Looking for a crime series perfect for fall weekend reading? Danish crime writer Sara Blaedel’s Louise Rick series belongs on your list. When I picture the kind of book I want to be reading on a crisp autumn evening, it’s a book exactly like Blaedel’s: something atmospheric, layered, immersive, and perfect for cozying up with when the weather gets cold. If this sounds up your alley, add Blaedel’s THE MIDNIGHT WITNESS to your TBR. Technically the first book in Blaedel’s internationally-bestselling series, THE MIDNIGHT WITNESS is now being made available to US readers in a brand-new edition from Grand Central—and it will work for both newcomers to Blaedel’s work and established fans of the series. In THE MIDNIGHT WITNESS, homicide detective Louise Rick is tasked with solving the brutal murder of a young woman in her hometown of Copenhagen, Denmark… but when her best friend, journalist Camilla Lind, asks her to investigate the murder of a local journalist as well, Louise finds herself in over her head - and in the crosshairs of two killers. THE MIDNIGHT WITNESS is the book that launched Blaedel’s internationally-bestselling Louise Rick series around the world—and American readers will fall in love with Blaedel’s endearing and headstrong detective in this compelling mystery.
Read MoreBook Review: OPEN YOUR EYES by Paula Daly
In an instant, the life you know can be taken away. That’s the premise of Paula Daly’s sharp and thoughtful domestic suspense novel OPEN YOUR EYES, available in the US tomorrow (October 9, 2018). Centering around the wife of a bestselling crime writer, OPEN YOUR EYES confronts readers with the terrible ways that our ordinary could become anything but. When a brutal crime leaves Jane Campbell’s husband Leon in a coma, Jane is forced to pull the proverbial wool from her own eyes and confront the secrets her husband has been keeping from her in their otherwise idyllic marriage. As Jane plumbs the depths of her husband’s secret life, she finds that her tranquil existence has been a facade—and what lies beneath is more troubling than she could ever have imagined. Daly writes deftly about ordinary life; OPEN YOUR EYES is a subtle and nuanced suspense novel that will best suit readers looking for a story made chilling by its plausibility. This is not a story defined by shocking violence or twists—it’s a story that is unsettling because of how closely the lives of its characters resemble the lives we ourselves lead. Readers will find protagonist Jane an acquired taste, but the deeper she digs into the truth of her own life - and the more agency and independence she develops in the process - the more they will root for her. OPEN YOUR EYES is tense, chilling reading material, and a breath of fresh air in the domestic thriller genre.
Read MoreBook Review: THE LINGERING by S.J.I. Holliday
I will never be a reader who gravitates towards pure horror, but 2018 has, thus far, made me a bit of a convert when it comes to crime novels laced with touches of the supernatural. Earlier this year, I read Yrsa Sigurdardottir’s brilliant Icelandic ghost story-meets-mystery I REMEMBER YOU; I recently devoured Sharon Bolton’s THE CRAFTSMAN, a procedural with some otherworldly undercurrents; and I similarly loved S.J.I. Holliday’s forthcoming THE LINGERING, an atmospheric psychological thriller set in a building with a dark past life. If you are strictly anti-supernatural in your crime fiction (which I totally understand!), today’s featured title will be one you’re better off skipping. If, however, you are open to something a little different as you plan your fall reading list, S.J.I. Holliday’s THE LINGERING will make for an addictive, binge-worthy, utterly chilling suspense read. Pick THE LINGERING up on a dark, cold winter’s night, and you will find yourself transported to the mysterious, richly atmospheric world of Rosalind House, a building with a history as dark as those of its residents. Part locked-room mystery, part Gothic suspense, part ghost story, THE LINGERING is one of the most unusual - and chilling - suspense novels you will read this fall.
Read MoreBook Review: THE CRAFTSMAN by Sharon Bolton
Have you read a crime novel by Sharon Bolton yet? If not, make THE CRAFTSMAN your entree into this prolific UK-based author’s world. As a newcomer to Bolton’s work myself, I can safely say I have been missing out. Told primarily through an extended flashback, THE CRAFTSMAN immerses readers in the case that defined protagonist Florence Lovelady’s career as a police officer in the small village of Lancashire, England: a series of twisted child murders. THE CRAFTSMAN is just about everything you could hope for from a fall thriller: it’s deliciously chilling, rich in atmosphere, and laced with a touch of the supernatural. Add into this already-appealing mix a fiercely independent female protagonist and a decades-old mystery, and you’ve got yourself a recipe for fall reading success. Now, I consider myself quite skeptical when it comes to crime novels with supernatural elements, but my skepticism was, in this case, totally unnecessary. Much like the ghost stories of Icelandic crime writer Yrsa Sigurdardottir, Sharon Bolton’s newest thriller gracefully blends real world and supernatural scares. The result? A suspense novel that feels all the more immersive for the unique world built within its pages. In short, I savored every page of this spine-tingling mystery, and highly recommend THE CRAFTSMAN for your October (and Halloween, in particular!) reading lists.
Read MoreBook Review: SWEET LITTLE LIES by Caz Frear
There’s something about the tried-and-true police procedural that always keeps me coming back for more—and finding an author who can write a police procedural in as fresh, modern a way as can Caz Frear is a genuine treat. SWEET LITTLE LIES follows a female policewoman in London whose personal life collides with her work in a dark and dangerous way. Cat Kinsella is called to the scene of a crime: the body of a young woman has been found not far from the pub that her estranged father still runs. Things become stranger still when Cat receives a mysterious call linking this murder to the disappearance of a young woman in Ireland years prior—a young woman whom Cat and her family saw just days before she went missing. Cat had long suspected that her father knew more about the young woman’s disappearance than he admitted… and her latest work assignment will now give her a new opportunity to investigate her own past. SWEET LITTLE LIES is an astonishingly assured debut; Cat Kinsella is a fantastic protagonist, and readers will love the complexity and precision of plotting Caz Frear puts forth in this mystery. With her first suspense novel, Frear has established herself as an author to watch - I have no doubt we’ll be hearing of Frear’s work for years to come. Highly recommended for readers looking for a slow-burning, layered mystery that puts a fresh spin on classic police procedurals, and injects a male-dominated genre with a fiercely feminist protagonist.
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