CWA Awards (Gold, Fleming, Creasey) - Shortlists and TV & Film Daggers

The shortlists for the next crop of Dagger Awards have been announced. The press release says:

Brutal, bloodied and with a forensic approach to detail, the CWA Daggers shortlist contains a powerhouse of literary talent. For all their detective ability and searing insights, even the authors themselves cannot be expected to work out how these plots will end. The winners for eleven awards will be announced at The Specsavers Crime Thriller Awards on Friday 7 October at the Grosvenor House.

The awards include the CWA Gold Dagger for the Best Crime Novel of the Year, the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger for the Best Thriller of the Year, and the CWA John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger for the Best New Crime Writer of the Year, along with the Film and TV Daggers.

Can Man Booker nominee A.D. Miller beat off the competition to take home one the most illustrious prizes in the crime writing world – the CWA Gold Dagger for the Best Crime Novel of the Year? He faces a struggle of Cold-War proportions as Snowdrops, his grim tale of life in Putin's Russia, sizes up to Tom Franklin's Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter, set in the Deep South.

It is by no means a two horse race, with The End of the Wasp Season by Denise Mina bringing a strong female protagonist into the mix. A complex look at the dehumanisation of victims in an increasingly divided society, The End of The Wasp Season suggests that as a society we use 'evil' as a means to disengage from our problems. But could she perhaps lose out to one of the most disengaged characters seen in fiction in recent years – Mike, in Steve Hamilton's The Lock Artist is an elective mute who can pick locks and break safes. The question remains, however, whether Hamilton himself has cracked the code in writing prize winning crime fiction.

CWA GOLD DAGGER 2011

• Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter by Tom Franklin (Pan)
• Snowdrops by A.D Miller (Atlantic Books)
• The End of the Wasp Season by Denise Mina (Orion)
• The Lock Artist by Steve Hamilton (Orion)

CWA IAN FLEMING STEEL DAGGER 2011, SPONSORED BY IAN FLEMING PUBLICATIONS LTD

• Before I Go To Sleep by S.J Watson (Doubleday)
• Cold Rain by Craig Smith (Myrmidon)
• The Good Son by Michael Gruber (Corvus)
• The Lock Artist by Steve Hamilton (Orion)

CWA JOHN CREASEY (NEW BLOOD) DAGGER 2011

• Before I Go To Sleep by S.J Watson (Doubleday)
• Kiss Me Quick by Danny Miller (Robinson)
• The Dead Woman of Juárez by Sam Hawken (Serpent’s Tail)
• The Dogs of Rome by Conor Fitzgerald (Bloomsbury)

ITV3 PEOPLE’S BESTSELLER DAGGER 2011

• David Baldacci - The Sixth Man (Macmillan)
• Lee Child - Worth Dying For (Bantam)
• Mark Billingham - Good As Dead (Little, Brown) (pub. 18.8.11)
• Peter James - Dead Man’s Grip (Macmillan)
• Peter Robinson - Before the Poison (Hodder) (pub. 18.8.11)
  

THE FILM DAGGER

True Grit (Paramount Pictures)
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest (Momentum Pictures)
Brighton Rock (Optimum Releasing)
Source Code (Optimum Releasing)

THE TV DAGGER

Case Histories (Ruby Films, BBC One)
Luther (BBC One)
The Shadow Line (Company Pictures, BBC Two)
Zen (Left Bank Pictures, BBC One)
Vera (ITV Studios, ITV1)

THE INTERNATIONAL TV DAGGER

The Killing, (Arrow Films, BBC4)
Boardwalk Empire (HBO, Sky Atlantic)
Castle (ABC Studios, Alibi)
Dexter (Showtime Networks, FX Channel)
Spiral (Son Et Lumiere, BBC 4)

BEST ACTRESS DAGGER

Sofie Gråbøl for The Killing (Arrow Films, BBC4)
Brenda Blethyn for Vera (ITV Studios, ITV1)
Maxine Peake for Silk (BBC One)
Olivia Williams for Case Sensitive (Hat Trick Productions, ITV1)
Sue Johnston for Waking the Dead (BBC One)
Kelly Reilly for Above Suspicion (La Plante Productions, ITV1)

BEST ACTOR DAGGER

Idris Elba for Luther (BBC One)
Lars Mikkelsen for The Killing (Arrow Films, BBC4)
Steve Buscemi for Boardwalk Empire (HBO, Sky Atlantic)
Jason Isaacs for Case Histories (Ruby Films, BBC One)
Rufus Sewell for Zen (Left Bank Pictures, BBC One)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR DAGGER

Rafe Spall for The Shadow Line (Company Pictures, BBC Two)
Bjarne Henriksen for The Killing (Arrow Films, BBC 4)
Søren Malling for The Killing (Arrow Films, BBC 4)
John Lithgow for Dexter (Showtime Networks, FX Channel)
Aidan Gillen for Thorne (Stagereel / Cité Amérique, Sky One)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS DAGGER

Ann Eleonora Jørgensen for The Killing (Arrow Films, BBC 4)
Kelly Macdonald for Boardwalk Empire (HBO, Sky Atlantic)
Ruth Wilson for Luther (BBC One)
Amanda Abbington for Case Histories (Ruby Films, BBC One)
Tara Fitzgerald for Waking The Dead (BBC One)

The Field of Blood - on BBC1 soon

The Field of Blood based on Denise Mina's book of the same name will be begin on BBC1 on Monday 29 August between 10-15pm and 11-15pm. I'm not sure when the second part will be on yet.

From the BBC Press Office:

The Field Of Blood is set in Glasgow and centres on would-be journalist Paddy Meehan (played by Jayd Johnson), a young copygirl working in a newspaper office.

Paddy dreams of becoming an investigative journalist – believing that in miscarriages of justice, reporters are sometimes the only hope. Funny, smart and feisty, Paddy seizes an opportunity to kick-start her career and becomes embroiled in a dark murder case. For Paddy, it's the opportunity of a lifetime but it comes at great personal cost.

