‘All stories are ghost stories, about things lost, people, memories, home, passion, youth, about things struggling to be seen, to be accepted by the living.’ I’m not going to apologise for being a little quote heavy in this review of Sarah Jane by James Sallis, such is the beauty of the prose on every page.
Well to say I was confused at the beginning, is an understatement. The first chapter is repeated three times offering three different explanations of the same event!! I won’t explain why; as it all becomes clear. This is a detective novel but by no means does it follow any traditional story line. It is exceptionally
Though I do love crime and have read a fair bit of it, I had to confess that I had never read P. D. James until I was sent the exquisitely tight and suspenseful “The Victim”. Some can pack quite a bit in, in just a few pages it would seem. What great talent P.D.
There is one thing that’s unshakeable about Irish culture and that’s our desire to tell stories. It’s not too much to say that in Ireland, writer or no, the ability to spin a good yarn is seen as a very favourable quality. And I grew up around some great storytellers. Some of my earliest childhood
You only need to look at the cover of this book to know it’s going to be a dark, gritty thriller. Set in Ireland, it has two stories running simultaneously. We start with a 17 year old crime. Sean Hennessey has just been released from prison after serving time for murdering his parents and attempting
There are few better ways for the crime writer to investigate the complexities of character than through a spy: a spy creates their character much like an author does, trying to inhabit their character whilst maintaining their authenticity. A spy has to create a persona that is believable and consistent to the point that they
Old friends, isolated locations and secrets abound in this atmospheric and gripping murder mystery reminiscent of many an Agatha Christie. They go away every year together to celebrate the New Year. Seven old friends off to explore the wilds of the Scottish Highlands. This year only six will come back. I haven’t read a thriller
In Germany 1934 the last place you’d look for a fifteen-year-old Jewish girl is in a Hitler worshipping all girls school, but that is exactly where you should look in Matthew Killeen’s Orphan Monster Spy. Killeen delivers a tense, frightening young adult novel steeped in a terrible chapter of world history. Orphan Monster Spy opens
This is Olivia Kiernan’s debut crime novel and I found her writing style very pleasant and easy to read. The introduction to the plot was interesting….. A young woman Dr Estelle Costello, a University Lecturer is found dead at her home. Initially it looks to be suicide, by hanging; however Frankie Sheehan – Detective Chief
Jeffery Deaver, is an international bestselling author and has won many accolades for his work, including the Lincoln Rhyme Thrillers such as this. His writing style is easy to read and sucks you in – in an instant. A violent torture and murder of a diamond cutter, an engaged couple collecting their ring and a
