GUEST POST: What is Crime Fiction by LEIGH RUSSELL

Name: LEIGH RUSSELL Author of: COLD SACRIFICE (2013) RACE TO DEATH (2014) On the web: http://www.leighrussell.co.uk On Twitter: @LeighRussell Readers in the UK know me as an author of crime fiction, while for readers in the US I write murder mysteries. All the labels, classifications, categories and subcategories, are very confusing. Should I introduce […]

PERFIDIA by James Ellroy

PERFIDIA James Ellroy (jamesellroy.net) William Heinemann (www.randomhouse.co.uk/…/william-heinemann) £18.99 December 6th, 1941: four members of a Japanese family living in Los Angeles are found dead in their home in what, at first glance, appears to be a ritual Japanese suicide. Hideo Ashida, the only Japanese employee of the Los Angeles Police Department, finds evidence that suggests […]

GUEST POST: On Research by PHILIP KERR

Name: Philip Kerr Author of: FIELD GREY (2010) PRAGUE FATALE (2011) A MAN WITHOUT BREATH (2013) PRAYER (2013) RESEARCH (2014) On the web: http://www.philipkerr.org July saw the publication of Philip Kerr’s latest standalone novel, Research, a thriller that takes more than a passing poke at the British publishing industry (we’ll have […]

THE HOUSE ON THE HILL by Kevin Sampson

THE HOUSE ON THE HILL Kevin Sampson Jonathan Cape (www.randomhouse.co.uk/about-us/about-us/…/jonathan-cape) £14.99 Still on extended leave following the Rozaki case, DCI Billy McCartney is surprised when a girl barely out of her teens turns up on his doorstep and claims to be the daughter of Moroccan drug magnate Hassan El Glaoui. The girl’s appearance, and cry […]

GUEST POST: INFLUENCES–5 Books by KEVIN SAMPSON

Name: KEVIN SAMPSON Author of: THE KILLING POOL (2013) THE HOUSE ON THE HILL (2014) On Twitter: @ksampsonwriter To celebrate the launch of Kevin Sampson’s latest novel, THE HOUSE ON THE HILL, the second book in the DCI Billy McCartney series (which will be reviewed here tomorrow), I asked him to talk about the […]

THE FIRST STONE by Elliott Hall

THE FIRST STONE Elliott Hall (elliott-hall.co.uk) John Murray (www.johnmurray.co.uk) £7.99 Elliott Hall’s 2009 debut novel, and the first in his Felix Strange trilogy, The First Stone, is the subject of the latest Hodderscape Review Project. Don’t forget to check out the thoughts of my fellow reviewers, to which you’ll find links on the Hodderscape website. […]

THE DARKEST HEART by Dan Smith

THE DARKEST HEART Dan Smith (www.dansmithsbooks.com) Orion Books (www.orionbooks.co.uk) £12.99 Having fled the slums of Rio de Janeiro as a much younger man, Zico now lives in a small town on the banks of Brazil’s Araguaia River. Here, Zico finds friendship and love and decides that Piratinga is the perfect place to settle down. Zico […]

THE PROFESSIONALS by Owen Laukkanen

THE PROFESSIONALS Owen Laukkanen (owenlaukkanen.com) Corvus (atlantic-books.co.uk) £7.99 In the beginning, the whole thing had been Marie’s idea. It had started as a joke, some throwaway line spouted off one rainy night in Seattle, the gang holed up at Sawyer’s place bitching about the job market over cheap beer and pizza, scholarships almost gone and […]

MR MERCEDES by Stephen King

MR MERCEDES Stephen King (stephenking.com) Hodder & Stoughton (www.hodder.co.uk) £20.00 On a foggy April morning, in an anonymous, recession-hit Midwestern city, Brady Hartfield ploughs a stolen Mercedes Benz into a group of people queued for a job fair, killing nine and injuring many more. Six months later, Detective William Hodges retires from the City Police […]

GUEST POST: Writing About Drugs in the 60s by WILLIAM SHAW

Name: WILLIAM SHAW Author of: A SONG FROM DEAD LIPS (2013) A HOUSE OF KNIVES (2014) On the web: williamshaw.com On Twitter: @william1shaw Photograph © Ellen Shaw When you write a book about recent history, what’s important is the difference between then and now. There are the blindingly obvious differences. Want to set […]