It's 1982 and Glasgow is shocked by the horrific murder of two-year-old Brian Wilcox. Paddy is fascinated by the story and waits, along with the rest of the city, for the inevitable arrest of a murderer. When Paddy's 10-year-old cousin is charged with the crime she faces a stark choice between the two defining elements in her life. On one side is her job at the paper and dreams of becoming a journalist; on the other is her tight-knit Catholic family who want her to stop all this career nonsense and settle down to a quiet life with her fiancé. Paddy puts family first and decides not to use her inside track on the story to secure her first scoop.

Unfortunately for Paddy, glamorous colleague Heather has no such scruples and the secret shame of the Meehan clan is splashed across the front pages. Shut out by her family, Paddy decides to look into the case to prove her cousin's innocence. Defying her boss, she sets about investigating the case but there are shocking consequences for someone close to her.

You can read interviews with the director and some of the actors at the BBC website.

I reviewed the book The Field of Blood in 2006.

Trailer - Call Me Princess

The video below is of Danish author Sara Blaedel talking about her novel, Call Me Princess which has just been published in the US which introduces Detective Inspector Louise Rick . The translators are Erik J Macki and Tara F Chace and you can read an extract here.:

Trailers - Elite Squad & Villain

Ahead of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy which is out in September, there are a couple more crime/action thrillers (released this month), one from Brazil and one from Japan:

Elite Squad (2): The Enemy Within

"A box office sensation in Brazil, Elite Squad: The Enemy Within continues director José Padilha's compelling and fiercely authentic account of the BOPE - Rio's special police battalion - in a fight against street crime where all bets are off. Set 13 years after the original, it's an unflinching glimpse of a country plagued by corruption on both sides of the law."

Out now in selected cinemas.




Villain

Based on the book Villain by Shuichi Yoshida, here thoughtfully reviewed by Bernadette at Reactions to Reading.

The film is due on out 19 August (UK).

Trailer - Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

This looks fab, with a stellar British cast to rival Harry Potter and from the director of Let The Right One In.

"In the bleak days of the Cold War, espionage veteran George Smiley is forced from semi-retirement to uncover a Soviet agent within MI6's echelons."

Opens on 16 September, here's a not very spoilery (I think) trailer:

New Reviews: Enger, Fossum, Holt, Indridason, Kepler, Lackberg, Ridpath, Wagner

Here are this week's reviews - can you spot the theme?:

I review the debut novel from Norwegian author Thomas Enger, Burned, tr. Charlotte Barslund, which introduces an intriguing new lead in the shape of damaged reporter Henning Juul;

Michelle Peckham reviews one of Karin Fossum's earlier Sejer books, The Water's Edge, tr. Charlotte Barslund which she thoroughly recommends;

Maxine Clarke reviews Anne Holt's latest Vik/Stubo which she says is the best so far: Fear Not, tr. Marlaine Delargy;

New reviewer Rich Westwood opens his account with a review of the paperback edition of Arnaldur Indridason's Operation Napoleon, tr. Victoria Cribb which, unfortunately, isn't a patch on his Erlendur series;

A second opinion on Lars Kepler's The Hypnotist, tr. Ann Long is provided by Maxine Clarke;

I reviewed on the blog last week, the audio book version of Camilla Lackberg's The Gallows Bird, tr. Steven T Murray;

Lizzie Hayes recommends Michael Ridpath's 66 Degrees North, the second in his Iceland series

and Mark Bailey reviews Jan Costin Wagner's follow-up to Ice Moon, Silence, tr. Anthea Bell which is now out in paperback.

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

Before I Go to Sleep - Cover Opinions

This week's selection for "cover opinions" is the US and UK covers for S J Watson's John Creasey Dagger longlisted Before I Go to Sleep.

So what are your thoughts on the US (LHS) and UK (RHS) covers? Which would entice you to pick the book up if you were not familiar with this title?

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

Read the Euro Crime review by Lizzie of Before I Go to Sleep.

Review: The Gallows Bird by Camilla Lackberg (audio book)

The Gallows Bird by Camilla Lackberg tr. Steven T Murray, read by Eamonn Riley (Oakhill Publishing, March 2011, 11 CDs, ISBN: 978-0-85735-180-7)

Over the course of the three previous books, childhood friends Patrik (police officer) and Erica (novelist) have reconnected, had a baby and are now preparing for their wedding.

Patrik is distracted from this happy event by first the death of a local shopkeeper in a car accident. She was apparently stonkingly drunk and yet she was a known teetotaller. The team, including new member, Hanna Kruse, make some enquiries but are diverted when a definite murder occurs: a member of a reality show being filmed in town is found dead in a rubbish bin. This high profile case takes precedence for a while until a nudge from the dead woman's partner puts them back on track.

As more information is unearthed the crime aspects of the story covers an increasingly wide temporal and geographical area. Patrik almost feels out of his depth but he is reluctant to call in the National Crime Police. Threaded amongst the investigation are scenes from the reality show of the cast bickering and working; Erica and her sister's Anna attempts to organise the wedding (including a hilarious scene with Patrik's mum); Patrik's boss Mellberg's new romance and some odd snippets from the point of view of two children isolated in a cottage in a forest.

There's so much going on you cannot get bored. As I was listening to this, I realised why I prefer to listen than read this series - though the advantage of hearing correct pronunciations is a plus point as well - but to me these books are like a soap opera especially as the author finishes the books on cliff-hangers leaving you eager to find out more. I like my crime, and if I had to read about all the non-crime related domestic stuff that's in these books I probably wouldn't find it that interesting and would find it a bit frustrating, and yet it's quite enjoyable to be told it when you're travelling or washing-up.

The crime set-up in The Gallows Bird is interesting and puzzling but the way the solution was discovered was rather disappointing. The Gallows Bird was first published in 2006 and though that's a few years ago, were small police stations not on the Internet (due to security reasons apparently) and was data transferred between pcs on a disk? No filing system for pre-computer days crimes either, just the memories of long-serving staff? A few quick Googles and the case would have been solved pretty promptly. It's apparent that the police team are not the brightest but the coup-de-grace is when Patrik goes to a library and asks the librarian to put some pages of a story in order for him, which the librarian does, and helpfully points out that a page is missing as the page numbers don't follow on!

Nonetheless, despite the holes in the plot and the quantity of non-crime related minutes, I was engrossed, as I have been with the earlier two audio books. They are entertaining, and I do so enjoy Eamonn Riley's narration. I'm looking forward to the library acquiring the next one, The Hidden Child.

