Book world infected by the plague of the tribute act
A twisting tale knitted seamlessly into all that has gone before
A twisting tale knitted seamlessly into all that has gone before
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…
To see the name of crime fiction favourite Jo Nesbo shouting at us from a book’s cover is generally enough to persuade us to cough up the required cover price. No waiting for the cheaper paperback edition or shopping around but an immediate done deal. Instant gratification is guaranteed. But not on this occasion. Instead, the…
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…
IF there is one book you must read this year it is . . . No. Stop right there. But many reviewers fail to do so. They burble on, telling us what we must read. They do so without knowing a jot about our likes and dislikes, our preferred reading genre or life experiences that…
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…
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…
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…
WITH Covid and staff shortages becoming the default excuse for poor service and faulty products it is sad to see the malaise spreading to the world of publishing. Errors there are so visible and so irritating to readers. For publishers they are so difficult and costly to correct. In specialist areas, editing shortfalls can bring…
IT is probably tempting fate when less than two months of the twelve have passed to declare “This is my book of the year”. But that’s the way things have been since I turned the final page of Should We Stay or Should We Go and fell into several moments of deep reflection. By then, all…