Reviews

From the Booking Desk: Making time to read during the holiday season can be challenging, but do not worry. Here are three excellent books that can be read in just a few sittings that will also make great last minute holiday gifts for the readers in your life. The...

As a former police detective, Bruce Robert Coffin knows the ins and outs of law enforcement and the toll it can take on the individual. As a writer, Bruce Robert Coffin knows exactly how to use his knowledge for best effect without over burdening the narrative with...

Christina Kovac, a former journalist, used her background knowledge of the political news industry to propel her debut novel, The Cutaway, onto reader and critic radars several years ago. She now returns with Watch Us Fall—a incisive look at friendship and love that...

One of the risks of series fiction is that characters can become stagnant. In an effort to give readers more of what they want, authors often default to giving them too much of the same. Think of your favorite series where the lead character has barely changed across...

Sophie Hannah has now written six novels in her series continuing the adventures of Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot. The latest—The Last Death of the Year—begins on New Year’s Eve 1932 in an exotic locale with a quirky collection of suspects. Following on directly...

The old adage, “good things come in small packages,” can also be true as it relates to books. Tony Knighton’s A Night at the Shore clocks in at just 168 pages, but in that space, the author manages to tell a fresh, exciting, and wholly entertaining story. A Night at...

Readers of series crime fiction treat each new book as a type of family reunion—a chance to revisit characters they love within a location they have come to cherish. That has certainly been the case with Louise Penny fans and their annual return to Three Pines. Always...

With the continually diminishing short story marketplace, “Inspired By” anthologies remain all the rage in the crime fiction community. The latest to be released from the UK, Birds, Strangers, and Psychos, turns the focus in an obvious direction—the legendary works of...

Joël Dicker is a Swiss crime novelist who first came onto the radar of US readers when his highly acclaimed novel, The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair, was published in translation (2012). Since that time, he has established himself as a must-read for fans of...

Ann Cleeves can’t seem to quit Jimmy Perez and that is music to the ears of her legion of fans. The original Shetland series was intended to be a quartet of novels, each with a different color in their title. The final book in that sequence left Jimmy Perez at a bit...

Lou Berney is among that rare breed of crime fiction authors whose work can’t be pinned down into clear and concise marketing silos. He allows the story at hand to dictate subgenre, structure, tone, and goal. So much so that when readers pick up a new Lou Berney...

Readers are not prepared for Fiend. Alma Katsu is about to send shockwaves through the horror-loving community with this intelligent and streamlined novel that requires deep contemplation even as it scares the ever-loving daylights out of you. The Faustian bargain is...

Fans have always been able to count on Hank Phillippi Ryan to provide them with a gripping and unforgettable reading experience. Her storied career has been highlighted by a plethora of varied styles—from the more traditional, cozy-ish Charlotte McNally series to the...

A few times each publishing season, a book generates enough buzz to enter a community’s zeitgeist—that moment when it seems like everyone you know is talking about the same book. It’s rare when that happens for a self-published debut, but Adrian Andover seems to have...

After Geneva, Richard Armitage’s second novel, The Cut, shows that his literary output will be as varied as his acting choices. By expertly manipulating the dual timeline narrative, Armitage documents the long-standing effects of poor decision making. Back in 1994, in...

Over the course of her career, Winnie M Li has shown that she is never going to shy away from a challenge. By consistently weaving elements from her own life—good, bad, and ugly—into her fictional narratives, Li produces works that ring with genuine authenticity,...