Reviews
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...
The Hate U Give – The BOLO Books Review
The Hate U Give is Angie Thomas’ Edgar Award-nominated debut and it also happens to be one of the most important young adult novels of all time. Of course, this praise could be hyperbolic, but the significance of works that make tangible the social problems of the day...
Come and Find Me – The BOLO Books Review (UK Edition)
Come and Find Me is the fifth book in Sarah Hilary’s excellent and vastly under-rated mystery series. Like the others that precede it, this new novel puts DI Marnie Rome and her partner, Noah Jake, through the ringer – both emotionally and physically. However, as...
If I Die Tonight – The BOLO Books Review
The women of crime fiction have already made quite a mark on 2018 and we are only a few months into the year. The trend is going to continue next week when Alison Gaylin releases her latest impressive stand-alone suspense novel, If I Die Tonight. Crime fiction...
Dodging and Burning – The BOLO Books Review
There are few things as exciting to a reader as discovering an author at the beginning of their career. That sense of the unknown in palpable and once it is clear that the writer has the skills to captivate and entertain, the wonder at the magic of it all is...
The Widow’s House – The BOLO Books Review
Diehard fans of contemporary gothic suspense likely know the name Carol Goodman, but based on her consistently superior writing, recurring themes, and complex characters and plots, this author should be better known to crime fiction enthusiasts. The Widow’s House is...