Review Roundup: Connelly, Dalbuono, Downing, Fossum, Nickson, Quinn, Randall, Russell, Seymour, Webster, Wilson

Here are 12 reviews which have been added to the Euro Crime website today, all have appeared on the blog since last time.

You can keep up to date with Euro Crime by following the blog and/or liking the Euro Crime Facebook page and follow on Twitter, @eurocrime.

New Reviews

I briefly review Michael Connelly's latest Bosch, The Crossing and float the idea of reading some of his earlier books over the summer;

Susan reviews The Few by Nadia Dalbuono, which introduces Scarmarcio of the Roman police;

Terry reviews David Downing's One Man's Flag and Silesian Station;

I also review Karin Fossum's The Drowned Boy tr. Kari Dickson which sees the return of the empathetic Inspector Sejer;

Michelle reviews Chris Nickson's Two Bronze Pennies, the second in the Tom Parker series set in 1890s Leeds;

Lynn reviews Anthony J Quinn's Silence, the third in the Celcius Daly series set in Northern Ireland;

Amanda reviews Anne Randall's Silenced, the second in the Wheeler and Ross series (the first was Riven written as A J McCreanor);

Amanda also reviews Leigh Russell's Blood Axe, the third in the DS Ian Peterson series;


Terry also reviews Gerald Seymour's No Mortal Thing;

Lynn also reviews A Body in Barcelona by Jason Webster, the fifth in the Max Camara series

and Michelle also reviews The Wrong Girl by Laura Wilson.








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

Review: No Mortal Thing by Gerald Seymour

No Mortal Thing by Gerald Seymour, January 2016, 416 pages, Hodder & Stoughton, ISBN: 1444758632

Reviewed by Terry Halligan.
(Read more of Terry's reviews for Euro Crime here.)

This is the author's latest book and the seventh that I've read for review, although I have enjoyed reading privately many others of his. The quality of his writing and research has not diminished over the years, in fact it seems to get better. I found this latest one just as exciting and dramatic as ever.

Jago is a kid from a rough part of London who has worked hard to get a job in a bank and is now on a fast-track secondment to the Berlin office.

Marcantonio is one of the new generation in the 'Ndrangheta crime families from Calabria, Southern Italy. He is in Germany to learn how to channel their illicit millions towards legitimate businesses all over Europe.

When Jago witnesses Marcantonio commit a vicious assault and the police seem uninterested, the Englishman refuses to let the matter drop.

After an unhappy meeting in Germany, Jago decides to put his job on hold and follow Marconio to Italy and after a chance meeting with a girl named Consolata, who gives him good advice he decides to observe Marcantonio and his Mafia family from under deep cover and debate how he can invoke justice against the offender. In the interest of reading a good story one has to suspend one's disbelief that a man in a very good and highly paid banking job in Germany would on a whim abandon it and go Italy to hurt in some way a Mafia gangster.

The story reminded me of his book A DENIABLE DEATH in that both stories employ the protagonist in a surveillance capacity under deep cover for quite long periods of time and the author's skill is deployed in lengthy descriptions of small movements of both the watchers and the targets. This may seem a bit long-winded but with the author's deep understanding of such tactics it becomes very tense. The book moves swiftly on until the explosive ending.

Gerald Seymour has been a full-time writer since 1978. NO MORTAL THING is his thirty-second novel. I hope he writes many more and that I get the chance to read them all as I have never known him to write a dull one. I enjoyed this book tremendously and was thoroughly enthralled until the final page. This story was absolutely gripping and I urge you to read this novel.

Strongly recommended.

Terry Halligan, February 2016.

New Reviews: Brett, Costantini, Martin, Seymour, Weeks, Womersley

Six new reviews have been added to Euro Crime today:

After a sixteen-year break, Charles Paris returns in Simon Brett's A Decent Interval, reviewed here by Mark Bailey;

Susan White reviews Roberto Costantini's The Deliverance of Evil tr. N S Thompson, the first in the Michele Balistreri trilogy, set in Rome;

Laura Root reviews the eighth in the historical Jim Stringer series by Andrew Martin: The Baghdad Railway Club;

Terry Halligan reviews Gerald Seymour's The Outsiders, now out in paperback;

Amanda Gillies reviews Lee Weeks's Dead of Winter the first in a new series featuring Detective Constable Ebony Willis

and Lynn Harvey reviews Australian writer Chris Womersley's noir The Low Road.


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.

Cited on The Outsiders

A quote from Terry's review for Euro Crime of Gerald Seymour's A Deniable Death appears on the back of his new book,The Outsiders:

New Reviews: Child, Cross, Edwards, Ellis, French, Kristian, Seymour, Theorin

Here are this week's reviews, which include visits to Iraq, Ireland, Sweden, USA and the age of the Vikings(!) as well as the UK:

Lynn Harvey joins the review team with her review of Lee Child's fifteenth Reacher novel, Worth Dying For, which has just come out in paperback;

Sarah Hilary reviews Neil Cross's prequel to his tv series Luther, Luther: The Calling;

I reviewed Martin Edwards's The Serpent Pool on the blog last week (do read the comments as well!);

Lizzie Hayes reviews another fifteenth in the series - Kate Ellis's The Jackal Man the latest in the Wesley Peterson series just out in paperback;

Geoff Jones reviews Tana French's third book in a connected series of books, Faithful Place;

Amanda Gillies reviews the last in the Raven Trilogy by Giles Kristian , Raven: Odin's Wolves (but hopes for more!);

Terry Halligan reviews the recently released new thriller from Gerald Seymour A Deniable Death

and Maxine Clarke reviews double CWA Dagger winner Johan Theorin's third book in the Oland Quartet: The Quarry, tr. Marlaine Delargy.

