New US Cozies & Agatha Christie

Here are three new American cozies with links to Agatha Christie - which have gone onto my wishlist (I still haven't yet read Christietown by Susan Kandel (2007)).

Published in March this year, The Christie Curse is the first in a new series by Victoria Abbott. Book two, The Sayers Swindle is scheduled for December 2013.

In 1926, Agatha Christie disappeared—making headlines across the world—only to show up eleven days later at a spa under an assumed name. During those eleven days, did she have time to write a play?
Jordan Kelly needs a new job and a new place to live. She’s back in Harrison Falls, New York, living with her not so law-abiding uncles, in debt thanks to a credit card–stealing ex and pending grad school loans.

Enter the perfect job, a research position that includes room and board, which will allow her to spend her days hunting down rare mysteries for an avid book collector. There’s just one problem: her employer, Vera Van Alst—the most hated citizen of Harrison Falls.

Jordan’s first assignment is to track down a rumored Agatha Christie play. It seems easy enough, but Jordan soon finds out that her predecessor was killed while looking for it, and there is still someone out there willing to murder to keep the play out of Vera’s hands. Jordan’s new job is good…but is it worth her life?

What's not to like about this cover? A cat, books and a library and the first in the series... Kyle Logan's Mayhem at the Orient Express was published in June.

At a local Chinese restaurant, it's the owner who gets taken out...

Most folks aren't forced by court order to attend a library-book discussion group, but that’s just what happens to B and B proprietor and ex-Manhattanite Bea Cartwright, hippy cat lover Chandra Morrisey, and winery owner Kate Wilder after a small-town magistrate has had enough of their squabbling. South Bass, an island on Lake Erie, is home to an idyllic summer resort, but these three ladies keep disturbing the peace.

The initial book choice is Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express, and that sets their mouths to watering. The Orient Express is the island’s newest Chinese restaurant. They might not agree about much, but the ladies all love the orange chicken on the menu. But their meal is spoiled when the restaurant’s owner, Peter Chan, has the bad fortune of getting murdered. Now, with Christie as their inspiration, the League of Literary Ladies has a real mystery to solve…if they can somehow catch a killer without killing each other first.

Out in August. I'm read a few of this series so I must try and catch-up as Murder on the Orient Espresso is the eighth in Sandra Balzo's coffee series:

It's November and Maggy Thorsen, co-owner of the Wisconsin gourmet coffeehouse, Uncommon Grounds, is in South Florida at an annual crime-writers' conference with her beau, local sheriff Jake Pavlik, who is due to speak as a 'forensics expert'. Maggy's pledge to behave solely as a tourist becomes trickier than she anticipated when the conference's opening night event turns out to be a re-enactment of Agatha Christie's classic, Murder on the Orient Express. As Maggy and Jake reluctantly set off on the night train to the Everglades to solve the 'crime', it's clear that, as in the original novel, nothing is quite what it seems. And amidst rumours of careers taken, manuscripts stolen and vows broken, it seems that in the Everglades - as in life - the predator all too often becomes the prey.

On Petrona Remembered

My post on Karin Fossum is now up on Petrona Remembered. If you haven't bookmarked this site then you're missing a treat. Bernadette is doing a fabulous job of posting a contribution every Monday morning.

Recent posts include:

Suzi G on Nicci French
Ann Cleeves on Nicolas Freeling
Moira R on Sarah Caudwell
Martin Edwards on Francis Iles
Ali K on Roslund & Hellstrom

Contributions are most welcome from fans of the crime genre. More information on how to contribute is here.

Review: Pale Horses by Jassy Mackenzie

Pale Horses by Jassy Mackenzie, April 2013, 320 pages, Soho Press, ISBN: 1616952210

Reviewed by Laura Root.
(Read more of Laura's reviews for Euro Crime here.)

PALE HORSES is the fourth in Jassy Mackenzie's series of thrillers featuring Jade de Jong, South African PI. The book opens in an upscale cafe in Sandton, a very wealthy suburb of Johannesburg. Jade is still traumatised by events that took place in earlier novels in the series, but is persuaded to take on a case brought to her by the geeky millionaire trader Victor Theron. Theron has recently lost a friend, Sonet Meintjies in a suspicious extreme sports incident - Theron and Sonet were basejumpers, illicitly taking parachute jumps from high buildings without the owners' permission. Despite Theron checking Sonet's parachute for her before the jump, for some reason Sonet's parachute didn't function, resulting in her death. Theron is keen to avoid involvement and bad publicity in any homicide investigation resulting from the incident and hires Jade to uncover the truth about this incident.

Jade investigates the accident scene, and Sonet's personal and professional life, to uncover the truth. Sonet worked for a charity, Williams Management, that helps small rural communities set up sustainable crop farms. One of these farms included that formerly owned by her ex-husband, the embittered Van Schalkwyk, in Theunisvlei, subject of a successful land claim by the Siyabonga tribe. Jade's search for the truth leads her from Johannesburg to the depths of the Karoo. In the meantime, we see events through the eyes of Mrs Kumalo, widow of a man who worked on the farm at Theunisvlei, who took a job as housekeeper/chef for a wealthy Johannesberg man, but is being forced to act as driver for a shady criminal.

Jade is a reasonably sympathetic heroine, resourceful and with a strong sense of justice, if somewhat prone to impatience with those who get in the way of her investigation. Despite the deceptively gentle start, in the cafes and luxury tower blocks of Sandton, this book shows the danger and violence of carrying out investigative work in South Africa, and provides an interesting view of contemporary issues in South Africa in the post-apartheid era, including the operation of agribusiness and GM multinationals. Jassy McKenzie doesn't stint from showing the violence of those who were responsible for Sonet's death, and from showing how Jade herself has to resort to violence to protect her life and that of innocent witnesses.

Jade's on-off relationship with Superintendent David Patel features in the latter half of the novel, and is the one slightly unsatisfactory note to this novel, particularly the subplot involving anonymous letters to Patel. It feels somewhat incongruous to have a romantic theme whilst Jade is dealing with all this violence around her, though admittedly the relationship is a useful plot device to allow Jade good police connections where necessary and to let us see a gentler side to Jade. Overall I found this a very enjoyable and surprisingly readable book, managing to be an intelligent pageturner. This book works well as a standalone, with the caveat that it does contain some significant potential spoilers about earlier books in the series.

