Unique plot points at Theakstons

This year at Theakstons 2019 Mari Hannah has brought together three authors that have chosen to focus their books upon areas of the crime genre which very rarely get the recognition needed to show the breadth and psychological damage that crime can have on the public. Erin Kelly's 2018 book, He Said/She Said was longlisted …

Snap – more than just four letters

Belinda Bauer's Snap is a book that looks intelligently at the impact of a crime upon a family. As it opens there is a car that has broken down, but what this leads to will change a family's life forever. Initially the book is somewhat frustrating as it follows the story down two distinct timelines …

Tudor’s Second Launch

Last night Nottingham Waterstones hosted CJ Tudor's launch of her highly anticipated follow up to The Chalk Man, The Taking of Annie Thorne. This time, in comparison to last year, both Amy and CJ seemed a lot more confident when talking to the public. At the launch of The Chalk Man it was both of …

The Inner Circle with Elly Griffiths

Tonight I was at Sheffield Waterstones to hear Elly Griffiths speak about her eleventh Ruth Galloway book, The Stone Circle. Having seen her in Nottingham when she launched the Stranger Diaries last November, a lot of what she spoke of wasn't totally new to me. However, she did include many new bits of information, including …

Ann Cleeves on a Desert Island

Today whilst listening to Belinda Bauer's Snap, my assistant went out for some potatoes and as he often does, had Radio 4 on. When he came back in he told me that Ann Cleeves was on Desert Island Discs. Knowing how this show often goes through the life of their guest, I saw this as …

An underwhelming Thriller

Terminal Breach, the fourth book to contain Elliott Sumner, unfortunately for me, was underwhelming. From the synopsis I was expecting a thriller along the lines of Tom Clancy. I will freely admit that I don't generally read a lot of thrillers. My normal reading choice is often a crime book or a police procedural, but …

My Norfolk comfort Blanket

On the 18th of February Elly Griffiths will be coming to Sheffield Waterstones to talk about her 11th book in the Ruth Galloway series, The Stone Circle. Thankfully, I'm now only 4 books behind after finishing book 7, The Ghost Fields. As an Elly Griffiths fan I can spot the overlap between this book and …

Up and coming at Theakstons

Now that the Theakstons announcements have started to dribble in and all of the special guests have been announced, I can now give a realistic overview of what to expect in July. The special guest announcements from this year are a mix of those from overseas and prominent UK names. Of these, many have appeared …

Body and soul of John Harvey

1, Which genre is your favourite to write in and why? Well, I’ve really only written in two genres, westerns at the beginning of my time as a writer - close to 50 of them! - and crime fiction. Of the two I much prefer crime fiction as it gives me the opportunity to write …

Pinborough’s heart shows the Unexpected

In preparation for Sarah Pinborough's appearance at Nottingham Waterstones on the 20th of this month where she is due to talk about her latest book, Cross her Heart; I obtained a copy of the book from the library. However, the library copy did cause some issues when reviewing it. Around cd7 the copy began to …