I guarantee that fans of crime fiction will enjoy this densely plotted police procedural set in Aberdeen. The book has been touted as the new ' Rankin and Rebus' and as 'tartan noir at its best' and for once the hype might just be accurate.
View Cold Granite
This book is a page-turning thriller with a sympathetic female lead (fighting her own demons as well as crime on the streets of London). It also delivers a very compelling twist on the subject of domestic violence – and what makes a victim or a perpetrator. Culture? Conditioning? Or something deep with the human psyche?
View Someone Else's Skin
Murder in Germany 2004, but Detective Louise Boni finds tentacles stretching from the Balkans to Pakistan. In addition she must face mental exhaustion plus questions about exactly how far she is willing to go 'for Germany'.
This great read is the second in a series - my only wish is that I'd read number 1 first. It's called Zen and the Art of Murder if you prefer to read things in order.
Some crime novels you are there, right in the thick of it, living and breathing every move of the detective. But this book is different and it's that difference that's so compelling. Inspector Avraham comes across as an reluctant detective, maybe jaded, doing the job because he's good at it. Reading it I felt as though I was watching the story unfold through one-way glass in the room next door.
View A Possibility of Violence
Constable Sam Shepherd IS the law in Mataura, but is she up to solving the cunning murder of her ex's wife? Huge enjoyment factor here - Sam is a very human heroine and her wry awareness raises the humour stakes. A very satisfying read.
View Overkill
The brightest detectives on a Swedish force are all absent. But pensioners are being murdered and their dispirited colleagues don't know who's killing them or why. One of a series I hadn't read before, this book stands alone as an example of Nordic crime and a challenging puzzle. It starts from a slow burn, but once the pace picks up the story twists to a surprising conclusion. The police don't come close to the truth - will you?
View The Unlucky Lottery
Set against a background of Kiwi politics, this book effortlessly manages three convoluted plotlines, whilst introducing a great cast of characters led by Maori Det. Sergeant Tito Ihaka. Thoroughly recommended for all lovers of police noir, especially those who relish black humour.
View Fallout
Set in icy cold winter in small communities flanking the flooding River Po, this police procedural introduced me to an unimagined Italy, without sun, old masters or vino. But with a sympathetic policeman, who is stereotypically Italian enough to be interested in food and sex, and capable of solving very strange crimes. Definitely one for fans of Eurocrime with a difference.
View River of Shadows
A first novel - and really good police procedural, featuring Camara as a sympathetic main character. Complete with a solid and colourful background in Valencia's bullfighting culture.
View Or the Bull Kills You
Gruesome crime set in a country some think of as cold and inhospitable. But this shows that life goes on anywhere and amateur detectives (in this case a female lawyer) have the same family dilemmas, moral qualms and capacity to keep going whatever the climate or culture.
View Last RitualsYou won’t find the biggest bestsellers on Whichbook as everyone knows about them already. But you can use your enjoyment of a current bestseller to see titles with a similar mood that you might try next.