Laura Root, July 2013

Atticus Claw Breaks the Law

Aimed at a somewhat younger audience than usually visits Euro Crime, I can recommend Atticus Claw Breaks the Law to cat fans of any age.

I have reviewed it as part of  a special feature on crime on my YA blog in honour of the CWA's crime writing month.

Radio News: Foreign Bodies is back

Radio 4's Foreign Bodies, presented by Mark Lawson is back for a second series, beginning today at 13.45. The episodes can be downloaded later and there is an omnibus edition on Friday at 9pm.:

To accompany BBC Radio 4's dramatisations of the Martin Beck novels, which established crime fiction as a form for exploring social change, Mark Lawson presents five more 'Foreign Bodies' focusing on Greece, Argentina, Northern Ireland, South Africa and fictional TV crime-scenes including Broadchurch.

Examining subjects including the way in which crime novels have portrayed transitional societies in South Africa and Northern Ireland and explored the legacy of military rule in Argentina, in this first programme Lawson, in Athens, talks to writers including Petros Markaris, whose detective series featuring Inspector Costas Haritos has both predicted and depicted the Greek financial crisis.

Schedule:

Mon 8 Jul

13:45 BBC Radio 4
Series 2 Greece - Inspector Costas Haritos

1/5 Mark talks to Petros Markaris, whose crime series prophesied the Greek financial crisis.

Tue 9 Jul

13:45 BBC Radio 4
Series 2 Argentina - Superintendent Perro Lascano

2/5 How Argentinian writers have dramatised the transition from dictatorship to democracy.

Wed 10 Jul

13:45 BBC Radio 4 FM only
Series 2 Ireland - Inspector Benedict Devlin

3/5 Mark meets novelist Brian McGilloway, whose books explore the long shadows of the Troubles

Thu 11 Jul

13:45 BBC Radio 4 FM only
Series 2 South Africa - Detective Captain Bennie Griessel

4/5 Mark Lawson talks to Deon Meyer about the criminality in post-apartheid South Africa.

Fri 12 Jul

13:45 BBC Radio 4 FM only
Series 2 Screenland - DS Ellie Miller, DI Sarah Lund, Captain Laure Berthaud

5/5 Mark Lawson examines the rise of female investigators in TV crime dramas.

New Reviews: Bannister, Dahl, Davies, Hill, James, Kent, Macbain, Ryan, Savage

This week's set of reviews, added to Euro Crime today, is a mixture of new reviews and a catch-up of those posted directly on the blog in the last two weeks, so you may have read some of them before if you're a regular :).

Terry Halligan reviews Jo Bannister's new book, Deadly Virtues which is available as an ebook in the UK and a hardback in the US;

I review Arne Dahl's follow-up to The Blinded Man/Misterioso, Bad Blood, tr. Rachel Willson-Broyles;

Terry also reviews David Stuart Davies A Taste for Blood, the sixth in the 1940s-set Johnny One Eye series;

Laura Root reviews Antonio Hill's The Good Suicides tr. Laura McGoughlin (the sequel to one of my favourite books of last year: The Summer of Dead Toys);

Mark Bailey reviews the latest in the Roy Grace series from Peter James, Dead Man's Time;

Lynn Harvey reviews A Darkness Descending by Christobel Kent, the fourth in this Florence based series featuring ex-cop turned PI Sandro Cellini;

Susan White reviews Bruce Macbain's Roman Games, the first in the Pliny series, now out in paperback;

Amanda Gillies reviews William Ryan's The Twelfth Department which has been short-listed for the 2013 CWA Ellis Peters Historical Dagger;

I also review Angela Savage's Behind the Night Bazaar the first in her Jayne Keeney PI series set in Thailand

and I've also reviewed the DVD of Swedish thriller (with English sub-titles), False Trail, starring Rolf Lassgard.


Previous reviews can be found in the review archive.

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

TV News: Doctor Blake & Miss Fisher Mysteries

Australian blog, TV Tonight, has announced that BBC One has bought the Doctor Blake Mysteries to show during the daytime later this year.

Doctor Blake stars Craig McLachlan and is set 1959 Ballarat. The first series is ten episodes and a second series begins shooting in July.

TV Tonight also confirms that Alibi have bought the second series of the Miss Fisher Mysteries which is to be shown in Australia this year.

Review: Deadly Virtues by Jo Bannister

Deadly Virtues by Jo Bannister, April 2013, 256 pages, Ebook, Bello

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

A new police recruit, Constable Hazel Best, has just been assigned to the the town of Norbold, England, which is famous for its low crime rate thanks to the zero-tolerance policy of Chief Superintendent John Fountain its most senior detective.

Jerome Cardy, a black second-year-law student has been involved in a roadside crash as the innocent victim, but the other driver has insisted on calling the police. Jerome did not want that however and fled the scene only to be later arrested and put in a police cell. He then has a premonition that he is going to die and describes this to the man in the adjacent cell, a man with concussion and accompanied by his dog. He told the man, “I had a dog once. Othello. That was its name. Othello.”

When Gabriel Ash, the dysfunctional man with the dog is released the following day he discovers that Jerome has been found beaten to death by a racist maniac who had been put in his cell. Ash is unable to forget Jerome's last awkward words to him. What could it mean and was it important? Ash is very troubled by the statement but he is a very withdrawn individual who finds it very difficult to open up to those he meets as he is often scoffed at by children who call him (behind his back) "Rambles with dog". Ash, who is damaged because his wife and sons disappeared and were never seen again, had suffered a complete mental breakdown. He lives alone and sees a psychologist named Laura Fry who suggested he get a dog. The lucky rescued animal is named 'Patience' and is a "lurcher," a breed of sporting dog once used by poachers to catch rabbits. Ash finds himself becoming very attached to Patience who is happy to have found a good home at last and regular meals and walks. As many of us are inclined to do, Ash speaks to Patience regularly. But the thing is, that Patience apparently answers. Only Ash can hear the words which aren't spoken but they appear as thoughts in his brain.

Gabriel explains his situation to Hazel and she is very sympathetic towards him as she is new in town and he, although he has limitations, throughout the story he seems to more and more come out of his shell and commit more to resolving the situation and eventually helping her in solving the crimes that have occurred.

I thought this was an incredibly good story that started rather slowly but as it was so well-plotted it grew in its intensity and I did not want it to end as the characters were so well described. I accepted that the main protagonist was a rather strange dysfunctional man with a talking dog but the story telling was so gripping I just could not put it down until the amazing conclusion. I have been fortunate to read a number of books for review published by Bello and all have been very good well- plotted stories. Recommended.

Terry Halligan, July 2013.

Deadly Virtues is also published in the US in hardback by Minotaur Books.

Review: Dead Man's Time by Peter James

Dead Man's Time by Peter James, June 2013, 416 pages, Macmillan, ISBN: 0230760546

Reviewed by Mark Bailey.
(Read more of Mark's reviews for Euro Crime here.)

DEAD MAN'S TIME is the ninth in the series of Detective Superintendent Roy Grace novels by Peter James.

In 1922 New York, 5-year old Gavin Daly and his 7-year old sister Aileen board the SS Mauritania to Dublin and safety - their mother has been shot and their Irish mobster father is missing. A messenger hands Gavin a piece of paper and his father's pocket watch - on the paper are written four names and eleven numbers, a cryptic message that haunts him then and for the rest of his life. As the ship sails, Gavin watches Manhattan fade into the dusk and makes a promise that he will return one day and find his father.

In Brighton in 2012, Detective Superintendent Roy Grace investigates a savage burglary where an old lady has been murdered and ten-million-pounds worth of antiques taken including a rare vintage watch. To his surprise, the antiques are unimportant to her family who care only about the watch. As his investigation continues he realizes he has stirred up a mixture of new and ancient hatreds with one man at its heart, Gavin Daly, the dead woman’s 95-year-old brother. He has a score to settle and a promise to keep which lead to a murderous trail linking the antiques world of Brighton, the Costa del Crime fraternity of Spain’s Marbella, and New York.

Again, Peter James produces crime fiction for those who like to have well-rounded detectives with a believable private life. The short snappy chapters are still there (126 chapters in 416 pages) but so is the slight hint of unrealism in the significant figure from his past and this is dragging on far too much and it really is the case now that you will appreciate this book much more if you read the series in sequence.

The other issue with this book for me is that the ending did seem rather too reliant upon coincidence to tie up the loose ends rather the intervention of Grace and his team.

Read another review of DEAD MAN'S TIME.

Mark Bailey, July 2013

Theakstons Crime Novel of the Year 2013 - Shortlist

The shortlist for the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year  Award 2013 was announced yesterday. The winner will be announced at Harrogate on 18 July however we the public will be able to vote on the shortlist from 4 to 16 July at theakstons.co.uk. The public vote counts for 20% of the final decision.

In addition: "Ruth Rendell will receive the Outstanding Contribution to Crime Fiction Award on the night, joining past winners PD James, Colin Dexter and Reginald Hill".

The criteria: "...the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the  Year Award was created to celebrate the very best in crime writing and  is open to British and Irish authors whose novels are published in  paperback from 1 May 2012 – 30 April 2013".

More about the award and the shortlisted titles can be found on the Harrogate Crime Writing Festival website.

2013 Shortlist (links are to Euro Crime reviews)

Rush Of Blood – Mark Billingham (Little Brown)

Safe House -  Chris Ewan (Faber and Faber)

The Lewis Man – Peter May (Quercus)

Gods And Beasts – Denise Mina (Orion)

Stolen Souls – Stuart Neville (Vintage)

A Dark Redemption – Stav Sherez (Faber and Faber)

Film News: The Long Midnight of Barney Thomson

Catching up with my Kermode and Mayo film review podcasts, the last but one was filmed at the Edinburgh Film Festival with special guest Robert Carlyle.

It transpires that Robert Carlyle is to star and direct The Long Midnight of Barney Thomson based on the book by Douglas Lindsay.

The book is currently free to download on UK Kindle and at Kobo, and is only £1.99 as a print book.

Official Blurb: Barney Thomson — awkward, diffident, Glasgow barber — lives a life of desperate mediocrity. Shunned at work and at home, unable to break out of a twenty-year rut, each dull day blends seamlessly into the next.

However, there is no life so tedious that it cannot be spiced up by inadvertent murder, a deranged psychopath, and a freezer full of neatly packaged meat.

Barney Thomson's uninteresting life is about to go from 0 to 60 in five seconds, as he enters the grotesque and comically absurd world of the serial killer…

Review: Behind the Night Bazaar by Angela Savage

Behind the Night Bazaar by Angela Savage, ebook.

Australian author Angela Savage's third book in her Jayne Keeney PI series set in Thailand, The Dying Beach, has just been released and a special offer is running until the end of July on the ebook versions of her two first books. I first heard of this author via Margot Kinsburg's excellent blog and have had these in my wish-list for a while. The newly sub-£4 price meant I snapped up book one, Behind the Night Bazaar and when I was about half-way through reading it I followed it up with a purchase of book two, The Half-Child.

Jayne Keeney is an Australian expat working as a PI in Bangkok. After a violent encounter with a women she was surveilling, she flees to her best friend Didier who is living in the northern city of Chiang Mai. Didier is her best friend and would be more except that's he's gay. Soon however, Jayne finds she has another case. Two murders plunge her into a world of child prostitution and police corruption, with some bedroom solace from a handsome Australian policeman. Jayne must be careful or she could be the next victim.

Set in 1996, Behind the Night Bazaar was first published in 2006 after winning the 2004 Victorian Premier's Literary Award for unpublished manuscript. Angela Savage's personal and professional experience of living and working in Asia informs her novel and gives it an authentic tone. I enjoyed the cultural aspects as much as the story. Jayne is a character you want to spend time with, she's clever and resourceful and though there are now several other series set in Thailand, few have a woman as the lead character.

If you don't read electronically then the following will be good news, from Angela Savage's blog post 24 June 2013:

For US readers, Behind the Night Bazaar is available in paperback from this month and The Half-Child next month. The Dying Beach will be available in 2014.

For UK readers, all three should be available in paperback in 2014.

You can read the short story which introduced Jayne Keeney, The Mole on the Temple, via a download from Angela Savage's blog.

Review: False Trail (Jägarna 2) DVD

False Trail, DVD, February 2013, Arrow, ASIN: B0091GYCXU

It has taken 15 years for The Hunters (Jägarna) director Kjell Sundvall and its star Rolf Lassgård to reunite for a sequel - False Trail (Jägarna 2).

The film, set in Sweden's Norrland, opens with a hunt being organised. The whole of the community including the police are involved but when the car of a young woman (Elin) is found abandoned nearby with blood in it, the hunt has to be called off. When no trace of Elin can be found, a murder investigation is begun and the local police  are swift to blame first her stalker and then an oddball who has a history of violence and whose fingerprints are found on the car. Erik Bäckström (Lassgård) is sent from Stockholm's National Murder Commission to assist in the investigation and is far from convinced that the police have the right guy and still no body has turned up.

Bäckström is returning to his home territory. His late brother's son Peter, is the stepson of the lead investigator Torsten and as Bäckström becomes more involved with the family he becomes aware that things are not what they seem.

False Trail is an absorbing thriller, reminiscent of Insomnia, in which the pace accelerates as Bäckström begins to get to the truth. He and the murderer (for a body is found eventually) have a tussle of wits with Bäckström the outsider finding it hard to be believed. For me this was a gripping watch, which held my interest throughout despite a two hour running length. It's not so much as a whodunnit but a will they get away with it as the viewer knows more than Bäckström. My only niggle is that the final confrontation seemed slightly over the top. There is strong language and a couple of particularly unpleasant scenes one involving an animal being shot and butchered and the other the discovery of a body. There is plenty of violence and bad language along the way as well as to be expected in a crime thriller. I also enjoyed seeing the Norrland countryside - lots of trees and a lake - which makes a change from an urban setting.

The DVD extra, a real bonus, is an interview between Barry Forshaw (our very own Petrona Award judge) and Rolf Lassgård. This is the first film I've seen Lassgård in, having not yet watched the Wallander and Sebastian Bergman series he's been in but every clip I've seen him in and including in this film he's always unsmiling and very serious but in this interview we get to see his charming, funny side and discover that he has played a mum in Hairspray!

Review: Bad Blood by Arne Dahl

Bad Blood by Arne Dahl translated by Rachel Willson-Broyles, June 2013, 352 pages, Harvill Secker, ISBN: 1846556767

BAD BLOOD is the second in the 'Intercrime' series by Arne Dahl, the series which has recently been shown on BBC Four as Arne Dahl.

We meet the disparate group of members of the A-Unit, a small task-force of police officers from different backgrounds, almost a year after the Power Murders which took place in THE BLINDED MAN (apa MISTERIOSO). Fortunately for Sweden but unfortunately for the team, very little has come their way in terms of new cases and it's only a matter of time before the team will be reassigned.

What they needed was a robust serial killer, of a robust, international character, thought Paul Hjelm

Be careful for what you wish for, as four pages later, Hjelm's boss reports that a Swedish literary critic has been tortured and murdered at Newark Airport and that the killer is a killer of several decades standing and is on his way from New York to Sweden.

An operation to catch the so-called Kentucky Killer fails and Sweden has a serial killer to catch. The investigation doesn't go well. There are few leads to go on and the team is reduced to leg-work, checking on US citizens, until bodies begin to show up. Hjelm and Kerstin Holm are sent to New York to liaise with the FBI (where they become Yalm and Halm perhaps giving us English speakers an idea of the correct pronunciation). The FBI man who actually saw the Kentucky Killer die in a car crash, or so he thought, welcomes their input and as this is a Swedish crime novel it's no surprise that a Swedish brain-wave from Hjelm moves the investigation along.

The remainder of the A-Unit back in Sweden have also made their own discoveries and together the Kentucky Killer could be within their grasp but there is much more going on than even the Swedish authorities realise.

BAD BLOOD is an entertaining thriller which continues the tradition of social/political commentary in Swedish crime fiction. Leavened by humour and with a group of interesting characters, of whom we get to know more with Hjelm still getting slightly more of the focus, this is a story which remains current despite its original Swedish release date of 1998. BAD BLOOD covers a lot of ground in its modest 350 pages and leaves readers eager for the next instalment.

New Reviews: Benn, Donovan, Evans, Garrett, Kaaberbol & Friis, Mark, Millar, Mishani, Taussig

This week's set of reviews, added to Euro Crime today, is a mixture of new reviews and a catch-up of those posted directly on the blog whilst I've been away so you may have read some of them before if you're a regular :).

A reminder of the current competition: win The Distinguished Assassin by Nick Taussig (10 copies, UK & Ireland).

Laura Root reviews Tom Benn's Chamber Music, the second in the 'Bane' series set in Manchester;

Geoff Jones reviews Michael Donovan's debut Behind Closed Doors which introduces PI Eddie Flynn;

Susan White reviews the Kindle release of Geraldine Evans's Up in Flames, the first in the Casey and Catt series;

It's a very welcome return for Margaret Murphy who in conjunction with Professor Dave Barclay is A D Garrett and their first collaboration, Everyone Lies is reviewed here by Terry Halligan;

I recently reviewed Invisible Murder by Kaaberbol and Friis, tr. Tara Chace

Amanda Gillies reviews David Mark's Orginal Skin, the second outing for Hull's DS Aector McAvoy;

Michelle Peckham reviews Louise Millar's Accidents Happen;

Lynn Harvey reviews the International Dagger short-listed The Missing File by Israeli author D A Mishani, tr. Steven Cohen

and Susan also reviews this month's competition prize, The Distinguished Assassin by Nick Taussig.



Previous reviews can be found in the review archive.

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

Review: Accidents Happen by Louise Millar

Accidents Happen by Louise Millar, April 2013, 351 pages, Pan, ISBN: 0330545019

Reviewed by Michelle Peckham.
(Read more of Michelle's reviews for Euro Crime here.)

ACCIDENTS HAPPEN is a psychological thriller based around the idea that some people appear to be very unlucky, even cursed, and suffer more misfortunes than others. In this case, Kate Parker is the unlucky person, as her husband was murdered, and her parents had earlier died in a car crash on the day of her wedding. Now, Kate and her 10-year-old son Jack live together in Oxford, having left their house in London where her husband was killed, to be close to her husband’s family. Kate is trying to recover from her husband’s murder and is obsessed with keeping herself and her son safe.

Kate’s obsession with risk levels, statistical chances of accidents in a variety of situations, and the like, severely limit her ability to live a normal life and worry her remaining family. This is not helped by Kate’s belief that someone is coming into her house when she and Jack are out, even eating food out of the fridge. She is so worried by this that she installs some sort of burglar proof cage to seal off the first floor of the house, preventing any burglars that might enter downstairs from accessing the bedrooms. Is she imagining things? Or is someone really able to somehow enter the house and roam about freely when she’s not there?

Then she meets a man, Jago, who is apparently a visiting professor in Oxford, teaching courses about risk and even seems to have written a book about it, which Kate eagerly reads. He gradually gains Kate’s trust, and starts helping her to take risks, overcome her fears and gradually turn back into the normal, happy woman she was before life cruelly took away the people she loved.

Interspersed between the story of Kate, are a few short chapters relating to an unknown boy, and his family, who live in a house where there are ‘snakes’ in the wall. Clearly something very bad happened to this boy, his house and his parents and gradually these chapters fill out the story. There has to be a connection between that story and the present day somehow, and slowly the links are revealed, with the expected dramatic conclusion.

The description of Kate’s apparent paranoia, its effects on her son Jack, and her husband’s family are convincing. Her gradual recovery back to a ‘normal person’ through her relationship with Jago is well described and carefully lulls the reader into a false sense of security before things start to fall apart. There is a fine line between real paranoia, and a simple uncertainty that things are not quite right, and the sense that Kate is both unclear and worried about which side of the line she does in fact lie is nicely conveyed. The only slight disappointment to me was the denouement, which seemed just a little too far fetched. But that slight misgiving aside, this was an intriguing book and an absorbing read.

Michelle Peckham, June 2013

Review: Chamber Music by Tom Benn

Chamber Music by Tom Benn, January 2013, 336 pages, Jonathan Cape, ISBN: 0224093517

Reviewed by Laura Root.
(Read more of Laura's reviews for Euro Crime here.)

CHAMBER MUSIC is the second outing for Tom Benn's anti-hero, hardman with a heart Henry Bane, known as Bane. This book takes place in early 1998, a couple of years after the first novel in this series, THE DOLL PRINCESS. Manchester city centre is still in the process of reconstruction following the IRA bombing, and Bane and his crooked mechanic pal Maz are now working for a different gangster boss, Abrafo. Bane is living relatively peacefully with his girlfriend Jan and her semi-delinquent teenage son Trenton in Wythenshawe, when old girlfriend Roisin re-enters his life dramatically on the eve of his father's funeral.

Roisin has driven up from London with her customs officer boyfriend Dan, who has been wounded in a recent shooting and doesn't want to go to a hospital. Dan is far from forthcoming about the reasons for the shooting, and Bane doesn't trust him. But as Roisin was an old girlfriend and is sister of his close friend and associate, the violent Gordon, recently released from prison, Bane agrees to protect and assist Roisin and Dan, even though he is somewhat less than keen on Dan (whom he nicknames Knobhead). Further complications arise in Bane's professional life, due to a Yardie gangster with ambitions, Hagfish, who is keen to muscle in on Abrafo's trade. Hagfish has a pet komodo dragon to guard his valuables, and a girlfriend, Berta, who leads a rather unusual "church" of women in Hulme, and is involved with potion making. Hagfish's bid for power unleashes a trail of death and destruction and gang warfare that affects Bane and Abrafo personally.

Benn employs a dual timeline in this book, shifting back in time to relate events from eight years earlier, when Bane had his brief relationship with Roisin. Benn shows how the budding romance unravelled. At that time Bane sold drugs in the Manchester clubs in the hey day of illegal raves and acid house and became involved in a violent drug war, with certain parallels to his current (1998) situation. The split time line, whilst skilfully done, can be a bit disorientating to the reader, possibly deliberately mirroring the dizzying effect of the world of recreational drugs that Bane is involved in.

The characterisation of Bane in this novel makes him somewhat less likeable than in the previous novel in the series. In THE DOLL PRINCESS, there was a certain ambiguity to Bane's character, where in dealing with the police and other gangsters the reader felt that Bane's options remained open to stay in or move out of the gangster life. But this novel shows a more hardened, if slightly more domesticated side to him, with less of a chance that Bane can escape his criminal past. Overall this is another quality slice of noir, Manchester style, with Tom Benn as ever spot on with the slang and sense of place of '90s Manchester.

Laura Root, June 2013

Review: The Missing File by D A Mishani

The Missing File by D A Mishani translated by Steven Cohen, May 2013, 320 pages, Quercus, ISBN: 1780876483

Reviewed by Lynn Harvey.
(Read more of Lynn's reviews for Euro Crime here.)

It has just gone six in the evening. Another mother sits across the office desk from Inspector Avraham Avraham. This one says that her sixteen-year old son is missing, has not come home from school. Avi Avraham is working out what to pick up for dinner and what to watch on television that evening. He explains to the mother his theory on why there are no detective novels in Hebrew. It is because “we don't have crimes like that.... serial killers, kidnappings....” the explanation is always the simplest one. The woman sitting opposite him remains looking uncertain and says little. He persuades her that it is best if the boy is not reported missing yet but that she should go home and check his computer, his emails and Facebook page – see if they give any clue to his whereabouts. Someone will check in with her in the morning. She remains unsure and Avi is disconcerted to find that he has doodled a “hangman” stick-figure on his pad, dripping ink blood. He decides to leave his phone by his bed that night in case the station calls.

At the missing boy's apartment block next day, a resident peers through his window at the police outside, in particular at the senior officer making a series of agitated calls on his phone. The resident takes his infant son to the shops in the stroller and sees the “Missing” posters that have gone up around the neighbourhood. They show the face of his neighbours' boy. When the police come to interview the residents in the block, including himself and his wife, he grows increasingly frustrated that they do not appear to be listening to the importance of what he is telling them – that he knows the boy, that he gave him English lessons. At some point he will tell them that their relationship was special.

D A Mishani is an Israeli fiction editor and literary scholar specialising in the history of detective fiction. THE MISSING FILE is his crime début and this edition is translated from the Hebrew by Steven Cohen. The story is set in the Tel Aviv suburb of Holon and its central character is Inspector Avraham Avraham, a quiet somewhat isolated man whose only birthday present is given to him by his elderly parents. Avraham spends his evenings watching reruns of “Law & Order” trying to spot investigative mistakes and work out possible alternative defences and outcomes. He is a trusting man. This is not ideal detective material you may think, but nevertheless he is specifically designed by Mishani who says in an interview: “I want a detective who acquits people — who sees people as innocent, not as guilty.”

THE MISSING FILE investigates a sixteen-year old boy's disappearance from several angles, including the workday life of Avraham, and it gradually builds its resolution with a kick of surprise at the end. It is an original crime book with an original detective. Poor old Avraham Avraham seems to labour under such a lack of self-confidence that you suspect he will throw in the towel at any moment. I have to say that I found it hard to build rapport with the characters. Part of this distancing may be the result of reading a book in translation. But some aspects of the book puzzle me – not just the title. (I never did spot a “file” that was “missing”.) One particular plot event stands out in this context. Avraham has to spend a week on a work-exchange trip to Belgium. The Belgian police squad are up to their necks in a murder investigation which Avraham is no party to and he is left very much to his own devices. The trip interrupts his own investigation and with no apparent gain except perhaps to distance him from it and to introduce a new relationship. But what really bothers me is that the murder investigation in question is a direct transposition of a highly publicized real-life British murder case from a few years ago, with only the names and places altered. Perhaps this only has relevance for British readers but I did find it a strange and uncomfortable plot inclusion.

A slow-burner with an original take on detection, THE MISSING FILE gradually builds momentum and reserves a surprise sting in its tail. My own personal jury is “out” on this book but it has generally received a good press. Try it and see. If it is for you, there is a second book already published in Israel which should doubtless be heading our way.

Lynn Harvey, June 2013.

Win: The Distinguished Assassin by Nick Taussig

Euro Crime has ten copies of The Distinguished Assassin by Nick Taussig to giveaway. [The Euro Crime review is here.]

To enter the draw, just answer the question and include your details in the form below.

This competition is open to UK and Ireland residents only and will close on 30 June 2013.
Only 1 entry per person/per household please.
(All entries will be deleted once the winners have been notified.)

1952. Stalin's Russia. Persecuted by vicious MVD agent Vladimir Primakov, betrayed by his beautiful wife and forced to the very bottom of life by the cruel system he lives under, war hero and former professor Aleksei Klebnikov is offered a mission by the notorious thief-in-law Ivan Bessonov: to assassinate six leading Communists, all of them evil men. Aleksei agrees to undertake it, this mission, after which he will finally have his revenge on Primakov, who also stole his wife. But when, with just one man left to kill, Aleksei is suddenly reunited with her, he discovers that all is not quite what it seems and that perhaps he has an even greater enemy than Primakov, his wife and the Communist system. Written in Taussig's strong, distinctive voice, and with a great moral sense, The Distinguished Assassin is a fantastic achievement by a writer who has successfully married the fictional styles of crime and historical fiction, the novel containing pace and insight in equal measure. The story Taussig tells, of a persecuted intellectual's revenge against Russian Communists, is not only a tense, thrilling and addictive tale of one man s fight against a wicked and corrupt regime, but also an intelligent, thoughtful and moving account of life in Soviet Russia.

Cover Theme - Top of Buildings

I thought these two were fairly similar.

Cover Reveal: Gunnar Staalesen's Cold Hearts (& more)

Arcadia have spiffing new covers for their Gunnar Staalesen books. The eagerly awaited new Varg Veum novel, Cold Hearts, translated by Don Bartlett, is scheduled for July...

... along with a reissue of Yours Until Death translated by Margaret Amassian.

A reissue of The Writing on the Wall, translated by Hal Sutcliffe, is currently scheduled for early Autumn but this may change. A quote from Maxine's review of The Consorts of Death is on the back cover.

Website Updates - June 2013

I've just refreshed the Euro Crime website:

The Author Websites page now lists 984 sites.

In Bibliographies there are now bibliographies for 1898 authors (linked to 9703 titles of which 2596 are reviewed).

I've added new bibliographies for: Lisa Ballantyne, Nuala Casey, Lisa Cutts, Mariusz Czubaj, Kate Griffin, Gaute Heivoll, Steffen Jacobsen, Sander Jakobsen, Martin Jensen, Max Landorff, Russ Litten, Peter Murphy, Serge Quadruppani, Mark Sennen, William Shaw, Helen Smith, Vidar Sundstol, Dominique Sylvain, Nick Taussig, Dan Turrell and Marianne Wheelaghan.

I've updated the bibliographies (ie added new titles) for:  Jane Adams, Jo Bannister, Richard Blake, S J Bolton, Simon Brett, William Brodrick, Alison Bruce, Ken Bruen, Richard Burke, Tanya Byrne, Andrea Camilleri, Massimo Carlotto, Paul Carson, Chris Carter, Tania Carver, Lee Child, Alys Clare, Eoin Colfer, Chris Collett, Colin Cotterill, Adam Creed, A J Cross, Maurizio De Giovanni, Louise Doughty, Matthew Dunn, Patrick Easter, Sara Fraser , Friis & Kaaberbol, Robert Goddard, Alex Grecian, Susanna Gregory, Tom Grieves, Patricia Hall, Tom Harper, Veronica Heley, Peter Helton, Anna Jansson, Paul Johnston, Jim Kelly, Rob Kitchin, Lynda La Plante, Stephen Leather, Charlotte Link, Torquil MacLeod, Adrian Magson, Barry Maitland, Henning Mankell, Liza Marklund, Andrew Martin, Priscilla Masters, John McAllister, Brian McGilloway, Liam McIlvanney, Mark Mills, Thomas Mogford, Barbara Nadel, Chris Nickson, Kristina Ohlsson, S J Parris, Anne Perry, Ann Purser, Sheila Quigley, Emlyn Rees, Kate Rhodes, Michael Robotham, Jacqui Rose, Andrea Maria Schenkel, Gerald Seymour, Lloyd Shepherd, Sally Spencer, Andrew Swanston, M J Trow, Nicola Upson, Simone van der Vlugt, Valerio Varesi, Jill Paton Walsh, Laura Wilson, David Wishart and Felicity Young.


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

UK Kindle Bargain - Nordic Noir

Barry Forshaw's Nordic Noir is currently 99p on UK Kindle. Barry, as well as writing a new book, Euro Noir, out in August I believe, has kindly agreed to be a judge for the 2014 Petrona Award.

Euro Crime's listing of crime fiction titles by Scandinavian (Nordic) authors, available in English, can be found here, with many titles reviewed.


