22 January 2025

Sentenced to lengthy spells when coping with action-filled thriller

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Shorter sentences are all the rage among the judiciary and the anti-jail do-gooders. They are also something long recommended (and widely practiced) among most forms of writing. After all, brevity is the path to comprehension. But there are always the recidivists and mavericks. The pseudononymous Elly Conway, alleged creator of the excessively hyped Argylle, is… Continue Reading

22 January 2025

Sentenced to lengthy spells when coping with action-filled thriller

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Shorter sentences are all the rage among the judiciary and the anti-jail do-gooders. They are also something long recommended (and widely practiced) among most forms of writing. After all, brevity is the path to comprehension. But there are always the recidivists and mavericks. The pseudononymous Elly Conway, alleged creator of the excessively hyped Argylle, is… Continue Reading

5 December 2024

Baby-snatch thriller adds riddle of which author wrote which part

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Cover: The Wrong Child

Two puzzles for the price of one As if one superbly twisted plot was not enough, two top crime writers have united to leave readers puzzling over who wrote what. Author credits for The Wrong Child are highlighted on the cover as MJ Arlidge and Julia Crouch. Both have long been famed as being among… Continue Reading

11 October 2024

Thrills remain though we know who dunnit

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Crime fiction book cover

The prime joy of reading crime fiction is puzzling out “who dunnit”. Yet here’s a thriller in which we know who the guilty parties are almost from the get go. And yet we are still happy to go along for the ride. Wondering where this horror journey can possibly end – and how many victims… Continue Reading

5 September 2024

How cosy can cosy crime become?

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Cosy crime book cover

Reading cosy crime at bedtime is better than any narcotic; a sure cure for insomnia. But sometimes the level of cosiness irritates rather than calms. Frustration with plot, characters or dialogue wakens rather than lulls, and sleep becomes a forlorn hope. Maybe it is a case of “you can have too much of a good thing.”… Continue Reading

12 August 2024

Tabloid scandals ready-made for a modern Becky Sharp

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Tabloid scandals book cover

The tabloid scandals of the UK’s recent history are prime fodder for the eponymous heroine of  Becky.   The chronicles of this razor-sharp young woman provide a lively modern version of Thackeray’s Vanity Fair.  They offer a sparkling antidote to the millions of words spilled by these seedy events. Their framework is clearly based on those… Continue Reading

7 August 2024

Chemistry provides formula for joy

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A recent trip into the chemistry lab surprised and delighted with the discovery that it held a formula for joy. It produced the recipe (pictured left) for sheer undiluted pleasure, as well as moments of laugh-out-loud comic interludes. Thankfully there was no need this time for the white coat and protective goggles demanded by Health… Continue Reading

2 April 2023

Midsommer faces Canadian rival for murder frequency

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Why would anyone want to risk living in the outwardly charming British village of Midsommer? The number of bizarre and sudden deaths that beset its residents must be an estate agent’s nightmare. The ultimate hard sell. Charming 18th century cottage for sale, all bloodstains removed, two previous owners shot, two knifed, one poisoned and another… 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

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

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

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