Monthly Archives: January 2009

The Coroner, by M. R. Hall

Posted on January 30, 2009 by Maxine

  The Coroner The main character of THE CORONER is not a woman on the verge of a nervous breakdown, she a woman in the full process of breaking apart. This is one of the many factors that makes this … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Crime fiction, Debut, England, Eurocrime, Europe, Legal, Police procedural, Psychology, Series, Wales | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

The Paper Moon, by Andrea Camilleri

Posted on January 30, 2009 by Maxine

  The Paper Moon (Inspector Montalbano Mysteries) As The Paper Moon opens, Salvo Montalbano, a fifty-something police Inspector in the fictional town of Vigata, Sicily, is summoned to see a distraught woman, Michaela Pardo, whose brother Angelo has unaccountably disappeared. … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Crime fiction, Europe, Italy, Police procedural, Series, Translated | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Skin and Bones, by Tom Bale

Posted on January 30, 2009 by Maxine

Skin and Bones by Tom Bale (Preface, £12.99)  starts grippingly and chillingly with the story of how Julia, visiting the village in Sussex where her parents recently died, runs down to the post office for a few supplies, to find … Continue reading →

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The Abominable Man, by Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo

Posted on January 30, 2009 by Maxine

  The Abominable Man (The Martin Beck) THE ABOMINABLE MAN is the seventh in the Martin Beck series, and continues the bleak, downbeat trend of these superb novels. A man is gravely ill in hospital, but before the results of … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Classic, Crime fiction, Police procedural, Series, Social comment, Sweden, Translated | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Hold Tight, by Harlan Coben

Posted on January 17, 2009 by Maxine

  Hold Tight Hold Tight by Harlan Coben is just out in paperback in the UK (£3.49 in some retailers); of course I bought a copy on publication day. Coben's books are always edge-of-seat, one-sitting reads, and Hold Tight is no … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia, Books, Crime fiction, Domestic, Mystery, North America, Thriller, USA | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Burial, by Neil Cross

Posted on January 17, 2009 by Maxine

  Burial BURIAL is one of those books that will make you miss your stop on the train. I predict that it will be a hit (2009's equivalent to 2008's NO TIME FOR GOODBYE by Linwood Barclay, perhaps), and will … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Crime fiction, England, Eurocrime, Europe, New Zealand, Noir, Thriller | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

The Trophy Taker, by Lee Weeks

Posted on January 17, 2009 by Maxine

  The Trophy Taker "Missing girls, a brutal killer, a city in terror" are the words on the cover of THE TROPHY TAKER and I suppose they are a fair description, although the city (Hong Kong) does not seem too … Continue reading →

Posted in Asia, China, Debut, England, Eurocrime, Europe, Police procedural, Series, Thriller | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

The Girl Who Played with Fire, by Stieg Larsson

Posted on January 11, 2009 by Maxine

  The Girl Who Played with Fire This long book is the second in the Millennium Trilogy, the first of which, THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO, introduced the reader to Lisbeth Salander and Mikael Blomkvist, a campaigning journalist. It … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Crime fiction, Eurocrime, Europe, Journalism, Police procedural, Psychology, Series, Social comment, Thriller, Translated | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments