Reviews

With modern society’s fascination about DNA testing and ancestry tracking, the timing for a cozy mystery with an expert genealogist as the amateur sleuth seems perfect. The concept also has the added benefit that it is completely logical and realistic for such an...

D. J. Palmer’s Saving Meghan is a story of pure domestic suspense deeply rooted in the medical thriller tradition. This is no surprise when you look at the pedigree behind the work. D. J. is the new pseudonym for Daniel Palmer, an author readers will know from his...

Alafair Burke’s knowledge of the legal system is a result of years steeped within that world – first as a law student, then a lawyer, and currently as a law professor and occasional media pundit – so it should come as no surprise that her crime fiction work has...

Trying to find a unique setting that has never been explored before for a crime fiction novel can be a daunting task; at times it seems that every possible permutation of location + crime has been attempted. But then along comes Hanna Jameson to prove with her novel...

Sarah and Patrick Walker have purchased a Victorian house located in a beachside community in Wales. They have extended themselves financially to obtain this dream for their family. Despite the fact that to most of the population, this building will always be the...

Some people are destined to be storytellers. You can tell when you read their debut novel that no matter where life took them, eventually those words were going to make their way to the page for the betterment of us all. Angie Kim and the glorious Miracle Creek are a...

With They All Fall Down, Rachel Howzell Hall has written an excellent stand-alone thriller that is incredibly timely and modern, but that also manages to highlight the history and traditions of our beloved crime fiction genre. Fans of classic crime fiction will...

You probably remember when BOLO Books hosted the cover reveal for Murder-A-Go-Go’s last year, so I wanted to remind you that this collection will be available soon. Murder-A-Go-Go’s is the new music-inspired anthology edited by Holly West. As with other examples of...

Carol Goodman’s The Night Visitors continues her tradition of Gothic-tinged mysteries that capture the soul of humanity and more often than not, aim straight for the heart of the reader. Alice flees from her home to find safety for both herself and her son, Oren. With...

Reading J. P. Pomare’s debut novel, Call Me Evie, is a discombobulating experience of the highest caliber. While not entirely successful, the writing here is first-rate and readers will be anxious to see more from this new author. Like many books in the psychological...

Anyone who knows E. A. Aymar would expect nothing less – The Unrepentant is a pull-no-punches narrative that treads the line between riveting thriller and sobering exposé, never short on action-packed set-pieces staged against a backdrop of the darkest of criminal...

When C. J. Tudor’s debut, The Chalk Man, was released last year, critics – including yours truly – made no qualms about comparing the work to that of Stephen King. The success of the novel and the fact that it made more than a few year-end best of lists garnered her a...

Take a brilliant plot concept, populate it with complex and relatable characters, then wrap it all in an intimate writing style that is equal parts ‘heart’ and ‘head’ and the result is Why We Lie – one of the first truly-great suspense novels of 2019. This is a book...

No one is going to claim that Peter Swanson repeatedly writes the same book. With his fifth novel, Before She Knew Him, he once again takes some familiar tropes and alters them just enough to make them feel fresh. The connective tissue linking all of his novels is...

When You Find Me, P. J. Vernon’s debut, has so many elements within that it is hard to imagine a first-time author successfully pulling it off. There are threads dealing with politics, race relations, family dynamics, addiction, mental health, abuse, power, and above...

Harriet Tyce’s Blood Orange could easily serve as "Exhibit A" disputing any claim that domestic suspense is less gritty, less dark, and less risky that its noir sibling. Crack the spine on this novel to enter a bleak landscape filled with deeply-rooted violence, poor...

Most readers would agree that some books are meant to be read at rapid speed, with the propulsive action spurring the reader through continuing cycles of “just one more chapter” until the exciting conclusion is reached; while others books are intended to immerse the...

The pantheon of female private investigators dedicated to serving the constituents of their city may want to prepare themselves to add a new member to their legion. Names like Kinsey Millhone (Santa Teresa, California), Claire DeWitt (New Orleans, Louisiana), Kate...

Society has long joked that often it is the therapist who is the one most in need of therapy. This is most definitely a stereotype, but like all such generalizations, there is a grain of truth in there. One need look no further than Theo Faber, the protagonist of Alex...

Imagine for just one moment: You return home from a weekend getaway only to discover that all the locks on your house have been changed, a strange man holding a signed lease is living inside among your belongings, and all of the existing laws favor the “renter.” What...