Category: Crime Fiction

Crookhaven – The School For Thieves by J. J. Arcanjo

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The Blurb On The Back:

”Here, we will teach you to do wrong, but only so that one day you will put the world right.”

When talented pickpocket Gabriel is recruited to Crookhaven, he is welcomes into a whole new world.  This secret school trains its students in classes like Forgery, Deception and Crimnastics – all so that one day they will go out into the world and do good.

On the first day, the mysterious headmaster Caspian announced the infamous Crooked Cup competition.  Determined to win, Gabriel soon realises his best chance will be to assemble a crew of multi-talented misfits.  Except that’s not exactly encouraged.

But when has breaking a few rules ever stopped a crook?

CROOKHAVEN – THE SCHOOL FOR THIEVES was released in the United Kingdom on 2nd March 2023.  Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.

You can order CROOKHAVEN – THE SCHOOL FOR THIEVES by J. J. Arcanjo from Amazon UK, Waterstone’s or Bookshop.org UK.  I earn commission on any purchases made through these links.

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Scrublands by Chris Hammer

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The Blurb On The Back:

In a country town ravaged by drought, a charismatic young priest opens fire on his congregation, killing five men before being shot dead himself.

A year later, journalist Martin Scarsden arrives in Riversend to write a feature on the anniversary of the tragedy.  But the stories he hears from the locals don’t fit with the accepted view of events.

Just as Martin believes he is making headway, a shocking discovery rocks the town.  The bodies of two backpackers are found in the scrublands.  The media descends on Riversend and Martin is the one in the spotlight.

Wrestling with his own demons, Martin finds himself risking everything to uncover a truth that becomes more complex with every twist.  But there are powerful forces determined to stop him, and he has no idea how far they will go to make sure the town’s secrets stay buried.

Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.

You can order SCRUBLANDS by Chris Hammer from Amazon UK, Waterstone’s or Bookshop.org UK.  I earn commission on any purchases made through these links.

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Winterland by Alan Glynn

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The Blurb On The Back:

The worlds of business, politics and crime collide when two men with the same name, from the same family, die on the same night – one death is a gangland murder, the other, apparently, a road accident.  Was it a coincidence?  That’s the official version of events.  But then a family member, Gina Rafferty, starts asking questions.

You can order WINTERLAND by Alan Glynn from Amazon UK, Waterstone’s or Bookshop.org UK.  I earn commission on any purchases made through these links.

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The Very Merry Murder Club edited by Serena Patel and Robin Stevens

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The Blurb On The Back:

Join The Frosty Foul Play

Cat-napping and crazy heists, suspicious Santas and scrabble games, frost fairs and fancy dress … join the Very Merry Murder Club and put your detective skills to the test with these fiendishly fun and festive mysteries.

You can order THE VERY MERRY MURDER CLUB edited by Serena Patel and Robin Stevens from Amazon UK, Waterstone’s or Bookshop.org UK.  I earn commission on any purchases made through these links.

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The Lost Man by Jane Harper

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The Blurb On The Back:

He had started to remove his clothes as logic had deserted him, and his skin was cracked.  Whatever had been going through Cameron’s mind when he was alive, he didn’t look peaceful in death.

Two brothers meet at the remote border of their vast cattle properties under the relenting sun of the outback.  In an isolated part of Australia, they are each other’s nearest neighbours, their homes hours apart.

They are at the stockman’s grave, a landmark so old that no one can remember who is buried there.  But today, the scant shadow it casts was the last hope for their middle brother, Cameron.  The family’s quiet existence is thrown into grief and anguish. 

Something had been troubling Cameron.  Did he choose to walk to his death?  Because if he didn’t, the isolation of the outback leaves few suspects …

Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.

You can order THE LOST MAN by Jane Harper from Amazon UK, Waterstone’s or Bookshop.org UK.  I earn commission on any purchases made through these links.

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Six Wicked Reasons by Jo Spain

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The Blurb On The Back:

One family.

One night.

Ten years of lives.

It’s June 2008 and twenty-one-year old Adam Lattimer vanishes, presumed dead.  The strain of his disappearance breaks his already fragile family.

Ten years later, with his mother deceased and siblings scattered across the globe, Adam turns up unannounced at the family home.  His siblings return reluctantly to Spanish Cove, but Adam’s reappearance poses more questions than answers.  The past is a tangled web of deceit.

And, as tension builds, it’s apparent somebody has planned murderous revenge for the events of ten years ago. 

Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.

You can order SIX WICKED REASONS by Jo Spain from Amazon UK, Waterstone’s or Bookshop.org UK.  I earn commission on any purchases made through these links.

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Murder Before Evensong by Richard Coles

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The Blurb On The Back:

Canon Daniel Clement is Rector of Champton.  He has been there for eight years, living at the rectory alongside his widowed mother – opinionated, fearless, occasionally annoying Audrey – and his two dachshunds, Cosmo and Hilda.

When Daniel announces a plan to install a lavatory in the church, the parish is suddenly (and unexpectedly) divided: as lines are drawn, long-buried secrets come dangerously close to destroying the apparent calm of the village.

And then Anthony Bowness – cousin to Bernard de Flores, patron of Champton – is found dead at the back of the church, stabbed in the neck with a pair of secateurs.

As the police move in and the bodies start piling up, Daniel is the only one who can try and keep his fractured community together … and catch a killer. 

You can order MURDER BEFORE EVENSONG by Richard Coles from Amazon UK, Waterstone’s or Bookshop.org UK.  I earn commission on any purchases made through these links.

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The Bullet That Missed by Richard Osman

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The Blurb On The Back:

Four unlikely friends.

A murder with no body.

And trouble knocking at their door … 

It is an ordinary Thursday and things should finally be returning to normal.

Except trouble is never far away where the Thursday Murder Club is concerned.  A decade-old cold case leads them to a local news legend and a murder with no body and no answers.

Then, a new foe pays Elizabeth a visit.  Her mission?  Kill … or be killed.

As the cold case turns red hot, Elizabeth wrestles with her conscience (and a gun) while Joyce, Ron and Ibrahim chase down clues with help from old friends and new.  But can the gang solve the mystery and save Elizabeth before the murderer strikes again? 

You can order THE BULLET THAT MISSED by Richard Osman from Amazon UK, Waterstone’s or Bookshop.org UK.  I earn commission on any purchases made through these links.

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Auntie Poldi And The Fruits Of The Lord by Mario Giordano

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The Blurb On The Back:

WINE AND MURDER – nothing is more likely to rouse Auntie Poldi’s love of the chase.

Still relishing the notoriety from her spectacular resolution of the Candela case, Poldi is alive to the faintest whiff of criminality.

What to others might seem a series of misfortunes – the water supply cut off, a poisoned dog – is clearly, to Poldi, an escalation: the Mafia have had her in their sights ever since she solved Valentino’s murder.

Poldi has tasted blood.  No one is above suspicion.  And trouble will surely follow …

Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.

You can order AUNTIE POLDIE AND THE FRUITS OF THE LORD by Mario Giordano from Amazon UK, Waterstone’s or Bookshop.org UK.  I earn commission on any purchases made through these links.

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The Unexpected Inheritance Of Inspector Chopra by Vaseem Khan

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The Blurb On The Back:

On the day he retires, Inspector Ashwin Chopra discovers that he has inherited an elephant: an unlikely gift that could not be more inconvenient.  For Chopra has one last case to solve …

But as his murder investigation leads him across Mumbai – from the richest mansions to its murky underworld – he quickly discovers that a baby elephant may be exactly what an honest man needs.

So begins the start of a quite unexpected partnership, and an utterly delightful new series.

You can order The Unexpected Inheritance Of Inspector Chopra by Vaseem Khan from Amazon UK, Waterstone’s or Bookshop.org UK.  I earn commission on any purchases made through these links.

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Zen And The Art Of Murder by Oliver Bottini

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The Blurb On The Back:

Louise Boní, maverick chief inspector with the Black Forest crime squad, is struggling with her demons.  Divorced at forty-two, she is haunted by the ghosts of her past.

Dreading yet another dreary winter weekend alone, she receives a call from the departmental chief which signals the strangest assignment of her career – to trail a Japanese monk as he wanders through the snowy landscape to the east of Freiburg dressed only in sandals and a cowl.  She sets off reluctantly, and when she catches up with him, she finds that he is injured, fleeing some unknown evil – an evil so insidious that Louise Boní may never be free of its shadow. 

You can order ZEN AND THE ART OF MURDER by Oliver Bottini from Amazon UK, Waterstone’s or Bookshop.org UK.  I earn commission on any purchases made through these links.

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The Man Who Died Twice by Richard Osman

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The Blurb On The Back:

Four unlikely friends.

A shocking new murder.

It’s the following Thursday.

Elizabeth has received a letter from an old colleague, a man with who she has a long history.  He needs her help.  His story involves stolen diamonds, a violent mobster and a very real threat to his life.

As bodies start piling up, Elizabeth enlists Joyce, Ibrahim and Ron in the hunt for a ruthless murderer.  And if they find the diamonds too?  Well, wouldn’t that be a bonus?

But this time they are up against an enemy who wouldn’t bat an eyelid at knocking off four septuagenarians.  Can the Thursday Murder Club find the killer, before the killer finds them? 

You can order THE MAN WHO DIED TWICE by Richard Osman from Amazon UK, Waterstone’s or Bookshop.org UK.  I earn commission on any purchases made through these links.

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Now You See by Max Manning

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The Blurb On The Back:

Will you look her in the eyes, just before she dies?

I, Killer has posted two photos of his first victim online – Before Death and After Death.  They’ve gone viral before DCI Fenton’s team even discovers the body.

Soon, another victim’s photo is similarly posted … and so begins the killer’s following.

DCI Fenton is determined to discover the identity of I, Killer.  Then the murderer makes the hunt personal, and Fenton’s search becomes a matter of life of death for him and his daughter.

But as I, Killer’s body-count rises, his number of online followers is growing – and he loves to give his fans what they want … 

You can order NOW YOU SEE by Max Manning from Amazon UK, Waterstone’s or Bookshop.org UK.  I earn commission on any purchases made through these links.

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A Girl Called Justice: The Ghost In The Garden by Elly Griffiths

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The Blurb On The Back:

Super-smart by day, super-sleuth by night.

Justice Jones is on the case …

An intriguing new girl catches Justice’s attention this year.  Letitia has never been to school before and doesn’t care for the rules.  Mysteriously, the teachers don’t seem to mind!

Then, after a midnight feast in the barn, and a terrifying ghost-sighting in the garden, one of Justice’s friends disappears.  Justice has to investigate.  But why are the ransom notes torn from the pages of a crime novel?

Can Justice find the kidnapper – before it’s too late?

You can order A GIRL CALLED JUSTICE: THE GHOST IN THE GARDEN by Elly Griffiths from Amazon UK, Waterstone’s or Bookshop.org UK.  I earn commission on any purchases made through these links.

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Midnight Sun by Jo Nesbo

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The Blurb On The Back:

Jon is on the run.

He has betrayed Oslo’s biggest crime lord: The Fisherman.

Fleeting to a mountain town so far north that the sun never sets, Jon hopes to find sanctuary.

Hiding out in the wilderness, all that stands between him and his fate are Lea, a bereaved mother, and her young son, Knut.

But the midnight sun is slowly driving Jon to insanity.

And then he discovers that the Fisherman’s men are getting closer …

You can buy MIDNIGHT SUN by Jo Nesbo from Amazon UK, Waterstone’s or Bookshop.org UK.  I earn commission on any purchases made through these links.

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Making Wolf by Tade Thompson

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The Blurb On The Back:

Meet Weston Kogi, a London supermarket store detective.  He returns to his West African home country for his aunt’s funeral.  He sees his family, his ex-girlfriend Nana, his old school mate, Church.  Food is good, beer is plentiful and telling people he works as a homicide detective seems like harmless exaggeration, until he wakes up in hell.

He is kidnapped and forced by two separate rebel factions to investigate the murder of a local political hero, Papa Busi.  The solution may tip a country on the brink into civil war.  Making Wolf is the outrageous, frightening, violent and sometimes surreal homecoming experience of a lifetime. 

You can buy MAKING WOLF by Tape Thompson from Amazon UK, Waterstone’s or Bookshop.org UK.  I earn commission on any purchases made through these links.

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Poison In Jest by John Dickson Carr

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The Blurb On The Back:

Many people in that ghostly place beside the moulins heard the murderer’s step in the hallways at night, and saw the white marble hand run along window-ledges like a spider, but nobody saw the murderer’s face.  There were four clues written in the yellow book, and any member of the household might have been guilty.

Rossiter – who has credentials from Scotland Yard, but cannot keep a job anywhere – solves the Quayle murders by means of an empty paint-bucket, a view from a window, and an absent-minded drawing in a book. 

You can buy POISON IN JEST by John Dickson Carr from Amazon UK.  I earn commission on any purchases made through these links.

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The Daughter Of Time by Josephine Tey

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The Blurb On The Back:

Inspector Alan Grant of Scotland Yard, recuperating from a broken leg, becomes fascinated with a contemporary portrait of Richard III that bears no resemblance to the Wicked Uncle of history.  Could such a sensitive, noble face actually belong to one of the world’s most heinous villains – a venomous hunchback who may have killed his brother’s children to make his crown secure?  Or could Richard have been the victim, turned into a monster by the usurpers of England’s throne?

Grant determines to find out once and for all, with the help of the British Museum and an American scholar, what kind of man Richard Plantagenet really was and who killed the Princes in the Tower.

You can buy THE DAUGHTER OF TIME by Josephine Tey from Amazon UK, Waterstone’s or Bookshop.org UK.  I earn commission on any purchases made through these links.

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Agatha Oddly – Murder At The Museum by Lena Jones

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The Blurb On The Back:

Agatha Oddly: No case too odd … 

Agatha Oddlow’s just stumbled across her next big case … a murder at the British Museum.

But as Agatha starts to dig beneath the surface she begins to suspect that a wider plot is afoot below London – a plot involving a disused Tube station, a huge fireworks display and five thousand tonnes of gold bullion.

Luckily, Agatha’s on the trail …

You can buy AGATHA ODDLY: MURDER AT THE MUSEUM by Lena Jones from Amazon UK, Waterstone’s or Bookshop.org UK.  I earn commission on any purchases made through these links.

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The Decagon House Murders by Yukito Ayatsuji

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The Blurb On The Back:

The lonely, rockbound island of Tsunojima is notorious as the site of a series of bloody unsolved murders.  Some even say it’s haunted.  One thing’s for sure: it’s the perfect destination for the K- University Mystery Club’s trip.

But when the first club member turns up dead, the remaining amateur sleuths realise they will need all of their murder-mystery expertise to get off the island alive.

As the party are picked off one by one, the survivors grow desperate and paranoid, turning on each other.  Will anyone be able to untangle the murderer’s fiendish plan before it’s too late?

You can buy THE DECAGON HOUSE MURDERS by Yukito Ayatsuji from Amazon UK, Waterstone’s or Bookshop.org UK.  I earn commission on any purchases made through these links.

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The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman

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The Blurb On The Back:

In a peaceful retirement village, four unlikely friends meet up once a week to investigate unsolved murders.

But when a brutal killing takes place on their very doorstep, the Thursday Murder Club find themselves in the middle of their first live case.

Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim and Ron might be pushing eighty but they still have a few tricks up their sleeves.

Can our unorthodox but brilliant gang catch the killer before it’s too late?

You can buy THE THURSDAY MURDER CLUB by Richard Osman from Amazon UK, Waterstone’s or Bookshop.org UK.  I earn commission on any purchases made through these links.

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Blood On Snow by Jo Nesbo

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The Blurb On The Back:

Olav lives the lonely life of a fixer.

When you “fix” people for a living – terminally – it’s hard to get close to anyone.

Now he’s finally met the woman of his dreams.

But there are two problems.

She’s his boss’s wife.

And Olav’s just been hired to kill her.

You can order Blood On Snow by Jo Nesbo from Amazon UK, Waterstone’s or Bookshop.org UK.  I earn commission on any purchases made through these links.

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Death Sets Sail by Robin Stevens

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The Blurb On The Back:

Daisy Wells and Hazel Wong are in Egypt, taking a cruise along the Nile.  They are hoping to see some ancient temples and a mummy or two; what they get, instead, is MURDER.

Also taking the cruise is a group of genteel English ladies and gentlemen, who believe themselves to be reincarnations of the ANCIENT PHAROAHS.  When their leader is found stabbed to death, and her SLEEPWALKING DAUGHTER awakens covered in blood, Daisy and Hazel begin their most difficult case yet.

But there is DANGER ALL AROUND, and this time only one of the Detective Society will make it home alive … 

You can order Death Sets Sail by Robin Stevens from Amazon UK, Waterstone’s or Bookshop.org UK.  I earn commission on any purchases made through these links.

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Top Marks For Murder by Robin Stevens

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The Blurb On The Back:

Daisy Wells and Hazel Wong are back at Deepdean School for Girls, where plans are underway for a most exciting event: the Anniversary Weekend.

But as parents arrive at Deepdean, LONG-BURIED RIVALRIES AND SECRETS begin to surface.  Then a shocking incident takes place in the woods.  The girls are convinced THIS IS MURDER – and everything points to one of the parents.

And unless the killer is caught, DEEPDEAN WILL CLOSE FOREVER.

You can order Top Marks For Murder by Robin Stevens from Amazon UK, Waterstone’s or Bookshop.org UK.  I earn commission on any purchases made through these links.

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Rory Branagan: The Deadly Dinner Lady by Andrew Clover and Ralph Lazar

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The Blurb On The Back:

Hello.

I am Rory Branagan.  I am actually a detective.  My school is having a talent show – with Mr Bolton’s ridiculous rap, Mr Meeton’s epic guitar solos and my friend Cat’s amazing dance – but, right in the middle of it, there is the deadliest crime in the history of our school.  I have to find out who did it and why – before they strike again! 

You can order Rory Branagan: The Deadly Dinner Lady by Andrew Clover and Ralph Lazar from Amazon UK, Waterstone’s or Bookshop.org UK.  I earn commission on any purchases made through these links.

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