Books

Outsiders and othering, control freaks and narcissists, extremes of wealth and poverty – these are some of the themes I picked up on in crime fiction over the course of 2023. A reflection of today’s world? Well, Cosy crime fiction was huge, too, as it usually is when everything feels unstable. However, escapism for me usually

It’s been a busy old year, and as a consequence reading has had to take something of a back seat. Which means that I’ve been concentrating on quality over quantity in 2023, while topping up my longing for a cracking good tale by sampling a fair few audiobooks too. But reading is my first love,

Karl Marlantes, author of the epic Deep River, returns with a new tale of the Koskis, a family of Finnish immigrants to the Pacific Northwest in the early 20th century. Set just after World War II, Cold Victory follows Louise Koski, granddaughter-in-law of Aino Koski, Deep River’s fiery and unforgettable protagonist. Louise moves to Helsinki

Grief is a devastating stimulus. The manifestations of mental anguish form the subject of Bird Life, Anna Smaill’s elliptical, poetic follow-up to her Booker Prize-longlisted 2015 debut The Chimes. The story centers on two very different women, Dinah and Yasuko. Dinah, a New Zealander, is in Tokyo on a work visa to teach English to

In the male-dominated landscape of wartorn 1963 Saigon, Vietnam, Tricia and Charlene are two American wives striving to be the best possible “helpmeets” to their military husbands: sociable, graceful, obedient, obliging. Through author Alice McDermott’s precise, lingering prose, these women otherwise relegated to the margins bloom with agency and empathy. Charlene’s immense business acumen flares

“I’m rooting for, uhmmm, everybody Black,” said actor/writer/producer and “Insecure” creator Issa Rae at the 2017 Emmy Awards. The essential Black TV: Five Decades of Groundbreaking Television from “Soul Train” to “Black-ish” and Beyond, from Washington Post reporter Bethonie Butler, does the same, showcasing prime-time television shows of a “new era in Black television: one

Kelly is a former librarian and a long-time blogger at STACKED. She’s the editor/author of (DON’T) CALL ME CRAZY: 33 VOICES START THE CONVERSATION ABOUT MENTAL HEALTH and the editor/author of HERE WE ARE: FEMINISM FOR THE REAL WORLD. Her next book, BODY TALK, will publish in Fall 2020. Follow her on Instagram @heykellyjensen. View

Kelly is a former librarian and a long-time blogger at STACKED. She’s the editor/author of (DON’T) CALL ME CRAZY: 33 VOICES START THE CONVERSATION ABOUT MENTAL HEALTH and the editor/author of HERE WE ARE: FEMINISM FOR THE REAL WORLD. Her next book, BODY TALK, will publish in Fall 2020. Follow her on Instagram @heykellyjensen. View

Political corruption, like death and taxes, is always with us, a fact that Chicagoans know better than most. Chicago has long been considered America’s most corrupt city, with one investigation suggesting more than $500 million leaves the system each year to pockets unknown. An incredible number, and the kind of graft that crime fiction authors

Every year, former President Barack Obama shared his favorite reads of the year, which are always an interesting mix of fiction and nonfiction. He also mentioned that his lists of his favorite movies and music of the year will be out soon. This year’s selections include award-winning literary fiction, history books, a memoir, and more.

Do you watch the news? Does it intrigue you? Or do you avoid it? It’s a tough call. So we’re not sure whether starting our news roundup with a book set in the Middle East is daring or foolhardy. What we do know is that Paul Vidich wrote this before everything kicked off (again) in

It’s been an interesting year for crime fiction trends. We’ve had it all, whether it’s the closed circle mystery novels with hen parties set a remote islands or mountain tops, the return to the gothic crime mystery a la Daphne Du Maurier, or crime fiction with true crime podcasters as the main protagonists. We’ve also

It was Hernán Cortés who made the ludicrous claim that Moctezuma voluntarily surrendered sovereignty of the Aztec empire to the Spanish conquistadores. Cortés’ narrative is not easily believed, especially considering that he quotes Moctezuma as referencing the Christian Bible, but certainly there are those who believe that the Aztec people, either out of naiveté or

Like gritty noir? If so then indie crime author Martin Ott’s new thriller may be right up your alley. Buddy Rivet has ended several tours in Afghanistan, somewhat – no, a great deal – worse for wear. He just wants to get home to his girlfriend Dierdre in southern Louisiana. But before he’s officially mustered

As I’ve become interested in observing pagan holidays, or sabbats, such as Yule and Mabon, Raechel Henderson’s The Natural Home Wheel of the Year: Crafting, Cooking, Decorating & Magic for Every Sabbat feels right on time. “The sabbats give us a new station roughly every 45 days, at which we can pause and notice the

It was a truly impressive year for crime fiction and I got to review some special novels for Crime Fiction Lover – all that in spite of the glut of celebrity novels, some ghost written, which attracted a lot of attention but added little to the genre. This is the time to celebrate, though, and

Written before her death in 2019, and published with the help of her daughter, Katherine Min’s The Fetishist allows Min to pour out something of herself that we might otherwise have sadly missed. Darkly funny, strangely poignant and sometimes startlingly vicious, The Fetishist is a wonderful novel from an author we lost too soon, and

As 2023 draws to a close, it’s comforting to reflect on the fact that, unlike many other aspects of day-to-day life, the crime fiction published this year has been just as good as ever… or, in some cases, even better. From cosy mysteries featuring plucky amateur sleuths to dark and twisted tales of serial killers

A woman seeks refuge in the hot California desert, far away from the pressures of her sick husband and dying father. On a hike, she finds a large cactus with a hole big enough to walk through—which she does, taking her first steps on an adventure of reflection, grief and spirituality. Full of dark humor

Daphne King, trailblazing crime reporter and fledgling amateur sleuth, returns to tackle more Christmas chaos in Ada Moncrieff’s Murder at Maybridge Castle. It’s December 1936 and Charles Howton, black sheep of playwright Veronica Howton’s family, has invited Daphne and Veronica to spend a pre-Christmas weekend in Cumbria to witness the grand opening of his latest

Translated by Charlotte Barslund — If you’ve been enjoying Samuel Bjork’s Munch and Krüger novels, The Wolf will take you back in time to their first case. If you’ve yet to discover them, then this prequel to I’m Travelling Alone is where their story begins. Mia Krüger has been freshly recruited from the police academy

Kelly is a former librarian and a long-time blogger at STACKED. She’s the editor/author of (DON’T) CALL ME CRAZY: 33 VOICES START THE CONVERSATION ABOUT MENTAL HEALTH and the editor/author of HERE WE ARE: FEMINISM FOR THE REAL WORLD. Her next book, BODY TALK, will publish in Fall 2020. Follow her on Instagram @heykellyjensen. View

The press releases and preview copies have been arriving thick and fast here at Crime Fiction Lover. It looks like 2024 has plenty of excitement in store for readers who enjoy mysteries and thrillers, and this week we bring you the first crop of books scheduled for release in the New Year. There are lots

David Wroblewski spent 10 years writing his first book, the remarkable instant classic The Story of Edgar Sawtelle. Now, 16 years later, he’s delivering a follow-up: Familiaris, which will go on sale June 4th, and is available for preorder now. We’re thrilled to reveal the beautiful cover, as well as an exclusive excerpt, below, but

Autostraddle’s list of 65 of the best queer books of 2023 includes categories for Comics/Graphic Novels and Memoirs, Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Horror, Literary/Contemporary Fiction, Memoir/Biography, Mystery/Thriller, Nonfiction, Poetry, Romance, Science Fiction, Young Adult Contemporary/Historical/Romance, and Young Adult Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror. Casey, who wrote the list, notes that there are even a few instant

Translated by David Warriner — An infamous manor house on a small Swedish island. A wealthy family with secrets. A string of unexplained deaths. In the first of a new series, French crime author Johana Gustawsson, who has Nordic roots, combines elements of the traditional gothic thriller with dark Scandinavian crime fiction. The result is

The third official trailer for Dune: Part Two has been released, and it opens with Chani comforting Paul after he has one of his recurring nightmares. Since the first movie, the two characters have grown much closer. They share several heartfelt moments and even a kiss in the vast Arrakis desert as the trailer dives

Glasgow author Callum McSorley’s award-winning debut novel brings us Scottish crime fiction with a new flavour. The book might be titled Squeaky Clean, but this is a story that’s rancid and filthy, in which every bodily fluid you can imagine is amply spilled, and if there’s squeaking it’s coming from the bedsprings of a woman

Haunted by the death of her sister, Finola Shanahan has resolved that she’s not worthy of a family of her own and commits to spending her days caring for immigrants in the slums. Unwilling to consider marriage, Finola has perfected the ability to sabotage the relationships her parents arrange for her. At wit’s end, her

We’ve gotten Merriam-Webster’s word of the year for 2023 as well as Oxford’s, and now we have Dictionary.com’s pick! Perhaps unsurprisingly for a dictionary at home on the internet, it has more of a focus on technology than the other dictionaries’ picks. Dictionary.com’s 2023 Word of the Year is “hallucinate.” While “hallucinate” has multiple meanings,