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

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.

Publishing Deal - Chris Ewan

Faber has bought two books from the Good Thief's Guide author, Chris Ewan:

Faber has bought a crime novel about a man involved a motorcycle accident, who is told the girl who was travelling with him does not appear to exist.

The Safe House by Chris Ewan is due for publication in summer 2012. When Rob Hale wakes in hospital after a motorcycle accident, he is told his passenger does not appear to exist, as paramedics only found Hale at the scene. He soon discovers the girl is linked to his sister's recent suicide.

Read the whole article at The Bookseller.

Inspector Morse Prequel (tv show)

From BBC News:

Inspector Morse is to return to TV screens in a one-off show about the detective's early career.

Endeavour, which will be filmed in Oxford, will feature The Take star Shaun Evans in the role made famous by John Thaw.

Set in 1965, the story revolves around a hunt for a missing schoolgirl and will give viewers the chance to see where the detective's love for crosswords and classic cars came from.

It is expected to air on ITV next year.

"Morse as a young man is a wonderful character that I'm very excited to be playing," said Evans.

"My hope is that we can complement what's come before, by telling a great story and telling it well."

ITV drama commissioner Laura Mackie said the drama, titled after Morse's first name, was "a beautifully written story".

In the Daily Mail's article, it states that "The programme has been written by Russell Lewis, but Colin Dexter, the creator of Inspector Morse, has been involved as an adviser."

Publishing Deal - Samuel Thomas

From Publishers Weekly, news of a Civil War set crime novel coming up from Samuel Thomas :

University of Alabama, Huntsville Professor Samuel Thomas's debut BLOODY NEWES FROM YORK, set in York during the English Civil War and introducing a gentlewoman and midwife and her badass assistant who race to save a friend from being burnt at the stake for treasonous murder, to Minotaur, in a two-book deal.

Now You See Me - Cover Opinions

This week's selection for "cover opinions" is the US and UK covers for S J Bolton's Now You See Me. (About a year ago I asked for opinions on Blood Harvest.)

So what are your thoughts on the US (LHS) and UK (RHS) covers? Which would entice you to pick the book up if you were not familiar with the books of S J Bolton?

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

Read the Euro Crime review by Michelle of Now You See Me.

Review: The Serpent Pool by Martin Edwards

The Serpent Pool by Martin Edwards (UK: Allison & Busby, January 2011, ISBN: 0749008792; US: Poisoned Pen Press, February 2010, ISBN: 1590587126)

With so many translated crime novels appearing these days, I find it hard to keep up with my British favourites which is why I've only just read The Serpent Pool by Martin Edwards which came out last year. (His next book, The Hanging Wood is to be reviewed shortly on the website by Maxine).

The Serpent Pool is the fourth in the atmospheric and enjoyable Lake District series which has two lead characters: Daniel Kind an Oxford-educated historian who has left the big city for the charms of the country and whose father was a policemen in the area before he died, and Hannah Scarlett who heads up the Cold Case team and used to work for Daniel's father, Ben.

Hannah's latest cold case investigation is into the suspicious death of English student and hopeful writer, Bethany Friend who was found drowned in the Serpent Pool, which happens to be close to where Hannah and her partner Mark have moved to.

The prologue describes to the reader, the murder of a book collector but this death is also put down as suspicious rather than murder by the police.

Meanwhile Daniel is preparing a book on Thomas De Quincey, the 19th Century author of On Murder Considered as one of the Fine Arts, and also will be giving a lecture at the upcoming De Quincy festival, in addition his sister has moved to the area and her new boyfriend is another book collector.

Steadily all the different threads mentioned above begin to overlap and form a web and a cruel picture emerges.

This case will have long-reaching effects on several members of the regular cast....

As usual, I found myself absorbed by this latest addition to the series. I'm there in the Lake District, tootling around Ambleside, and I can picture it all. Plus I really I want to find out what's happening to Daniel and Hannah who have a relationship of friendship but are destined for something closer (eventually one hopes). For me, the mysteries took a bit of a back-seat to all the relationship issues this time round but I was sad to finish it. For an absorbing British crime novel series, set in one of the country's most beautiful tourist destinations, with some historical facts woven in, I recommend you start with The Coffin Trail and continue.

Don't just take my word for it, read Maxine's Review.

More reviews and a bibliography of Martin Edwards' books can be found on the Euro Crime website.

New Reviews: Carter, Casey, Craig, James, Kerrigan, Sigurdardottir, Vichi, Wakling

Closing today: competition: Win a set of 3 books by Armand Cabasson (UK only)

Here are this week's reviews, which include visits to Greenland, Ireland and Italy as well as the UK:

Amanda Gillies reviews globe-trotting thriller Altar of Bones by "Philip Carter" the speculation on "his" identity ranges from Harlan Coben to Penelope Williamson;

Susan White reviews Jane Casey's second novel and first in the DC Maeve Kerrigan series, The Burning;

Geoff Jones reviews James Craig's debut London Calling which has been available on Kindle for a while but the paperback is due out next week;

Mark Bailey joins the review team with his review of Peter James's Dead Man's Grip;

Terry Halligan reviews Gene Kerrigan's The Rage;

Maxine Clarke reviews Yrsa Sigurdardottir's The Day is Dark, tr. Philip Roughton in which Thora and Matthew go to Greenland (for a very X-files sounding mystery!);

I review Marco Vichi's Death in August, tr. Stephen Sartarelli set in post-war Florence, the first in the Inspector Bordelli series

and Laura Root reviews Christopher Wakling's standalone set in Bristol after the abolition of slavery: The Devil's Mask.

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

French Thriller - The Big Picture

I've belatedly heard about The Big Picture, a French thriller based on a novel by Douglas Kennedy. Nowhere in Birmingham is currently showing it so I may have to wait for the DVD.


Paul Exben is a success story – a great job, a glamorous wife and two wonderful sons. Except that this is not the life he has been dreaming of. A moment of madness is going to change his life, forcing him to assume a new identity that will enable him to live his life fully…

The Big Picture, an adaptation of the novel by Douglas Kennedy, is directed by Eric Lartigau and stars Romain Duris, Marina Foïs, Niels Arestrup and Catherine Deneuve.

The trailer is 2 minutes long and it doesn't appear to give too much away!

Don't Turn Your Back (Cover Theme)

Looking at the best-sellers' chart in WH Smiths the other day I was struck by how many covers feature the back of a man, usually with a gun.

I think the same man makes an appearance in a few of these. I have a picture in my mind of one of those dress-up dolls where you cut various outfits out and fold the tabs over!

OT: Mary Hoffman's Favourite Italian Things

Mary Hoffman has guest posted on my other blog about some of her favourite Italian things: words, books, films. Read her post here.

She is promoting her new book, David, about the (fictitious) model behind this very famous statue.

The book is a historical thriller for older teenagers - my review - which reminded me in atmosphere of Javier Sierra's The Secret Supper.

International Dagger Speculation (2012)

Now 2011's prize for the CWA International Dagger has been awarded we can turn our attention to the next crop of titles, eligible for 2012's crown.

So here's the list so far of translated crime novels published between June 2011 and May 2012 ie the period of eligibility. There's 77 so far (cf 52 last year) with a few more to come no doubt! NB. Only 1 book per author can be submitted for consideration.

For ease of purchase/library reservation here they are listed by UK month of publication:

In addition to the list I have set up a Good Reads widget on the right-hand side of the blog. This allows the covers to be visible plus you can add them to your wish-list on Good Reads. I won't be filling in the rating system though! Should you wish to, I've been told you can subscribe to this list through RSS at: www.goodreads.com/review/list_rss/5685010?shelf=int-dagger-eligible-2012. So far I've added June-February but I plan to add the rest in due course.

June
Andrea Camilleri - The Track of Sand tr. Stephen Sartarelli
Giorgio Faletti - I am God tr. Howard Curtis
Sissel-Jo Gazan - The Dinosaur Feather tr. Charlotte Barslund (Moved from May 2011)
Juan Gomez-Jurado - The Traitor's Emblem tr. Daniel Hahn
Arnaldur Indridason - Outrage tr. Anna Yates
Camilla Lackberg - The Hidden Child tr. Tiina Nunnally
Giulio Leoni - The Crusade of Darkness
Ernesto Mallo - Sweet Money tr. Katherine Silver
Felix Palma - The Map of Time tr. Nick Caistor
Johan Theorin - The Quarry tr. Marlaine Delargy
Marco Vichi - Death in August tr. Stephen Sartarelli
Jan Costin Wagner - The Winter of the Lions tr. Anthea Bell
Carlos Ruiz Zafon - The Midnight Palace

July
Thomas Enger - Burned tr. Charlotte Barslund
Karin Fossum - The Caller tr. K E Semmel
Sergios Gakas - Ashes tr. Anne-Marie Stanton-Ife
Shiro Hamao - The Devil's Disciple
Keigo Higashino - The Devotion of Suspect X tr. Alexander O Smith & Elye J Alexander
Anne Holt - Fear Not tr. Marlaine Delargy
Yrsa Sigurdardottir - The Day is Dark tr. Philip Roughton

August
Jørn Lier Horst - Dregs tr. Anne Bruce
Claude Izner - Strangled in Paris
Bernhard Jaumann - The Hour of the Jackal tr. John Brownjohn
Asa Larsson - Until Thy Wrath be Past tr. Laurie Thompson
Claudia Pineiro - All Yours
Stefan Tegenfalk - Anger Mode tr. David Evans

September
Boris Akunin - The Diamond Chariot, tr. Andrew Bromfield
Anouar Benmalek - Abduction, tr. Simon Pare
Mikkel Birkegaard - Death Sentence, tr. Charlotte Barslund
Gianrico Carofiglio - Temporary Perfections tr. Antony Shugaar
K O Dahl - Lethal Investments tr. Don Bartlett
Selma Lagerlof - Lord Arne's Silver tr. Sarah Death (*Retranslation, originally translated into English and published in the UK in 1923)
Deon Meyer - Trackers tr. K L Seegers
Jo Nesbo - Headhunters tr. Don Bartlett
Kristina Ohlsson - Unwanted tr. Sarah Death
Roslund-Hellstrom - Cell 8 tr. Kari Dickson

October
Kjell Eriksson - The Hand That Trembles tr. Ebba Segerberg
Kjell Eriksson- The Princess of Burundi tr. Ebba Segerberg (First UK publication)
Mons Kallentoft - Midwinter Sacrifice tr. Neil Smith
Eduardo Mendoza - The Olive Labyrinth
Hakan Nesser - The Unlucky Lottery, tr. Laurie Thompson

November
George Arion - Attack in the Library
Bogdan Hrib - Kill the General
Friis & Kaaberbol - The Boy in the Suitcase, tr. Lene Kaaberbol
Dag Solstad - Professor Andersen's Night tr. Agnes Scott Langeland

December
Fabrice Humbert - The Origin of Violence, tr. Frank Wynne


January
Laurence Cosse - A Novel Bookstore
Paulus Hochgatterer - The Mattress House tr. Jamie Bulloch
Hans Koppel - She's Never Coming Back tr. Kari Dickson
Petros Markaris - Basic Shareholder (moved to 2013)
Marco Vichi - Death and the Olive Grove tr. Stephen Sartarelli

February
Horst Bosetzky - Cold Angel: Murder in Berlin, 1949
Maurizio De Giovanni - I Will Have Vengeance tr. Anne Milano Appel
Jens Lapidus - Easy Money, tr. Astri von Arbin Ahlander
Harri Nykanen - Nights of Awe tr. Kristian London
Gunnar Staalesen - Cold Hearts tr. Don Bartlett (delayed until ??)
Valerio Varesi - The Dark Valley tr. Joseph Farrell

March
Jussi Adler-Olsen - Disgrace (moved to June 2012)
Xavier-Marie Bonnot - The Voice of the Spirits tr. Justin Phipps
Maxime Chattam - Carnage tr. Isabel Reid and Emily Boyce
Zoran Drvenkar - Sorry tr. Shaun Whiteside
Michele Giuttari - The Black Rose of Florence
Mari Jungstedt - Dark Angel tr. Tiina Nunnally
A J Kazinski - The Last Good Man tr. Tiina Nunnally
Camilla Lackberg - The Drowning tr. Tiina Nunnally
Asa Larsson - The Black Path tr. Marlaine Delargy (First UK publication) (moved to June 2012)
Charlotte Link - The Other Child tr. Stefan Tobler
Jo Nesbo - Phantom tr. Don Bartlett
Guillermo Orsi - Holy City
Leif GW Persson - Another Time, Another Life tr. Paul Norlen
Helene Tursten - Night Rounds

April
Andrea Camilleri - The Potter's Field tr. Stephen Sartarelli
Eva Joly & Judith Perrignon - The Eyes of Lira Kazan
Marek Krajeski - The Minotaur's Head tr. Danusia Stok (moved to Aug. 2012)
Liza Marklund - Last Will tr. Neil Smith (moved to Sep. 2012)
Fuminori Nakamura - The Thief (moved to Aug. 2012)
Hakan Nesser - Hour of the Wolf, tr. Laurie Thompson
Jean-Francois Parot - The Baker's Blood
Juli Zeh - The Method, tr. Sally-Ann Spencer

May
Laurent Binet - HHhH (Classed as fiction with thriller elements)
Kjell Eriksson - The Demon of Dakar (First UK publication)
Antonio Hill - The Summer of Dead Toys tr. Laura McGloughlin
Mons Kallentoft - Summertime Death tr. Neil Smith
Lars Kepler - The Nightmare tr. Laura Wideburg (moved to Sep. 2012)
Oana Stoica-Mujea - Anatomical Clues

*Plus, here are a few more retranslated crime novels you may have missed first time around.

New Reviews: Bruen, Fossum, Haynes, Hilton, Kelly, le Carre, Ridpath, Tyler

July's competition: Win a set of 3 books by Armand Cabasson (UK only)

Here are this week's reviews, which visit Egypt, Iceland, Norway, Russia, USA as well as the UK:

Terry Halligan reviews the movie-tie-in release of Ken Bruen's London Boulevard;

I review Karin Fossum's latest Inspector Sejer, The Caller, tr. K E Semmel;

Amanda Gillies reviews Elizabeth Haynes debut, Into the Darkest Corner which has just been shortlisted for the "New Blood" Dagger;

Michelle Peckham reviews the fifth Joe Hunter from Matt Hilton, Blood and Ashes which is just out in paperback;

Susan White reviews the paperback release of Erin Kelly's The Poison Tree which has also been shortlisted for the "New Blood" Dagger;

I review the radio play version of John le Carre's The Russia House on the blog;

Maxine Clarke reviews Michael Ridpath's second Icelandic novel, 66 Degrees North which sounds bang up to date politically

and Lizzie Hayes reviews L C Tyler's Herring on the Nile which she says is more fun than a certain other crime book set on the Nile!

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

CWA Awards (Gold, Fleming, Creasey) - Longlists

Here are the highlights from the press release for the longlisted and shortlisted Dagger Awards announced tonight at Harrogate:

Harrogate, Friday, 22^nd July, 2011—Specsavers, Cactus TV and ITV3, in partnership with the Crime Writers’ Association (CWA), are pleased to announce three key book longlists and one shortlist for the Specsavers Crime Thriller Awards on ITV3, celebrating the very best of British and International crime thriller fiction.

The longlisted categories revealed today are the CWA Gold Dagger for the Best Crime Novel of the Year, the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger for the Best Thriller of the Year, and the CWA John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger for the Best New Crime Writer of the Year. The shortlisted category announced today is for the ITV3 People’s Bestseller Dagger. The lists for all four are as follows:

CWA GOLD DAGGER 2011

• Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter by Tom Franklin (Pan)
• Hanging Hill by Mo Hayder (Bantam Press)
• Snowdrops by A.D Miller (Atlantic Books)
• The Cypress House by Michael Koryta (Hodder & Stoughton)
• The End of the Wasp Season by Denise Mina (Orion)
• The Lock Artist by Steve Hamilton (Orion)
• The Villa Triste by Lucretia Grindle (Pan)
• White Heat by M.J McGrath (Mantle)

CWA IAN FLEMING STEEL DAGGER 2011, SPONSORED BY IAN FLEMING PUBLICATIONS LTD

• An Agent of Deceit by Chris Morgan Jones (Mantle)
• Before I Go To Sleep by S.J Watson (Doubleday)
• Cold Rain by Craig Smith (Myrmidon)
• Savages by Don Winslow (Heinemann)
• The Cobra by Frederick Forsyth (Corgi)
• The Good Son by Michael Gruber (Corvus)
• The Lock Artist by Steve Hamilton (Orion)
• The Trinity Six by Charles Cumming (HarperCollins)

CWA JOHN CREASEY (NEW BLOOD) DAGGER 2011

• Before I Go To Sleep by S.J Watson (Doubleday)
• Into The Darkest Corner by Elizabeth Haynes (Myriad)
• Kiss Me Quick by Danny Miller (Robinson)
• Or The Bull Kills You by Jason Webster (Chatto & Windus)
• Sister by Rosamund Lupton (Piatkus)
• The Dead Woman of Juárez by Sam Hawken (Serpent’s Tail)
• The Dogs of Rome by Conor Fitzgerald (Bloomsbury)
• The Poison Tree by Erin Kelly (Hodder)

ITV3 PEOPLE’S BESTSELLER DAGGER 2011

• David Baldacci - The Sixth Man (Macmillan)
• Lee Child - Worth Dying For (Bantam)
• Mark Billingham - Good As Dead (Little, Brown) (pub. 18.8.11)
• Peter James - Dead Man’s Grip (Macmillan)
• Peter Robinson - Before the Poison (Hodder) (pub. 18.8.11)

The shortlists for the CWA Gold Dagger for the Best Crime Novel of the Year, the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger for the Best Thriller of the Year, and the CWA John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger for the Best New Crime Writer of the Year will be announced on Monday 22^nd August.

The 2011 season documentary series called The A to Z of Crime was also announced today, starting on Thursday 1^st September at 9.00pm on ITV3. This follows the huge success of the 2010 Crime Documentaries season, which reached an audience of nearly 4 million viewers. The actual awards show saw a 67% increase in reach to 970,000 including repeats. ITV3 will be showing 6 x 1 hour documentaries in the lead up to the awards ceremony at Grosvenor House, featuring five specially selected bestselling authors as listed above.

