Simon Parker
Having peeked over the garden fence at the boys having fun next door, Simon Parker asked if he could come round and play. Intense enthusiasms wax and wane but liberal doses of crime fiction remain a constant and Simon is delighted if somewhat daunted by the ever-growing pile of it dominating the corner of the living room. However, as all civilised people agree, wherever he may wander Simon will always find time to worship at the feet of The Master – Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse.
Waiting For The Etonians: Reports from the Sickbed of Liberal England, by Nick Cohen
Reviewed on May 19, 2009
In his brilliant book What’s Left?, Nick Cohen told the peculiar and depressing story of how in the early part of the 21st Century the orthodox liberal left had contorted itself into support for positions it would previously have held to be abhorrently inimical to secular democracy. It was the story of a crisis in [...]
The Redeemer, by Jo Nesbo
Reviewed on May 14, 2009
Harry Hole, the connoisseur’s choice of angst-ridden, alcoholic, obsessional Scandinavian detective, is back. The Redeemer, the fourth Harry Hole book to be translated into English is also the first in which Harry is sober and free of his nemesis, the corrupt chief detective Tom Waaler, last seen in the previous episode, er, Nemesis. This time round [...]
The White War, by Mark Thompson
Reviewed on May 6, 2009
Between 1915 and 1919 more than a million people were killed on the Italian-Austrian border fighting in conditions as unimaginably horrific as anything on the Somme, Passchendale and Verdun. Yet while those names are still etched onto the collective consciousness the best part of a century later, the story of slaughter, heroism and sacrifice on the Italian [...]
The Vienna Assignment, by Olen Steinhauer
Reviewed on April 30, 2009
What a near miss. For two thirds of The Vienna Assignment I thought I’d chanced upon a spy series fit to give Alan Furst a run for his money. And then just as I had mentally committed myself to buying the lot, Olen Steinhaer trots out a handful of faintly ludicrous plot devices and the [...]
The Ignorance of Blood, by Robert Wilson
Reviewed on April 22, 2009
So to Andalucia for The Ignorance Of Blood, Robert Wilson’s fourth book to feature Sevillano homicide detective, Javier Falcon. Over the course of three previous novels Falcon has emerged as a fantastically appealing character and these are complex, resonant and thoroughly enjoyable crime novels of the highest order. Wilson’s Seville is a vibrant place on the [...]
Last Train To Scarborough, by Andrew Martin
Reviewed on April 7, 2009
Having taken a wrong turn that lasted two episodes, book 6 of Andrew Martin’s Jim Stringer series has arrived and I’m happy to say Last Train To Scarborough places my favourite Edwardian steam detective right back on track. If Death on a Branch Line and Murder at Deviation Junction strayed too far into John Buchan territory, Martin is [...]
Pelagia And The Red Rooster, by Boris Akunin
Reviewed on April 3, 2009
What a strange book. Pelagia and the Red Rooster, the third and final instalment of Boris Akunin’s thoroughly enjoyable Sister Pelagia series, takes the appealingly un-nunnish nun far outside her familiar world of sleuthery. Based on two previous outings, it would be easy to see Sister Pelagia as a provincially Russian Miss Marple to Erast [...]
Stratton’s War by Laura Wilson
Reviewed on March 7, 2009
As sharks and Nazis are to the History Channel, so WW2 novels are to historical crime fiction and Laura Wilson’s Stratton’s War is a recent and enjoyable addition to the Home Front, Blitz-based sub-genre. Better than Robert Harris, on a par with Barbara Nadel, Stratton’s War threatens to approach the level of a good John Lawton. [...]
The Black Butterfly, by Mark Gatiss
Reviewed on February 25, 2009
Famous as one quarter of the League of Gentlemen, Mark Gatiss is the proud owner of a grotesque streak a mile wide. His Lucifer Box novels, of which The Black Butterfly is the third and probably last, star a decadent, late Victorian aesthete; a high-society portrait painter with a secret life as one of Her [...]
The Coronation, by Boris Akunin
Reviewed on February 5, 2009
Having read and reviewed The State Counsellor a couple of weeks ago, I didn’t have long to wait for the next installment of this wonderful series. Witty, stylish, enlightening, exciting and resonant, the Erast Fandorin novels really are everything you could possibly want from a series of historical crime novels. These are unashamedly intelligent books, [...]
Bad Science, by Ben Goldacre
Reviewed on February 1, 2009
In which readers are once again given permission to laugh at the illogical gullibility of their fellow human beings… Science and pseudo-science have been formally separated for many years, yet we somehow live in an age where the sales of pseudo scientific “medicine” are positively thriving. So why is it that otherwise clever and educated [...]
The State Counsellor, by Boris Akunin
Reviewed on January 26, 2009
Just when I thought Boris Akunin’s Erast Fandorin series had reached a suavely thrilling peak, The State Counsellor sees it effortlessly move to a yet higher level. Once again Akunin has written a seemingly frivolous entertainment that perfectly resonates with our own times, in this case political terrorism during the twilight years of Empire. A [...]
The Return, by Hakan Nesser
Reviewed on January 18, 2009
A good but ever so slightly identikit Scandi thriller, that is nonetheless entertaining. Anyone who has run out of Hening Mankell may not yet have found an adequate substitute (hint: it’s Jo Nesbo) but The Return will do nicely while the search continues (hint: it’s Jo Nesbo). Set in an unnamed Northern European country that [...]
Simon P’s Books Of The Year 2008
Reviewed on December 7, 2008
It’s time for a bit of self indulgent nonsense and my nominations for Books of the Year 2008 – or at least those books that for one reason or another have struck a chord over the last twelve months. Surprise of the Year Things To Teach Your Grandchildren by Mark Oliver Everett A moving and [...]
Things The Grandchildren Should Know, by Mark Oliver Everett
Reviewed on November 15, 2008
Mark Oliver Everett, aka E, writes and performs fine left-field songs with his band, Eels. You may know some of them, if not through the albums, then at least via the many soundtracks on which Eels songs appear. Things Your Grandchildren Should Know, then, must be a rock autobiography. The heart sinks a little with [...]
The Montmartre Investigation, by Claude Izner
Reviewed on October 22, 2008
Of all the possible set-ups for an engrossing series of crime novels, murder and mayhem as investigated by a 19th Century Parisian bookseller may not appear the most promising. Yet the exploits of Victor Legris are turning out to be a fin de siecle delight. The Montmartre Investigation is the third (of six) to feature [...]
Exit Music, by Ian Rankin
Reviewed on October 8, 2008
Exit Music is the 17th in Ian Rankin’s series of Inspector Rebus novels and the one that sees the grumpy bugger head off into retirement. Of course, this being Rankin and this being Rebus, the good detective does not go gently into that good night, instead spending his last days investigating a vicious murder and [...]
The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable, by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Reviewed on September 20, 2008
One of the most enjoyable publishing phenomena of the last fifteen years has been the rise of the popular science book. From maths to evolutionary biology, from economics to quantum physics, publisher’s catalogues are awash with titles that seek to explain the world and communicate a sense of wonder. As an entertaining fightback by the [...]
Coward On The Beach, by James Delingpole
Reviewed on September 18, 2008
When George MacDonald Fraser died in February 2008, he left behind a huge, Flashman-shaped hole as enthusiasts found themselves bereft of their favourite “scoundrel, liar, cheat, thief, coward, and toady”. A vacancy for an unapologetic anti-hero has existed ever since. One creator of likely replacements, Julian Rathbone, ruled himself out of the running by dying [...]
Self’s Deception, by Bernhard Schlink
Reviewed on August 17, 2008
Self’s Deception is an efficient but otherwise fairly prosaic crime novel from Bernhard Schlink, the German novelist who found worldwide success in 1998 with The Reader. Self’s Deception, like Self’s Punishment before it and Self’s Murder due in 2009, are translations of pre-The Reader books and their early genesis shows, as neither really fit with [...]
Hitler’s Peace, by Philip Kerr
Reviewed on August 1, 2008
When a favourite author puts out a bad novel it’s relatively easy to cut some slack and simply look forward to the next one. But what to think when having enjoyed a particular series, you don’t rate any of the writer’s other books? I suspect this is where I’m getting to with Philip Kerr. Eighteen [...]
The Bellini Card, by Jason Goodwin
Reviewed on July 24, 2008
Following on from successes with The Janissary Tree and The Snake Stone, The Bellini Card is Jason Goodwin’s third entry in his Yashim the Eunuch series of detective novels set in Ottoman Istanbul during the 1830s. Yashim is a fixer for the royal household, utilising discretion and brainpower to sort out the most delicate of [...]
Pelagia And The Black Monk, by Boris Akunin
Reviewed on July 12, 2008
Plump up the cushions, switch off the phone, crack open a bottle of something dark and red – the new Boris Akunin paperback, Pelagia And The Black Monk, has arrived. Akunin specialises in superbly well written and intricately plotted mysteries set in 19th Century Imperial Russia that draw liberal inspiration from the greats of Russian [...]
The Streets of Babylon, by Carmina Burman
Reviewed on July 3, 2008
The Streets Of Babylon is another welcome entry to the increasingly crowded historical crime genre. Resembling a less dense Sarah Walters novel, TSOB is an enjoyable romp through the underbelly of Victorian London at the height of Empire. It is 1851 and successful Swedish crime author, Euthanasia Bondeson, has just arrived in London with her [...]
The Resurrectionist, by James Bradley
Reviewed on June 26, 2008
Set in London in 1826, but recalling a later Dickensian city, The Resurrectionist is about to become a very popular book indeed. This is due in part to being annointed by Richard and Judy, but also because The Resurrectionist is a grimly entertaining and claustrophobic story of grave-robbing and madness. Gabriel Swift, brought up by [...]
This Night’s Foul Work, by Fred Vargas
Reviewed on June 13, 2008
If Euro Crime really is the new black, then its popularity is due in no small measure to a sense of recognisably distinct voices being applied to recognisably distinct places. A few pages of a good Euro crime novel and it should be clear where we are and the sort of ride we are in [...]
Happy Birthday, Turk!, by Jakob Arjouni
Reviewed on June 4, 2008
One of the joys of Euro crime is the sense of visiting a specific place and being told a tale in a language unique to that place. Henning Mankell is now so clearly Swedish, MV Montalban Catalunyan and Fred Vargas French, so much so you couldn’t transpose the writing style of any from one location [...]
The Savage Altar, by Asa Larsson
Reviewed on June 4, 2008
More Scandinavian crime. This time we’re in the rural North of Sweden with the first in Asa Larsson’s darkly foreboding series featuring troubled tax lawyer, Rebecka Martinsson and pregnant detective, Anna-Maria Mella. A charismatic evangelistic preacher is found by his sister and her daughters horribly murdered in the huge church, that in every way dominates [...]
The Buenos Aires Quintet, by Manuel Vazquez Montalban
Reviewed on May 16, 2008
Manuel Vazquez Montalban died in 2003, leaving behind a body of work to rival any in modern crime fiction. From the mid 70s on he traced, via the medium of the detective novel, the emergence of Barcelona as a global city and recorded the excitement of rapid change – but change that always feels like [...]
The Fourth Man, by K.O. Dahl
Reviewed on May 8, 2008
The Fourth Man is an entertaining if somewhat workmanlike thriller set in a wet and snowy Oslo. Positioned close to the point where Henning Mankell’s sober diligence meets Jo Nesbo’s intricate chaos, The Fourth Man also has much in common with classic, hard-boiled US noir. At the beginning of the novel Inspector Frank Frolich embarks [...]
Revelation, by C.J. Sansom
Reviewed on April 30, 2008
2008 is turning into a vintage year for my favourite crime series. We’ve already had great new books from among others, Boris Akunin, Philip Kerr and Jo Nesbo and there are new ones on the way by John Lawton, Alan Furst and Manuel Vazquez Montalban. This week it is the turn of CJ Sansom with [...]
A Quiet Flame, by Philip Kerr
Reviewed on April 21, 2008
In 2006, after a fifteen year hiatus spent trying to write an airport blockbuster, Philip Kerr made a welcome return to his series of Berlin in the 30s crime novels, featuring Detective cum reluctant SS officer, Bernie Gunther. Despite fears of a tail between the legs retreat, The One From The Other was actually great [...]
Nemesis, by Jo Nesbo
Reviewed on April 8, 2008
Hooray, the new Jo Nesbo has arrived. On the wagon and living with a new girlfriend, Inspector Harry Hole is on the verge of making his chaotic life work. If only it wasn’t for his obsession with finding his partner’s killer. If only his girlfriend wasn’t away fighting a custody battle. If only it wasn’t [...]
Death On A Branch Line, by Andrew Martin
Reviewed on April 3, 2008
I never cease to be amazed at just how micro, micro crime genres can get. Fair enough CJ Sansom trawling round Tudor London dragging a dozen Susannah Gregorys in his wake. Or the European grand tour. Or the easy appeal of Britain in the late 30s. I can even see how you get more than [...]
The Pere Lachaise Mystery, by Claude Izner
Reviewed on March 28, 2008
Claude Izner is the pseudonym of two sisters who write entertaining crime novels set in the bookshops, garrets, backstreets and cafes of fin de siecle Paris. Their hero, Victor Legris, is a Left Bank bookseller and aesthete who has in his orbit such crime fiction staples as a wide-eyed assistant from the provinces, a taciturn [...]
The Way We Wore, by Robert Elms
Reviewed on March 20, 2008
Journalist Robert Elms’ The Way We Wore is a formative-years memoir based around clobber. It is Fever Pitch in natty threads, but if that sounds like an exercise in cynicism, don’t let it put you off. The Way We Wore is also an affecting social history of London told through street fashion. In 1965 Reggie [...]
The Devil’s Star, by Jo Nesbo
Reviewed on March 14, 2008
Every now and then the stars align to allow popularity and excellence to combine orbits. So it is with the current wave of Scandinavian crime fiction. Like many, I first encountered SCF via Peter Hoeg’s 1996 novel, Miss Smilla’s Feeling For Snow. Since then I have followed the exploits of numerous damaged and/or laconic Nordic [...]
An Expert In Murder, by Nicola Upson
Reviewed on March 12, 2008
The year is 1934, the setting is London and a body is about to be discovered on a train. We may have been here many times before, but Nicola Upson’s An Expert In Murder adds enough to the formula to make for an entertaining diversion. In the book as in real life, Richard of Bordeaux [...]
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The Bookgeeks Interview
Simon Kernick
Simon Kernick is one of Britain’s most exciting new thriller writers. He arrived on the crime writing scene with his highly acclaimed debut novel The Business of Dying, the story of a corrupt cop moonlighting as a hitman. However, Simon’s big breakthrough came with his novel Relentless which was selected by Richard and Judy for [...]
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Five copies of John le Carré’s Smiley vs Karla Trilogy to be won
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy was one of the big film releases of 2011, and to celebrate its release on DVD we have five copies of John le Carré’s Smiley vs Karla Trilogy to be won – consisting of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, The Honourable Schoolboy and Smiley’s People.
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