Review: Doctor Who: The Jade Pyramid (audio book)

Doctor Who: The Jade Pyramid by Martin Day, read by Matt Smith (AudioGO, January 2011, 1 CD, ISBN: 9781408427491)

This is the second of Matt Smith's audio book readings, the first being The Runaway Train which was set in America. In The Jade Pyramid we're off to medieval Japan.

The TARDIS is drawn to a distress beacon emitting from a small village in Japan. It appears to be coming from an ancient shrine. The Doctor and Amy meet the elder of the village, the kind and wise Shijô Sada who takes them inside the shrine past the "guard" of animal-skin covered mannequins called Otoroshi. Shijô Sada won't allow them to see the chamber containing the pyramid as it is sacred. However they are interrupted by the news that the Shogun has sent Samurai soldiers to retrieve the Jade Pyramid for himself. The Doctor must prevent the pyramid, which he believes to be alien technology, from falling into anyone's hands. A discussion amongst the villagers reveals both friend and foe of Shijô Sada and Amy escapes the meeting to take a look at the pyramid and it is then things begin to go badly wrong. The Otoroshi come to life and Samurai are almost upon the village. How can the Doctor save the village, Amy and protect the pyramid?

The Jade Pyramid is an exciting story along a slightly familiar theme of humans killing first, asking questions later. For a single cd length story it packs a lot in; there's fighting from Samurai and a ninja assassin as well as betrayal and a loss of a significant character, and the Japanese setting is refreshingly different.

Matt Smith reads at the breathless pace we've become used to in the tv series and differentiates the characters well and his Doctor is as mesmerising as ever.

I have a slight quibble in that the occasional background music at times slightly overwhelmed the narrator, and maybe needs to be toned down a little.

The Jade Pyramid offers a pleasant fix whilst we await the arrival of the new series and is one that I will listen to again.

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.

New from Allison & Busby

I've just received the Jan-March catalogue from Allison and Busby. Here's what they are publishing (relevant to Euro Crime):

January

Martin Edwards: The Serpent Pool (paperback)

Alanna Knight: The Seal King Murders (hardback)

Priscilla Masters: Grave Stones (paperback)

M J Trow: Maxwell's Island (hardback)

February

Robert Barnard: A Mansion and its Murder (hardback - formerly published under the author name of Bernard Bastable in 1998)

Cassandra Clark: The Law of Angels (hardback)

Rebecca Tope: The Sting of Death, A Market for Murder, Grave Concerns (paperback, reprints of the Drew Slocombe series)

M J Trow: Maxwell's Revenge (paperback)

March

Stuart Pawson: A Very Private Murder (paperback)

Zoe Sharp: Fourth Day (paperback) and Fifth Victim (hardback)

Take a Chair II - cover theme

I mentioned a few titles like this back in 2008 but the trend for chairs on crime fiction covers continues with these being published in Jan-May 2011 (includes 1 reissue):

Trailer - Knifer

Knifer by Ronnie Thompson has just been published by Headline. The trailer below is filmed in an actual prison.

Drug addiction. Criminal behaviour. Murder...and all before his sixteenth birthday. From foster home to children's home to living rough on the streets, Cain never had a normal childhood. By the age of 8 he was carrying a knife. Seven years later he was serving time for killing someone. Based on real events, ex-prison officer Ronnie Thompson tells Cain's shocking story and reveals what really happens to teenage offenders both on the streets and once they're behind bars. Prison riots, assaults on officers, roof-top protests and brutal acts of violence -- this is an inside account of life in a young offender's institute and of an angry young man spiralling dangerously out of control.

The Troubled Man - Cover Opinions

This week's selection for "cover opinions" is the US, UK, Swedish, French, Dutch and Polish covers for Henning Mankell's The Troubled Man, translated by Laurie Thompson.

So what are you thoughts on the top: US (LHS) and UK (RHS), middle: Swedish (LHS) and French (RHS), bottom Dutch (LHS) and Polish (RHS) covers? Which would entice you most to pick the book up in the unlikely event that you were not familiar with Henning Mankell?

The Troubled Man will be published 29 March (US) and 31 March (UK). Here's the synopsis:

The much-anticipated return of Henning Mankell's brilliant, brooding detective Kurt Wallander. Every morning Håkan von Enke takes a walk in the forest near his apartment in Stockholm. However, one winter’s day he fails to come home. It seems that the retired naval officer has vanished without trace.

Detective Kurt Wallander is not officially involved in the investigation but he has personal reasons for his interest in the case as Håkan’s son is engaged to his daughter Linda. A few months earlier, at Håkan’s 75th birthday party, Kurt noticed that the old man appeared uneasy and seemed eager to talk about a controversial incident from his past career that remained shrouded in mystery. Could this be connected to his disappearance? When Håkan’s wife Louise also goes missing, Wallander is determined to uncover the truth.

His search leads him down dark and unexpected avenues involving espionage, betrayal and new information about events during the Cold War that threatens to cause a political scandal on a scale unprecedented in Swedish history. The investigation also forces Kurt to look back over his own past and consider his hopes and regrets, as he comes to the unsettling realisation that even those we love the most can remain strangers to us.

And then an even darker cloud appears on the horizon...

The return of Kurt Wallander, for his final case, has already caused a sensation around the globe. The Troubled Man confirms Henning Mankell’s position as the king of crime writing.

New Reviews: Arnold, Blake, Indridason, McCrery, Siger

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)

The Euro Crime Reviewers have spoken. Here are their favourite reads for 2010 in detail and summarised by most mentioned title, author and translator.

Here are this week's reviews:

Terry Halligan reviews Traitor's Blood by Michael Arnold the first in an English Civil War set series (and listed in Terry's top reads of 2010);

Amanda Gillies reviews the third in Richard Blake's Roman series featuring Aelric: The Blood of Alexandria;

Maxine Clarke reviews Arnaldur Indridason's Operation Napoleon, tr. Victoria Cribb an entertaining standalone adventure-thriller;

Laura Root reviews the third in the Chief Inspector Lapslie series from Nigel McCrery: Scream

and Terry also reviews Murder in Mykonos by Jeffrey Siger.

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

Euro Crime reviewers favourite reads of 2010

I've asked the recent contributors to Euro Crime to choose their five favourite European reads of 2010 and a total of 45 titles have been submitted. The following favourites come from the lists submitted by: Pat Austin, Maxine Clarke, Amanda Gillies, Terry Halligan, Geoff Jones, Michelle Peckham, Norman Price, Laura Root and myself (there is some overlap with the 2009 favourites):

The most mentioned titles are:

3 votes:
Stieg Larsson - The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest tr. Reg Keeland

2 votes:
Arnaldur Indridason - Hypothermia tr. Victoria Cribb
Jo Nesbo - The Redeemer tr. Don Bartlett

The most mentioned authors (irrespective of title) are:

4 votes:
Stieg Larsson
Jo Nesbo

2 votes:
Karen Campbell
Elly Griffiths
Arnaldur Indridason
Sjowall & Wahloo

The most mentioned translators are:

5 votes:
Reg Keeland/Steven T Murray

4 votes:
Don Bartlett

2 votes:
Victoria Cribb
Marlaine Delargy

The breakdown by reviewer plus any additional comments they have made, can be found on the website.

Win: A Noble Killing by Barbara Nadel (International)

Euro Crime has a five copies of A Noble Killing by Barbara Nadel to giveaway. To enter the draw, just answer the simple question* and include your details in the form below.
*The answer can be found in the Bibliographies section.

This competition is open to everyone and will close on 31 January 2011.
Only 1 entry per person/per household please.
(All entries will be deleted once the winner has been notified.)

The brilliant new Istanbul crime novel from Barbara Nadel delves into the shocking world of honour killing Turkey: the police are called to the scene of what seems to be the honour killing of a young girl. Burnt alive, she is not the first girl to suffer such an horrific death in Istanbul. Further investigations by Inspectors Cetin Ikmen and Mehmet Suleyman reveal that the girl had a secret boyfriend who has now disappeared. He and the girl's family are prime suspects, even though forensic evidence is scant. Why does the family, in common with other families of girls immolated in the city, now appear to be broke? There are also links to an infamous local gangster. Religion, organised crime and the lengths some people will go to in order to conform, come together in a tragic story of violence in a divided and changing society. And Mehmet Suleyman is on the verge of making a mistake that could ruin his career...

Publishing Deal - Elanor Dymott

Details of a publishing deal for an Oxford-set mystery in today's Bookseller:

Every Contact Leaves a Trace by Elanor Dymott is narrated by Alex, a young London lawyer trying to piece together the mystery surrounding his wife's brutal murder in the grounds of Worcester College, Oxford.

[Jonathan Cape] said: "We're incredibly excited and honoured to be publishing this elegant, intense, beautifully written debut. With shades of Donna Tartt, Ruth Rendell and even Hitchcock, it's a classy, complex thriller that had us all captivated from the very first page."

Blind Eye - Cover Opinions

This week's selection for "cover opinions" is the US and UK covers for Stuart MacBride's Blind Eye.

So what are you thoughts on the US (LHS) and UK HB & pb (RHS & Below) covers? Which would entice you to pick the book up if you were not familiar with Stuart MacBride?

If you have read it, how well do the covers match the story?

Read the Euro Crime review by Craig of Blind Eye.

New Reviews: Dawson, Griffiths, Lackberg, MacBride, Pastor, Sigurdardottir & a New Competition

One new competition (so far) for January and it is open to UK residents. It closes on 31st January:
Win Assassins of Athens by Jeffrey Siger

Here are this week's reviews:

Terry Halligan reviews Adrian Dawson's Codex which took him a bit of getting into it, but worth it;

Maxine Clarke reviews the third in this increasingly popular series by Elly Griffiths, set in North Norfolk: The House at Sea's End;

I recently reviewed the audio book of Camilla Lackberg's The Stonecutter, tr. Steven T Murray;

Pat Austin reviews the new Stuart MacBride DS Logan McRae outing - Shatter the Bones writing that it's "definitely not for the faint-hearted, this one";

Norman Price reviews Lumen by Ben Pastor and writes that is is an example of "how the crime fiction novel can be used to address historical, religious, and moral questions" (and it's published by Bitter Lemon Press - say no more...)

and also over the Christmas break I reviewed Yrsa Sigurdardottir's My Soul to Take, tr. Bernard Scudder and Anna Yates also on the blog.

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

New Competition - Win Assassins of Athens by Jeffrey Siger

Euro Crime has a three copies of Assassins of Athens by Jeffrey Siger to giveaway. Just answer the simple question and include your details in the form below.

This competition is open to the UK only and will close on 31 January 2011.
Only 1 entry per person/per household please.
(All entries will be deleted once the winner has been notified.)

Favourite Reads of 2010

My personal favourite reads of 2010 are all translated crime which is about 98% of what I read, so it is not surprising, nor that there's a heavy overlap with the International Dagger shortlist.

European Favourites

Tonino Benacquista - Badfellas
Arnaldur Indridason - Hypothermia
Stieg Larsson - The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest
Yrsa Sigurdardottir - My Soul to Take
Johan Theorin - The Darkest Room

Non-European favourites

Deon Meyer - Thirteen Hours
Claudia Pineiro - Thursday Night Widows

Runners-up include the audio books of Camilla Lackberg's The Preacher and The Stonecutter and Marek Krajewski's Phantoms of Breslau.

Reading Challenges 2011

Here are a few reading challenges for 2011 which might appeal to fans of British and other European crime fiction.

1. Dorte has set up the Global Reading Challenge for 2011 which has an easy, medium and expert level. In a slight change to last year there is a "seventh continent" category (here you can either choose Antarctica or your own ´seventh´ setting, eg the sea, the space, a supernatural/paranormal world, history, the future – you name it).

Sign up on the blog.

2. Amy of The Black Sheep Dances is following 2010's Scandinavian Reading Challenge with the Eastern European Reading Challenge:

Regions: Choose titles about or by an author from any of the following regions: Croatia, Ukraine, Bosnia, Serbia, Montenegro, Hungary, Belarus, Estonia, Albania, Bulgaria, Georgia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Poland, Czech Rep., Latvia, Lithuania, Russia, Romania, Moldova, and Kosovo.

Titles: Can be any genre: crime, poetry, literary fiction, history, historical fiction, memoirs, etc.

Levels:

tourist: 4 books over the 12 months

ambassador: 8 books over 12 months

scholar: 12 books over 12 months

Sign up on the blog where there are already some suggestions as to titles to try. Crime wise, I have short pages for authors born in Czech Republic, Poland, Russia and the catch-all of Eastern Europe. Non European authors setting their books in Eastern Europe include Michael Genelin (Slovakia), Olen Steinhauer (fictional Eastern Europe country) and Dan Fesperman's Vlado Petric series (Sarajevo).

3. There is also an Ireland Reading Challenge, run by Books and Movies:

Any book written by an Irish author, set in Ireland, or involving Irish history or Irish characters, counts for the challenge – fiction, non-fiction, poetry, audiobooks, children’s books – all of these apply.

~ Choose your commitment level:

Shamrock level: 2 books
Luck o’ the Irish level: 4 books
Kiss the Blarney Stone level: 6 books

I have lists of Irish and Northern Irish crime writers.

Sign up on the blog.

4. Or you could sign up for the Vintage Mystery Reading Challenge at My Reader's Block:

All books must have been written before 1960 and be from the mystery category.

*No matter what level you choose, please try at least two different vintage authors.

Challenge Levels:

In a Murderous Mood: 4-6 Books
Get a Clue: 7-9 Books
Hot on the Trail: 10-12 Books
Capture the Criminal: 13-15 Books
Take 'Em to Trial: 16+ Books

OR

The Golden Age Girls*: Read 5-7 books from female authors from the vintage years

Cherchez Le Homme: Read 5-7 books from male authors from the vintage years

Sign up on the blog.

5. Being a Jane Austen Mystery Reading Challenge over at Austenprose which involves reading various numbers of Stephanie Barron's Jane Austen series. (hat tip Maxine)

6. Becky at The Bookette is hosting the British Books Challenge 2011:

So what is the British Books Challenge?
The BBC (hee hee) is a reading challenge where bloggers sign up to read books by British writers throughout 2011.

The books can be in print or out. Old or new titles. They can be from any genre and for any age. My blog is obviously focused on YA and children's literature but you are welcome to read adult novels if you wish.

There are two entry categories for the challenge:

Home Grown

This is for British bloggers who have access to many British books via their public libraries, fit-to-bursting bookshelves at home etc. The target is to read 12 novels. Thanks to The Story Siren for creating a formula with the Debut Author Challenge that really works - one British book a month should be easy peasy!

International Friend
For any wonderful bloggers living overseas who wish to support British writers.
You can choose to between:

Winston Churchill - Read 6 books by British authors in 2011

The Royal Family - Read 12 books by British authors in 2011

There will also be the chance to earn yourselves a Crown if you manage to read 50 books by British writers in the year. This is open to everyone because I want to give special treats to people who love to support British talent. You don't need to decide now if you are aiming to meet this target. I'll post about this much later in 2011.

I have separate lists for crime authors born in : England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

The instructions on how to enter are on the blog.

7. There is also the Nordic Challenge at Notes from the North:

Levels
There will be 5 levels. The levels are
Huginn and Muninn: Read 2 books
Freya: Read 3-5 books
Tor: Read 6-10 books
Odin: Read 11-20 books
Valhalla: Read 20+ books


The Rules
There is no need to make a list before hand. Any book by any author born in a Nordic country (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and/or Sweden) or a book set in a Nordic country.
They can be from any genre (I will be reading a mixture of classics, children’s books, YA and mystery).

Sign up at the blog.

8. Kerrie at Mysteries in Paradise has set up the Agatha Christie Reading Challenge. Her intention "is to read her books in order, so that I can get some idea of what she is doing, problems she is attempting to solve, and her development as a writer".

Wallander on BBC4 (Pyramid)

The BBC4 Wallander series featuring Rolf Lassgard continues with Pyramid next Saturday at 9pm.

Detective Wallander is haunted by the spectre of a murder he was unable to prevent as a young policeman. Years after the event the daughter of the murder victim, now a heroin addict, dies of an overdose.

A distressed Wallander is assigned to investigate the crash of a light airplane and a detonated armour piercing shell is found in the wreckage. A few days later, two elderly sisters are killed in an explosion in a sewing supplies shop. Traces of an advanced explosive are found in the burnt-out shop and evidence soon mounts to indicate that both events are tied to a showdown between two rival narcotics gangs.

OT: Icicle Icicle

The house behind ours has icicles covering the whole of their upstairs windows.

Lounge Window:



Upstairs Window:

Happy Christmas & Thank You

Happy Christmas to the much appreciated readers of this blog and the sister Euro Crime website. Plus a big thank you to the Euro Crime review team and the publishers who send out the review books. Thank you to those who've commented on the blog and to those who've sent comments, information and Christmas cards directly to me. I wish you all the best for 2011.

Handy II (cover theme non crime fiction)

There are loads of these hand-cupping covers nowadays but these two (non crime) are very similar...



I thought the Lisa Kleypas cover looked familiar:



My mum has just read this one over Christmas.

Picture Perfect is in my first Handy post.

Review: My Soul to Take by Yrsa Sigurdardottir

My Soul to Take by Yrsa Sigurdardottir tr. Bernard Scudder and Anna Yates (April 2010, Hodder Paperbacks, ISBN: 0340920661)

My Soul to Take is the second book to feature lawyer Thora and also sees the reappearance of German ex-policeman Matthew from Last Rituals.

Despite the wintry cover, this book takes place over a few days in June, which though not the height of the Icelandic summer, it isn't snowy!

Thora is called out to a recently opened New Age hotel to help the new owner sue the previous owners for not telling him that the site was haunted.

Thora sends her children to her ex-husband's and prepares to stay the weekend. But the particularly nasty murder of the hotel's architect means that Thora's detective instincts are re-awakened and she has a legitimate reason to investigate when her client is under suspicion and close to being arrested.

