Reviews

One of the buzziest anthologies of the year is How to Write a Mystery from the Mystery Writers of America, edited by Lee Child with Laurie R. King. The cover calls this work a handbook and that is the perfect way to describe this now-invaluable resource. The book is...

Experimental narratives have long been part of the literary tradition, which also means they have made their way into the crime fiction realm. Recent books like Janice Hallett’s The Appeal (told entirely via email communications) or modern classics like JJ Abram/Doug...

Melissa Ginsburg’s debut novel, Sunset City, was released in 2016 to great acclaim and amassed a cult following of fans who can still recall the joys of discovering a skilled wordsmith at the dawn of her crime writing career. It has been a hot minute, but 2021 has...

While it is not the work for which she received the William F. Deeck-Malice Domestic Grant for unpublished writers, Mia P. Manansala’s Arsenic and Adobo feels so authentically from her soul, readers will recognize how this is the novel Manansala was destined...

Voracious readers know there are many excellent books released every year, but that finding something that has never been done before is rare. Janice Hallett’s The Appeal may fit that bill. Certainly we have seen epistolary novels and works that incorporate email...

The Last Thing to Burn is not Will Dean’s first novel, but it is likely to be the book that breaks him out to a wider, worldwide audience. This is the type of book that shakes readers to the core and becomes a touchstone reference in the years that follow. Jane – not...

Alicia Beckman is a new pseudonym for the successful crime writer Leslie Budewitz. Under her own name Budewitz has proven her talent by receiving nominations and awards for her cozy novels, her short stories (both contemporary and historical), and her non-fiction work...

Erica Ruth Neubauer’s debut novel, Murder at the Mena House, arrived on the scene at possibly the worst moment – late March 2020, as the world was just coming to terms with the pandemic that was before us. Despite this rocky origin, Murder at the Mena House managed to...

There is a ton of social commentary to unpack in Deity, the fifth standalone in Matt Wesolowski’s “Six Stories” series. This may sound like an oxymoron, but Wesolowski has crafted a fascinating way to tell individual stories within the context of an on-going series –...

In his debut novel, Blackout, Marco Carocari takes a number of familiar crime fiction tropes and skews them ever so slightly, thereby breathing new life into each of these familiar constructs, and ultimately leading readers to a fresh and unique conclusion. The...

Alexandra Andrews’ debut novel, Who is Maud Dixon?, is one of those novels that is almost impossible to discuss without spoilers, as readers will discover if/as they read other reviews. This review will attempt to give you a flavor of this book without spoiling it....

No one is going to accuse of Elly Griffiths of taking too long between books. In addition to two very successful series – the thirteen novels featuring Ruth Galloway and five Brighton mysteries – she decided to write a children’s series and a collection of linked...

You may not have heard of The Ross Agency Mystery novels by Delia C. Pitts, but that is certainly not because they are unworthy of attention. In fact, in many ways that is a symptom of the type of divide the books themselves address. Delia C. Pitts has a knack for...

When Courtney Summers won the Edgar Award in the Young Adult category for her 2018 novel Sadie, long-time fans such as myself nearly stood in ovation. Here was a book that took serious chances and really said something to readers – both young and old. Since then, we...

Crime fiction readers who occasionally stray into the Young Adult category will likely already know the name Elle Cosimano. After all, her 2015 release, Nearly Gone, was nominated for an Edgar Award. Now Cosimano is turning her attention to more mainstream crime...

In a relatively short time, Jane Harper has established herself as a must-read author within the crime fiction community. With stories that feature complex characters and compelling plots, fans know they can count on her fiction to sweep them away from the world for...

Since Mick Herron is the International Guest of Honor at the 2022 Left Coast Crime in Albuquerque, New Mexico – a conference where I will also be the Fan Guest of Honor – I have decided to dedicate a series of posts this year to a deep-dive look at his most popular...

Trying to pin down Jess Lourey’s writing style is pointless. She has crossed the gamut of sub-genres within the crime writing arena and beyond, but what has remained consistent is the presence of well-developed characters, unpredictable plots, and that elusive...

Edwin Hill burst onto the crime fiction landscape with his debut novel, Little Comfort, before returning a year later with another Hester Thursby mystery, The Missing Ones. It is clear that readers love Hester, so it is little surprise that Edwin Hill will soon...

From the Booking Desk: 2020 was a very strange reading year. It was the year of the pandemic and as such, my schedule for reading was completely chaotic. As usual, I took this task of selecting my Top Reads List very seriously and really struggled to make sure the...