In the six weeks leading up to the Specsavers Crime Thriller Awards 2011, the British public will get the chance to vote for the ITV3 People's Bestseller Dagger both by phone and online. The winner will be presented with their award at the glamorous awards ceremony on 7^th October, celebrating the very best of Crime & Thriller fiction. Voting is now open and full details on how to vote are below.

ITV3 People's Bestseller Dagger Voting Information

To vote for their favourite Author the public can call 09016 16 14 and add:

01 for LEE CHILD

02 for MARK BILLINGHAM

03 for PETER JAMES

04 for DAVID BALDACCI

05 for PETER ROBINSON

Or vote online at itv.com/crimethrillerawards

Each vote costs no more than 36p from a BT landline. Calls from other networks may be higher and from mobiles will be considerably more. There is no charge for votes made online. Lines close at 9am on the 7th October 2011. Votes made after this time will not be counted by may still be charged. Terms and conditions apply. Please go to itv.com/terms for details.

More details about the longlisted books are available on the CWA's website.

International Dagger 2011 Winner

The winners of the CWA International Dagger 2011 are...Roslund-Hellstrom for Three Seconds tr. Kari Dickson.

Also shortlisted were:

Andrea Camilleri - The Wings of the Sphinx tr. Stephen Sartarelli
Ernesto Mallo - Needle in a Haystack tr. Jethro Soutar
Jean-Francois Parot - The Saint-Florentin Murders tr. Howard Curtis
Valerio Varesi - River of Shadows tr. Joseph Farrell
Fred Vargas - An Uncertain Place tr. Sian Reynolds
Domingo Villar - Death on a Galician Shore tr. Sonia Soto

Poll Results on International Dagger - 2011

The polls have now closed for voting on who you want to and think will win this year's CWA International Dagger. The Dagger winner will be announced this evening at the Harrogate Crime Writing Festival.

There were 147 votes in the "want to win" and 68 votes in the "will win". In both cases the winner was An Uncertain Place by Fred Vargas followed by Wings of the Sphinx by Andrea Camilleri in the "want to win" and Three Seconds by Roslund-Hellstrom in the "will win".

The other titles, Needle in a Haystack by Mallo, The Saint-Florentin Murders by Parot, River of Shadows by Varesi and Death on a Galician Shore by Villar, all received votes in both polls.

I will remove the polls in the next couple of days. Many thanks to all those who took part and read the shortlist.



The results in full:

1.Which book do you want to win the international Dagger?
147 votes

Camilleri-Wings of the Sphinx	30 (20%)
Mallo-Needle in a Haystack	20 (13%)
Parot-The Saint-Florentin Murders	9 (6%)
Roslund-Hellstrom-Three Seconds	27 (18%)
Varesi-River of Shadows	7 (4%)
Vargas-An Uncertain Place	45 (30%)
Villar-Death on a Galician Shore	9 (6%)

2. Which book will win the International Dagger?
68 votes

Camilleri-Wings of the Sphinx	13 (19%)
Mallo-Needle in a Haystack	5 (7%)
Parot-The Saint-Florentin Murders	2 (2%)
Roslund-Hellstrom-Three Seconds	19 (27%)
Varesi-River of Shadows	3 (4%)
Vargas-An Uncertain Place	24 (35%)
Villar-Death on a Galician Shore	2 (2%)

Theakstons Crime Novel of the Year 2011 - Winner

The winner of the Theakstons Crime Novel of the Year 2011 has been announced. The winner is Lee Child for 61 Hours. P D James was presented with the Theakstons Old Peculier Outstanding Contribution to Crime Fiction Award. Read the whole press release here.

The other shortlisted titles were (links are to Euro Crime reviews):

From the Dead, by Mark Billingham (Sphere)

Blood Harvest, by S J Bolton (Corgi Books)

Dark Blood, by Stuart MacBride (Harper Fiction)

The Holy Thief, by William Ryan (Pan Books)

The Anatomy of Ghosts, by Andrew Taylor (Michael Joseph)

The criteria to be selected for the Best Crime Novel of the Year are: "... open to British and Irish authors whose novels were published in paperback between 1st January 2010 and 31st May 2011."

Publishing Deal - Casey Hill

Simon and Schuster have agreed to two more books from Casey Hill. In today's Bookseller:

Simon & Schuster has bought a further two thrillers from husband and wife writing team Casey Hill... which will be published in 2013 and 2014 respectively.

The untitled thrillers will feature Reilly Steel, an American forensic investigator who is in Dublin on a two year sabbatical to assist local detectives with brutal crimes.

Read the whole article here.

Jack Reacher - the early years

I received a press release today from Transworld about a new Jack Reacher book from Lee Child (in addition to the upcoming The Affair) which will be digital only:

Second Son by Lee Child will be published as an exclusive, specially priced eBook globally on 15th August 2011. It will also be released as an audio digital download. This is the first time Transworld has published a major author in digital exclusive format.

Ever wondered what early experiences shaped Reacher’s explosive career as butt-kicker supreme, the oneman guided missile battler for justice?

Lee Child takes his millions of readers back in time, to a family living on a military base in the Pacific, and to its youngest son – a quiet, brilliant, and already heroic thirteen year old named Jack Reacher.

It's been reported on The Bookseller that there are no plans to release it as a print book.

The press release also states that "Paramount has confirmed that One Shot will be filmed with Tom Cruise in the starring role as Jack Reacher".

The Ice Princess on Radio 4 Extra

Camilla Lackberg's The Ice Princess is being serialised on Radio 4 Extra and is read by Alex Tregear. The first of 5 parts was aired on Saturday but you can listen again on BBC iPlayer for the next 3 days. The second part will be broadcast on Saturday at 11.30pm.

The Ice Princess translated by Steven T Murray, is the first in the Patrik Hedstrom and Erica Falck series by Camilla Lackberg.

Bad Intentions - Cover Opinions

This week's selection for "cover opinions" is the US and UK covers for Karin Fossum's Bad Intentions translated by Charlotte Barslund which is being published in the US on 9 August.

So what are your thoughts on the US (LHS) and UK (RHS) covers? Which would entice you to pick the book up if you were not familiar with the books of Karin Fossum?

