malla Nunn, Diale Tlholwe … The list keeps growing.

And finally...are you planning to write a book based on weeks, months, years, after 13 Hours and 7 Days!

Nope. Enough is enough.

Many thanks to Deon Meyer and Hodder for arranging the interview.

More information about Deon Meyer and his books including photos of some of the locations can be found on www.deonmeyer.com. Follow him on twitter: @MeyerDeon

Bibliography

Dead Before Dying
Dead at Daybreak
Heart of the Hunter
Devil's Peak
Blood Safari
Thirteen Hours
Trackers
7 Days

Review: Dead Before Dying by Deon Meyer

I'll be posting an interview with Deon Meyer tomorrow to coincide with the UK publication of 7 Days. Euro Crime will be also reviewing some of his earlier titles which have just been reissued. Today's review of Dead Before Dying, Deon Meyer's first book, is by Michelle Peckham.

Dead Before Dying by Deon Meyer, tr. Madeleine van Biljon , August 2012, 432 pages, Hodder Paperbacks, ISBN: 1444730711

Captain Mat Joubert, Murder and Robbery detective, is still going through the grieving process after the murder of his wife, Lara. He is overweight, drinks and smokes too much, and does no exercise. Colonel Bart de Wit, the new commanding officer is determined to change things, and one of the things he expects is for everyone to invest in their own physical and mental health. He tells Mat to "shape up or ship out". He schedules him for a medical and mental examination, and Mat has to start exercising, dieting, and facing up to his loss. Meanwhile Mat has the infatuation of his neighbour's teenage daughter to contend with. And then, there are the crimes he has to solve: the bank robber with an unusual approach, and the serial killer.

While part of the novel is, of course, about solving the crimes, there is a huge focus on the main character, Mat. And it’s the recounting of Mat’s own story as well as the detective work needed to catch the robber and murderer that make this book stand out. As Mat becomes engaged with finding the perpetrators behind the robber and the serial murders, the novel also recounts his recovery process, his complex and supportive interactions with other members of the detective squad, his gradual adjustment to his new boss, the coverage of his investigation by the media, his developing relationship with his new psychiatrist and his attempts to get fit and lose weight. Conversations with the psychiatrist help him start to come to terms with his wife's death, and these act as an important vehicle to describe whom Lara was, what happened to her and why Mat feels responsible. As the psychiatrist happens to be a woman, inevitably Mat also starts to find himself attracted to her. While again, perhaps this is also part of his recovery process, it also becomes an important part of the story.

Then, on a lighter note, there are the occasional descriptions of Mat’s diet, which almost read like a male version of Bridget Jones's diary ("dinner was 60 grams of skinless chicken 60 millilitres of (fat free) gravy, 125 millilitres of mixed vegetables, and as much boiled (tasteless) cauliflower as he liked…and after than, one full flavoured Winston, one tot of whisky."). And thrown into the mix is the background setting of South Africa, which adds to the interest and novelty of the story.

I really enjoyed Dead Before Dying. I liked the complexity of the main character, the interactions between the detectives, and their dogged determination to find both the robber and the serial murderer. Good detective work helps discover who the bank robber is. The discovery of the identity of the serial murderer is more challenging, and it's only as connections are slowly drawn between the victims, that it starts to become clear who the murderer is, and what their motivation might be. A sad, tense denouement ends the book, with an unexpected twist. I'd highly recommend this book. I've enjoyed all the Deon Meyer books I've read so far, and this one is no exception.

Michelle Peckham

New Reviews: Connolly & Burke, Craig, Fowler, Harris, Kinnings, McGowan, Meyer, Robertson, Sinclair

Here are 9 new reviews which have been added to the Euro Crime website today:

Rich Westwood reviews Books to Die For edited by John Connolly and Declan Burke, a collection of 120 essays from well-known authors about the books they love;

Geoff Jones reviews James Craig's third DI Carlyle book, Buckingham Palace Blues;

Mark Bailey reviews Christopher Fowler's Bryant and May and The Invisible Code, the tenth (and possibly last?) in the series;

Terry Halligan reviews Tessa Harris's debut novel, The Anatomist's Apprentice set in 1780 and introducing Dr Thomas Silkstone;

Lynn Harvey reviews Max Kinnings' Baptism the first in a series featuring blind hostage negotiator Ed Mallory, and set in the London Underground;

Susan White reviews Claire McGowan's The Fall, now out in paperback;

Maxine Clarke reviews Deon Meyer's [fabulous] 7 Days, tr. K L Seegers which sees the return of Benny Griessel. Check the blog later this week for an interview with Deon Meyer;

Amanda Gillies reviews Imogen Robertson's Island of Bones the third in the Gabriel Crowther and Harriet Westerman series, out in paperback, and also set in the 1780s

and JF reviews John Gordon Sinclair's debut Seventy Times Seven.

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.

Harrogate - 50 Different Words For Murder

The first of two panels on the final day, the ones I'd been eagerly awaiting:

From the Programme:
With crime fiction from around the world as popular as ever, we ask four overseas authors what, if anything, is lost in translation. Writing originally in Swedish, Spanish and Afrikaans, Camilla Lackberg, Antonio Hill, Deon Meyer and Liza Marklund will tell Barry Forshaw just how much of their work is filtered or coloured by their translator. How much involvement do they have in the translations? And crucially…will we ever get tired of Scandinavian crime fiction?

My notes:

If LM is Godmother of Swedish crime fiction what does that make Maj Sjowall? LM's granny!

BF says that DM is the best crime writer in Afrikaans. DM said that it was a huge honour to be here, thank you Theaksons.

CL's latest book is The Drowning.

AH - poetic title (The Summer of Dead Toys) but kind of creepy, only book so no problem with being translated out of order, set in a very hot Barcelona.

CL is a celebrity for her private life eg being on the Swedish version of Strictly; her personal life was a gossip item 4 years ago complaining about media, got revenge by attacking reality tv in The Stonecutter/The Stranger.

BF asked LM - do we get right image of Scandinavia from her books? Scandinavians like to think were the best and that the problem with the rest of the world was that they are not Scandinavian. LM wanted to covered issues like abused women/children so wrote crime novels about these issues.

BF says Afrikaans has 87 years left. That's enough for DM! DM's English not as impeccable as his Afrikaans mother tongue, which is a beautiful and varied language.

BF: Translators so grateful to be included in Death in a Cold Climate. CL's books are shared between husband and wife team Steven T Murray and Tiina Nunnally. She's never got into how they do that! They are good at emailing her. She rarely hears from translators.

AH has been a translator so knows process.

LM works closely with (translator) Neil Smith, rework US edition quite a lot.

Translators object to editors changing US to British English (or vice-versa) as it's a whole way of thinking not just the language. DM: British people know more about South Africa than Americans as they only know America. DM's US editions have extra paragraphs or chapters to explain.

AH Read English translation (by Laura McGoughlin) and dialogue was very good, she got the rhythm.

CL & LM are huge in Germany, pictures everywhere. CL wearing angel wings! It's really easy to persuade her to get into angel wings! Been a ghost, dead floating body - crazy campaigns for her books.

LM read everything - raised close to Arctic circle (so not much to do) read Enid Blyton, Agatha Christie, Maj Sjowall.

DM sees self as ambassador for SA and try to rectify misconceptions about SA. "Once a time you couldn't have a sympathetic white cop" changed after apartheid.

LM - you never find crime novels in dictatorships.

CL likes contrast between everyday life (everyday dramas) and dead bodies, hideous murders.

Legacy of Franco hangs heavy. AH not so young (he says0 lived under it for 9 years.

The panel hoped they were translated due to quality of book not ease with which name can be pronounced in English.

AH was asked to change his name in Germany as not Spanish enough - add an extra letter - but he refused.