Official Blurb: Nordic Noir: The Pocket Essential Guide to Scandinavian Crime Fiction, Film and TV by Britain’s leading expert on crime fiction, Barry Forshaw, is a compact and authoritative guide to the phenomenally popular genre. The information-packed study examines and celebrates books, films and TV adaptations, from Sjöwall & Wahlöö’s highly influential Martin Beck series through Henning Mankell’s Wallander (subject of three separate TV series) to Stieg Larsson’s groundbreaking The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, cult TV hits such as the Danish The Killing, The Bridge and the political thriller Borgen, up to the massively successful books and films of the current king of the field, Norway’s Jo Nesbo. Nordic Noir anatomises the nigh-obsessive appeal of the subject and highlights every key book, film and TV show. For both the beginner and the aficionado, this is a hugely informative, highly accessible guide (and shopping list) for an essential crime genre.

Review: The Distinguished Assassin by Nick Taussig

The Distinguished Assassin by Nick Taussig, June 2013, 320 pages, Dissident, ISBN: 1905978189

Reviewed by Susan White.
(Read more of Susan's reviews for Euro Crime here.)

Aleksei Klebnikov is a happily married man with a beautiful daughter, Katya, who is a talented ballet dancer. Aleksei is a lecturer in history and although against everything the regime stands for, tries to lead a quiet life under the radar.

After several weeks of being followed, Aleksei is pulled in for questioning by Vladimir Primakov, who lusts after Natalie, Aleksei's wife. Aleksei is accused of being a traitor to Russia and sentenced to 25 years in the harshest prison, where political prisoners are treated worse than the professional criminals.

Working in the forest, where the slightest infraction results in loss of food and severe punishments, he has a small group of fellow intellectuals who support each other. His hatred of the political system is recognised and he is befriended by Ivan Bessonov, a thief-in-law, a powerful criminal that controls the prison and carries on with his business outside even as a prisoner. Aleksei is offered help to escape if he will agree to kill six people for Bessonov, people who have a history of particular violence and abuse. The
list includes Primakov, who Aleksei now learns is playing happy families with Natalie and Katya.

Aleksei starts killing the men on the list, finding it difficult at first, but justifying his actions with the details of their crimes. Then he meets Natalie again and suddenly his recent decisions are not clear as they were.

The book is set in Stalinist Russia and I found it very difficult to read. The violence, poverty and the terror of ordinary people in this era are very graphically portrayed. I cannot say I enjoyed it, but felt that I learnt a bit of the history while reading it and felt compelled to finish it. The ending was a surprise as well.

Recommended as an interesting read.

Susan White, June 2013

The Petrona Award Presented

Barry Forshaw presenting the Petrona Award to Transworld editor Emma Buckley (standing in for Liza Marklund)

And the Winner Is...

Lots of people guessed correctly and the winner of the first Petrona award for Best Scandinavian Crime Novel of the Year is Last Will by Liza Marklund, translated by Neil Smith. More photos to come but here is the "trophy". Liza also wins a ticket to CrimeFest 2014 and a guaranteed panel which it sounds like she'll be taking up!

Photo courtesy of Emma Buckley.

International Dagger 2013 - Shortlist

And the 6 shortlisted titles for the 2013 International Dagger are....

Pierre Lemaitre - Alex tr. Frank Wynne
D A Mishani - The Missing File tr. Steven Cohen
Roslund & Hellstrom - Two Soldiers tr. Kari Dickson
Ferdinand  von Schirach - The Collini Case tr. Anthea Bell
Fred Vargas - The Ghost Riders of Ordebec tr. Sian Reynolds
Marco Vichi - Death in Sardinia tr. Stephen Sartarelli 

More about the selected titles and other shortlists announced tonight can be found at the CWA's website.

I'll be setting up the usual polls when I return from CrimeFest.

Petrona Award 2013 - Survey Results

The results are in!

Black Skies is the title most people want to win the 2013 Petrona Award whereas Last Will is the one people think will win the Award. The official winner will be announced at the CrimeFest dinner on 1 June by Barry Forshaw.

Review: Invisible Murder by Kaaberbol & Friis

Invisible Murder by Lene Kaaberbol and Agnete Friis translated by Tara Chace, January 2013, 352 pages, Soho Press, ISBN: 1616952563

Danish nurse Nina Borg works in Copenhagen at a Red Cross centre for immigrants offering medical and emotional support. She also works for the Network which offers help to illegal immigrants, and her husband Morten is not keen on this at all. When he has to leave Nina with their two children for a couple of weeks whilst he is on an oil-rig, he makes her promise not to do any work for the Network whilst he is away. Of course things don't go to plan and Nina is gradually drawn into a nightmare scenario which begins with her treating some sick Hungarian Roma refugees for what appears to be a bad bug but is actually something far worse.

Before Nina joins the main narrative we get to learn about Sandor, a Hungarian law student who has masked his Roma origins to fit in with non-Roma society, but whose half-brother Tamas is involved in making a huge amount of money in a transaction which involves him going to Denmark. Sandor is sent to find Tamas when Tamas breaks contact with his wealthy, criminal, backer.

A third strand involves Soren from the Danish security service who are preparing for a Summit meeting and Soren begins to investigate a terror threat which has a Hungarian connection.

And how does the elderly retired buildings inspector, Skou-Larsen, living next to a Mosque construction site fit in to all this?

THE INVISIBLE MURDER, the sequel to THE BOY IN THE SUITCASE, is a gripping thriller which sets the various narrative threads running before entwining them in a nail-biting race against time climax. Nina acts much more rationally in this second book, and yet still cannot seem to win and her ethical acts take a toll on both her and her family, physically, emotionally and personally. The authors weave politics into their characters' lives, from the issue of immigration in Denmark to the racism and prejudice faced by the Roma and this is what makes this series of books an interesting as well as an exciting read. This is crime fiction with a heart and I look forward to catching up with Nina's newest crises in DEATH OF A NIGHTINGALE later this year.

What's Your International Dagger Shortlist?

The 2013 CWA International Dagger Shortlist will be announced on Friday night at CrimeFest. Which of these titles below would be on your shortlist?

