New Reviews: Billingham, Franklin & Norman, Jungstedt, O'Byrne, Spencer, Wilkinson

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

You can keep up to date with Euro Crime by following the blog and/or liking the Euro Crime Facebook page.

New Reviews

Craig Sisterson reviews Mark Billingham's Rush of Blood, a stand-alone from a couple of years ago;

Terry Halligan reviews Winter Siege, begun by Ariana Franklin and completed by her daughter Samantha Norman, which is now out in paperback;

Michelle Peckham reviews Mari Jungstedt's The Dangerous Game tr. Tiina Nunnally;


Amanda Gillies reviews The Crime Writer's Guide to Police Practice and Procedure, Second Edition by Michael O'Byrne;

Rich Westwood reviews I Nearly Died by Charles Spencer


and Susan White reviews Kerry Wilkinson's Scarred for Life, the latest in the Jessica Daniel series.



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

New Reviews: Dickinson, Horst, Jungstedt, Mark, Meade, Regan, Rickman

Win Carnage by Maxim Chattam (UK only). Closes 31st March.

Here are this week's reviews:

Terry Halligan reviews the paperback release of the tenth in David Dickinson's pre WW1 series Death in a Scarlet Coat;

Last week I reviewed Dregs by Jorn Lier Horst, tr. Anne Bruce, an intriguing police-procedural set in a small Norwegian town;

Maxine Clarke reviews the just published Dark Angel by Mari Jungstedt, tr. Tiina Nunnally, the sixth in this Gotland based series, and a very good entry;

Geoff Jones reviews David Mark's debut, The Dark Winter set in Hull which introduces DS McAvoy;

Amanda Gillies reviews Glenn Meade's The Second Messiah which is about the danger of finding a new Dead Sea Scroll;

Lizzie Hayes reviews the first in Linda Regan's new series, Brotherhood of Blades which revolves around the inhabitants of a rundown housing estate

and Susan White reviews the paperback release of Phil Rickman's The Prayer of the Night Shepherd.

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 Elizabeth Darrell, Luke Delaney, P C/Paul Doherty, Elanor Dymott, Howard Linskey, Keith McCarthy, Brian McGilloway, Steve Mosby, Philip Sington, Sally Spencer and M J Trow have been added to these pages this week.

New Reviews: Bolton, George, Hayes, Jungstedt, McKinty, Tyler

Competition for May:
Win a copy of Stagestruck by Peter Lovesey UK & Europe only (closes 4 June)

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

Here are this week's reviews:

Michelle Peckham reviews Now You See Me by S J Bolton, a more urban outing than the previous three standalone novels but just as enjoyable it would appear;

Susan White is disappointed with Elizabeth George's This Body of Death, now out in paperback;

Amanda Gillies reviews Sam Hayes's Someone Else's Son also out in paperback and calls it "truly superb";

Maxine Clarke reviews the fifth Inspector Knutas book, set on Gotland, The Dead of Summer by Mari Jungstedt, tr. Tiina Nunnally;

Terry Halligan reviews Adrian McKinty's Falling Glass set in Northern Ireland

and earlier this week on the blog I reviewed L C Tyler's Ten Little Herrings the second outing for mismatched duo Elsie and Ethelred.

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

New Reviews: Hampson, Johnstone, Jungstedt, Vargas, Verhoef, Zimler

April's competition:
Win a copy of Apostle Rising by Richard Godwin UK & Europe only.

Here are this week's reviews:

Lizzie Hayes reviews June Hampson's sixth book in her "Daisy Lane" series, Fighting Dirty;

Amanda Gillies provides a whisky-themed review of Doug Johnstone's Smokeheads;

Laura Root reviews the paperback edition of Mari Jungstedt's The Killer's Art, tr. Tiina Nunnally;

A few days ago on this blog I reviewed the latest in the Adamsberg series from Fred Vargas - An Uncertain Place, tr. Sian Reynolds;

Maxine Clarke reviews the paperback release of Esther Verhoef's Rendezvous, tr. Alexander Smith

and Terry Halligan was deeply impressed with Richard Zimler's The Warsaw Anagrams.

