Monthly Archives: July 2010

Winterland, by Alan Glynn

Posted on July 22, 2010 by Maxine

    Winterland WINTERLAND is a brilliant book. A young man is shot in the beer garden of a Dublin pub. His mother Catherine is devastated but most of his family are privately unsurprised, as the victim is a known … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Crime fiction, Eurocrime, Ireland, Political, Thriller | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Afterlight, by Alex Scarrow

Posted on July 22, 2010 by Maxine

Afterlight Afterlight, by Alex Scarrow (Orion, May 2010) What would Britain be like 10 years after the oil has run out? This stark question is the basis of Afterlight, a crackingly absorbing thriller. The novel is ostensibly a sequel to … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, England, Europe, Outdoors, Series, Thriller | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Vodka Doesn’t Freeze, by Leah Giarratano

Posted on July 22, 2010 by Maxine

Vodka Doesn't Freeze (Detective Jill Jackson Mysteries) Vodka Doesn’t Freeze by Leah Giarratano (Bantam) A novel bought to me by the slow boat from Australia, sent on its way by the generous Bernadette Inoz (;-) ), whose blog Reactions to Reading is essential for … Continue reading →

Posted in Australasia, Australia, Crime fiction, Debut, Police procedural, Thriller | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

The Twelve, by Stuart Neville

Posted on July 16, 2010 by Maxine

The Twelve In this impressively gripping debut novel, Gerry Fegan is living a miserable life after serving a prison sentence for terrorist murders. Released as part of the Northern Ireland peace process, he’s ravaged by guilt and haunted by the … Continue reading →

Posted in Crime fiction, Debut, Europe, Ireland, Political, Thriller | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Dark Places, by Gillian Flynn

Posted on July 16, 2010 by Maxine

Twenty-five years ago, a poor farming family in Florida was massacred, the only survivors being two of the children, Ben, the eldest, and Libby, the youngest. Libby was taken in by her aunt who lived in a nearby trailer park, … Continue reading →

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Black Water Rising, by Attica Locke

Posted on July 13, 2010 by Maxine

Black Water Rising Feted by wondrous reviews and on any number of award shortlists (including the Edgar and the Orange prize), I was predisposed to like this first novel about a lawyer in 1980s Houston, Texas. The book opens promisingly … Continue reading →

Posted in Award winner, Books, Crime fiction, Debut, Legal, Political, Psychology, Thriller, USA | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Entanglement, by Zygmunt Miloszewski

Posted on July 8, 2010 by Maxine

Entanglement Translated from the Polish by Antonia Lloyd-Jones Entanglement combines three of my favourite elements in a novel: a strong sense of place, a realistic criminal investigation, and psychotherapy. I liked it very much indeed, not least because of the faultless … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Crime fiction, Debut, Europe, Poland, Police procedural, Political, Psychology, Translated | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Where the Shadows Lie, by Michael Ridpath

Posted on July 8, 2010 by Maxine

  Where the Shadows Lie (Fire and Ice) WHERE THE SHADOWS LIE is an exciting, readable and solid thriller. Magnus Jonson is a young Icelandic-American policeman in Boston who has reported one of his colleagues for taking kickbacks. The colleague … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Crime fiction, England, Eurocrime, Iceland, Police procedural, Thriller | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Shadow Family, by Miyuke Miyabe

Posted on July 8, 2010 by Maxine

Shadow Family Translator Juliet Winters Carpenter Originally published in Japan in 2001 with the title R. P. G. (Role Playing Game), Shadow Family is the second of Miyuki Miyabe’s novels to be translated into English (the first was All She … Continue reading →

Posted in Asia, Books, Crime fiction, Domestic, Japan, Police procedural, Psychology, Social comment, Translated | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment