Reviews
Providence – The BOLO Books Review
Truly unclassifiable novels are rare these days – most everything is a mash-up of various tropes from familiar styles – but occasionally something so unique comes along, breaking new ground while seemingly utterly familiar or at least somehow anticipated at the same...
Find You in the Dark – The BOLO Books Review
Lately, writers are finding new ways to explore the phenomenon of the serial killer. Take for example, Nathan Ripley’s Find You in the Dark: On the surface, this is a domestic suspense tale, but the foundation of the plot is firmly rooted in the history of serial...
How It Happened – The BOLO Books Review
Michael Koryta is one of those writers who loves to explore various genres, sub-genres, styles, and tones within his books; no two of his novels are even remotely similar. The one constant across his oeuvre is his undeniable talent at showcasing the written word. His...
Jar of Hearts – The BOLO Books Review
For a number of years now, Jennifer Hillier has been writing a varied collection of excellent crime novels that have gained her a loyal following of fans and modest critical acclaim, but she is hardly a household name. On June 12, 2018, that is going to change. The...
Safe – A BOLO Books Television Review
The new Netflix mystery series Safe is the viewing equivalent of those blockbuster summer beach-reads from days of yore: Light on any real substance, but certainly enjoyable while being consumed. Viewers who know Harlan Coben created it will expect nothing less. Just...
The Perfect Mother – The BOLO Books Review
Aimee Molloy’s The Perfect Mother is a both a twisted suspense yarn and a subtle satire aimed at society’s unrealistic expectations of motherhood. Fans of psychological and domestic suspense will find much to enjoy in this tale of suburban intrigue, but it is the...
Beyond the Pale – The BOLO Books Review
Clare O’Donohue launches a new series with Beyond the Pale - a jet-setting spy novel firmly rooted within a domestic drama. This blending of genres makes the reading experience feel fresh and will have readers eager to travel to whichever destination may be next on...
Blackout – The BOLO Books Review
Alex Segura has been turning out solid Miami-based PI novels for a number of years now, but with Blackout – the fourth book in the Pete Fernandez Mystery series – his cachet is about to catapult to a whole new level of appreciation. Blackout brings to fruition the...
The Good Liar – The BOLO Books Review
Catherine McKenzie’s The Good Liar is another one of those twisty, unreliable narrator yarns that readers cannot seem to get enough of these days. In this case, three different women have enough secrets to fuel the entire Indy 500 race and still have enough left over...
Sydney Mackenzie Knocks ‘Em Dead – The BOLO Books Review
Sydney Mackenzie Knocks ‘Em Dead is Cindy Callaghan’s latest middle grade novel and it also happens to be nominated for this year’s Agatha Award for Best Children’s/YA novel. Sydney Mackenzie is tween who aspires to be a filmmaker. All seems to be going as planned...
What You Want To See – The BOLO Books Review
When your debut novel is as universally enjoyed and critically acclaimed as Kristen Lepionka’s The Last Place You Look was, the pressure for the follow-up can be over-whelming. None of that fear makes it to the pages of What You Want To See. This second novel in the...
The Unseeing – The BOLO Books Review
The Unseeing is Anna Mazzola’s Edgar Award-nominated debut, the strength of which will have readers adding this author to their must-read list moving forward. The Unseeing is a unique blend of fact and fiction. The criminal case at the core of the novel really did...
Tangerine – The BOLO Books Review
It is rare that readers can escape into a debut that is so assured and well written that it feels like one is in the hands of an esteemed veteran of the literary world; but that is exactly the experience had while reading Christine Mangan’s Tangerine. The bulk of...
The Darkness – The BOLO Books Review (UK Edition)
Ragnar Jónasson’s Dark Iceland series has set the bar very high for this author’s unique brand of cozy noir mysteries, so readers may approach The Darkness – the first in a new series – with some trepidation. Rest assured, Jónasson has outdone himself with this new...
The Bad Break – The BOLO Books Review
Last year, Jill Orr introduced readers to Riley Ellison and the other residents of Tuttle Corner Virginia in her debut cozy mystery, The Good Byline. Now, in The Bad Break, Riley is back and just as hilarious as remembered. As The Bad Break begins, Riley has left her...
All the Beautiful Lies – The BOLO Books Review
Peter Swanson’s All the Beautiful Lies owes a fair bit of debt to Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolilta. Like the illicit “relationship” that forms the core of that classic novel, Swanson’s book deals with cross-generational obsession – except in the case of All the Beautiful...
Scot Free – The BOLO Books Review
After proving that she can write both historical cozies (the Dandy Gilver series) and an assortment of stand-alone suspense novels of every ilk, Catriona McPherson is once again trying to prove that she can conquer anything she sets her mind to – at least as far as...
The Other Mother – The BOLO Books Review
When thinking of modern authors who have a strong grasp on the Gothic tone, the name Carol Goodman must rise to the top. In novel after novel, she manages to find creative ways to explore the dark psychological temperaments common to the Gothic subgenre while also...
Sometimes I Lie – The BOLO Books Review
The unreliable narrator trend in crime fiction continues with many authors attempting to find new ways in which to explore this phenomenon. Alice Feeney decides to tackle the trope directly by having her character tell readers right from the start: “Sometimes I lie.”...
Penance – The BOLO Books Review
Towards the end of Stephen Sondheim’s musical Into the Woods, the Witch sings the lines “Careful the things you say, children will listen.” This is advice that Asako Adachi, the mother at the center of Kanae Minato’s Edgar Award-nominated novel Penance, should have...