Books

Had Jay Gould put his name on a university or concert hall, he would undoubtedly have been a household name today. The son of a poor farmer whose early life was marked by tragedy, Gould saw money as the means to give his family a better life…even if, to do so, he had to pull

Debut author Greg Mosse is the husband of bestselling historical thriller writer Kate Mosse. Clearly they both like blockbuster conspiracy thrillers and writing about France. Whereas Kate Mosse writes about the past, Greg Mosse’s debut is set in a near-future dystopia. We can probably expect a new wave of dystopian fiction as writers reflect on

Who doesn’t love a good renovation story? Whether it’s the experts of “Queer Eye” making lifestyle improvements, Marie Kondo organizing clutter, the beloved hosts of “What Not to Wear” upgrading a wardrobe (still waiting on that reboot, TLC) or the “Property Brothers” giving a home a much-needed tuneup, we all like to watch professionals take

Just in time for Christmas, Mick Herron has written a new Slough House short story. Published in the UK by Baskerville, and in the US by Soho Press, it is titled Standing By The Wall. Soho Press is including it in a book of short stories by Mick Herron under the same title. It’s Christmas

Babel by R.F. Kuang Set in an alternate Victorian Britain, R.F. Kuang’s standalone historical fantasy is an unforgiving examination of the cost of power. Everywhere With You by Carlie Sorosiak, illustrated by Devon Holzwarth Carlie Sorosiak and Devon Holzwarth’s flawless picture book rings with a tender truth: When you are with the ones you love, everywhere

Welcome to our news column for 25 November 2022. Today we’re going to take you on a crime fiction journey, via new book releases, that spans from 1858 all the way to 2110, and from Thousand Islands, New York to… well, someplace beyond the reaches of our solar system. There are thrillers, historical capers, serial

Louise Kennedy, chef of nearly 30 years and author of the short story collection The End of the World Is a Cul de Sac, emerges with a debut novel that will fill every historical fiction fan with gratitude. Trespasses exposes the crushing realities of Northern Ireland during the “troubles” while paying respect to the people

Because of the holiday in the U.S. this week, the roundup of book censorship news and insights will be shorter than usual. Although there are several right-wing groups eager to implement movie-style book ratings to library titles, the reality is, book rating systems are an exercise in futility and bias. Julia Rittenberg does an outstanding

As crime fiction lovers, we all know there’s nothing better than settling down with a new book. These days, however, there is a wealth of well scripted crime shows to attract our attention too, many of them based on books that we know and love. True crime is also a big attraction for viewers on

All That Is You Bestselling author Alyssa Satin Capucilli offers an imaginative series of rhymed metaphors for love. Her text playfully twists colloquialisms (“you’re the wide in my world”) striking on heartfelt truths rather than cloying sentimentality. Illustrator Devon Holzwarth’s vibrant artwork matches the elegance and emotion of Capucilli’s prose and elevates All That Is

As someone who is equally devoted to books and the internet, I am endlessly fascinated by the failure of online writing to live up to its potential as a form. Previously, I wrote about how interactive ebooks were once seen as the future of books, and how they have completely failed to live up to

Edited by Cecily Gayford — Murder in the Falling Snow brings you ten festive stories of murder and mayhem by some of the early-20th century’s best crime writers. From country houses to trainlines, rustic pubs to suburban terraces, the stories feature perplexing mysteries solved by canny detectives in environments now synonymous with classic crime fiction.

As the sun sets and a full moon rises, three children venture outside, ostensibly to find their runaway dog but mostly to frolic in the nocturnal world beyond their gate. Author Dianne White and illustrator Felicita Sala’s Dark on Light is lyrical, charming and wonderful.  White’s text is more like a poem than a straightforward

The holiday shopping season is already in full swing and you might be shopping for a book lover. Maybe that book lover is you! No matter who you’re shopping for, if you’re looking for ways to shop small this season, check out Libro.fm’s Shop Small sale. For a limited time, you can purchase credit bundles

Indie crime fiction is something we work hard on here at Crime Fiction Lover. The big publishers will always guarantee themselves reviews in the newspapers and on the major entertainment sites but we’re open to reviewing authors of all stripes. Indie crime fiction is a great way to discover something different, and we think diversity

The White Horse is a run-down Indian bar in Denver. It’s where Kari James, an urban Indian woman of Apache and Chikasaw heritage, goes to drink beer and whiskey, unwind after working her waitressing and bartending jobs, and occasionally pick up men. Kari is in her mid-30s and thinking of buying the bar and fixing

The paper of record has released their newest list of top books for the year. Selected by the staff of the New York Times Book Review, 100 books are celebrated as being notable additions to shelves. Spanning five categories, including Fiction/Poetry, Nonfiction, Memoir, History, and Science, the books showcase a wide range of genres, styles,

Taut. Twisty. Propulsive. You can trot out all the cliches regularly used to describe thriller fiction and use them with abandon for Paul Cleave’s new police procedural, The Pain Tourist. In Christchurch, New Zealand, a serial killer named Joe Middleton was caught but somehow escaped and is still on the loose. New murders occur, staged

Great Short Books Anyone who’s eternally time-strapped will treasure Kenneth C. Davis’ Great Short Books. This nifty volume highlights 58 works of fiction chosen by Davis for their size (small) and impact (enormous). Each brisk read weighs in at around 200 pages but has the oomph of an epic.   “Short novels,” Davis writes in the

On October 31st, a federal judge ruled against the merging of Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster, saying that it would “substantially lessen competition” in publishing. While that was a blow to the merger, it wasn’t officially over: Penguin Random House had been planning to appeal the decision. In order to do that, they

The tumult of World War II is an endless source of inspiration for crime fiction and historical authors, but it takes a lot of dedication to craft a story that not only feels true to the era but gets readers to engage with the characters and the things they represent. That’s where the effort has

Game On Give this to a reader who has a competitive streak, whether it manifests on the field, in the classroom or at game night.  Game On: 15 Stories of Wins, Losses, and Everything in Between highlights the importance of “playing the game” to find yourself. In each tale, characters interact with a game, from

If you read The Rabbit Factor by Antti Tuomainen, not only did you meet the mathematician Henri Koskinen but you will have enjoyed one of the finest and most original crime novels of 2021. Quirky characters, perilous run-ins with violent gangsters, a disorientating setting, absurdist humour and a thread of romance – it felt like

A warning: this quiz is not for the faint of heart. It was made for those who know their covers and to which titles those covers belong to. It was made for those who can spot a detail and hold it fast in their memory. It was made for those who like a challenge and

James Grady was 23 in 1974 when he wrote is iconic conspiracy novel Six Days of the Condor, in which the sole survivor of a wiped out a covert CIA unit has to figure out who and what is behind the massacre. Reconfigured for the big screen as Three Days of the Condor, it became

Sam Heughan, known to legions of fans as Jamie Fraser in the popular TV show based on Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series, recently decided it was time to walk the rigorous West Highland Way in Scotland, a long-distance hiking trail that runs from north of Glasgow to Fort William in the Scottish Highlands. He wanted a

Time is ticking down until the arrival of Santa Claus and even though you might not be feeling festive we are seeing Christmas 2022 crime novels hitting the shelves like well-packed snowballs. We start off with the latest, which is by British author Vicky Newham writing under a new pseudonym. Alongside this cosy mystery, we

Actor Constance Wu (known for her lauded roles in “Fresh Off the Boat,” Crazy Rich Asians and Hustlers) narrates her thoughtful and revealing memoir in essays with an endearing blend of passion and playfulness.  Throughout her career, Wu has learned that life is a series of scenes that shape us; we don’t shape the scenes.

Ever since we started Crime Fiction Lover back in 2011, the site has been devoted to discovering crime fiction from all round the world. Early on, we were reviewing the likes of Henning Mankell and Jo Nesbo. From Scandinavian crime fiction we expanded our translated coverage to include French, German and Italian books, going further

All hell broke loose when Casey Parks came out to her family. But amid all their weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth, there was a bright spark that came to dominate Parks’ personal and professional life for over a decade, which she recounts in Diary of a Misfit (14.5 hours). Parks’ stern, conservative grandmother