There are several guests and employees to be interviewed but Thora believes the answer to the present day murder lies in the past. Thora is joined by Matthew and their charming banter from Last Rituals is resumed.

My Soul to Take is 450 pages long and I was hooked to the end. I had no idea who the killer was. I think it's fair to say that if the right question had been asked of the right person when they first met then this book would have been much shorter but I'm glad it wasn't. The length gives the reader background on Icelandic legends and Iceland's more recent past. I love spending time with the capable, intelligent Thora and the fastidious, willing Matthew and I wonder how their relationship will work out.

This is almost a closed location mystery, with various roadworks and bottlenecks limiting the suspects and poor mobile phone reception. It's not quite a traditional cosy though - a sex-therapist is available for consultation at the hotel!

Though not as gruesome as Last Rituals, there is an unpleasant prologue involving a child which, though there is no on-page violence, is one that lingers.

If the speed of my reading is related to the quality of the translation then this was very well done indeed and leaves me eager to read the next in the series Ashes to Dust.

Read more reviews of Yrsa's books at the Euro Crime website.

New-to-Me Authors in 2010

Currently I read less crime fiction than I used to, so my list of new-to-me authors read in 2010 is fairly short compared to some. The authors/books I have read in this category are listed below with links to my reviews where available. I would say that all of these books are worth a read for different reasons: unusual plot, different setting, etc. Badfellas, The Darkest Room and Thursday Night Widows are my favourites with an honourable mention to Dark Matter. (I've not included any North American authors or non-crime authors. I've left in translated authors from outside the EU!)

Tonino Benacquista - Badfellas
Roberto Bolano - The Skating Rink
Adam Creed - Willing Flesh
Pablo de Santis - Voltaire's Calligrapher
Michele Giuttari - The Death of a Mafia Don
Ernesto Mallo - Needle in a Haystack
Patricia Melo - Lost World
Claudia Pineiro - Thursday Night Widows
Linda Regan - Behind You!
Santiago Roncagliolo - Red April
Andrea Maria Schenkel - Ice Cold
Gunnar Staalesen - The Consorts of Death
Cath Staincliffe - The Kindest Thing
Johan Theorin - The Darkest Room
Valerio Varesi - River of Shadows
Juli Zeh - Dark Matter (apa In Free Fall)

Snowy Covers

Here are a few snowy covers. Only Snow Angels is set in Scandinavia. The last two covers are for books due out in 2011.










Some more snowy covers can be found here and here.

Snow Joke

When I left for work we'd has less than 1cm. When I got back 6.5 hours later we'd had 25cm. You can see the piles on top of the feeders. I managed to give the birds some food before it got dark but it was still snowing. All libraries in Birmingham closed at 12 today because of the difficulty for staff to get home and the gesture was much appreciated.

Review: The Stonecutter by Camilla Lackberg (audiobook)

The Stonecutter by Camilla Lackberg tr. Steven T Murray, read by Eamonn Riley (Oakhill Publishing, March 2010, 13 CDs, ISBN: 978-1-84648-884-9)

The Stonecutter is the third in the Patrik and Erica series set in the real-life summer getaway of Fjallbacka. As with The Preacher, The Stonecutter has Patrik investigating a crime with Erica more to the background, having not long given birth to their daughter and suffering from post-natal depression.

The body of a young girl is found in the sea by a fisherman. When Patrik is called to the scene, he recognises the girl as the daughter of Erica's new friend Charlotte. Initially the death is thought to have been an accident but it's soon clear that it was murder. Such a motiveless crime has Patrick and his team making slow progress. Charlotte and her husband Niclas are living with her mum, Lilian and her sick husband Stig. Lilian has been feuding with her neighbour and soon points the finger of blame at him and also his son who has Asperger's Syndrome. In addition Niklas is estranged from his parents who live in the same town. All the investigating and interrogating opens a huge can of worms and all the families involved will never be the same again.

Interspersed in the current day activities is the historical tale of a local stonecutter and his wife, told in short segments which eventually ties up with the present day.

The Stonecutter is a lengthy listen - 16 hours - but I enjoyed it very much. It's my favourite of the three so far. However it has to be said that Patrik's team, including himself, are not the most efficient set of police officers you'll come across. I think their slightly bumbling nature and their humorous banter adds to the cosy feel of these books - at least to me - even though the crimes are horrific. It feels removed from reality. I'd worked out quite a lot of what was going on before Patrik, who needed a US crime tv-show to point him in the right direction. I am especially looking forward to The Gallows Bird as there's a humdinger of a penultimate sentence in The Stonecutter.

Eamonn Riley's narration was very pleasant to listen to and it's very useful to hear the correct pronunciations for the Swedish names and places.

More reviews of Camilla Lackberg's books can be found on the Euro Crime website.

January's Books to TV shows

The tv version of Michael Dibdin's Zen series will begin on 2 January on BBC One at 9pm. It starts with the second book in the series, Vendetta, and stars Rufus Sewell as Aurelio Zen. Cabal will be shown on 9 January. Read an interview with the stars, Rufus Sewell and Caterina Murino on the BBC website.

In Vendetta, Zen is called upon by the Ministry to re-investigate a multiple murder. Flamboyant millionaire and Government construction magnate Oscar Faso and his guests have been shot dead at his lavish villa. Prime suspect and friend of Faso, Renato Favelloni, has "found God" in prison and is retracting his confession, a move which stands to send shockwaves through Government – so Zen must intervene. All the evidence points towards Favelloni's guilt but Zen is convinced he is innocent. Zen heads into the mountains to investigate, reluctant to leave the promise of romance with Tania Moretti, the Chief's new assistant.

As he leaves, news breaks of another murder: Judge Bertolini, an anonymous figure in the Italian judicial system, is shot dead in his car. What Zen doesn't realise is that this unconnected murder is part of a vendetta carried out by a man wrongly imprisoned by Bertolini years earlier. More importantly, Zen's involvement in the case means he is next on the hit-list.

As he struggles between doing the right thing and saving his career, Zen must contend with hostile locals, an attempted kidnapping and a chase through a maze of underground tunnels while the killers draw ever closer to him.

The tv adaptation of the fourth book in the Anna Travis series, Deadly Intent, by Lynda La Plante is being shown in January. The first of the three-parter will be on 3 January at 9pm on ITV1.

DI Anna Travis (Kelly Reilly) is back after her promotion, reunited with DCS James Langton (Ciarán Hinds) and DCI Mike Lewis (Shaun Dingwall), who is also promoted to head up his first murder case, a fatal shooting in a notorious drug dealer’s squat. The victim is Frank Brandon (Callum Sutherland), disgraced ex-police officer and friend of Langton’s. The team discover that Frank has recently married Julia Larson (Stine Stengade), a glamorous, wealthy woman, after working as her driver. It’s an incongruous set-up, and Travis digs deeper into the not-so-grieving widow’s story.

You can read more about the plot and also "Lynda La Plante explains why her latest protagonists in Above Suspicion work so well" at the ITV website.

Speak No Evil - Cover Opinions

This week's selection for "cover opinions" is the US and UK covers for Martyn Waites' Speak No Evil.

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 Martyn Waites?

If you have read it, how well do the covers match the story?

Here are the Euro Crime reviews by Michelle and Laura.

New Reviews: Duns, Gowers, Marrinan, Peace, Schenkel, Waites

These are the last reviews I'll upload this year but I am aiming to post a new set on 2 January 2011. I'll soon be collating the Euro Crime reviewers' favourite reads of 2010 and will post the result as soon as it's complete.

Terry Halligan reviews the paperback release of Free Agent by Jeremy Duns the first in a spy-thriller trilogy;

Michelle Peckham reviews The Twisted Heart by Rebecca Gowers which contains both a literary mystery and a love story;

Terry also reviews, and praises highly, Patrick Marrinan's legal thriller Degrees of Guilt;

Amanda Gillies reviews the Quercus hardback release of David Peace's 1977 the second part of the Red Riding Quartet;

Maxine Clarke reviews Bunker by Andrea Maria Schenkel, tr. Anthea Bell

and Laura Root reviews the US hardback release of Martyn Waites' Speak No Evil which she calls "quality British noir".

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

OT: It's Cat-urday (cat on pc 2)

Yesterday, one of the cats managed to lock me out of my machine, but fortunately a reboot sorted the matter. If you look closely you'll see that Foxy is trying to send a tweet!

Publishing Deal - Michael Ridpath

From today's Bookseller:

Corvus has extended deals with two of its big name authors, Michael Ridpath and Mario Reading.

The third and fourth instalments in Ridpath's Fire and Ice series were acquired by Cheetham, with the first title of the series, Where the Shadows Lie, to be published in February in paperback, and the second, 66 North, coming in hardback in June.

Read the Euro Crime review by Maxine of Where the Shadows Lie.

Publishing Deal - Ariana Franklin

News of the next book from Ariana Franklin, which is not an Adelia book. Not sure if it's a crime or a straight historical novel from this small snippet in today's Publishers Lunch Weekly email:

Mistress of the Art of Death series author Ariana Franklin's stand-alone medieval novel set during the chaotic and horrifying years of the war between Stephen and Matilda for the governance of England, to Putnam, for publication in 2012.

BBC4 - Nordic & Italian Noir

I pored over the new Christmas tv-guide on my way home from work to see what delights are on over the 'festive' period and I spotted these two programmes and before I knew it, two emails from different people involved in them had arrived. As it's too early for the BBC4 website to have the information, here's what I've been sent:

NORDIC NOIR: THE STORY OF SCANDINAVIAN CRIME FICTION BBC4, Dec 20@9pm

Draw the curtains and dim the lights for a chilling trip north as Timeshift investigates the success of Scandinavian crime fiction – and why it exerts such a powerful hold on our imagination.

‘The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’ is a literary blockbuster that has introduced millions of readers to the phenomenon that is Scandinavian crime fiction – yet author Stieg Larsson spent his life in the shadows and didn’t live to see any of his books published. It’s one of the many mysteries this programme investigates as it travels to Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Iceland in search of the genre’s most acclaimed writers and memorable characters.

The programme looks at Henning Mankell’s brooding Wallander series, with actor Krister Henriksson describing the challenge of bringing the character to the screen, and it asks why so many stories have a political subtext. Nordic Noir finds out how Stieg Larsson based the bestselling ‘Millennium’ trilogy on his work as an investigative journalist and it reveals the unlikely source of inspiration for his most striking character, Lisbeth Salander. The programme also meets Jo Nesbo, the Norwegian rock star turned writer tipped to inherit Larsson’s mantle, and Karin Fossum, an author whose personal experience of murder has had a profound effect on her writing.

Narrator: MARIELLA FROSTRUP

Producer/Director: ROBERT MURPHY

ITALIAN NOIR - THE STORY OF ITALIAN CRIME FICTION BBC4, Dec 27@9.30pm

Timeshift profiles a new wave of Italian crime fiction that has emerged to challenge the conventions of the detective novel. There are no happy endings in these noir tales only revelations about Italy’s dark heart – a world of corruption, unsolved murders and the mafia.

Italian Noir features exclusive interviews with the leading writers from this new wave of noir including Andrea Camilleri (Inspector Montablano Mysteries) and serving Judge Giancarlo De Cataldo (Romanzo Criminale) who explains how his work as a real life investigating judge inspired his work. From the other side of the law, Massimo Carlotto talks about how his novels were shaped by his wrongful conviction for murder and years spent on the run from the police.

The film also looks at the roots of this new wave. First Carlo Emilio Gadda (That Awful Mess) used the detective novel to expose the corruption that existed during Mussolini’s fascist regime and then after the Second World War Leonardo Sciascia’s crime novels (The Day of The Owl) tackled the rise of the Sicilian mafia. They established the rules of a new kind of noir that draws on real events and offers no neat endings.

Shot on location in Rome, Bologna and Florence, the film also features Italian writers Carlo Lucarelli and Barbara Baraldi and uses rarely seen archive from Italian television.

Produced and Directed by Francis Welch

There will be a website for the Italian Noir programme which I'll mention when I know what it is.

More about Christmas tv to follow in another post.

Bloodprint - Cover Opinions

This week's selection for "cover opinions" is the US and UK covers for Kitty Sewell's Bloodprint.

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 Kitty Sewell?

If you have read it, how well do the covers match the story?

Here are the Euro Crime reviews by Maxine and Amanda.

Agatha Christie's Verdict - on tour

Agatha Christie's play Verdict will be touring the UK next year. Verdict will be showing at the following venues/times, taken from kenwright.com:

11 - 22 Jan	Theatre Royal Windsor	01753 853 888	Book Online
24 -29 Jan	Theatre Royal Bath	01225 448844	Book Online
31 Jan- 5 Feb	Everyman Theatre Cheltenham	01242 572573	Book Online
7- 12 Feb	Theatre Royal Plymouth	01752 230440	Book Online
15 - 19 Feb	New Theatre Cardiff	029 2087 8889	Book Online
21 - 26 Feb	Grand Theatre Wolverhampton	01902 429212	Book Online
28 Feb - 5 Mar	Queen's Theatre Barnstaple	01272 324242	Book Online
7 - 12 Mar	Palace Theatre Southend	01702 351135	Book Online
14 - 19 Mar	Swan Theatre High Wycombe	01494 512 000	Book Online
21 - 26 Mar	Festival Theatre Malvern	01684 892277	Book Online
28 Mar - 2 Apr	Churchill Theatre Bromley	08448 717 620	Book Online
4 - 9 Apr	Derby Theatre Derby	01332 255800	Book Online
25 - 30 Apr	Richmond Theatre Richmond	0844 871 7651	Book Online
Please note casting is not confirmed for the following venues
16 - 21 May	Assembly Hall Tunbridge Wells	01892 530613	Book Online
23 - 28 May	Floral Pavilion New Brighton	0151 666 0000	Book Online
30 May - 4 Jun	Yvonne Arnaud Theatre Guildford	01483 44 00 00	Book Online

