Christmas Crime Roundup
Thrill your stockings off with our critical roundups of the best of recent crime fiction…
Elegy for April by Benjamin Black
“Because in real life he’s John Banville, the Booker winner, Black occasionally allows the splendour of his writing to take priority over the pace of the plot. That is an observation, not a complaint. Elegy for April is a beguiling read.” Marcel Berlins, The Times
The Confession by John Grisham
“No one who reads this can conclude that capital punishment is a Good Thing. This is education and entertainment of the highest order.” Mark Sanderson, The Evening Standard
The Nearest Exit by Olen Steinhauer
“As with all best spy novelists, particularly since the genre has found its feet again after the post-Cold War wilderness years, Steinhauer achieves a perfect balance between style and ideas, never labouring his points.” Barry Forshaw, The Independent
“It’s easy to see why Anne Holt, former minister of justice in Norway and currently its bestselling female crime writer, is rapturously received in the rest of Europe. It’s less easy to see why she hasn’t been published here before, but if 1222 is anything to go by, it was worth the wait.” Laura Wilson, The Guardian
“As a portrayal of the conflict between practical necessity and moral principle, told with a mixture of interrogation and action and set in the corrupting world of international espionage, this is far more illuminating and enjoyable than the season’s other big thriller, John Le Carré’s Our Kind Of Traitor.” Leo Robson, The Daily Express
Cradle to Grave by Aline Templeton
“The vivid characterisation, excellent description and a horribly looming sense of inevitability make Cradle to Grave a riveting read.” Laura Wilson, The Guardian
Port Mortuary by Patricia Cornwell
“It might lack the urgency, the thrills, of Postmortem – which has just been rereleased to mark the 20th anniversary of its publication – but Port Mortuary is a worthy addition to the Scarpetta canon.” Alison Flood, The Observer
“As always in a Deaver novel the plot twists one way and then the next but the tension is superbly maintained, though British whodunnit solvers may be stymied by a crucial plot key, which, when finally revealed, isn’t actually a crime here in Europe.” Peter Millar, The Times
“a fast-paced, standout thriller” Christopher Fowler, The Financial TImes
The Reversal by Michael Connelly
“Connelly masterfully manages to marry an absorbing courtroom drama with a tense and exciting thriller of detection.” Marcel Berlins, The Times
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