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

Read the Euro Crime review by me of Bad Intentions.

Review: The Russia House by John le Carre (audio book)

The Russia House by John le Carre, BBC Radio 4 Full-Cast Audio Dramatisation (AudioGo, July 2011, ISBN: 9781408410622, 4 CDs)

The play opens at the Moscow Audio (Cassette) Fair where Katya is trying to secretly get a manuscript to Barley Blair for publication. Barley has skipped the show so the manuscript travels to London with a friend of Barley's who, when he is unable to track down Barley, takes the manuscript to the authorities. It is then subsequently taken to the "Russia House" where the manuscript is found to be political dynamite. The author claims that a lot of things in Russia don't work properly and that scientific evidence has been fabricated.

To ensure that the manuscript is not a fake, the authorities (intelligence services) have to track down Barley and persuade him to go back to Russia to find the author. Will Barley agree and will he be able to do it successfully?

Set at a time when Russia was opening up, The Russia House is a tale of betrayal, sacrifice and love, both for country and for individuals. I found it fascinating and gripping and it's still quite complicated despite its running time of only just over 3 hours - compared to the 400 page book. There are a few familiar voices in the cast, the main one being Tom Baker as the likeable cad Barley. No-one says Harry quite like he does! The public-school tones of Pip Torrens are equally recognisable as Clive, a bureaucrat who excels in protecting himself.

The Russia House was published in 1989 and this radio adaptation was broadcast in 1994 and, as well as the different state of the world back then, it shows its age a little in terms of cassettes and the fact that spies have tape recorders rather than wireless eavesdropping equipment, but it does give an intriguing insight into how things were politically, not so long ago.

Though I have enjoyed books by relative newcomers to the spy writing genre such as Stella Rimington and Jon Stock, I've never read any le Carre - I've been convinced I wouldn't understand them - but this has given me a chance at least to sample the great man's writing.

In conclusion, another entertaining listen from Radio 4/AudioGO.

Publishing Deal - A M Blake

From today's Bookseller:

Pan Macmillan has bought world rights ...to The Lost Library and a second book by A M Blake. The first book will be published in late 2012 as one of Pan Macmillan's "major launch titles".

The novel is a conspiracy thriller about the ancient library of Alexandria. Founded in the third century BC, it collected major works on mathematics, astronomy and physics but was destroyed under mysterious circumstances. The publisher said: "The Lost Library introduces young history Professor Emily Wess as she is drawn into the midst of a centuries-old ring of lies, deceit, and bloodshed—all in the quest for the world’s greatest single repository of truth, the Library of Alexandria."

Read the whole article here.

BBC4: I've Loved You So Long

I've Loved You So Long is on BBC4 on Sunday at 10pm.

Not crime but directed by an author who's written crime, Philippe Claudel:

For 15 years Juliette has had no contact with her family, who had rejected her. On her release from prison, Léa, her younger sister, takes her into her home which she shares with her husband Luc, his father, and their young children and they try to rebuild their relationship.

New Reviews: Easter, Fitzgerald, Indridason, Lawton, Rayne, Robertson, Website Updates & New Competition

A new competition for July: Win a set of 3 books by Armand Cabasson (UK only)

Here are this week's reviews:

Pat Austin reviews The Watermen by Patrick Easter an atmospheric new series set at the end of the eighteenth century;

Laura Root reviews the second in the Alec Blume series from Conor Fitzgerald, The Fatal Touch, set in Rome;

Maxine Clarke reviews the Erlendur-lite Outrage by Arnaldur Indridason, tr. Anna Yates in which Elinborg comes to the fore;

Amanda Gillies reviews John Lawton's newest book in the Frederick Troy series, A Lily of the Field;

Lizzie Hayes reviews Sarah Rayne's the most recent stand-alone novel, What Lies Beneath

and Terry Halligan reviews the third in the Westerman-Crowther series from Imogen Robertson, Island of Bones, also set in the eighteenth century.

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

Website Update

State of play at 10.7.11:

The Author Websites page now lists 898 sites.

The New & Upcoming Releases pages have been updated.

In Bibliographies there are now bibliographies for 1672 authors (8606 titles with links to 2031 reviews):

I've added new bibliographies for: Adam Baker, Parker Bilal, Adam Blake, Horst Bosetzky, Constance Briscoe, Kevin Brooks, Will Carver, Jason Dean, Stephen Done,James Douglas, Matthew Dunn, Mark Ellis, Monika Fagerholm, Friis, Agnete & Kaaberbol, Lene, Sergios Gakas, Tim Griggs, Jorn Lier Horst, Mons Kallentoft, Maxine Kenneth, Hans Koppel, Charlotte Link, M L Longworth, Bernard Minier, Laurence O'Bryan, Kristina Ohlsson, Andrea Penrose, Emlyn Rees, A D Scott, Johan Smits, Elizabeth Speller, Linda Stratmann, Stefan Tegenfalk, David Thomas, Antti Tuomainen, S J Watson.