Following the huge success of The Hollow, The Unexpected Guest, And Then There Were None, Spider’s Web, and most recently Witness For The Prosecution, the Agatha Christie Theatre Company, now in its sixth outstanding year, is proud to present Verdict, the most riveting and compelling drama by the undisputed ‘Queen of Crime.’

An all-star cast is led by Dawn Steele, best known for playing Lexie MacDonald in the hit BBC drama Monarch of the Glen and recently starring as Alice Collins in the popular ITV series Wild at Heart, which continues for its sixth season in 2011. She is joined by Robert Duncan (Gus Hedges in the multi award-winning comedy Drop the Dead Donkey) and Ali Bastian who shot to fame as Becca Dean in Hollyoaks and PC Sally Armstrong in The Bill, and reached the semi-finals in the hit BBC show Strictly Come Dancing in 2009. The cast also includes Peter Byrne (Dixon of Dock Green), Matthew Lewis (Neville Longbottom in the hugely successful Harry Potter film series), Elizabeth Power (Eastenders) and 60’s pop idol Mark Wynter.

Having been forced to flee persecution in his home country, the brilliant and idealistic Professor Karl Hendryk leads a content and morally upstanding life, but his world is turned upside-down when the prospect of life-saving treatment for his invalid wife persuades him to take on a new pupil against his better judgement; the spoilt, conniving minx Helen who will stop at nothing to get her way. With murderous intentions afoot, it only remains to be seen what verdict will be delivered, and if justice will prevail...

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.

OT: It's Cat-urday (cat on pc)

Pippa Jones trying the keyboard for size...

Wallander on BBC4

I mentioned recently that BBC4 will be showing some of the Swedish Wallander episodes starring Rolf Lassgard. Well the first one, The Man Who Smiled, is now scheduled for 11 December at 9.30pm:

Thriller based on Henning Mankell's novel. Detective Superintendent Kurt Wallander receives a plea for help from an old friend, who suspects that the death of his father might have involved foul play. But Wallander doesn't believe him until it's too late.

Jane Austen Related Crime

Jane Austen's adventures as sleuth have been documented for a while by Stephanie Barron and recently Lynn Shepherd rewrote Mansfield Park as a crime story with Murder at Mansfield Park and next May, there's to be a crime novel investigating her death. From Jane Austen champion, Lindsay Ashford and published by Honno:

No one has ever been able to provide a satisfactory explanation for the tragically early death of Jane Austen. This intriguing novel delves into the private lives of the Austen family and comes up with a new and shocking possibility...

Miss Anne Sharp holds the position of governess at the Godmersham home of Edward Austen. She becomes friendly with his literary sister, Jane, when the latter arrives for an extended stay. Also a frequent visitor is a younger Austen brother, the maverick Henry. Anne becomes convinced that Henry is having an illicit affair with her employer’s wife and Jane too has her suspicions on this account.

When Jane Austen dies at the age of just 41, Anne is devastated. She begins to suspect that someone wanted her out of the way because she knew too much. Her fears are heightened by the death of yet another family member soon after.

The story opens with two letters establishing that Anne has sought to confirm her suspicions now that medical science has progressed sufficiently to assess the evidence presented by a tainted lock of Jane Austen’s hair. Natural causes or murder? Even after more than twenty years, Miss Sharp is determined to get to the bottom of the mysterious death of the acclaimed Miss Austen ...

A speculative exploration of the circumstances that might have precipitated the tragically early death of one of history’s greatest writers.

Details of Austen’s life and illness taken from her own and relatives’ correspondence.

Incidentally, earlier this year I read a teenage novel providing some insight into Jane's early years: I Was Jane Austen's Best Friend written by another crime writer, Cora Harrison.

Whispers of the Dead - Cover Opinions

This week's selection for "cover opinions" is the US and UK covers for Simon Beckett's Whispers of the Dead.

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 Simon Beckett?

If you have read it, how well does the cover match the story?

Here is Michelle Peckham's Euro Crime review of Whispers of the Dead.

You can read an extract from Chapter 1 on the Barnes and Noble website.