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

New Reviews: Campbell, Doherty, Hughes, James, Jungstedt, Rayne

Here are this week's reviews:

Terry Halligan reviews the paperback edition of Karen Campbell's After the Fire which is a strong contender for his top 5 of 2010;

Craig Sisterson goes to Ancient Egypt with Paul Doherty's The Anubis Slayings;

Michelle Peckham enjoyed the new Ed Loy, PI from Declan Hughes: City of Lost Girls;

Maxine Clarke is disappointed with the "mind of a killer" scenes in Peter James's Dead Like You but enjoys The Killer's Art by Mari Jungstedt, tr. Tiina Nunnally much more

and Amanda Gillies has high praise for Sarah Rayne's new chiller (set in the Fens), House of the Lost.

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.

New Reviews: Camilleri, Cross, Jungstedt, Liang, Neville, Thompson

It's the last week to enter the competition to win a copy of My Last Confession by Helen Fitzgerald (open to all).

Here are this week's reviews:

Maxine Clarke reviews August Heat by Andrea Camilleri, the tenth in the series and she thinks it may not be the best one to start with;

Craig Sisterson reviews the paperback edition of Burial by Neil Cross concluding that the author "does weave an engrossing tale that is well worth reading";

Amanda Brown reviews the paperback edition of Unspoken by Mari Jungstedt saying that it is "a very sinister and complex book";

Going a bit farther afield than normal, Laura Root reviews the paperback edition of Paper Butterfly by Diane Wei Liang, the second in this Beijing set PI series, calling it "a little gem of a book";

Mike Ripley reviews Stuart Neville's 'Northern Ireland noir' debut The Twelve stating that it is a "frighteningly assured first novel"

and Geoff Jones reviews the first in the Bella Wallis series, The Widow's Secret by Brian Thompson, set in the 19th Century.

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

New Reviews: Beckett, Jungstedt, Macken, Rayne & New Competition

A new competition is up and running. NB This one will close on 14th February and a new one will start on the 15th.

The following reviews have been added to the review archive over on the main Euro Crime website:

New Reviews:

It's been a two year wait for the new David Hunter novel by Simon Beckett. Michelle Peckham reviews, Whispers of the Dead which takes place in the 'Body Farm' in the US and is somewhat gruesome in parts;

Maxine Clarke reviews the third in the Gotland series by Mari Jungstedt, which until recently was to be called 'A Lonely Place' but is published as Unknown (US: The Inner Circle);

Terry Halligan reviews the paperback edition of John Macken's Trial by Blood which he found "unputdownable"

and Amanda Gillies writes that Sarah Rayne's Ghost Song "had me both absorbed and fascinated".

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

The first competition of February is for a set of the ten Martin Beck books by Sjowall and Wahloo. (Closing date is 14th February, one entry per household and UK/Europe entrants only.)

New Reviews

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

Latest Reviews:

In the latest Crime File from Mike Ripley, he reviews The Manor of Death by Bernard Knight, Murder's Immortal Mask by Paul Doherty, A Killing Frost by R D Wingfield and Dog Eats Dog by Iain Levison;

Norman Price reviews the paperback release of Cross by Ken Bruen saying that "If you haven't read Ken Bruen yet then you are missing some the finest crime fiction being written today";

Maxine Clarke reviews Black Seconds by Karin Fossum, which has also just come out in paperback, and believes it's even better than Calling Out for You/The Indian Bride;

Terry Halligan reviews the latest in the award winning series by Ariana Franklin, The Death Maze which was released in the US as The Serpent's Tale;

Maxine also reviews the second in the Gotland set series from Mari Jungstedt, Unspoken calling it "a great read"

and new reviewer Eve Olsen is less than impressed with Julia Navarro's The Brotherhood of the Holy Shroud with its cardboard characters and lack of research.

Current Competition (closing date 31 May):

Win a signed copy of Spider by Michael Morley*

* UK/Europe only

New Reviews

Here are this week's new reviews and a reminder of January's competition:

Latest Reviews:

Declan Burke reviews Saturday's Child by Ray Banks writing "Ray Banks offers us a glimpse of what Samuel Beckett might have read like had he turned his hand to crime fiction";

Fiona Walker reckons The Sinner by Petra Hammesfahr is every bit as good as Stieg Larsson's The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, (so look out for that one on the International Dagger shortlist);

Maxine Clarke adds another Swedish author to her list of favourite writers after reading Unseen by Mari Jungstedt;

and she also enjoyed The Simian Curve by Mark Lalbeharry - a London based police procedural with a science angle

and Pat Austin gets the read she's long been waiting for with Manda Scott's The Crystal Skull which could be her 'read of the year'.


Current Competition (closing date 31 January):

Win a copy of Bad Traffic by Simon Lewis (UK & Europe only)

(geographical restrictions are in brackets)