Reviews
An Unexplained Death – The BOLO Books Review
The Belvedere is a historic building constructed in 1903 and located on North Charles Street in downtown Baltimore. This landmark’s "Beaux Arts" style architecture has resulted in many iconic photographs across its history. Once a hotel catering to the hoity-toity...
Beyond the Truth – The BOLO Books Review
Fans of police procedurals should definitely be reading the books of Bruce Robert Coffin. His Detective Byron mystery novels set in Portland, Maine present accurate depictions of all aspects of the law enforcement profession and they continue to grow stronger with...
The Skeleton Makes a Friend – The BOLO Books Review
Readers would be forgiven for assuming that a novel featuring an ambulatory skeleton as an amateur detective might not address too many real-world issues, however, Leigh Perry’s Family Skeleton series repeatedly proves that just because a book features paranormal...
Go To My Grave – The BOLO Books Review
When Catriona McPherson puts words to paper, readers can always count on the resulting story being unexpected and successful. Is there nothing this woman can’t write? First she has a much-loved historical cozy series, then she started writing the occasional – and...
Th1rt3en – The BOLO Books Review (UK Edition)
It is rare to find a novel with a hook so ingenious that the book immediately becomes a must-read, but that is exactly what Steve Cavanagh achieved with his newest novel, Th1rt3en. The novel is a legal thriller with the tag line: “The serial killer isn’t on trial,...
A Rising Man – The BOLO Books Review
A Rising Man is Abir Mukherjee’s debut historical mystery. It was nominated for the the 2018 Best Novel Edgar Award, so a review hardly seems necessary. But a concerted effort must be made to celebrate the diversity within the crime fiction genre, so this series must...
FlabberGassed – The BOLO Books Review
Michael Craft is the talent behind the highly-regarded LGBTQ+ mystery series featuring Mark Manning. Those novels, along with his other writings, have allowed readers to meet multifaceted characters populating engrossing mystery plots. In 2016, he welcomed his readers...
Under My Skin – The BOLO Books Review
Under My Skin is Lisa Unger’s contribution to the current renaissance of psychological suspense novels lead by unreliable narrators. As with any influx of releases within a hot, of-the-moment sub-genre, the quality of writing varies across the board, but fans of Lisa...
Hold The Dark – A BOLO Books Television Review
Regardless of whether you classify it as Alaskan noir, a revenge thriller, or metaphysical suspense, the new Netflix original movie Hold the Dark will maintain your interest from first frame to final shot. Based on William Giraldi’s well-reviewed novel of the same...
The Druid of Death – The BOLO Books Review
In June of 2014, the character of Sherlock Holmes and the world-building that surrounds him was decreed by court order to be in the public domain. This freed up writers such as Richard T. Ryan to expand upon the existing canon with new stories featuring these iconic...
Lies – The BOLO Books Review
Domestic suspense was once the sole domain of female writers – which is sadly also why it was often sneered at by so-called “serious readers” of crime fiction; but more and more, male authors are exploring what their version of domestic suspense looks like. Take for...
Sweet Little Lies – The BOLO Books Review
With her debut novel, Sweet Little Lies, Caz Frear has knocked it out of the ballpark. It doesn’t take any hidden twists or clever convolutions to manipulate the reader into this love affair; strong writing and a faith in the audience’s intelligence are Caz Frear’s...
School Lies – The BOLO Books Review
Kimberly G. Giarratano’s School Lies is an academic-set mystery with LGBTQ+ themes. Like many books set in the hallowed halls of institutions of higher learning, School Lies pivots on the interactions of the student body, often out of the sight of “responsible...
In Her Bones – The BOLO Books Review
The reading public’s interest in psychological suspense shows no sign of diminishing. In Her Bones is Kate Moretti’s third book in this genre and yet, each of these stand-alones is distinctly different. Unifying them all is an easily-readable writing style and a gift...
November Road – The BOLO Books Review
Nostalgia is a complex concept. Most often, we define it as fondly looking back on a simpler time, a better time; but it has a sinister side as well. Because, in order to long for yesteryear, we must also forget – or at the very least obfuscate - that those times had...
Idyll Hands – The BOLO Books Review
From the Booking Desk: I have made it well known that I am a fan of Stephanie Gayle's Thomas Lynch Series. Below I will post links to my reviews of the previous books. Plus I will include the review blurb I did for the most recent book, which is being released today. ...
Into the Black Nowhere – The BOLO Books Review
After the harrowing events of UNSUB, Caitlin Hendrix has been recruited by the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit. This is where readers will find her at the start of Meg Gardiner’s Into the Black Nowhere. Like the first book in the series, Gardiner molds a classic serial...
Leave No Trace – The BOLO Books Review
With Leave No Trace, Mindy Mejia so organically incorporates setting into the structure of the novel that years from now, future writers will refer to this book as a blueprint for how to nail location. By dividing the story between the inside and the outside, Mejia...
Little Comfort – The BOLO Books Review
Little Comfort is the title of Edwin Hill’s debut novel, but it is also an apt description of the reader’s experience while reading this suspense-filled book. Little Comfort is billed at the first Hester Thursby Mystery, but let’s get that marketing matter out of the...
The Mystery of Three Quarters – The BOLO Books Review
By this point, most crime fiction readers know that Sophie Hannah was chosen by the Agatha Christie Estate to write new novels featuring the iconic Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot. The Mystery of Three Quarters is the third of these “reboots” to be published and...