Crime Books to Read While You Stay at Home

March 19, 2020

It’s safe to say these are unprecedented times. With the rapid spread of the new coronavirus around the world, a whole lot of us (yours truly included!) are finding ourselves with a whole lot more solitary time on our hands as we stay home and self-isolate. If you’re in this position and looking for a new book or two to take your mind off the news cycle, you’ve come to the right place! I’ve compiled a big list of highly-recommended crime books for you to peruse—and my hope is that one of these (or a few of these!) can keep you company and give you a sense of escape during these very overwhelming times. To help you find a book that will suit your reading tastes, I’ve organized this reading list by mood. Whether you’re in the mood for something binge-worthy, something bookish, or something downright scary, there’s a book for you here.

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CBTB’s Guide to Early-2020 Nordic Noir

February 9, 2020

Scandinavian crime fiction is my personal favorite crime fiction subgenre, and a staple of Crime by the Book—and luckily for all of us who adore it, 2020 is going to be a fantastic year for new releases in this category! Today I’m rounding up the Scandinavian crime fiction that belongs on your to-read list early this year, including both books I’ve already read and covered here on CBTB, and titles that I haven’t yet dug into, but which are on my personal TBR list. The books included in this post have US publication dates that fall between January and April 2020—which means that some of them are already on sale, and some are releasing very soon! From new installments in beloved series to exciting debuts, there’s a little something for every Scandinavian crime fiction fan releasing early this year. Dive into this list and fill your TBR with all the gritty, gripping storytelling that Scandinavian crime fiction has to offer.

6 Nordic Noir Series to Read This Fall

October 25, 2019

Chilling atmospheres, intricate plots, and engaging protagonists—Scandinavian crime novels are the perfect books to reach for when you’re looking for an atmospheric fall or winter mystery. If you’ve been around CBTB for a little while, you’ve probably already heard me discuss a number of the genre’s heavy-hitters (and some of my personal favorite authors!) including Jo Nesbo, Camilla Lackberg, and Lars Kepler, to name just a few. But there are so very many fantastic authors writing truly stellar crime novels that fall under this category, and, for one reason or another, far too many of them don’t get the attention they deserve here in the U.S., despite being massive bestsellers all around the world. To hopefully do my part and remedy that, today I want to highlight for you a few under-discussed Nordic Noir series that will make for perfect chilly-weather reading material—the kinds of books you may not have heard about elsewhere, but that you’ll want to tell everyone about once you give them a try.

Q&A: Sara Blaedel, Author of HER FATHER'S SECRET

March 10, 2019

Denmark’s Queen of Crime is back! This past week, Sara Blaedel’s newest book released in the U.S., and I’m absolutely thrilled to welcome her to Crime by the Book today to give us the inside scoop on it! HER FATHER’S SECRET is Book Two in the author’s Family Secrets trilogy - a series that takes a Danish protagonist and brings her out of her native Copenhagen and into the U.S. for a compelling tale of intrigue and interpersonal suspense. Blaedel’s Family Secrets trilogy is a new direction for the author best known for her procedural series featuring Copenhagen-based detective Louise Rick, but it features the author’s trademark endearing characters and research-based writing - a winning combination that has earned Blaedel’s new trilogy fans around the world. I’m thrilled to welcome Sara Blaedel to CBTB today to discuss her newest release, HER FATHER’S SECRET! Huge thanks to Sara for taking the time to answer my questions, and to her publisher for facilitating this Q&A. Read on for more information on HER FATHER’S SECRET, and for my Q&A with Sara!

Book Excerpt: HER FATHER'S SECRET by Sara Blaedel

March 7, 2019

This week marks the publication of the newest book by Sara Blaedel, Denmark’s Queen of Crime, in the US! HER FATHER’S SECRET is the second book in Blaedel’s Family Secrets trilogy, following a Danish woman who moves to the U.S. in pursuit of the truth about her estranged father. Set in Racine, Wisconsin, the Family Secrets books explore exactly what their title suggests: the secrets that can exist between those who should know each other best of all. In HER FATHER’S SECRET, series protagonist Ilka finds herself stuck in the middle of a bizarre - and potentially dangerous - situation. After discovering that her now-deceased father had been receiving threatening notes before his death, Ilka sets out to unveil the blackmailer. And when a series of increasingly sinister events begin to occur in Racine, Ilka has to wonder what she’s gotten herself caught up in… Thanks to Grand Central Publishing, I’m delighted to share with CBTB readers an excerpt from HER FATHER’S SECRET by Sara Blaedel, available this week at your favorite book retailer! Read on for plot details, praise for Sara’s work, and the excerpt.

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