I've updated the bibliographies (ie added new titles) for: Jussi Adler-Olsen, Ray Alan, Lin Anderson, Maureen Ash, Tom Bale, Jo Bannister, Robert Barnard, Colin Bateman, Veronyca Bates, Quentin Bates, Belinda Bauer, Carrie A Bebris, Mark Billingham, Mikkel Birkegaard, Benjamin Black, Cara Black, Sam Bourne, Alan Bradley, John Brady, Simon Brett, P J Brooke, Christopher Brookmyre, Alison Bruce, Fiona Buckley, Tom Cain, Kenneth Cameron, Andrea Camilleri, Rebecca Cantrell, Gianrico Carofiglio, Carol K Carr, Maureen Carter, Jane Casey, Joyce Cato, Camilla Ceder, Joanna Challis, Kimberley Chambers, Charlie Charters, Maxim/Maxime Chattam, Lee Child, Ann Cleeves, Barbara Cleverly, Martina Cole, Simon Conway, Lesley Cookman, Gary Corby, Colin Cotterill, Deborah Crombie, Donna Fletcher Crow, Charles Cumming, Elizabeth Darrell, Carol Anne Davis, John Dean, David Dickinson, Nick Drake, Alex Dryden, Jeremy Duns, Marjorie Eccles, Kate Ellis, Kjell Eriksson, Charles Finch, Jane Finnis, James Forrester, Christopher Fowler, Dick Francis, Guy Fraser, Tana French, Nicci French, Elizabeth George, Michele Giuttari, Philip Gooden, Susanna Gregory, J M Gregson, Tarquin Hall, Sophie Hannah, Tom Harper, Cora Harrison, Cynthia Harrod-Eagles, Tim Heald, Mandasue Heller, Peg Herring, Matt Hilton, Anne Holt, Anthony Horowitz, Graham Hurley, Graham Ison, Claude Izner, Maxim Jakubowski, Bill James, Quintin Jardine, Doug Johnstone, Mari Jungstedt, Jessie Keane, Lars Kepler, Simon Kernick, Philip Kerr, Bill Kitson, Bernard Knight, Lynda La Plante, Camilla Lackberg, Deryn Lake, Stephen Leather, Simon Lelic, Frances Lloyd, Stuart/Stuart B MacBride, Shona Maclean, Adrian Magson, G M Malliet, Scott Mariani, Howard Marks, Michael Marshall, Edward/A E Marston, Priscilla Masters, Ava McCarthy, Val/VL McDermid, Adrian McKinty, Andy McNab, The Medieval Murderers, G J Moffat, Theresa Murphy, Amy Myers, Barbara Nadel, Jo Nesbo, Stuart Neville, Chris Nickson, Hilary Norman, Margie Orford, S J Parris, Ben Pastor, Caro Peacock, Mark Pearson, Stef Penney, Anne Perry, Leif GW Persson, Malcolm Pryce, Ann Purser, Sheila Quigley, Ian Rankin, Deanna Raybourn, Linda Regan, John F Rice, Roslund-Hellstrom, Priscilla Royal, Fay Sampson, Alex Scarrow, Stav Sherez, Alexander McCall Smith, Dan Smith, Sally Spedding, Cath Staincliffe, Mel/Melvin R Starr, Sara Stockbridge, The Mulgray Twins, Rhys Thomas, Brian Thompson, Peter Tickler, Peter Tremayne, Helene Tursten, L C Tyler, Valerio Varesi, Marco Vichi, Martin Walker, Jeri Westerson, Stella Whitelaw, Patrick Woodhead, Anne Zouroudi.

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

New Scandinavian Crime Fiction in August

Here are some new to me authors in translation which will be published next month. I've listed the translator where known. Blurbs are from amazon or the author's website.

I shall be posting my 2012 International Dagger Speculation list shortly.

Anger Mode by Stefan Tegenfalk (1 August, Nordic Noir)
Two cars collide head-to-head on a country road with little traffic. The collision is violent. Ten year old Cecilia is catapulted through the windscreen and killed. Five years later, criminal detective Walter Grohn gets a perplexing case on his desk - one dead taxi driver and his killer who has no idea why he committed the crime. The first murder is followed by others, all equally as brutal and inexplicable. Together with his talented assistant, Jonna de Brugge, he untangles threads that lead back to the very core of the Swedish justice/judicial system.

(Stefan Tegenfalk, born 1965 in Stockholm, Sweden, where he is currently living, makes his debut with the book Anger Mode which is the first book of a trilogy about the cynical criminal detective Walter Gröhn with the Stockholm police, and Jonna de Brugge from the Special Investigations Unit, RSU.)

The Glitter Scene by Monika Fagerholm (9 August, Other Press (US edition))
Teenage Johanna lives with her aunt Solveig in a small house bordering the forest on the outskirts of a remote coastal town in Finland. She leads a lonely existence that is punctuated by visits to her privileged classmate, Ulla Bäckström, who lives in the nearby luxury gated community. It isn’t until Ulla tells her the local lore about the American girl and the tragedy that took place more than thirty years before that Johanna begins to question how her parents fit into the story. She sets out to unravel her family history, the identity of her mother, and the dark secrets long buried with her father. In the process of opening closed doors, others in the community reflect back on the town’s history, on their youth, and on the dreams that play in their minds. Soon a new story emerges, that stirs up Johanna’s greatest fears, but ultimately leads to the answers she is searching for. The Glitter Scene is a riveting mystery that explores the roles of truth and myth, reality and fiction, and the repercussions of family secrets.


Dregs by Jørn Lier Horst, tr Anne Bruce (12 August, Sandstone Press Ltd)
The small town of Stavern around midsummer: an amputated left foot in a trainer is washed ashore. And then another one. And another one. All in all four left feet in a week. The four amputated feet form the core of an unfathomable mystery.

“Dregs” by Jørn Lier Horst is the sixth instalment of the Wisting crime series set in southern Norway, and it is an outstanding addition to the ongoing saga of Police Inspector William Wisting, his journalist daughter Line, and the team of criminal investigators at Larvik police station.

The author, who has himself several years’ experience as a Norwegian policeman, brings his knowledge to bear on the descriptions of police procedures and methodical detection work, while using his linguistic dexterity and impressive authorial technique to build up tension, delineate character and make excellent use of dialogue to bring the twists and turns of this narrative to life, engaging the empathy of the reader and ensuring that the novel is a memorable, taut and realistic thriller.

(Jørn Lier Horst was born in 1970, in Bamble, Telemark, Norway. He has worked as a policeman in Larvik since 1995. His debut novel in 2004, Key Witness, was based on a true murder story. The William Wisting novel series – Key Witness (2004), Goodbye, Felicia (2005), When the Sea Calms (2006), The Only One (2007), and The Night Man (2009) – has been extremely successful in his native Norway as well as Germany and the Netherlands. Dregs is his first book published in English.)

Win 3 books by Armand Cabasson

Thanks to Gallic Books, Euro Crime has 5 sets of the three books published in the UK (The Officer's Prey, Wolf Hunt, Memory of Flames) by Armand Cabasson to giveaway. To enter the draw, just answer the question and include your details in the form below.

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

Hit the Jackpot (Covers again...)

I'll see you a "Stieg Larsson" sticker and raise you a copy-cat cover:



Penguin are reissuing The Savage Altar (aka Sun Storm) in September with a very familiar cover...(here's my review of My Soul to Take.

Previous examples of "Stieg Larsson" stickers can be found here and here.