Ragnar Jónasson is one of my favourite authors, a master at capturing the unique Icelandic environment and drawing it into the narrative of some of the best character-led stories I’ve read. He’s superbly skilled at reflecting the bleakly beautiful aspects of Iceland’s landscape in the tangled threads of his compelling – frequently chilling – mysteries.…
We began our exploration of new titles and recommended reads with exotic adventures overseas from small publishers and independent authors. This time we’re staying closer to home with a selection of stories based in and around the United Kingdom – but not necessarily told by British writers. You may be unfamiliar with some of these…
A cunning stalker story about the perils of social media and becoming too involved with your audience, which features an author writing about being an author being stalked by a blogger, with both of them writing each side of their story. It’s nirvana for narcissists (and let’s not mention that the resulting book is now…
Purple Kitty’s title sorta suggests cuddly, fluffy, giggle a minute, girl’s night in, pink pyjamas, comedy crime*. That couldn’t be further from the reality of this dystopian private eye investigation, set in an oppressive future a few decades down the line. Gumshoe Serena McKay isn’t your typical ‘strong female protagonist’, either. Normally, the average crime-solving…
In Watching You, one of the Nordic nations’ premier crime writers delivers a masterclass of misdirection and suspense. Arne Dahl – or Jan Arnald, if you prefer his other pen-name – kicks off what appears to be a standard Scandi crime police procedural with a stand-out, set piece action sequence which simultaneously curls your toes…
In a series of intricate and explicitly unpleasant plot reversals and psychological sleight of hand, DTOTL explores the twisted sinews of jealousy, manipulation and possession at their most extreme. Is it possible to degrade the self-esteem of a confidant young woman to the point where, hopeless, isolated and despairing, she might end her own life?…
These four short stories of tightly-woven psychological suspense don’t take so very long to read, but their dark echoes reverberate for days thereafter. The first story, a sinister study of the depths of obsession, gives the collection its title. The ‘Contended Man’ is anything but contended, and his unnatural fascination with a much younger…
Clinical psychologist Kim Slade has intimate experience about body disfigurement. She’s a scarred woman, both facially and figuratively. Yet superficially she’s a successful modern career woman who converted childhood trauma into something positive. Slade has a fashionable flat in trendy Cheltenham, a second seaside home in the West Country, a loving long-term boyfriend, a close-knit…
Need something new to read? Here’s 20 or more psychological thrillers, global conspiracies, murder mysteries, Scandi crime, police procedurals, neo noir, private detectives, military sedition, ruthless gangsters, corrupt lawmen, cosy crime and historical whodunnits, which feature stealing, lying, cheating, kidnapping, spying, stalking and the odd dead body or ten. Just the job for a Bank…
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