New Reviews: Clark, Janes, McKenzie, May, Solana, Staalesen, Stock & Website Updates

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 Cassandra Clark's third Abbess of Meaux mystery: The Law of Angels calling it a "fascinating historical page turner";

Lizzie Hayes reviews Diane Janes follow-up to her CWA Dagger Award shortlisted debut novel: Why Don't You Come For Me, which comes "highly recommended";

Michelle Peckham reviews Grant McKenzie's second North America-set thriller, No Cry For Help;

Amanda Gillies reviews Peter May's The Blackhouse the first in a trilogy featuring "Lewis-born, Edinburgh-based, detective, Fin MacLeod";

I review Teresa Solana's A Shortcut to Paradise, tr Peter Bush one of the latest gems from Bitter Lemon Press;

Maxine Clarke reviews Gunnar Staalesen's Yours Until Death, tr. Margaret Amassian

and earlier this week I reviewed the audio book of Jon Stock's spy-thriller, Games Traitors Play.

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

Plus I've also refreshed the bibliography pages on the website:

State of play at 20.3.11:

The Author Websites page now lists 868 sites.

The New & Upcoming Releases pages have been updated.

In Bibliographies there are now bibliographies for 1636 authors (8372 titles with links to 1945 reviews):

I've added new bibliographies for: Geraint Anderson, Sara Blaedel, Robin Blake, Chris Carter, Eoin Colfer, Julia Crouch, Pablo de Santis, Jeffery Deaver, Patrick Easter, Elsebeth Egholm, Christopher (CW) Gortner, Howard Linskey, Kevin McCarthy, Lynn Shepherd, Didier van Cauwelaert, Alex Walters, Tim Weaver, Jan Merete Weiss and Robert Wilton

I've updated the bibliographies (ie added new titles) for: Michael Arnold, Lindsay Ashford, James Barrington, M C Beaton, Tony Black, Richard Blake, Fabrice Bourland, Rhys Bowen, Simon Brett, Andrew Britton, Maureen Carter, Kimbereley Chambers, John Connolly, Fay Cunningham, K O Dahl, Joy Ellis, Kate Ellis, James Fleming, M R Hall, Tim Heald, Susan Hill, Peter James, Paul Johnston, Doug Johnstone, Gene Kerrigan, Giles Kristian, Asa Larsson, Giulio Leoni, Karen Maitland, Hakan Nesser, Sheila Quigley, Matt Benyon Rees, Peter Robinson, Michael Robotham, Rosemary Rowe, Craig Russell, Nicola Slade, Roz Southey, M Stanford-Smith, Simon Tolkien, Christopher Wakling, Charlie Williams, Emily Winslow and Simon Wood.

If you spot any errors or omissions do let me know.

New Reviews: Beaton, Carrisi, Chessex, McKenzie, Siger, Taylor, Walsh

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)

I'd like to welcome Lizzie Hayes to the Euro Crime fold. She has donated a sizeable collection of reviews of recent books, which I'll be running over the next few weeks.

Here are this week's reviews:

Lizzie Hayes reviews the most recent Agatha Raisin from M C Beaton: Agatha Raisin and the Busy Body;

I review Donato Carrisi's The Whisperer, tr. Shaun Whiteside which has won several prizes in Italy;

Maxine Clarke reviews Jacques Chessex's A Jew Must Die, tr. W Donald Wilson published by Bitter Lemon Press ;

Michelle Peckham reviews Grant McKenzie's debut novel: Switch, a thriller set in the US;

Terry Halligan reviews one of this month's competition prizes: Assassin of Athens by Jeffrey Siger;

Amanda Gillies loved Andrew Taylor's latest: The Anatomy of Ghosts

and Lizzie also reviews The Attenbury Emeralds by Jill Paton Walsh, Lord Peter Wimsey's first case.

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

Another Copycat Cover

This edition of Widow's Walk came out in 2002, Grant McKenzie's Switch has just been published in the UK.

Switch and other running men

Grant McKenzie has let me know that the UK publication date for Switch has been moved to July. Switch was published in Australia in December 2008. Grant McKenzie was born in Scotland and now lives in Canada.

Synopsis: How far would you go to save the ones you love? Would you run five traffic lights in a row? Would you rob a store at gunpoint? Would you commit murder? Security guard Sam White's life falls apart when he arrives home to find his house a burnt-out shell with the bodies of his wife and daughter inside. Then he receives a phone call from a man who claims that his wife and child are alive and Sam can still save them. But first, he must complete a few simple tasks. Sam joins forces with Zack Parker whose life has also been ripped apart by the same sadistic kidnapper. Together they plunge into the dark, labyrinthine underworld of Portland, Oregon. And into a race against time to discover the identity of the kidnapper and save their families before it's too late.

The figure of the 'running man' on Switch's cover is a popular motif on covers of thrillers. Here are just a few examples: