Reviews

Killing Me – The BOLO Books Review

With Killing Me, Michelle Gagnon has crafted a wholly-original take on the vigilante narrative. In her own unique style—which incorporates a blend of both light slapstick and dark humor—Gagnon captures the readers attention from page one and refuses to let go of that...

read more

Beware the Woman – The BOLO Books Review

Megan Abbott is an author whose career is the envy of other creative types. In a writing journey that spans twenty plus years, Abbott has written novels, short stories, non-fiction, screenplays, graphic novels, and more—each of them unique, but containing that...

read more

All the Sinners Bleed – The BOLO Books Review

All the Sinners Bleed continues S. A. Cosby’s smooth onslaught against the complacent crime fiction genre, determined to confront casual fans and devoted fanatics of the genre with honest and compelling stories told from perspectives that have too long been...

read more

We Love to Entertain – The BOLO Books Review

Sarah Strohmeyer’s We Love to Entertain is a gripping domestic suspense novel combining elements of mystery, thriller, and even the cozy sub-genre. This tale will have wide-spread appeal and it satisfies on multiple levels. After securing the property at a deep...

read more

Finders – The BOLO Books Review

Scholarly works on any topic—including crime fiction—come in a vast array of styles and tones seeking out a plethora of desired reactions ranging from deep respect to grudging acknowledgement and everything in between. Often the target audience is a learned group and...

read more

Where Are the Children Now? – The BOLO Books Review

Countless members of at least one generation of crime fiction fans can trace their initial obsession with the genre back to Where Are the Children? by Mary Higgins Clark. That novel is an indisputable classic that has not only delighted even finicky readers but also...

read more

Bookworm – The BOLO Books Review

At a recent crime fiction convention, a number of shoppers—including myself—noticed an unusual book on the tables in the bookroom shopping area. While most of the titles for sale naturally looked and sounded like mysteries and thrillers, this novel stood out for his...

read more

What Have We Done – The BOLO Books Review

Alex Finlay’s What Have We Done is the type of thriller that should come with a seatbelt and safety goggles. Finlay wastes not one page before throwing readers into a tailspin, sending his plot off in a direction readers could hardly expect. By that point—again, just...

read more

Time’s Undoing – The BOLO Books Review

The first quarter of 2023 has already been packed with some first-class crime fiction and that trend shows no sign of slowing down. The latest book to register on the “future classic seismograph” is Time’s Undoing by Cheryl A. Head. This is Cheryl A. Head’s first...

read more

Murder Your Employer – The BOLO Books Review

Calling Rupert Holmes accomplished doesn’t even seem to come close to recognizing his achievements. Not only has he won the Edgar Award for Best Play twice (for The Mystery of Edwin Drood and Accomplice), but he also has a successful career as a novelist (Where the...

read more

The Adventure of the Castle Thief – The BOLO Books Review

Art Taylor has just released his second short story collection—The Adventure of the Castle Thief and Other Expeditions and Indiscretions. Unlike with his previous collection, The Boy Detective & The Summer of ’74, this gathering of stories includes both new and...

read more

The Cliff’s Edge – The BOLO Books Review

The mother and son team writing as Charles Todd debuted to immediate critical acclaim with A Test of Wills in 1996. They would go on to write more than two dozen (and counting) books in that series featuring Ian Rutledge. However, in 2009, they were not content with...

read more

The House Guest – The BOLO Books Review

With The House Guest, Hank Phillippi Ryan continues her string of excellent cat-and-mouse stand-alone thrillers, keeping readers wrong-footed throughout as they struggle to determine who is telling the truth and whose every word is a lie. The House Guest begins as...

read more

A Killing of Innocents – The BOLO Books Review

Keeping a long running series fresh for almost two dozen books is a challenge for any author, but works like A Killing of Innocents—the nineteenth Duncan Kincaid/Gemma James mystery—by Deborah Crombie make it look easy. The release of this new entry in this beloved...

read more

Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun – The BOLO Books Review

From the moment Finlay Donovan sat down at that Panera Bread table in Finlay Donovan is Killing It, crime fiction fans knew she was a character who would be having many more on-page adventures. After the madcap escapades of Finlay Donovan Knocks ‘em Dead, Finlay and...

read more

The Blue Bar – The BOLO Books Review

Knowing that an Indian author, who resides in Singapore, has written a crime novel set in Mumbai, it is only natural that some readers would expect a work that sheds new light on old perspectives and something that might defy standard expectations because of the...

read more

Blaze Me a Sun – The BOLO Books Review

Scandinavian crime fiction has a reputation of being some of the most morally complex and gritty writing available in the genre. This of course is a stereotype, but like most stereotypes, it is rooted in some grains of truth. One recent example from the region—Blaze...

read more

Dark Deeds Down Under – The BOLO Books Review

The crime fiction community knows Craig Sisterson for his excellent book reviews, his stellar panel moderation, and his overall extensive background knowledge of the genre itself, but being unable to sit back and rest, Sisterson is also the editor of two excellent...

read more

Hide – The BOLO Books Review

Tracy Clark amassed quite a fan following with her Cass Raines mystery series (including Broken Places and Borrowed Time), so when news broke that she was leaving this beloved character behind, there was obvious disappointment and concern. The release of Hide proves...

read more