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

New Reviews: Camilleri, Cooper, Gardiner, Nickson, Rimington, Seymour

Competitions for June:
Win four books by S J Bolton (UK & Ireland)
Win 8 children's crime fiction books (UK Only)

Do please vote in the International Dagger polls (top right of blog).

Here are this week's reviews:

I review two Father Paolo Baldi mysteries (radio plays) now released on audio book: Death Cap & Devil Take the Hindmost;

Maxine Clarke reviews The Track of Sand by Andrea Camilleri, tr. Stephen Sartarelli the twelfth in this delightful series;

Lizzie Hayes reviews N J Cooper's third Karen Taylor book, Face of the Devil set on the Isle of Wight;

Sarah Hilary reviews "official friend to Euro Crime" author Meg Gardiner's The Memory Collector;

Geoff Jones reviews Chris Nickson's second outing for Richard Nottingham, Cold Cruel Winter set in 1730s Leeds;

I also review the audio book of Stella Rimington's Present Danger narrated by Maggie Mash

and Terry Halligan reviews Gerald Seymour's The Dealer and the Dead now out in paperback.

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

New Reviews: Cain, Holt, Sewell, Seymour, Williams, Winslow

Here are this week's reviews:

Terry Halligan reviews the paperback release of Assassin by Tom Cain the third in the "Accident Man" series;

Maxine Clarke reviews 1222 by Anne Holt, tr. Marlaine Delargy, an Agatha Christie style homage;

Amanda Gillies reviews the paperback release of Bloodprint by Kitty Sewell which she says is "superb";

Terry also reviews the paperback release of The Collaborator by Gerald Seymour about the Mafia;

Laura Root reviews Conrad Williams debut crime novel, Blonde on a Stick a gritty, noir thriller set in both Liverpool and London

and Michelle Peckham reviews Emily Winslow's The Whole World set in Cambridge.

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

Some recent publishing deals

Here are a couple of recent publishing deals that I've not mentioned before. Gerald Seymour's first book for Hodder was The Collaborator and they've signed him up for two more. From The Bookseller:

Curtis Brown chief executive Jonathan Lloyd has renewed the contract between thriller writer Gerald Seymour and Hodder, in a two-book deal that has bucked the trend for declining advances.

Although Lloyd declined to specify a figure, he said Hodder had paid "more" than the original deal (which was also for two books). "My authors go up, not down," he said. "Gerald deserves it—the payment is commensurate with his abilities."

Also in The Bookseller, was the news about a follow-up to Layer Cake by JJ Connolly:

Duckworth has bought the rights to the follow up book to the cult gangster novel-turned-film Layer Cake.

JJ Connolly's new book is entitled Viva La Madness and follows the fortunes of Layer Cake's unnamed narrator. The story starts in South America where the last novel ended. Duckworth plans to publish in paperback original in spring 2011.

"Viva La Madness is slick, gripping, complex, and hugely entertaining. JJ Connolly’s dialogue is unique – sharp, witty and even poetic – his characters are as compelling as they are horrifying, and he captures a certain seedy side of London with extraordinary vividness and authenticity. Fans of Layer Cake can look forward to a spectacular treat."

New Reviews: Carter, Leather, Medieval Murderers, Seymour, Templeton, Verhoef

There are two competitions running in September. One is for 2 children's adventure-thriller books by Andy Briggs and is open to the UK, and the other is for A Visible Darkness by Michael Gregorio which is open world-wide. Details on how to enter can be found on the competition page.

Here are this week's reviews:

Craig Sisterson reviews The Crucifix Killer by Chris Carter;

Terry Halligan reviews Live Fire by Stephen Leather and thinks it's his best yet;

Amanda Gillies reviews the paperback edition of The Lost Prophecies by The Medieval Murderers;

Norman Price reviews The Collaborator by Gerald Seymour - which tells what happens when you go against the Camorra;

Michelle Peckham reviews the latest in one of my favourite series: Dead in the Water by Aline Templeton;

and Maxine Clarke reviews Dutch author, Esther Verhoef's English translation debut - Close-Up concluding with "if you like your crime fiction suspenseful, erotically romantic, tense and pacy, this is definitely a book for you".

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

New Reviews: Hall, Hill, Lackberg, Owen, Seymour, Tursten

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

Latest Reviews:

A big welcome to Amanda Brown whom I met at CrimeFest and who has agreed to review for Euro Crime! In her first review she takes on Simon Hall's The Death Pictures which she writes is "a compelling thriller";

Fiona Walker reviews There Are No Ghosts in the Soviet Union by Reginald Hill - a collection of six short stories which has just been republished;

I enjoyed The Ice Princess by Camilla Lackberg but I think other people have enjoyed it more. I found it quite cosy in spite of the nature of some of the crimes that have occurred;

Kerrie Smith reviews Ladies of Class by Marjorie Owen, a traditional village mystery set in the 1960s;

Terry Halligan reviews Timebomb by Gerald Seymour and finds that Seymour's books get better and better

and Maxine continues her Scandinavian crime fiction odyssey with Helene Tursten's The Torso calling it one of the "best police-procedurals I have ever read".


Current Competitions:

Win a copy of The Bellini Card by Jason Goodwin*

* no restrictions on entrants (ends 31 July)