Reviews

With The Frozen People, Elly Griffiths takes a detour from her more traditional mystery offerings to write what can be best described as a speculative historical crime novel. It’s a testament to Griffiths storytelling prowess that the resulting cross-genre work will...

The first “Choose Your Own Adventure” novel—The Cave of Time—was published in 1979, setting in motion an almost two-decade publishing journey. Young readers at the time discovered a new way to experience the act of reading, by becoming part of the story. At critical...

The Forbidden Iceland series (The Creak on the Stairs, Girls Who Lie, Night Shadows, etc.) by Eva Björg Ægisdóttir features one of the most complex and addictive narrative arcs readers are likely to find—not just in Icelandic crime fiction, but in crime fiction in...

This is your annual reminder that Carol Goodman, along with being both an exceptional writer and first-class citizen of humanity, is one of those career authors who has mastered a difficult skill—the art of continually giving fans exactly what they want (the same)...

Over the course of more than a decade, LynDee Walker has established herself as a superstar in the crime fiction arena the old-fashioned way—with dedication, tenacity, and grace. What is most amazing is the depth and breadth of her literary output—everything from her...

Hell seems to be having a moment—at least on the literary landscape. Everywhere readers look on the shelves these days are narratives that present damnation in new and fascinating ways. Take for example, Demons & Ramen from A. M. Loweecey. Crime Fiction readers...

After much success in the Young Adult arena, Renée Ahdieh is set to make her mark on the Adult Fiction market with the unforgettable Park Avenue. Early buzz is making comparisons to Crazy Rich Asians, Succession, and even Dickins’s Bleak House—all of which are...

Tori Eldridge infuses her writing with spirit and specificity, finding a personal connection to every story, whether it’s through the unparalleled morality of a character like Lily Wong (the heroine of her popular Ninja series), or the epic and ancestral scope of a...

Linwood Barclay has been writing exceptional crime fiction for just about two decades at this point. Readers know to trust his name. Those books—often tales of the “every man” who gets caught up in extreme circumstances—feature strong plotting and relatable...

Summerhouse is a queer noir gem written by Yiğit Karaahmet in Turkish and translated to English by Nicholas Glastonbury. It is the perfect summer read—ready to be packed into your suitcase for the next visit to any sandy beach destination. Summerhouse is set on...

With The Girl in Cell A—his first standalone crime novel and his first book set in the United States—Vaseem Khan leaves a mark on psychological suspense that even veterans of the subgenre can only dream of. By carefully controlling the narrative, and in particular,...

Freida McFadden continues her string of incredibly addictive, fast-paced thrillers with the release of The Tenant. McFadden is so skilled at taking tried and true tropes—in this case, the roommate from hell—and turning them into delightfully twisted tales that feel...

For a nation with very little violent crime of its own, Iceland continues to produce some of crime fiction’s rising superstars. New to the genre—although hardly an unknown entity—Eliza Reid is dropping her debut novel in early May. For those who don’t follow Icelandic...

Fans of the lighter end of the crime fiction spectrum have much to celebrate this week with the debut release from Sam Lumley—the launch of a delightful cozy series. How to Have a Killer Time in D.C. is the first book in what is being billed as “Oliver Popp’s Travel...

Readers have been waiting a number of years to travel back into the past with the one-and-only Radha Vatsal. Ever since she debuted with her much-loved Kitty Weeks mystery series, fans have trusted her to bring the past to life on the page while also telling gripping...

Matt Goldman has proven himself adept at writing both series and standalone mystery novels. His latest—The Murder Show—is likely a standalone, however, it could easily serve as the launch for a new series should Goldman want to go in that direction. Ethan Harris is...

With Count My Lies, Sophie Stava has written an unforgettable and fast-paced debut novel that is sure to be all the buzz in various corners of the crime fiction community. Sophie Stava lends her fresh voice and undeniable talent to a familiar trope: the unstable...

Across her career, Clea Simon has proven that her writing skills can tackle just about any style choice. She’s written comforting cozies to paranormal romance to gritty noir with settings as disparate as Cambridge, Massachusetts or Boston’s underground music scene....

When Tess Gerritsen launched a new series with The Spy Coast last year, it was immediately obvious that this concept was going to hook readers in—likely starting yet another long-running series for this legend of crime fiction. The idea of a community of retired spies...

With the release of This Book Will Bury Me, Ashley Winstead continues to entertain her legion of fans with her brand of crime fiction—novels that take familiar tropes and twist them just enough to make them feel fresh and unexpected. Winstead consistently manages to...