Translators clean up LM in German editions. make Annika more polite. Usually you spend several hours for your author portrait - look nice and then German publisher says we need ugly pictures - want author to look like girl next door, roots showing. DM doesn't have this problem and wife think he looks like Brad Pitt anyway!

Annika is an incarnation of LM that makes every mistake but gets away with it. Women are human beings even if not treated like that. LM likes to be a bit Annika if pushed around. We should all be a bit Annika.

CL: didn't want Erica to be her but writes better about her when she writes about her own experiences. Over time Erica is 50% her. Patrik is based on her ex-husband who was a tax economist but she is now married to policeman.

AH's main character is a melancholic, normal guy unless he gets angry! He beats 1 man up but he deserved it and he is the big brother he would like to have.

BF asked DM which of your characters do you like best? He tries to make them different - question is like being asked to choose your favourite child!. He misses them, as characters become like  friends/family and worries about them and make stories up about what they're doing.

LM wrote about union leaders going to strip club as don't have many scandals in Sweden so have to treasure them.

The Ice Princess started with that image of woman in frozen bath. Got title and story built from that image.

AH had an image of girl in swimming pool surrounded by broken toys - made up whole story to explain this image.

DM - press us very free in SA. Took a while to get used to. Dangerous to write a crime novel trying to make a political point as you may lose readers.

LM writes political novels.

CL doesn't think highly of British press - glad that Swedish press isn't as curious. Tabloids are generally nicer than the UK ones.

DM - some of UK press is the best in the world, some is worst.

AH - journalist write scandals about each other in Spain.

BF asked about sex scenes...

LM tries to write them from a male pov.

CL can't make herself write sex scenes as picture of mum & mother-in-law in her head.

DM - Afrikaans of Cape Flats very specific way of speaking but cannot translate (very musical).

CL - get many questions on Scandinavian crime - analyse the success and why they're so good at it; why do people like reading about Scandinavian countries?

Assassinations (Palme & Lind) were a wake up call pulled them into rest of world. Sweden has problems like any other country, not all tall and blonde. A Kennedy moment when Olaf Palme killed. LM said Sweden was 50 years ahead in 1950s as weren't in wars.

Why are Latin countries not as popular. Climate? AH - show we can kill, don't need snow. Not a long tradition of crime fiction in Spain most papers won't review crime fiction.

Corruption endemic theme in all books. No worse in SA than UK, UK politicians "cook the books" (DM). CL said Swedish politicians aren't as colourful or don't hear about it. Now economic scandals as sexual scandals are not scandals any more!

Literary reviewers think CLs books are written in too everyday language and so put their success abroad down to really good translators. LM said Scandi books not better but have a spotlight on a whiter society and spots are darker;the contrast is bigger in Scandi society.

CL - people are curious about Sweden.

LM in Germany always gets question - why did you start with 4th book - only gets that in Germany!! (could be out of order translation or down to the fact that her first book The Bomber is a later one chronologically)

CL in Italy - got so many questions abut Patrik staying at home looking after baby. Convinced a large audience of women that it was a good idea.

DM - email feedback is about the books but when on tour is asked abut country.

AH get different questions about woman character, depending on country - too sexually liberated for some.

DM - 85% of crime is domestic and drug/alcohol related.

LZ - theme is power, in all novels, and stories around that.

DM - vast majority of crime is in disadvantaged communities.

Question from audience about British authors writing about their countries eg Spain (Quintin Jardine) and Alexander McCall Smith (Africa):

AH says why not, have a different view.

CL says "stay away!" (re Brit writers writing about Scandinavia)

DM says that AMS gets Botswana people exactly right, No crime fiction novel can be a panoramic view of all society. Thinks AMS absolutely brilliant and does it very very well.

Comment from German member of the audience post-war Germany very stable, crime fiction very pop since 50s. Patricia Highsmith not seen as crime writer in Germany or Spain.

Ruth Rendell often mentioned as being read by Scandinavians. CL a crime nerd since little. 80% of her reading is crime.

BF ended the session by saying the Germans are coming...

New Reviews: Black, Carver, Gregory, Hannah, Hill, Lock, McGilloway, Meyer, Rees

Competition: During May (closes 31st) you can 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.

New Competition: Win YA Thriller Soul Beach by Kate Harrison here (UK/Ireland only)

Here are this week's 9 new reviews:

Amanda Gillies reviews Helen Black's, Twenty Twelve, which involves terrorism at the London Olympics;

Terry Halligan reviews Will Carver's The Two the second outing for Detective Inspector January David;

Terry also reviews Susanna Gregory's The Piccadilly Plot the seventh in the Thomas Chaloner Restoration series;

Susan White reviews Mari Hannah's debut, The Murder Wall the first in the DCI Kate Charles series set in Northumberland;

Lynn Harvey reviews Antonio Hill's debut, The Summer of Dead Toys, tr. Laura McGoughlin set in Barcelona and introducing Inspector Hector Salgado;

Lizzie Hayes reviews the paperback release of Joan Lock's Dead Image the first of six in the Victorian era, Sergeant Best series;

Laura Root reviews the latest in the Ben Devlin series from Brian McGilloway, The Nameless Dead writing that it "is one of the best books I have read this year";

Maxine Clarke reviews Deon Meyer's Trackers, tr. K L Seegers of which she states "this book may be the best thriller I've ever read"

and if you travel by train in the UK you can't have missed the posters for Emlyn Rees's Hunted, just out in paperback and reviewed here by Rich Westwood.

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.

Thirteen Hours - Cover Opinions

As with Hypothermia, US based readers of the 2010 International Dagger Shortlist will have to wait until September (7th) for the US edition of Thirteen Hours by Deon Meyer.

Read the Euro Crime review (by Maxine) of Thirteen Hours.

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 Deon Meyer?

New Reviews: Cooper, Harris, Lelic, Meyer, Robertson, Taylor

This month's competitions:

Win the complete Millennium Trilogy by Stieg Larsson on Unabridged Audiobooks (UK & Ireland)
Win a copy of Daisychain by G J Moffat (UK only) new

Here are this week's new reviews:

Amanda Gillies reviews Glenn Cooper's The Tenth Chamber;

Michelle Peckham reviews Blueeyedboy by Joanne Harris;

Maxine Clarke reviews A Thousand Cuts (UK: Rupture) by Simon Lelic;

and Maxine also reviews euro crime favourite Deon Meyer's Thirteen Hours, tr. K L Seegers (Jack Bauer eat your heart out);

Terry Halligan reviews Imogen Robertson's Instruments of Darkness set in the 18th Century

and Laura Root reviews the 1930s set At The Chime of a City Clock by D J Taylor.

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

New Reviews: Fowler, Grace, Hall, Meyer, Monroe, Weeks

The newest competition which closes on 31 December: Win Murder on the Cliffs by Joanna Challis (UK & Europe only)

Here are the new reviews that have been added to the website (yesterday and) today:

Terry Halligan reviews The Victoria Vanishes by Christopher Fowler and he seems as taken with the series as I am;

Amanda Gillies reviews Tom Grace's The Secret Cardinal and she recommends it to "fans of Tom Clancy and Jack Higgins";

Amanda Brown reviews the latest in Simon Hall's photographer/police-officer series, The Judgement Book writing that "for me this is the best one yet";

Maxine Clarke reviews the paperback edition of Blood Safari by Dean Meyer, tr. K L Seegers (another one of my favourite authors) and Maxine begins her review: "an excellent thriller which held me completely entranced from the moment I opened it and read the first page";

Norman Price enjoyed Aly Monroe's Washington Shadow and is looking forward to more books with her series character Peter Cotton

and Michelle Peckham reviews Lee Weeks' third Johnny Mann book, Death Trip, the violence in which left her seeking a nice cosy read afterwards.

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