As is traditional for the end of the year lists of bloggers’ favourite books have been published and there are some fabulous Top Tens out there with some great books. So here’s my favourite books of 2015 in no particular order…
Follow Me
30 November 2015 by 4 Comments
I managed to shut my computer down the other night without saving the document I had written. It was a book review and the loss of it was doubly irritating, first because it was a couple of hours work down the drain but more importantly because it meant I have to spend more time thinking about a book…
The Killing of Bobbi Lomax
4 June 2015 by Leave a Comment
It is Hallowe’en 1983. Prom queen and teenage bride Bobbi Lomax lies dead on her front lawn, killed by a bomb placed by an unknown assailant. Just a few minutes later Peter Gudsen is also killed, a nail from a bomb piercing his brain. Within a few more minutes, a third explosion…
Don’t Turn Around
24 April 2015 by Leave a Comment
If there are two genres I would never normally put together, it would be paranormal and crime. I like my crime to be earthy and rooted in something that I can believe. I’m a huge crime fan, it’s certainly my favourite genre however I’m not quite so keen on paranormal stories. I tend to find myself losing interest …
The Secret Place
16 April 2015 by Leave a Comment
A couple of years ago I read Tana French’s novel Broken Harbour, a thriller about the murder of a family on the outskirts of Dublin. It is a brilliant crime story with a realistic contemporary feel, exploring the impact of recession on an aspirational young couple. I was excited by the release of The Secret Place…
Eeny Meeny
9 April 2015 by Leave a Comment
The Killer Reads Facebook page had a fabulous event a few weeks ago where readers, authors, publishers and agents came together to chat about crime fiction. It was a series of fascinating discussions and one publisher stated that she was looking for the next great thriller series with a strong female protagonist…
I Let You Go
25 March 2015 by 4 Comments
The other day I reviewed Clare Donoghue’s brilliant crime novel No Place to Die and declared it to be my favourite book of the year so far. It really was, until the very next book I read. Clare Mackintosh’s amazing I Let You Go is not just my favourite book of this year (so far) but one of the best I’ve read in a very long time…
No Place to Die
23 March 2015 by Leave a Comment
What’s your worst fear? I’m terrified of flying (or at least I’m terrified of not flying), for other people it’s heights, crowds or snakes. One fear I would expect to see come high on the lists of most popular phobias is that of being buried alive. It’s a horrible thought, the darkness…
Hour of Darkness
18 November 2014 by Leave a Comment
When I wrote my first Top Ten Crime Writers article one of the names I included was Quentin Jardine, creator of Edinburgh cop Bob Skinner. I adored the first few books in the Skinner series. Skinner’s Rules and Skinner’s Festival are among the best Scottish crime fiction I’ve ever read…
The Axeman’s Jazz
11 June 2014 by Leave a Comment
There are some cities across the world which hold a certain fascination for many people – London, Paris, Rome, New York, Venice for example all conjure up very specific images which are burned into our collective consciousness. To that list I would also add New Orleans…