11 March 2023

Crime so cosy that it makes an excellent nightcap

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There has always been a leisurely air about Guido Brunetti’s approach to crime. In Give Unto Others his creator dips him even deeper into the realm of the soporfic. Better than a warming cup of camomile tea. More digestible than a tab or two of valerian. It’s dreamtime in Venice. Give Unto Others documents the… Continue Reading

11 March 2023

Crime so cosy that it makes an excellent nightcap

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There has always been a leisurely air about Guido Brunetti’s approach to crime. In Give Unto Others his creator dips him even deeper into the realm of the soporfic. Better than a warming cup of camomile tea. More digestible than a tab or two of valerian. It’s dreamtime in Venice. Give Unto Others documents the… Continue Reading

3 March 2023

BOGOF value in two-author tartan noir mystery thriller

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There is a new game afoot among crime fiction afficionados. Especially those who believe there’s nothing to match the rapidly expanding sector known as tartan noir. It is called Spot the Join. Or Find the Seam. Even Detect the Author. Or any of the many possible similar phrases. My own variation on this theme is… Continue Reading

18 February 2023

Deep in the forest a page turner lures its readers in

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What makes a good page turner? Anyone seeking the answer needs only to devour the final fifty or so pages of Bad Apples. Allow yourself to be drawn in – which is a hands down certainty in itself – and you will be turning pages with increasing rapidity, helpless to resist. Desperate to know the… Continue Reading

22 January 2023

A crime fiction tease from start to finish of sex worker thriller

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A tease of a tale

Author Adele Parks is a tease. Relentlessly so. At least, judging by One Last Secret (paperback, HQ/Harper Collins, 2022) it seems she simply can’t help herself. She never stops. Just when you think you know what is going on, she drops another bombshell and lures you into reading on . . . and on …. Continue Reading

29 December 2022

Fading air fryer fervour sends gadget to the cooling rack

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CAN’T help wondering how many of the doubtless thousands of air fryers bought in the Christmas shopping madness will end up discarded, re-gifted  or otherwise dumped. This must surely be the most useless bit of kitchen gadgetry ever. Over-publicised, over-promoted and  oversold it is destined for the dump once reality bites. As commented on here… Continue Reading

21 November 2022

Book reviewers need to get out from Between the Covers

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It’s time for members of the BBC’s weekly book discussion group to emerge from Between The Covers and broaden their field of vision. Doing so might change their outdated and somewhat snobbish attitudes to the vast world of crime fiction. Even put some excitement and joy into their studiously serious lives. This tired old viewpoint… Continue Reading

11 November 2022

Frying the air is no way to cook

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Kitchen gadgets come and go. Yet so few stay with us unless stored well out of sight and accessibility. There is a damned good reason for this; cooking is a sensory art. A touchy feely joy; the fondling foreplay before the final act of love – presenting your creation. It can be as simple or… Continue Reading

9 November 2022

Crime tale thrills along worldwide tourist trails

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Crime is universal; not a corner of the globe is immune from the dastardly deeds of  its perpetrators. It may not always be as “brutal” as reporters and headline writers around the world seemingly wish us to believe. In many cases (white collar and cyber crime come quickly to mind), not a drop of blood… Continue Reading

7 November 2022

The more the merrier as twenty-five thousand heads COP it sweet

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TWENTY-FIVE thousand? Really? Did I read that correctly? Surely someone with stuttering fingers has been clicking the head-counter at Sharm-al-Sheikh. Or perhaps Rishi has seconded a number-cruncher from the Treasury (you know how good they are with numbers) to lend a hand with collating the stats at Cop27. Whatever the answer, it seems staggering beyond… Continue Reading

1 November 2022

‘New’ Nordic noir discovery goes to top of the genre

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Apologies for the long silence on the book review front. There’s no real excuse apart from being busy editing other writers’ books. This means scant time or energy remains for more reading at the end of a busy day. And the hillock of books for review is fast becoming a high tor. So much easier,… Continue Reading

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