Jussi Adler-Olsen - Disgrace tr. K E Semmel (apa The Absent One) (Denmark, M)

Esmahan Aykol - Baksheesh tr. Ruth Whitehouse (Turkish, F)

Fabrice Bourland - The Dream Killer of Paris tr. Morag Young (France, M)

Andrea Camilleri - The Age of Doubt tr. Stephen Sartarelli (Italy, M)

Andrea Camilleri - The Dance of the Seagull tr. Stephen Sartarelli (Italy, M)

Massimo Carlotto - At the End of a Dull Day tr. Antony Shugaar (Italy, M)

Donato Carrisi - The Lost Girls of Rome tr. Howard Curtis (Italy, M)

Camilla Ceder - Babylon tr Marlaine Delargy (Sweden, F)

Patrick Conrad - No Sale tr. Jonathan Lynn (Belgium, M)

Roberto Costantini - The Deliverance of Evil tr. N S Thompson (Italy, M)

Mariusz Czubaj - 21:37 tr. Anna Hyde (Poland, M)

Arne Dahl - Misterioso (apa The Blinded Man) tr. Tiina Nunnally (Sweden, M)

Sandrone Dazieri - In a Heartbeat tr. A Turner Mojica (Italy, M)

Thomas Enger - Pierced tr. Charlotte Barslund (Norway, M)

Kjell Eriksson - The Cruel Stars of the Night tr. Ebba Segerberg (Sweden, M)

Giorgio Faletti - The Killer in My Eyes tr. Howard Curtis (Italy, M)

Sebastian Fitzek - The Eye Collector tr. John Brownjohn (Germany, M)

Karin Fossum - In the Darkness, tr. James Anderson (Norway, F)

Santiago Gamboa - Necropolis tr. Howard Curtis (Colombia, M)

Pascal Garnier - How's the Pain? tr. Emily Boyce (France, M)

Pascal Garnier - The A26 tr. Melanie Florence (France, M)

Maurizio de Giovanni - Blood Curse tr. Antony Shugaar (Italy, M)

Thomas Glavinic - The Camera Killer tr. John Brownjohn (Austria, M)

Grebe & Traff - Some Kind of Peace tr. Paul Norlen (Sweden, F & F)

Wolf Haas - Brenner and God tr. Annie Janusch (Austria, M)

Gaute Heivoll - Before I Burn tr. Don Bartlett (Norway, M)

Marie Hermanson - The Devil's Sanctuary tr. Neil Smith (Sweden, F)

Keigo Higashino - Salvation of a Saint tr. Alexander O Smith with Elye J Alexander (Japan, M)

Hjorth-Rosenfeldt - Sebastian Bergman tr. Marlaine Delargy (Sweden, M & M)

Anne Holt - Blind Goddess, tr. Tom Geddes (Norway, F)

Anne Holt - Blessed Are Those Who Thirst tr. Anne Bruce (Norway, F) 

Fabrice Humbert - Sila's Fortune tr. Frank Wynne (France, M)

Arnaldur Indridason - Black Skies tr. Victoria Cribb (Iceland, M)

Pia Juul - The Murder of Halland tr. Martin Aitken (Denmark, F)

Kaaberbol & Friis - Invisible Murders tr. Tara Chace (Denmark, F & F)

Mons Kallentoft - Autumn Killing tr. Neil Smith (Sweden, M)

Mons Kallentoft - Savage Spring tr. Neil Smith (Sweden, M)

Lars Kepler - The Nightmare tr. Laura A Wideburg (Sweden, M & F)

Marek Krajewski - The Minotaur's Head tr. Danusia Stok (Poland, M)

Camilla Lackberg - The Lost Boy tr. Tiina Nunnally (Sweden, F)

Asa Larsson - The Black Path tr. Marlaine Delargy (Sweden, F)

Pierre Lemaitre - Alex tr. Frank Wynne (France, M)

Liza Marklund - Last Will tr. Neil Smith (Sweden, F)

Liza Marklund - Lifetime tr. Neil Smith (Sweden, F) 

Deon Meyer - Seven Days tr. K L Seegers (South Africa, M)

Zygmunt Miloszewski - A Grain of Truth tr. Antonia Lloyd-Jones (Poland, M)

D A Mishani - The Missing File tr. Steven Cohen (Israel, M)

Guillaume Musso - The Angel's Call tr. ?? (France, M) 

Fuminori Nakamura - The Thief tr. Satoko Izumo & Stephen Coates (Japan, M)

Jo Nesbo - The Bat tr. Don Bartlett (Norway, M)

Hakan Nesser - The Weeping Girl tr. Laurie Thompson (Sweden, M)

Kristina Ohlsson - Silenced tr. Sarah Death (Sweden, F)

Leif GW Persson - Linda, As in the Linda Murder, tr. Neil Smith (Sweden, M)

Roslund & Hellstrom - Two Soldiers tr. Kari Dickson (Sweden, M & M) 

Giorgio Scerbanenco - A Private Venus tr. Howard Curtis (Ukraine/Italy, M)

Ferdinand von Schirach - The Collini Case tr. Anthea Bell (Germany, M)

Yrsa Sigurdardottir - Someone to Watch Over Me tr. Philip Roughton  (Iceland, F)

Edney Silvestre - If I Close My Eyes Now tr. Nick Caistor (Brazil, M) 

Alexander Söderberg - The Andalucian Friend tr. Neil Smith (Sweden, M)

Teresa Solana - The Sound of One Hand Killing tr. Peter Bush (Spain, F)

Johan Theorin - The Asylum tr. Marlaine Delargy (Sweden, M)  

Antti Tuomainen - The Healer tr. Lola Rogers (Finland, M)

Noboru Tsujihara - Jasmine tr. Juliet W Carpenter (Japan, M)

Antonin Varenne - Bed of Nails tr. Sian Reynolds (France, M)

Fred Vargas - The Ghost Riders of Ordebec tr. Sian Reynolds (France, F)

Luis Fernando Verissimo - The Spies tr. Margaret Jull Costa (Brazil, M)

Marco Vichi - Death in Sardinia tr. Stephen Sartarelli (Italy, M)

Jan Wallentin - Strindberg's Star tr. Rachel Willson-Broyles (Sweden, M)

Carlos Ruiz Zafon - The Prisoner of Heaven tr. Lucia Graves (Spain, M)

Carlos Ruiz Zafon - The Watcher in the Shadows tr. Lucia Graves (Spain M)