Euro Crime

New Releases - January 2026

2026-02-25T09:00:00.002+00:00

I am getting more up to date - here is what I've got on my database for January 2026. I am currently working on February 2026.

Please note that, unless specifically mentioned, when a book has differing print and ebook release date, I use the print release date. Translators' names are included where known.

Further to my post about writers of colour and the Theakston Crime Novel of the Year, I have identified the writers of colour (that I know of) with a ***

Ahndoril, Alex - A Play to Kill tr. ??? #2 Private investigator Julia Stark
Alexander, Magda - A Murder on the Thames #3 Lady Rosalynd and Wynterbourne
Areklew, Lina - In the Dark tr. ??? #2 Detective Sofia Hjortén
Baker, Matt - A Taste For Murder
Beckett, Simon - The Bone Garden #7 Dr David Hunter
Bellamy, G J - The Toymaker's Case #1 Starling Hall Mystery
Blake, Sam - Your Every Move
Boland, Shalini - The Ex
Boyd, Damien - Blast from the Past #2 DI Bob Willis
Brooke, Amanda - A Good Liar
Burrowes, Grace - A Gentleman Far From Home #11 The Lord Julian Mysteries
Carlsson, Christoffer - The Living and the Dead tr. Rachel Willson-Broyles
Cartwright, Jack - When Blood Runs Dry #6 Deadly Wolds Murder Mystery
Carver, C J - Never Say a Word
Cole, M G - The White Horse #10 DCI Garrick
Connolly, Rebecca - Mayhem on the Marzipan Express #2 Claire Walker
Doherty, Paul - The Meadows of Murder #24 Brother Athelstan
Durrant, Helen H - Two Wives
Dylan, Rhys - Cross Cut #19 DCI Evan Warlow
Eldridge, Jim - Murder at the Pyramids #12 Former Detective Inspector Daniel Wilson
Elliott, Anna & Veley, Charles - The Valentine Cipher #8 The Homefront Sleuths
Ellis, Emmy - No5 #1 Crawshaw Street
Ellis, Joy - The House of Mystery #3 Ellie McEwan
Ellis, Kate - Killing in the Shadows #6 Detective Inspector Joe Plantagenet, Eborby
Feeney, Alice - My Husband's Wife
Finch, Paul - The Lodge
Ford, P F - The Conspiracy (ebook only) #4 Burnham Files
Goodwin, Sarah - The Alpine Retreat
Hall, Lisa - The Wife Swap
Hannah, Darci - A Spirited Supper at Dundoon Castle #2 Food & Spirits Mystery
Hannah, Sophie - The Opposite of Murder
Hausmann, Romy - Darling Mine tr. Jamie Bulloch
Henry, Steven - Night Flower #1 Coventry Adams, Victorian Era
Hepburn, Holly - The Locked Room #3 The Baker Street Mysteries
Higgs, Steve - Island Life #11 Patricia Fisher: Ship's Detective
Hindle, Tom - A Killer in Paradise
Hood, D K - His Next Wife
Hulse, C E - Vivian Dies Again
Hurst, Daniel - The Doctor #5 The Doctor's Wife
Idov, Michael - The Cormorant Hunt #2 The Cormorant Trilogy
James, Evelyn - A Rose by Any Other Name #38 Clara Fitzgerald
Kara, Lesley - Troublemaker
Karlsson, Ørjan - Into The Dark tr. Ian Giles #2 Jakob Weber, Chief Investigator of Nordland Police
Khan, Vaseem - The Edge of Darkness #6 Inspector Persis Wadia ***
Kuhns, Eleanor - A Murder of Furies #3 Ancient Crete Mystery
Lancaster, Mary - Petteril's Party (ebook only) #9 Lord Petteril
Linskey, Howard - Muse of Fire #2 William Shakespeare
Lynch, Rachel - First Act #1 DI Kelly Porter Prequel
Lynott, R K - Last Take #2 DI Ryan Hale, Chesterfield, Derbys
Macrae, Eva - A Death in Glasgow
Maloney, Anna - The 10:12
Manning, Nina - The Ski Lodge
Markin, Wes - Forgotten Depths #6 Detective Chief Inspector Frank Black, Whitby
Markin, Wes - The York Minster Killings #7 DCI Emma Gardner, Yorkshire
Marrs, John - Dead in the Water
Martin, Faith - A Dangerous Train of Thought #3 Val & Arbie
Mitchell, Caroline - The Ice Angels #1 Detective Elea Baker
Montclair, Allison - Fire Must Burn #8 Sparks and Bainbridge, London, Post WW2
Mosse, Greg - The Chateau Murder #2 French Village Mystery
New, J - On the Wrong Track (ebook only) #6 The Yellow Cottage Vintage Mysteries
North, Ely - Whale Cemetery #12 DCI Finnegan, Yorkshire
O'Sullivan, Darren - Our Daughter is Missing
Parker, Rob - Forbidden Waters #2 Cam Killick, Norfolk
Phifer, Helen - Silenced Sisters #17 Detective Morgan Brookes
Plant, Nigel - The Aztec Pursuit #4 Reed Hascombe
Rawlins, CM - Death in a Green Room #10 Maeve Morgan, Scotland, 1920s
Robb, Candace - A Lion's Ransom #16 Owen Archer
Seymour, Gerald - The Irregular #6 Jonas Merrick
Smith, Alex - Tin Soldiers #19 DCI Robert Kett, Norfolk
Smith, Fiona Veitch - The Berlin Murders #5 Miss Clara Vale, 1929
Stacey, L H - The One Night Stand
Thorogood, Robert - The Mysterious Affair Of Judith Potts #5 The Marlow Murder Club
Tope, Rebecca - The Eskdale Episode #16 Persimmon Brown, Florist, Lake District
Warner, Paul - A Spy in the Blood #1 Mark Wolfe
Watkin, Sean - Better Off Dead #2 DCI de Silva
Welsh, Louise - The Cut Up #3 Rilke
Wilkinson, Kerry - Tag You're It
Woods, Karen - The Hustle

New Releases - December 2025

2026-02-23T15:50:00.001+00:00

I'm still a bit behind but here is what I've got on my database for December 2025. January 2026 will follow soon. I am currently working on February 2026.

Please note that, unless specifically mentioned, when a book has differing print and ebook release date, I use the print release date. Translators' names are included where known.

Further to my post about writers of colour and the Theakston Crime Novel of the Year, I have identified the writers of colour (that I know of) with a ***

Ace, Cathy - The Case of the Devious Daughter #12 A Wise Enquiries Agency Mystery
Adams, Jane - Murder at the Folly #11 Rina Martin, Actress
Ashkanani, Tariq - The Night Watcher #1 Callie Munro ***
Atkinson, Heather - The Wolf (ebook only) #5 Raven
Baker, Ruth - The Mystery of the Christmas Mince Pies #4 Lady Mildred Ramsay, 1920s
Bassett, Isabella - A Cup Full of Poison #10 Lady Caroline, 1920s
Beckham, Bruce - Murder on the Menu #26 Detective Inspector Skelgill
Berry, Connie - A Grave Deception #6 Kate Hamilton, American antiques dealer
Blake, David - Blackfleet Broad #14 DCI Tanner, Norfolk
Briggs, J C - The Prisoner of Raven's Gaze Hall #4 Gothic House Mystery
Bright, Verity - Murder on a Frosty Night #24 Lady Eleanor Swift, 1920s
Brookes, Dawn - Cruise Fountain Finale #15 Rachel Prince
Brown, Benedict - The Yacht Party
Burke, Darcy - A Whisper of Secrecy #5 Raven & Wren
Carson, John - When Devils Dance With Saints #8 DCI James Craig
Carter, A J - Make Him Leave
Clarke, Georgina - A Kiss from the Devil #4 Lizzie Hardwicke, 1759
Conroy, Vivian - Trouble in the Alps #6 Miss Ashford
Dams, Jeanne M - Terror on the Train #27 Dorothy Martin
Dawson, Mark - Clearwater #26 John Milton
Ellis, Emmy - Random #47 Cardigan Estate
Enright, Robert - A Rush Of Blood #4 DS Jack Townsend
Field, David - The Footlights Murder #12 Esther and Jack Enright
Fitzek, Sebastian - Mimik tr. Jamie Bulloch
Ford, P F - Another Victim (ebook only) #2 Burnham Files
Ford, P F - The Letter (ebook only) #3 Burnham Files
Fowler, Deborah - Missing in St Ives #3 St Ives Mysteries
Galloway, K T - The Final Course #14 O'Malley & Swift
Gatland, Jack - Silver and the Christmas Caper #2 Sebastian Silver
Gatland Jack - His Dead Man's Hand #24 DI Declan Walsh
Giles, Stewart - The Spider #36 DS Jason Smith
Godden, Gillian - The Don #6 The Lambrianus
Golden, Helen - Nobbled at Christmas #14 A Right Royal Cozy Investigation Mystery
Golding, Julia - The Austen Intrigue #4 Regency Secrets
Handley, P L - Death on Barmouth Bridge #5 Nesta Griffiths
Harper, Izzie - Murder at the Christmas Panto #2 Canterbury Mystery
Hathaway, L B - Murder at the Silver Shoes Jazz Club #17 Posie Parker, 1920s
Hicks, Andrea - The Locket Code (ebook only) #2 Ottilie Divine
Higgs, Steve - Old Score to Settle #5 Albert Smith
Hood, D K - Watch Over Me #28 Detectives Kane and Alton
Hurst, Daniel - If He Finds Us (ebook only) #1 Shocking Standalone Short Story Series
Hurst, Daniel - The Body (ebook only) #2 Shocking Standalone Short Story Series
Hurst Daniel - He's My Man (ebook only) #3 Shocking Standalone Short Story Series
Jacobs, Alina - Peppermint and Poison #4 Christmas in Harrogate
James, Ed - Cuts Both Ways #9 DI Rob Marshall
Kirk, JD - First Among the Dead - Constable Tyler Neish Novella
Kovach, Carla - Their Deadly Truth #18 Detective Gina Harte
Leather, Stephen - Recall: The Man Who Forgot Who He Was
Lynott, R K - Bury the Truth #1 DI Ryan Hale, Chesterfield, Derbys
Mark, David - After the Weeping #14 Detective Sergeant McAvoy of Humberside CID
Mason, Kelly - Poisoned in the Pavilion #7 Lady Ellen Investigates, 1920s
Masters, S R - The Drop
Menuhin, Karen Baugh - The Mystery of the Missing Man #16 Heathcliff Lennox Investigates
Mitchell, Dreda - Say Guilt and Innocence #4 Love and Hate ***
Organ, Emily - The Hyde Park Murder #11 Augusta Peel, 1920s
Penny, David - A Surfeit of Grief #5 Thomas Berrington, Ludlow, Tudor Era
Probyn, Jack - Noughts & Crosses #4 DI Stephanie Broadbent
Pugh, Hilary - Trouble at Sunny Dell #2 Proudfoot and Handy
Queen, Emily - A Case of Luck & Death #13 Mrs. Lillywhite, 1920s
Randle, V J - Seven Bodies
Rawlins, CM - Death in a Treehouse #9 Maeve Morgan, Scotland, 1920s
Reeves, S A - A Woman in the Weir #5 The Bookshop Mysteries
Rosenberg, Kenneth - Budapest is Burning #6 Nathan Grant
Saywack, Shiv - Death on the Thames #2 Alexandra Raven, 1950
Shapiro, Irina - The Invite
Simpson, Carla - Deadly Revenge #15 Angus Brodie and Mikaela Forsythe, Victorian London
Sinclair, Rob - Burning State #14 James Ryker
Skinner, P J - Poison Politics #11 Seacastle Mystery
Smith, Philip Anthony - The Silent Daughter
Speechley, Ruby - The Daughter You Left
Stratmann, Linda - Sherlock Holmes and the Widow's Key #10 Early Casebook of Sherlock Holmes
Strauss, Lee - Murder at the Maharaja's Courts #28 Ginger Gold, 1920s
Strike, Ella - The Twelve Lies of Christmas #4 Kitty Goring, 1920s
Sullivan, Tim - The Basket Case (ebook only) #3 DS Cross short story
Sutton, Ann - Murder Crashes the Christmas Wedding #14 Dodo Dorchester
Tallon, Emma - The Wife's Revenge #2 Capello Family
Unge, Christian - Blood Will Tell tr. George Goulding & Sarah De Senarclens #3 Dr Tekla Berg
Yarwood, Mark - And Then They Were Gone - DCI Peter Moone Novella
Yarwood-Lovett, Sarah - An Ambush of Tigers #7 Nell Ward
Zander-Howell, Peter - The Hospital Murders #5 David Adair,

New Releases - October and November 2025

2026-01-29T13:15:00.002+00:00

I'm still behind but here is what I've got on my database for October - November 2025. It's a bit patchy, but I have gathered a more complete set of data for December 2025, which will follow shortly.

Please note that, unless specifically mentioned, when a book has differing print and ebook release date, I use the print release date. Translators' names are included where known.

Further to my post about writers of colour and the Theakston Crime Novel of the Year, I have identified the writers of colour (that I know of) with a ***

Alderson, Jennifer S - Murder in the British Museum #2 Traveler's Tale of Murder
Alexander, Magda - A Murder in Trinity Lane #2 Lady Rosalynd and Wynterbourne
Alexander, Magda - The Case of the Stolen Christmas Angel (ebook only) #5 Kitty Worthington Cozy Capers
Alexander, Tasha - The Sisterhood #19 Lady Emily
Allan, Claire - People Don't Just Disappear
Atkinson, Heather - Fury
Baldwin, Ben - Code Dead #3 Sam Taylor
Beaton M C (with R W Green) - Sugar and Spite #36 Agatha Raisin, Retired PR person, Cotswolds
Bennett, S J - The Queen Who Came in from the Cold #5 The Queen
Binks, Millicent - Murder at the Scottish Ball #3 Opal Laplume
Brook, Lee - The Snow Globe Murders #24 West Yorkshire Crime
Brown, Benedict - Death on the Night Train to Verona #2 Lord Edgington Investigates Abroad
Brown, Benedict - The Alpine Christmas Mystery #3 Lord Edgington Investigates Abroad
Brown, Benedict - The Holly Village Murders #6 Marius Quin, 1920s
Cambridge, Colleen - Two Truths and a Murder #5 Phyllida Bright, housekeeper to Agatha Christie.
Cameron, Will - Murder at the Partick Bunhouse Café (ebook only) #4 DCI Mike Patterson
Chase, Clare - Mystery at Mistletoe Place #15 Eve Mallow, Saxford St Peter
Child, Lee and Andrew - Exit Strategy #30 Jack Reacher, ex MP, USA
Cleeves, Ann - The Killing Stones #9 Detective Jimmy Perez, Shetlands
Dawson, Mark - Exposure (ebook only) #10 Charlie Cooper
Dixon, Helena - Murder at Midwinter Farm #22 Miss Underhay
Ellis, Emmy - Recycle #45 Cardigan Estate
Ellis, Emmy - Rapine #46 Cardigan Estate
Ellis, Hannah - Artful Deceit #6 Lily Larkin
Enright, Robert - Night One - Sam Pope Novella
Ford, P F - The Scarecrow #1 The Nolan Cormac Files
Ford, P F - In the Beginning (ebook only) #1 Burnham Files
Ford, P F - A Body in the Forest #7 The West Wales Murder Mysteries
Forsyth, Frederick and Tony Kent - The Revenge of Odessa #2 Odessa
Gatward, David J - How Grimm Saved Christmas - DCI Harry Grimm Novella
Gatward, David J - Grave Omens #4 DI Gordy Haig
Giuliani, C P - The Man From Morocco #7 Tom Walsingham
Golden, Helen - A Husband is Hushed Up #2 Duchess of Stortford, 1890s
Greene, Morgan - The Carrier #4 Solomon Church
Greene, Morgan - The Widow #5 Solomon Church
Gustawsson, Johana - The Scars of Silence tr. David Warriner #2 Lidingö Mysteries
Hannah, Sophie - The Last Death of the Year: The New Hercule Poirot Mystery #6 Hercule Poirot and Inspector Edward Catchpool of Scotland Yard
Harper, Izzie - Murder at Bramhurst Chapel #1 Canterbury Mystery
Higgs, Steve - The Truth Will Out #3 DS Tony Heaton
Holland, Jane - The Spiritualist's Daughter #1 Savage and Cook, Victorian Era
Horst, Jorn Lier - The Lake tr. Anne Bruce #18 Chief Inspector William Wisting, Larvik
Hunter, Evie - Dirty Secrets #3 Frenchurch Falls
James, Ed - Our Debts to the Past #8 DI Rob Marshall
James, Peter - The Hawk Is Dead #22 Detective Superintendent Roy Grace, Brighton
Johnston, Anthony - The Dog Sitter Detective's Christmas Tail #4 Gwinny Tuffel, Dog sitter
Jonasson, Ragnar - Fadeout tr. Larissa Kyzer- Ari Thor prequel (novella)
Kelly, Vanessa - Murder at Donwell Abbey #2 Emma Knightley
Khan, Vaseem - Quantum of Menace ***
Kirk, JD - The Woman Downstairs
Lindqvist, John Ajvide - The Writing in the Water tr. Michael Meigs #1 Bloodstorm
Maslen, Andy - Goodbye Aziz (ebook only) - Novella
McDermid, Val - Silent Bones #8 Karen Pirie
McEwan, Lynne - The Winter Dead #6 DI Shona Oliver, Dumfries
McKenna, Clara - Murder at Cottonwood Creek #7 Stella and Lyndy, 1905
Menuhin, Karen Baugh - The Murder of Viscount Montcrief #15 Heathcliff Lennox Investigates
Middleton, Jo - Not Another Bloody Christmas #2 Anna
Mitchell, Dreda Say - Secrets and Lies #3 Love and Hate ***
Morris M S - The Raven's Call #10 DCI Tom Raven
Mukherjee, Abir - The Burning Grounds #6 Captain Sam Wyndham, Calcutta, 1919 ***
Pine, Alex - Cold Blooded Killer #6 DI James Walker, Cumbria
Pugh, Hilary - Buried in the Brambles #1 Proudfoot and Handy
Rämö, Satu - The Shadow of the Northern Lights tr. Kristian London #3 Detective Hildur Rúnarsdottir, West Coast of Iceland
Rawlins, CM - Death in a Red Suit #8 Maeve Morgan, Scotland, 1920s
Richards, J J - The Castle #5 DCI Walker, Lancashire
Richards, S J - Behind the Ivy #10 Ex-DCI Luke Sackville
Rose, Alex - The Threat
Russell, Alan - The Dead Detective
Sandler, Rosie - Murder Bears Fruit #4 The Gardener Mysteries
Scarr, Louisa - Broken House #3 PC Lucy Halliday
Sigurdardottir, Lilja - Black as Death tr. Lorenza Garcia #5 Arora
Sigurdardottir, Yrsa - The Wake tr. Victoria Cribb #2 Policeman Týr and forensic pathologist Iðunn
Speechley, Ruby - Stolen
Sten, Viveca - Hidden in Memories tr. Marlaine Delargy #3 The Åre Murders
Stone, Alex - The Missing Boyfriend
Tuomainen, Antti - The Winter Job tr. David Hackston
Ward, Sarah - The Death Lesson #4 Mallory Dawson, Wales
Watson, Sue - Wanting Daisy Dead
Wilder, L G - Operation Mantis #2 Max Voronin
Williams, Lana - The Cursed Divination #5 Field & Greystone
Wood, Michael - Worse Than Murder #13 DCI Matilda Darke

The Petrona Award 2026 - Submissions welcome

2026-01-27T11:30:00.001+00:00

The Petrona Award 2026 has now opened for submissions. If you have an eligible title and have not yet heard from me then please leave a comment below and I'll be in touch.

Eligibility

To be eligible for the 2026 Petrona Award the following rules apply to all submissions:

The Award is for adult fiction only.

The submission must be in translation and published in English in the UK during the preceding calendar year ie 1 January – 31 December 2025.

The author of the submission must either be born in Scandinavia* or the submission must be set in Scandinavia*.

The submission must have been published in its original language after 1999.

(E-books that meet the above criteria may be considered at the judges’ discretion (does not include self-published titles))

*in this instance taken to be Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden.

Publishers must send a copy of the submission to each of the judges and the administrator.
More than one submission per author can be made.
There is no fee for entering a submission for the Petrona.
All submissions must be received by 6 March 2026.
The publisher agrees to receive the trophy on behalf of the winning author and to arrange for subsequent delivery to the winning author. (new for 2026)

Favourites of 2025

2026-01-13T14:56:00.001+00:00

A belated welcome to the blog in 2026. As you can see from my Goodreads montage below I did not have a great reading year in 2025, in terms of quantity. As I've alluded to, circumstances at home have not been conducive to reading, and so I turned to children's books in the main to keep me going. I'm hoping this year will see a return to form!

What I have been enjoying enormously are the British Library Crime Classics. Three of my top reads were their reissues of Cat and Mouse by Christianna Brand, The Ten Teacups by Carter Dickson and very recently Death in Ambush by Susan Gilruth (I hope we see more of hers reprinted).

Another top read (listen) was A Death in Damonds by S J Bennett read by Samantha Bond. I'm only a couple of weeks away from getting the next book on the series via the library's Borrowbox app.

It's a long way off but I'm really looking forward to the new Marple story by Lucy Foley: Murder at the Grand Alpine Hotel.

Also, please note, the Petrona 2026 will be opening for business shortly.

Euro Crime's read-in-2025

Eurocrime's favorite books »

New Releases - August and September 2025

2025-11-16T15:18:00.002+00:00

I've got behind again so in an effort to [begin the] catch-up here is what I've got on my database for August to September.

Please note that, unless specifically mentioned, when a book has differing print and ebook release date, I use the print release date. Translators' names are included where known.

Further to my post about writers of colour and the Theakston Crime Novel of the Year, I have identified the writers of colour (that I know of) with a ***

Anthology - Birds, Strangers and Psychos (ed. Maxim Jakubowski)
Anthology - CrimeFest: Leaving the Scene (ed. Adrian Muller)
Anthology - A Right Cozy Historical Crime (ed. Wendy H Jones)
Addison, Margaret - A Death in Kingsley Square #13 Rose Simpson
Archer, Jeffrey - End Game #8 Detective Chief Inspector William Warwick
Armitage, Richard - The Cut
Atkinson, Heather - Twisted (ebook only) #7 Blagger's Code
Austin, Stephanie - How to Get Murdered in Devon #9 Juno Browne
Banville, John - Venetian Vespers
Barnett, Tam - How to Read a Killer's Mind
Barrettt, Andrew - The Colour of Fury #4 DS Regan Carter
Baskerville, B - Dark Rock #1 Spencer Bly
Braithwaite, Oyinkan - Cursed Daughters ***
Bright, Verity - Murder at the Royal Palace #23 Lady Eleanor Swift, 1920s
Britton, Anna - Left in the Ashes #3 Detectives Martin & Stern
Clements, Rory - Evil in High Places
Craven, M W - The Final Vow #7 Washington Poe
Critchlow, Heather - Unknown #4 Cal Lovett Files
Dalgliesh, J M - Death at Neist Point #6 DI Duncan McAdam, Isle of Skye
Day, Becca - The Secret at Number 7
Day, Elizabeth - One of Us
Dean, John - Murder in the Pennines #12 Detective Chief Inspector Jack Harris
Delvey, Robyn - The Bait #2 Eve Wren
D’Silva, Renita - Two Perfect Couples ***
Dunn, Matt - The Armchair Detectives #1 The Armchair Detective Mysteries
Dunnett, Gregg - Deep Blue Lies
Edwards, Martin - Miss Winter in the Library with a Knife
Ellis, Emmy - Resent #43 Cardigan Estate
Ellis, Emmy - Rioted #44 Cardigan Estate
Ellis, Hannah - The Sunken Truth #5 Lily Larkin
Ellis, Joy - Black Notice #11 DI Rowan Jackman & DS Maria Evans, Lincolnshire
Ellis, Kate - Deadly Remains #29 Wesley Peterson (policeman) and Neil Watson (archaeologist), Tradmouth, Devon
Evans, Matthew J - One Dark Thought #4 Chichester Crime
Falco, Michael - Murder in an Italian Piazza #3 Bria Bartolucci, Positano, Italy
Fields, Helen - Watching You #3 Dr Connie Woolwine
Finch, Paul - The Island
Francis, Felix - Dark Horse
Frankland, Maria - The Wife I Was
Galbraith, Robert - The Hallmarked Man #8 Cormoran Strike
Gatland, Jack - Silver and the Sunday Cypher #1 Sebastian Silver
Gatward, David J - Bad Deeds #21 DCI Harry Grimm
Gayle, Katie - Murder in the Winter Woods #8 Julia Bird, Cotswolds
George, Elizabeth - A Slowly Dying Cause #22 Inspector Thomas Lynley & Sergeant Barbara Havers
Giles, Stewart - The Optician #35 DS Jason Smith
Gleason, Colleen - Lady Darling Inquires After a Killer #1 Lady Darling, Victorian Era
Greig, Andrew James - Murder of Crows #3 DI James Corstophine
Guðlaugsdóttir, Guðrún - A Lethal Legacy tr. Quentin Bates #5 Alma Jónsdóttir, Journalist
> Gunnis, Emily - A Child in the Storm Hawkswood, Sarah - Feast for the Ravens #13 Bradecote and Catchpoll, Worcestershire, C12
Herron, Mick - Clown Town #9 Slough House
Hodges, David - Deceiver on the Levels #15 DC Kate Hamblin
Hurst, Daniel - The Ex Who Came Back
Indridason, Arnaldur - The Quiet Mother tr. Philip Roughton #3 Detective Konrad
Jakeman, Jo - The Vanishing Act
Jenkins, Victoria - It's Me or Her
Johnson, Maureen and Jay Cooper - You Are the Detective: The Creeping Hand Murder
Jonasson, Ragnar - The Mysterious Case of the Missing Crime Writer tr. Victoria Cribb #2 Helgi
Kay, Adam - A Particularly Nasty Case
Lancaster, Julie - Remember Where You've Buried the Bodies
Leadbeater, David - The Diamond Hunters 37 Matt Drake
Lloyd, Catherine - Miss Morton and the Missing Heir #4 Miss Morton, Regency England
McCleave, Simon - The Abersoch Killings #21 DI Ruth Hunter
MacDonald, Dee - A Very Bookish Murder #3 Ally McKinley
McLean, Rachel and Joel Hames - The Port #7 Cumbria Crime
Mahadevan, Rupa - Nine Dolls ***
Marsons, Angela - Little Children #22 DI Kim Stone
Marston, Edward - Murder on the Great Northern Railway #24 Det. Insp Colbeck, Scotland Yard, mid 19th Century
Mason, Kelly - The Reckless Reporter #6 Lady Ellen Investigates, 1920s
Mead, Tom - The House at Devil's Neck #4 Joseph Spector
Michallon, Clémence - Our Last Resort
Middleton, Lia - What the Wife Knew
Mitchell, Caroline - The Family at No. 1
Morton, Mandy - Six Tails at Midnight #15 The No. 2 Feline Detective Agency
Mosse, Greg - The French Bookshop Murder #1 French Village Mystery
Nesbo, Jo - Wolf Hour tr. Robert Ferguson
Norek, Olivier - The Winter Warriors tr. Nick Caistor
Osman, Richard - The Impossible Fortune #5 The Thursday Murder Club
Parks, Adele - Our Beautiful Mess
Penrose, Andrea - Murder at Somerset House #9 Wrexford & Sloane
Perry, Tasmina - Return to Paradise (ebook only)
Phifer, Helen - Gone in the Night #16 Detective Morgan Brookes
Probyn, Jack - The Bogeyman #2 DI Stephanie Broadbent
Probyn, Jack - The Burning Man #3 DI Stephanie Broadbent
Ramunno, Oriana - Smoke in Berlin tr. Antony Shugaar #2 Hugo Fischer
Rhodes, Kate - Deadman's Pool #8 DI Ben Kitto
Rhodes, Tyler - The Campsite Cadaver #1 Max's Campsite Mystery
Rubin, Gareth - The Waterfall
Ryan, OMJ - The Therapy Room
Salter, Michelle - Murder in Trafalgar Square #1 Fairbanks and Flynn
Seddon, Holly - 59 Minutes
Simpson, Carla - Deadly Murder #14 Angus Brodie and Mikaela Forsythe, Victorian London
Smirnoff, Karin - The Girl with Ice in her Veins (Millennium VIII) tr. Sarah Death
Smith, Alexander McCall - In the Time of Five Pumpkins #26 Mma Ramotswe, PI, Botswana
Smith, Wilbur and Mark Chadbourn - House of Two Pharaohs #10 Ancient Egypt
Torrance, Gaynor - Death of the Eleven-Toed Man #2 Wye Valley Widows
Upson, Nicola - The Christmas Clue
Wallace, Freya - Dark Tides #2 DI Knox, Devon
Walter, B P - The Winter Visitor
Yokomizo, Seishi - Murder at the Black Cat Cafe tr. Bryan Karetnyk #7 Kosuke Kindaichi, PI
Young, Glenda - Deadly Dancing at the Seaview Hotel #4 Helen Dexter, Scarborough

The Petrona Award 2025 - Winner

2025-10-23T08:00:00.013+01:00

Winner of the Petrona Award 2025 announced

The winner of the Petrona Award 2025 for the Best Scandinavian Crime Novel of the Year is:

THE CLUES IN THE FJORD by Satu Rämö translated from the Finnish by Kristian London and published by Zaffre.

Satu Rämö will receive a trophy, and both the author and translator will receive a cash prize.

The Petrona team would like to thank David Hicks for his sponsorship of the Petrona Award.

The judges’ statement on THE CLUES IN THE FJORD:

THE CLUES IN THE FJORD is a sophisticated and atmospheric police procedural with a pleasingly unpredictable dark and twisty plot, set against the backdrop of the raw and untamed beauty of rural Iceland.

Providing the local detective with a Finnish side-kick allows the author to contrast Icelandic and Finnish traits, adding authenticity to an original story. The intriguing back-stories of both characters leave the reader anticipating the next instalments.

In the ever increasing Icelandic crime fiction scene, Satu Rämö has carved out a unique position between traditional mysteries and the darker end of crime fiction.

Statements from the winning author, translator and publisher:

Satu Rämö:

I am deeply honoured to receive this award, and I want to thank the jury and the organizers of the Petrona Award. I also want to acknowledge the incredible writers nominated alongside me. To be included among such talented writers is a reward in itself. Your words have inspired me a lot!

This award reminds me of a conversation I had with a reader, a ninety-five-year-old woman, who shared how the book, the first part in the Hildur crime book series, THE CLUES IN THE FJORD, made her feel. She told me that she knows she is getting very old but after reading this book, she hoped she would live long enough to read the sequel, to know what happened to the two little girls who got lost on their way from school. When the sequel came out, I sent it to her and called her after a few weeks. She was still as happy and joyful as last time, waiting for the next book in the series to come out...

It is the readers who keep stories alive. Thank you for reading. I want to thank you also, my British publisher Zaffre and my translator Kristian London. Great teamwork! Thank you jury from the bottom of my heart, this award means so much to me.

Kristian London:

When I first took on translating Satu Rämö’s THE CLUES IN THE FJORD, the book’s incredible success in Finland suggested it had a high chance of connecting with audiences abroad as well. I’m gratified to see this is the case. It has been a privilege to act as an intermediary between Rämö’s imagination and those of her English-speaking readers as they enter Hildur’s world of human quirks and foibles, familial traumas and inheritances. For me, the work’s slow power springs from its true protagonist: that isolated land in the North Atlantic that serves as the setting, and the terrain and culture and people we’re introduced to through an outsider’s keen eyes. Many thanks to the Petrona Award jury for this honor.

Kasim Mohammed (editor at Zaffre):

Being Satu's English-language publisher is a real honour. She has such an eye for crafting stories about real people, and a real heart to her writing that is hard to find these days. Bringing authors' dreams to life is a privilege and moments like this are wonderful to experience. To know Satu's work is resonating with so many readers, worldwide, brings the team here at Bonnier so much pride. Thank you to the Petrona Award jury for this honour - we will treasure this as we continue to publish Satu!

The judges

Jackie Farrant - creator of RAVEN CRIME READS and a bookseller for a major book chain in the UK.

Ewa Sherman - translator and writer, and blogger at NORDIC LIGHTHOUSE.

Sonja van der Westhuizen - book critic for print and online publications in the UK and South Africa, as well as a blogger at WEST WORDS REVIEWS.

Award administrator

Karen Meek – owner of the EURO CRIME blog and website.

Further information can be found on the Petrona Award website.

On social media, please use #PetronaAward25.

Petrona Award 2025 - Update

2025-10-14T11:24:00.000+01:00

With many apologies but due to unforeseen circumstances the winner of the Petrona Award 2025 will now be announced on 23 October 2025, rather than 16 October 2025.

Black History Month (UK)

2025-10-05T14:22:00.000+01:00

It's Black History Month here in the UK and these are some titles published in the UK in 2025 by writers of colour. I would love to extend this list so do please put any additional authors/titles in the comments.

Kia Abdullah - What Happens in the Dark
Tariq Ashkanani - The Midnight King
Nina Bhadreshwar - The Day of the Roaring
A A Chaudhuri - The School Gates
A A Dhand - The Chemist

Renita D’Silva - Two Perfect Couples

Vaseem Khan - The Girl In Cell A
Vaseem Khan - Quantum of Menace
Remi Kone - Innocent Guilt
Dorothy Koomson - Beach Hut 512 (audio/ebook only)
Dorothy Koomson - Give Him to Me

Rupa Mahadevan - Nine Dolls

Dreda Say Mitchell - Gone (with Ryan Carter)
Dreda Say Mitchell - Love and Hate
Abir Mukherjee - The Burning Grounds
Kingsley Pearson - Flat 401
Mel Pennant - A Murder for Miss Hortense
Paula Sutton - The Body in the Kitchen Garden

Blog Tour - A Lethal Legacy by Guðrún Guðlaugsdóttir tr. Quentin Bates

2025-09-26T09:00:00.040+01:00

Welcome to the latest stop on the blog tour for A Lethal Legacy by Guðrún Guðlaugsdóttir translated by Quentin Bates. A Lethal Legacy was published by Corylus Books on 20 September 2025 as both an ebook and in paperback.

A Lethal Legacy is the first book from Icelandic author Guðrún Guðlaugsdóttir to have been translated into English and I am very pleased today to be able to share the teaser extract below.

Blurb:

Nothing has changed at Bjargarlækur for as long as anyone can remember – so are moves to bring change to this remote farm in the Icelandic countryside a motive for murder?

Three elderly siblings have lived more or less peacefully in this isolated place their whole lives, until Brynjólfur is found dead in his own bed. Called on to help out at the farm, freelance journalist Alma is far from certain that the old man died a natural death. Determined establish the facts of the matter, she finds herself caught up in a vicious family feud.

Sisters Klara and Thórdís are unable to agree on the future of the farm, just as others with an interest in the place circle hungrily around them. Echoes of missed opportunities, lost love and age-old crimes surface as a reckoning takes a bitter toll on those left behind – and Alma struggles to get to the truth.

Extract

The sinister side to this was that from whatever angle you were to look at this, Brynjólfur could hardly have taken his own life. It was far more likely that someone else had routed carbon monoxide into his room. Who could have done it, and why? And how?

She left the room. The house was quiet. At this moment she would have given anything to have had Sveinbjörg there. Instead, she would have to cope with all this on her own, maybe even accept that she could be in danger herself.

Her thoughts went to the incident on the stairs. Perhaps it wasn’t her imagination that she had been pushed to fall down the stairs? Who could have done that? It couldn’t have been Klara, who was still seated in the chair when she went back to her room. Could she have got to her feet, despite her condition, and followed her? Was she maybe not as ill as she made out?

Thórdís was a more likely perpetrator. The floors in the attic didn’t creak, only the stairs. Or could someone have been in Thórdís’s room, and made their way out unseen? But then wouldn’t she have heard the stairs creak? She recalled that the stairs hadn’t creaked as loudly when she went down after speaking to Klara. She'd assumed that this was due to the damp. Maybe someone had managed to sneak downstairs? Or was Bjargarlækur haunted after all?

Then there was the other aspect of this. Why would someone at the farm or in the district wish to do her harm? At that point she had no inkling that Brynjólfur could have been murdered. Had she blurted out something relevant? Or had she said anything that could turn out badly for someone? What had she been told? That Thórdís dyed her hair and was Rósa’s friend. That Rósa was determined to get the farm. That Thorbjörn could be brewing moonshine in the workshop. None of this could conceivably be a motive for murder.

Alma recalled Gunnhildur mentioning having heard the sound of an engine from the workshop when she woke during the night. Had Brynjólfur’s Volvo been pushed out and another vehicle driven into the workshop during the night? If so, what car? Rósa’s car, or Thorbjörn’s? Or Jón’s? Birgir’s car had been seen down by the road, so could that have been driven into the workshop? And hadn’t Brynjólfur’s car always been kept in the workshop? Gunnhildur was supposed to be the one holding the key, but Alma had found the key locked away in Brynjólfur’s room. Did someone else have a key to the Volvo, had started it up and channelled the exhaust up to Brynjólfur’s room? Was it a possibility that Brynjólfur hadn’t taken a sleeping pill, but had instead gone down to the workshop and started the car – and then gone upstairs to die? That was a very distant possibility. But then someone would have had to have hidden any traces the following morning. No, she decided. That last possibility was too far-fetched. He had taken his medication to help him sleep and Gunnhildur had watched him swallow his pill. Or what?

The footprints in the basement and the length of green hose came suddenly to mind. Did this have something to do with Thorbjörn’s moonshining, or had it been used for another purpose? Was that piece of hose anything to do with Thorbjörn?

That left the big question. Was there a murderer on the loose at Bjargarlækur?

---

Guðrún Guðlaugsdóttir trained in drama, and after having been on the stage she became a producer and later a reporter for Icelandic state broadcaster RÚV. She subsequently had a 25-year career as a journalist for daily newspaper Morgunblaðið, making a name for herself for the quality of her interviews with people from all walks of life.

Her literary output has been prodigious, having written biographies, books of interviews, collections of short stories and a book of verse, as well as the enduringly popular series of novels featuring the exploits of journalist Alma Jónsdóttir.

Guðrún lives in Kópavogur. She has no plans to retire, and is still writing when most people of her age are taking it easy.

Many thanks to Ewa, Quentin and Guðrún Guðlaugsdóttir for this extract and do please check out the rest of the stops =>

The Petrona Award 2025 - Shortlist

2025-09-18T08:00:00.060+01:00

From the Press Release, embargoed until Thursday 18 September 2025, 8am:

Outstanding crime fiction from Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden shortlisted for the 2025 Petrona Award

Seven impressive crime novels from Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden have been shortlisted for the 2025 Petrona Award for the Best Scandinavian Crime Novel of the Year. The shortlist is announced today, Thursday 18 September and is as follows:

Samuel Bjørk - Dead Island tr. Charlotte Barslund (Norway, Bantam)

Pascal Engman - The Widows tr. Neil Smith (Sweden, Legend Press)

Malin Persson Giolito - Deliver Me tr. Rachel Willson-Broyles (Sweden, Simon & Schuster)

Óskar Guðmundsson - The Dancer tr. Quentin Bates (Iceland, Corylus Books)

Aslak Nore - The Sea Cemetery tr. Deborah Dawkin (Norway, MacLehose Press)

Satu Rämö - The Clues in the Fjord tr. Kristian London (Finland, Zaffre)

Gunnar Staalesen - Pursued by Death tr. Don Bartlett (Norway, Orenda Books)

The winning title will be announced on 16 October 2025.

The Petrona Award is open to crime fiction in translation, either written by a Scandinavian author or set in Scandinavia, and published in the UK in the previous calendar year.

The Petrona team would like to thank our sponsor, David Hicks, for his generous support of the Petrona Award.

The judges’ comments on the shortlist:

There were 31 entries for the 2025 Petrona Award from six countries (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland). This year’s shortlist sees Norway represented with three novels, Sweden with two and Finland and Iceland with one novel each. The judges selected the shortlist from a strong pool of candidates with the seven shortlisted authors including three previous Petrona Award winners: Pascal Engman, Malin Persson Giolito and Gunnar Staalesen.

As ever, we are extremely grateful to the translators whose expertise and skill have allowed readers to access these outstanding examples of Scandinavian crime fiction, and to the publishers who continue to champion and support translated fiction.

The judges’ comments on each of the shortlisted titles:

Samuel Bjørk - DEAD ISLAND translated by Charlotte Barslund (Norway, Bantam)

DEAD ISLAND, the fifth instalment in the Mia Krüger and Holger Munch series, sees the duo away from their stomping grounds in Oslo, pondering their future. Both police investigators are dealing with separate professional and personal traumas yet cannot escape the violent events and aftermath of those, on the picturesque island of Hitra in northern Norway. While Mia re-examines a cold case of a missing boy, a teenage girl is brutally murdered. Convinced that the cases are connected, she digs deep into the individual stories of people living behind the sheen of a respectable community. The idyllic surface crumbles to show deceit, danger and darkness as the plot delves into psychological and cunning ways of using violence. A focus on personal dynamics and processing the nuanced information creates tension and a gripping story with empathy and depth, affecting everyone in the vicinity of the crimes.

Pascal Engman - THE WIDOWS translated by Neil Smith (Sweden, Legend Press)

In THE WIDOWS, two bodies are discovered in a Stockholm park, one a policeman and the other an unidentified young woman. With the police believing the woman to be nothing more than unfortunate collateral damage, they focus on the murder of the police officer. But Detective Vanessa Frank takes a different approach and her investigation turns out to be more personal than she could have imagined. Frank must tread carefully as she moves into the world of terrorist networks operating deep within the shadows, where society's fears make her job more chaotic and dangerous than ever. A previous winner of the Petrona Award with FEMICIDE, Pascal Engman once again produces a high-octane thriller which impressed the judges with its complex plotting, nerve wracking tension and strong characterisation throughout.

Malin Persson Giolito - DELIVER ME translated by Rachel Willson-Broyles (Sweden, Simon & Schuster)

DELIVER ME is a harrowing crime thriller that explores the devastating impact of gang violence and class differences on two childhood friends in suburban Stockholm. The story centres on Billy and Dogge, two boys from different backgrounds whose friendship is tested by the allure of gang activity. Recruited as drug runners, their lives spiral out of control, leading to a tragic confrontation.

The novel is a gritty and uncompromising look at a topical social problems such as restrictive immigration policies, corrupt law enforcement, and economic inequality. Giolito’s account of the boys lives and circumstances is so convincing it might as well have been a true account. A lawyer herself, she poses questions about justice for children who commit crimes in a society that has failed to protect them. DELIVER ME is a powerful, yet unsettling, examination of the dark underbelly of suburban Stockholm and the real victims of gang violence and social inequality.

Óskar Guðmundsson - THE DANCER translated by Quentin Bates (Iceland, Corylus Books)

Tony is a young man who has always been on the losing side in life. He was brought up by his troubled, alcoholic mother who had a past of her own as a talented ballerina, until a life-changing accident brought her dreams to a sudden end. As her own ambitions for fame and success were crushed, she used cruel and brutal methods to project them onto her young son - with devastating consequences. There's no doubt that a body found on Reykjavik's Oeskjuhlid hillside has been there for a long time and when the case is handed to veteran detective Valdimar, and his new partner Ylfa, it's not long before it's clear a vicious killer is on the loose - and very little about the case is what it appears to be at first glance. THE DANCER is an incredibly dark and uncompromising crime read, that plays with the reader’s perceptions from the outset, alternating between empathy and horror, balanced out by the enjoyable repartee between the police protagonists.

Aslak Nore - THE SEA CEMETERY translated by Deborah Dawkin (Norway, MacLehose Press)

THE SEA CEMETERY is a suspenseful literary thriller and complex family saga moving through Norway’s recent history, its links to Europe and the Middle East, and questioning individual choices made by the main characters. The universal human issues are hidden just below the surface of the dramatic story about trust, legacy and control, and consequences of untruths. Set in the dramatic harsh Norwegian natural beauty and inspired by a devastating maritime disaster during World War II, it follows the fate of two warring branches of the powerful Falck dynasty. The death of its writer matriarch, intestate, and the secrecy surrounding her manuscript confiscated by the secret police decades earlier, sets in motion an inheritance dispute between families in Oslo and Bergen. Private investigation into the affairs, connections and conflicts between those in power are painted with astute detail, making this ambitious novel both a historical and contemporary tale with strong message about Norwegian values and delivering a thrilling mix of espionage, tension and seduction.

Satu Rämö - THE CLUES IN THE FJORD translated by Kristian London (Finland, Zaffre)

Hildur Rúnarsdottir is the only police detective working on the isolated west coast of Iceland. She is desperate to forget her traumatic past by burying herself in her cases alongside her new trainee, Jakob Johanson. Jakob's life has its own complications however, and it soon becomes clear that neither can run from their pasts for long. When a local man is found with his throat slit, underneath an avalanche that has buried much of the evidence, Hildur and Jakob must set their own problems aside and unravel the dark secrets to expose a killer. THE CLUES IN THE FJORD is a sophisticated and atmospheric police procedural with a pleasingly unpredictable dark and twisty plot, set against the backdrop of the raw and untamed beauty of rural Iceland.

Gunnar Staalesen - PURSUED BY DEATH translated by Don Bartlett (Norway, Orenda Books)

PURSUED BY DEATH, the latest in the long-running Varg Veum series, is a hard-boiled noir that tackles contemporary social issues in Norway. The plot begins when private investigator Varg Veum reads a newspaper article about the missing Jonas Kleiva, a man he recognises as the driver of a camper van he noticed at a bus stop. Kleiva disappeared after attending a demonstration in Solvik against the powerful salmon-farming corporation, Sunfjord Salmon. This case leads Veum to investigate not only the missing protestor but also a cold case from the past that was originally dismissed by the police.

The novel, told through a first-person narrative, showcases Veum's wry, deadpan observations. Staalesen consistently creates fully fleshed-out, vibrant, and lively characters, with Veum standing out as an unforgettable protagonist. The story is set against a compressed history of Norway's salmon-farming industry, while also providing a critical look at the environmental and social conflicts surrounding it. Staalesen, again, masterfully blends a traditional detective story with a commentary on modern issues, making the novel a relevant, topical, and thoroughly engaging read.

The judges

Jackie Farrant - creator of RAVEN CRIME READS and a bookseller for a major book chain in the UK.

Ewa Sherman - translator and writer, and blogger at NORDIC LIGHTHOUSE.

Sonja van der Westhuizen - book critic for print and online publications in the UK and South Africa, as well as a blogger at WEST WORDS REVIEWS.

Award administrator

Karen Meek – owner of the EURO CRIME blog and website.

Further information can be found on the Petrona Award website.

On social media, please use #PetronaAward25.

The Petrona Award 2025 - Longlist

2025-08-14T08:00:00.028+01:00

From the press release which was embargoed until 8.00am today:

Petrona Award 2025 - Longlist

OUTSTANDING CRIME FICTION FROM FINLAND, ICELAND, NORWAY, AND SWEDEN LONGLISTED FOR THE 2025 PETRONA AWARD

Twelve crime novels from Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden have made the longlist for the 2025 Petrona Award for the Best Scandinavian Crime Novel of the Year.

They are:

Samuel Bjørk - Dead Island tr. Charlotte Barslund (Norway, Bantam)
Stella Blómkvist - Murder Under the Midnight Sun tr. Quentin Bates (Iceland, Corylus Books)
Pascal Engman - The Widows tr. Neil Smith (Sweden, Legend Press)
Malin Persson Giolito - Deliver Me tr. Rachel Willson-Broyles (Sweden, Simon & Schuster)
Óskar Guðmundsson - The Dancer tr. Quentin Bates (Iceland, Corylus Books)
Jørn Lier Horst and Thomas Enger - Victim tr. Megan E Turney (Norway, Orenda Books)
Jo Nesbo - Blood Ties tr. Robert Ferguson (Norway, Harvill Secker)
Aslak Nore - The Sea Cemetery tr. Deborah Dawkin (Norway, MacLehose Press)
Sólveig Pálsdóttir - Shrouded tr. Quentin Bates (Iceland, Corylus Books)
Satu Rämö - The Clues in the Fjord tr. Kristian London (Finland, Zaffre)
Max Seeck - Ghost Island tr. Kristian London (Finland, Mountain Leopard Press)
Gunnar Staalesen - Pursued by Death tr. Don Bartlett (Norway, Orenda Books)

The longlist contains a mix of newer and more established authors including previous Petrona Award winners Pascal Engman, Malin Persson Giolito, Jørn Lier Horst, and Gunnar Staalesen.

Both large and small publishers are represented on the longlist, with Corylus Books having an impressive three entries. The breakdown by country is Norway (5), Iceland (3), Finland (2) and Sweden (2).

The shortlist will be announced on 18 September 2025.

The Petrona Award 2025 judging panel comprises Jackie Farrant, the creator of RAVEN CRIME READS and a bookseller for a major book chain in the UK, Ewa Sherman, translator and writer, and blogger at NORDIC LIGHTHOUSE, and Sonja van der Westhuizen, a book critic for print and online publications in the UK and South Africa, as well as a blogger at WEST WORDS REVIEWS.

The Award administrator is Karen Meek, owner of the EURO CRIME blog and website.

The Petrona team would like to thank our sponsor, David Hicks, for his continuing support of the Petrona Award.

The Petrona Award was established to celebrate the work of Maxine Clarke, one of the first online crime fiction reviewers and bloggers, who died in December 2012. Maxine, whose online persona and blog was called Petrona, was passionate about translated crime fiction but in particular that from the Scandinavian countries.

The award is open to crime fiction in translation, either written by a Scandinavian author or set in Scandinavia and published in the UK in the previous calendar year.

More information on the history of the Award and previous winners can be found at the Petrona Award website.

Award News: Petrona Award Entries 2025

2025-07-28T15:26:00.001+01:00

I am pleased to announce that 31 titles have been entered by the publishers for the 2025 Petrona Award for the Best Scandinavian Crime Novel of the Year.

The Longlist will be announced in August.

The rules for eligibility are:

The submission must be in translation and published in English in the UK during the preceding calendar year ie 1 January – 31 December 2024.
The author of the submission must either be born in Scandinavia* or the submission must be set in Scandinavia*.
The submission must have been published in its original language after 1999.

(E-books that meet the above criteria may be considered at the judges’ discretion (does not include self-published titles))
*in this instance taken to be Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden.

More details about the award and the history behind it can be found on the Petrona Award website. The winner of the 2024 Award was Dead Men Dancing by Jógvan Isaksen translated from Faroese by Marita Thomsen and published by Norvik Press.

The award is sponsored by David Hicks.

Entries

[15 titles are by Female authors and 14 by Male plus 1 team of Female and Male authors and 1 team of 2 Male authors. There are 21 translators (13 Female (18 titles), 8 Male (13 titles)) and 6 countries are represented (9 Norway, 8 Sweden, 7 Iceland, 4 Finland, 2 Denmark, and 1 Switzerland).]

Jussi Adler-Olsen - Locked In tr. Caroline Waight (M, Denmark, Quercus)
Alex Ahndoril - I Will Find The Key tr. Alice Menzies (M&F, Sweden, Zaffre)
Tove Alsterdal - Deep Harbour tr. Alice Menzies (F, Sweden, Faber & Faber)

Samuel Bjork - Dead Island tr. Charlotte Barslund (M, Norway, Bantam)
Stella Blómkvist - Murder Under the Midnight Sun tr. Quentin Bates (F, Iceland, Corylus Books)
Grethe Bøe - Mayday tr. Charlotte Barslund (F, Norway, Mountain Leopard Press)

Anki Edvinsson - The Mermaid tr. Paul Norlen (F, Sweden, Thomas & Mercer)
Sigge Eklund - The Group tr. Rachel Willson-Broyles (M, Sweden, Bonnier/Ithaka Press)
Pascal Engman - The Widows tr. Neil Smith (M, Sweden, Legend Press)

Helene Flood - The Widow tr. Alison McCullough (F, Norway, MacLehose Press)

Malin Persson Giolito - Deliver Me tr. Rachel Willson-Broyles (F, Sweden, Simon & Schuster)
Oskar Gudmundsson - The Dancer tr. Quentin Bates (M, Iceland, Corylus Books)

Anne Mette Hancock - Ruthless tr. Tara Chace (F, Denmark, Swift Press)
Jorn Lier Horst - The Traitor tr. Anne Bruce (M, Norway, Michael Joseph)
Jorn Lier Horst & Thomas Enger - Victim tr. Megan E Turney (M&M, Norway, Orenda Books)

Ragnar Jonasson - Death at the Sanatorium tr. Victoria Cribb (M, Iceland, Michael Joseph)

Martta Kaukonen - Follow the Butterfly tr. David Hackston (F, Finland, Pushkin Vertigo)

Camilla Lackberg - The Cuckoo tr. Ian Giles (F, Sweden, HarperCollins)
David Lagercrantz - Fatal Gambit tr. Ian Giles (M, Sweden, MacLehose Press)

Jo Nesbo - Blood Ties tr. Robert Ferguson (M, Norway, Harvill Secker)
Aslak Nore - The Sea Cemetery tr. Deborah Dawkin (M, Norway, MacLehose Press)

Sólveig Pálsdóttir - Shrouded tr. Quentin Bates (F, Iceland, Corylus Books)

Satu Rämö - The Clues in the Fjord tr. Kristian London (F, Finland, Zaffre)
Agnes Ravatn - The Guests tr. Rosie Hedger (F, Norway, Orenda Books)

Joachim B Schmidt - Kalmann and the Sleeping Mountain tr. Jamie Lee Searle (M, Switzerland, Bitter Lemon Press)
Max Seeck - Ghost Island tr. Kristian London (M, Finland, Mountain Leopard Press)
Lilja Sigurdardottir - Dark as Night tr. Lorenza Garcia (F, Iceland, Orenda Books)
Yrsa Sigurdardottir - Can't Run, Can't Hide tr. Victoria Cribb (F, Iceland, Hodder & Stoughton)
Gunnar Staalesen - Pursued by Death tr. Don Bartlett (M, Norway, Orenda Books)

Antti Tuomainen - The Burning Stones tr. David Hackston (M, Finland, Orenda Books)

Eva Björg Ægisdóttir - Boys Who Hurt tr. Victoria Cribb (F, Iceland, Orenda Books)

Book covers courtesy of Goodreads:

Petrona 2025 - Entries

Cover Theme - Keyholes II

2025-07-19T09:30:00.001+01:00

Revisiting the recent 'Keyhole' theme.

Further posts on cover themes can be found here.

New Releases - July 2025

2025-07-18T15:27:00.000+01:00

It's been a while since I've been even vaguely up to date but I'm pleased to share what I have for July 2025 (99 titles) in July! Future releases can be found on the Euro Crime website.

This is still the case though we are now waiting for an operation date - things have been a bit up in the air as my OH was knocked off his bike in early February. He is ok but not back at work yet and may need an operation. So our routines have been changed and I've not been reading as much etc.

Please note that, unless specifically mentioned, when a book has differing print and ebook release date, I use the print release date. Translators' names are included where known.

Further to my post about writers of colour and the 2024 Theakston Crime Novel of the Year, I have identified the writers of colour (that I know of) with a ***.

• Ægisdóttir, Eva Björg - Home Before Dark tr. Victoria Cribb
• Arlidge, M J - Into the Fire #13 Helen Grace, Southampton Police
• Blake, Matthew - A Murder in Paris
• Blómkvist, Stella - Murder Tide tr. Quentin Bates #9 Stella Blómkvist, Lawyer
• Calvey, Linda - Hope
• Candlish, Louise - A Neighbour's Guide to Murder
• Cartmel, Andrew - Like a Bullet #3 Cordelia, paperback sleuth
• Cartwright, Jack - Deadly Little Secret #16 Wild Fens Murder Mystery
• Cavanagh, Steve - Two Kinds of Stranger #9 Eddie Flynn, USA
• Childs, Jill - Daughter, Missing
• Clarke, Sarah - Someone in the Water
• Coles, Catherine - The Case in the Vicarage Gardens (ebook only) #1 Lady Matilda Investigates
• Comley, M A - The Killing Route (ebook only) #28 DI Sara Ramsey
• Corcoran, Caroline - Tiny Daggers
• Douglas, Louise - The Emerald Shawl
• Dylan, Rhys - A Word With the Dead (ebook only) #17 DCI Evan Warlow
• Edwards, Mark - The Wasp Trap
• Eldridge, Jim - Murder at the Colosseum #11 Former Detective Inspector Daniel Wilson
• Ellis, Emmy - Refurb (ebook only) #42 Cardigan Estate
• Ellis, J R - The Otley Murders #11 Detective Chief Inspector Oldroyd, Yorkshire
• Ezra, Mark - A Sting in Her Tale
• Frankland, Maria - Their Last Days of Summer (ebook only)
• Gatland, Jack - Blood Ridge #2 Liam Harper
• Gilbert, Sian - I Did Warn Her
• Godden, Gillian - Turf War #3 Silvas
• Grand, Mary - A Halloween Murder #4 Isle of Wight Killings
• Greene, Morgan - The Blood We Share
• Grimes, Martha - The Red Queen #26 Richard Jury
• Hall, Lisa - The Strange Disappearance of Kitty Fox #3 Hotel Hollywood Mysteries
• Halsall, Rona - The Getaway
• Hunter, Evie - Dirty Games #2 Frenchurch Falls
• Hurst, Daniel - The Couple Before Us
• Isaka, Kotaro - Seesaw Monster tr. Sam Malissa - Novella collection
• Jackson, Holly - Not Quite Dead Yet
• Jecks, Michael - The Piazza Murders #3 Nick Morris
• Jewell, Lisa - Don't Let Him In
• Jones, Philip Gwynne - The Magus of Sicily
• Jordan, G R - The Silent War #46 Highlands and Islands
• Kaya, Kerry - Dishonour #3 Carters: Next Generation
• Keogh, Valerie - The Writer
• Kepler, Lars - The Sleepwalker tr. ??? #10 DI Joona Linna, Stockholm
• Kirk, JD - A Rock and a Hard Place #21 DCI Logan
• Koomson, Dorothy - Beach Hut 512 (audio/ebook only) Short Story ***
• La Plante, Lynda - The Scene of the Crime #1 Jessica Russell, CSI
• Lane, Anna Sayburn - Murder on the White Cliffs #6 Marjorie, 1920s
• Leather, Stephen - Last Chance #22 Dan Shepherd, SAS trooper turned undercover cop
• Lee, M J - What the Dark Whispers #11 DI Ridpath
• Lindstein, Mariette - Children of Fog Island tr. ??? #3 The Cult on Fog Island Trilogy
• Lloyd, Frances - The Village Choir Killer #13 Detective Inspector Jack Dawes
• Lodge, Gytha - Dead to Me
• Lowe, Ali - The Private Island
• Lynes, S E - Every Mother's Nightmare
• McDermott, Andy - The Shroud Of Hades #18 Archaeologist Nina Wilde & ex-SAS bodyguard Eddie Chase
• McEvoy, Lesley - The Corpse Light #5 Dr Jo McCready
• McGovern, Steph - Deadline
• McIlvanney, Liam - The Good Father
• McKenzie, Sophie - Burn This

• McLean, Rachel - The Poole Harbour Murders #10 DCI Lesley Clarke, Dorset
• McLean, Rachel with Millie Ravensworth - A Brush with Death #2 The Lyme Regis Women's Swimming Club
• Mancini, Ruth - The Day I Lost You
• Mangos, Louise - The Girl in the Doorway
• Maslen, Andy - Edged Weapon (ebook only) #16 Gabriel Wolfe
• Mina, Denise - The Good Liar
• Mitchell, Dreda - Say Love and Hate #1 Love and Hate ***
• Murray, Judy - Game, Set & Murder
• Nagendra, Harini - Into the Leopard's Den #4 The Bangalore Detectives Club, 1920s ***
• Noteboom, Lex - The Man with a Thousand Faces tr. Ida Blom
• Oliver, Kelly - The Case of the Body on the Orient Express #2 Detection Club
• Organ, Emily - The Poison Puzzle #2 Emma Langley, Victorian Era
• Parks, Alan - Gunner #1 Joseph Gunner
• Pearse, Lesley - The Girl with the Suitcase
• Pitt, Leah - The Funfair
• Potzsch, Oliver - The Gravedigger's Almanac tr. Lisa Reinhardt
• Probyn, Jack - The Voodoo Killer (ebook only) #1 DI Stephanie Broadbent
• Richell, Hannah - One Dark Night
• Ross, L J - Berwick #24 DCI Ryan
• Ryder, Jess - The Island Escape
• Shapiro, Irina - Murder on Platform Four #5 Tate and Bell
• Shaw, William - The Red Shore #1 DS Eden Driscoll, Teignmouth
• Shepherd-Robinson, Laura - The Art of a Lie
• Silva, Daniel - An Inside Job #25 Gabriel Allon
• Skelton, Douglas - The Other Side of Fear #7 Rebecca Connolly
• Slater, Alice - Let the Bad Times Roll
• Smith, Martin Cruz - Hotel Ukraine #11 Chief Investigator Arkady Renko, Moscow RIP
• Smith, Sally - A Case of Life and Limb and Murder #2 Gabriel Ward, Barrister, 1901

• Stone, Lisa - The Forever House
• Sutton, Paula - The Body in the Kitchen Garden #2 Hill House Vintage Murder Mysteries ***
• Sweet, Matthew - Bookish
• Tremayne, Peter - Grave of the Lawgiver #34 Sister Fidelma
• Trinchieri, Camilla - Murder in Pitigliano #5 Nico Doyle, Chianti, Italy
• Vassell, Charlotte - A Deadly Inheritance #3 Detective Inspector Caius Beauchamp
• Walter, B P - The Treehouse
• Ware, Ruth - The Woman in Suite 11 #2 Lo Blacklock
• Watson, Katy - A Deadly Night at the Theatre #5 Dahlia Lively
• Weaver, Ashley - One Final Turn #5 Electra McDonnell
• Westerson, Jeri - The Misplaced Physician #3 An Irregular Detective, Victorian London
• Weston, Kate - How to Make a Killing
• Wilkinson, Diana - The Girl on the Balcony
• Wood, Trevor - The Inside Man #2 DCI Jack Parker

Blog Tour - Murder Tide by Stella Blómkvist tr. Quentin Bates

2025-07-08T09:00:00.065+01:00

Welcome to the latest stop on the blog tour for Murder Tide by Stella Blómkvist translated by Quentin Bates. Murder Tide was published by Corylus Books on 4 July 2025 as an ebook with the paperback to follow on 1 August 2025.

Murder Tide is the third book from mysterious* Icelandic author Stella Blómkvist to be translated into English and I am very pleased today to be able to share a teaser extract:

One of the tough guys steps in front of me on the pavement.

‘You’re coming with us,’ he says.

‘Says who?’

‘Oddgeir wants to meet you.’

‘Our car’s right there,’ the other hardnut says, taking my arm.

I ask for names and numbers, but they pay no attention.

‘Get your hands off me,’ I tell him, ice-cold.

‘We don’t want any trouble.’

‘You refuse to show any identification and try to manhandle me,’ I snap back. ‘That’s an offence and I’ll have you in court.’

‘Oddgeir’s waiting for you.’

I get in the car with them.

They drive off and accompany me to Oddgeir’s office where he appears to be in a meeting with two of his subordinates.

‘Are you off your head?’ I demand.

‘You have a memory stick that I suspect contains information relating to a serious crime,’ he replies, looking down his nose at me.

‘Fucking bullshit.’

‘Give me the stick.’

‘Or what?’

‘Or I’ll have one of my men search through your pockets.’

‘You’re threatening me with being physically manhandled a second time by your men?’

‘As you should know better than anyone, it’s a punishable offence to obstruct the work of the police in investigating a serious crime.’

‘I haven’t obstructed your work,’ I reply. ‘But you have obstructed my legal work.’

‘Where’s the memory stick?’

I shrug.

Oddgeir nods to his muscular sidekicks. They dip their fingers into the pockets of my leather jacket – and they find the memory stick.

‘Gummi! Take a look at this right away!’ he orders one of his men.

The man snatches up the memory stick and rushes from the room.

‘You’re in serious trouble,’ Oddgeir says. ‘You could make it a lot better by handing over the encryption key.’

‘What key?’

‘I know Sævar wrote down the key for you.’

‘You’re telling me you know what was said in a confidential conversation between myself and my client at Litla Hraun? If that’s the case, then that’s another offence to add to the list.’

Gummi opens Oddgeir’s office door. He stands there in the doorway and looks awkwardly at his boss.

‘What?’

‘There are no encrypted files on this memory stick.’

‘What, then?’

‘Just ordinary video files.’

‘I don’t believe it.’

Gummi goes over to his boss’s desk, plugs in the memory stick and opens it.

Queen appear on the screen.

‘We are the champions,’ Freddie Mercury sings with all his heart, his voice filling the drug squad office.

Oddgeir turns pale. Then his face flushes deep red.

‘I knew all along that Sævar was messing with us,’ he says.

‘Not at all,’ I say coldly.

‘There’s no other explanation.’

‘Yes, there is and it’s very simple. I know your dirty tricks, and now I have evidence.’

I fish my phone from my pocket.

‘I’d best call the commissioner so he’s ready when my official complaint against you and your department lands on his desk.’

Oddgeir’s face swells with anger.

‘But you can keep the memory stick as a memento,’ I add as a parting shot.

---

*Enormously popular in Iceland where the Stella Blómkvist books have been a bestselling series since their appearance in the 1990s, the books have been published under a pseudonym – and the author’s identity remains a secret. Who is behind the mysterious Stella Blómkvist is a question that crops up regularly, but it looks like it’s going to remain a mystery…

-- -

Many thanks to Ewa, Quentin and Stella Blómkvist for this extract and do please check out the rest of the stops =>

Cover Theme - Keyholes

2025-07-07T09:00:00.002+01:00

Further posts on cover themes can be found here.

These two recent covers are very similar but one is a UK cover and the other a US so they probably won't appear together in a bookshop:

CWA Dagger Awards 2025 - Winners

2025-07-05T09:00:00.003+01:00

Here is the press release confirming the winners of the 2025 CWA Dagger Awards:

PRESS RELEASE

2025 CWA Dagger Awards Announced

The 2025 winners of the prestigious Crime Writers’ Association (CWA) Dagger Awards, which honour the very best in the crime-writing genre, have been announced.

Created in 1955, the world-famous CWA Daggers are the oldest awards in the genre and have been synonymous with quality crime writing for over half a century.

The awards were announced this evening [ 3 July] at the CWA gala dinner at De Vere Grand Connaught Rooms, London.

The prestigious KAA Gold Dagger, sponsored by Kevin Anderson & Associates, which is awarded for the best crime novel of the year, went to Anna Mazzola for Book of Secrets.

Inspired by real events, prosecutor Stefano Bracchi investigates why men are dying in unnatural numbers months after the plague has ravaged Rome. Judges praised it as an expertly crafted ‘engrossing cat-and-mouse thriller’ set in 17^th century Rome.

The Ian Fleming Steel Dagger, sponsored by Ian Fleming Publications Ltd, showcases the thriller of the year and was awarded to Lou Berney for his masterful thriller, Dark Ride, where an unlikely hero goes up against a deadly crime boss. Judges praised it as ‘sublime thriller full of heartache and humanity’ and a ‘moving yet nail-biting novel.’

The much-anticipated ILP John Creasey First Novel Dagger which highlights the best debut novels of the year went to Katy Massey’s debut set in the shadow of the Yorkshire Ripper, All Us Sinners. Judges praised it as ‘vivid and brutally honest’ and an ‘important and bold take on the Yorkshire Ripper murders told with passion and respect from the point of view of the women who were never heard.’

The Historical Dagger, sponsored by Morgan Witzel in memory of Dr Marilyn Livingstone, went to A.J. West with The Betrayal of Thomas True which is set in the excitement and squalor of London’s underworld in the year 1710.

Nadine Matheson, Chair of the CWA, said: "This has been another exemplary year, and our judges once again faced the exciting but difficult task of selecting from a truly impressive shortlist. The winners reflect the strength, diversity, and continuing legacy of crime writing today.

“I would also like to extend our congratulations to the winners of the Twisted Dagger and the Whodunnit Dagger, Tracy Sierra and Lisa Hall. The inclusion of these two new categories continues to highlight the evolution and innovation happening within the genre.”

The Crime Fiction in Translation Dagger, sponsored in honour of Dolores Jakubowski, was awarded to the debut gangland thriller The Night of Baba Yaga from Japan’s Akira Otani translated by Sam Bett – hot-on-the-heels from winning the 2025 CrimeFest Specsavers Debut Crime Novel of the Year.

Judges said: “Like a manga cartoon, this savage depiction of Japanese yakuza life is relentlessly violent if only to highlight the deep humanity of its fish out of water characters. Mean and lean, this saga sparkles with originality and delivers a splendid if bizarre love story.”

The Night of Baba Yaga pipped another Japanese bestseller to the post, Asako Yuzuki’s Butter translated by Polly Barton.

The ALCS Gold Dagger for Non-Fiction was awarded to Kate Summerscale’s retelling of the Christie murders, The Peepshow: The Murders at 10 Rillington Place. It was praised as a ‘remarkable read, riveting without ever being salacious’ offering a fresh perspective on one of Britain’s most notorious cases.

The CWA Daggers are one of the few high-profile awards that honour the short story. This year Short Story Dagger went to the academic and expert on Agatha Christie, J.C Bernthal, for A Date on Yarmouth Pier, praised as a ‘mini-masterpiece with a killer twist.’

2025 saw the announcement of two new CWA Dagger Awards.

The Twisted Dagger celebrates psychological thrillers and dark and twisty tales that often feature unreliable narrators, disturbed emotions, a healthy dose of moral ambiguity, and a sting in the tail.

It was awarded to Nightwatching by Tracy Sierra, a slow-burning tale of a mother who will do anything to protect her children. The books unusual voice captured the judges, who praised it as, ‘horrific, compelling, nerve-shreddingly tense and cleverly twisted.’

The Whodunnit Dagger celebrates books that focus on the intellectual challenge at the heart of a good mystery. Books in this category include cosy crime, traditional crime, and Golden Age-inspired mysteries.

The inaugural winner is Lisa Hall with The Case of the Singer and the Showgirl. Judges admired its cleverly handled twist on a classic mystery featuring Hollywood icons: ‘A glamorous, evocative timeslip mystery that took us right back to sparkling Vegas in the fifties.’

The Emerging Author Dagger, which has been going for over 20 years, celebrates aspiring crime novelists, sponsored by Fiction Feedback. The competition is open to unpublished authors, and is judged on the best opening for an unpublished crime novel. Over two dozen past winners and shortlisted Debut Dagger authors have signed publishing deals to date.

2025’s Emerging Author Dagger was awarded to Joe Eurell for Ashland. Judges compared it as Mare of Easttown meets We Begin at the End: “A beautifully written story evoking a powerful sense of place and conveying a rare energy. Rounded characters are portrayed in fascinating depth.”

Richard Osman was awarded the 2025 Dagger in the Library award. The nominee longlist is voted by librarians and library users, chosen for the author’s body of work and support of libraries.

Best Crime and Mystery Publisher of the Year Dagger, which celebrates publishers and imprints demonstrating excellence and diversity in crime writing, was awarded to Orenda Books.

The CWA Diamond Dagger, awarded to an author whose crime-writing career has been marked by sustained excellence, is announced in early spring and in 2025 was awarded to Mick Herron.

Mick Herron said: “I’ve spent the best part of my life – not the majority of it; just the best part – in the crime writers’ community, and to receive this accolade from these friends and colleagues is both a career highlight and a personal joy. I’m touched and thrilled beyond measure, and will try to live up to the honour.”

The 2025 Winners in Full:

The KAA GOLD DAGGER

Anna Mazzola: Book of Secrets (Orion)

THE IAN FLEMING STEEL DAGGER

Lou Berney: Dark Ride (Hemlock Press/ HarperCollins)

THE ILP JOHN CREASEY FIRST NOVEL DAGGER

Katy Massey: All Us Sinners (Little, Brown /Sphere)

THE TWISTED DAGGER

Tracy Sierra: Nightwatching (PRH/ Viking)

THE WHODUNNIT DAGGER

Lisa Hall, The Case of the Singer and the Showgirl (Hera)

THE HISTORICAL DAGGER (Sponsored in Honour of Dr. Marilyn Livingstone)

A.J. West, The Betrayal of Thomas True (Orenda Books)

THE ALCS GOLD DAGGER FOR NON-FICTION

Kate Summerscale: The Peepshow: The Murders at 10 Rillington Place (Bloomsbury Circus)

THE CRIME FICTION IN TRANSLATION DAGGER (Sponsored in Honour of Dolores Jakubowski)

Akira Otani: The Night of Baba Yaga (Faber) tr. Sam Bett

THE SHORT STORY DAGGER

J.C Bernthal: ‘A Date on Yarmouth Pier’ in Midsummer Mysteries edited by Martin Edwards (Flame Tree Publishing/Flame Tree Collections)

THE DAGGER IN THE LIBRARY

Richard Osman

THE DAGGER FOR THE BEST CRIME AND MYSTERY PUBLISHERS

Orenda Books

THE EMERGING AUTHOR DAGGER (sponsored by Fiction Feedback)

Joe Eurell, Ashland

THE CWA DIAMOND DAGGER AWARD

Mick Herron

New Releases - June 2025

2025-07-04T12:19:00.004+01:00

I'm still a bit behind but this is what I have for June 2025 (141 titles) and I will soon be making a start on July.

Norfolk is a popular setting this month.

Please note that, unless specifically mentioned, when a book has differing print and ebook release date, I use the print release date. Translators' names are included where known.

Further to my post about writers of colour and the 2024 Theakston Crime Novel of the Year, I have identified the writers of colour (that I know of) with a ***.

Ackroyd, Claire - The Surfacing
Alexander, Magda - The Case of the Missing Dancer (ebook only) #4 Kitty Worthington Cozy Capers
Amphlett, Rachel - Murder in the Lakes #1 Melody Harper
Archer, C J - Murder at Hambledon Hall #10 Cleopatra Fox
Aubrey, Daniel - The Dying Light #2 Freya Sinclair, Reporter, Orkney
Belle, Kimberly - The Expat Affair
Belshaw, T A - Encore For Murder #6 Amy Rowlings, 1939
Billingham, Mark - What the Night Brings #19 DI Tom Thorne, London
Bishop, D V - Carnival of Lies #5 Cesare Aldo, Florence, 1536
Boyd, Damien - Blue Blood #15 DI Nick Dixon
Boydell, Natasha - The Widow's Husband
Bright, Verity - Death at a Paris Hotel #22 Lady Eleanor Swift, 1920s
Brittany, Amanda - Let Me Out
Brookes, Dawn - Cruise into Darkness #14 Rachel Prince
Brown, Benedict - Arsenic and Old Lies #5 Marius Quin, 1920s
Bryndza, Robert - Chasing Shadows #9 DCI Erika Foster
Burrows, Steve - A Deceit of Lapwings #9 Inspector Domenic Jejeune, Saltmarsh, Norfolk
Chaudhuri, A A - The School Gates ***
Clark, Natalie Jayne - The Malt Whisky Murders
Coles, Richard - A Death on Location #4 Canon Daniel Clement
Connor, Max - No Mercy
Cookman, Lesley - Murder Under the Cliff #27 Libby Sarjeant, middle aged actress/investigator, Kent
Corry, Jane - The Stranger in Room Six
Croft, Kathryn - Sophie Was Here
Cullen, R M - Death's Long Shadow #2 Richard Brinsley Sheridan, C18
Cummins, Fiona - Some of Us Are Liars
Dawson, Mark - The Inheritance #5 The Casebook of Atticus Priest
Deary, Terry - Actually, I'm A Murderer
Devlin, Cara - Courier of Death #3 Spencer & Reid
Dodd, Christina - Thus with a Kiss I Die #2 Daughter of Montague
Doherty, Paul - Immortal Murder #25 Hugh Corbett
Donovan, Kerry J - On the Trail #14 Ryan Kaine
Elliott, Anna & Veley, Charles - The Murders at Clarion Castle #5 The Homefront Sleuths
Ellis, Emmy - Raffia #41 Cardigan Estate
Ellis, Hannah - Dead in the Water #4 Lily Larkin
Ellory, R J - A Darker Side of Paradise
Enright, Robert - Never Enough #15 Sam Pope
Faulkner, Katherine - The Break-In
Field, David - The Long Delayed Revenge #10 Esther and Jack Enright

Finney, Keith - A Dapper Murder #3 Rex and the Dowager
Finney, Keith - A Record of Deceit (ebook only) #1 Norfolk Cozy Mysteries Novella
Freeman, Dianne - A Daughter's Guide to Mothers and Murder #8 Countess of Harleigh, Victorian England
Gatland, Jack - Shadow Threat #9 Tom Marlowe
Gatward, David J - Death Springs #3 DI Gordy Haig
Gibney, Patricia - Hidden Daughters #15 Detective Lottie Parker
Giles, Stewart - The Professor #33 DS Jason Smith
Goddard, Robert - This is the Day They Dream of #2 Inspector Taleb
Golden, Helen - Murder Most Wilde #12 A Right Royal Cozy Investigation Mystery
Govett, S M - Believe
Gray, Claudia - The Rushworth Family Plot #4 Mr Darcy & Miss Tilney
Greenwood, Ross - Death at Fakenham Races #5 DS Ashley Knight, Norfolk
Hannah, Sophie - No One Would Do What The Lamberts Have Done
Harper, Izzie - Murder at the Wishing Well #9 The Wootton Windmill Mysteries
Higgins, G D - Echoes in the Attic #1 Detective Carrie Ashe
Higgs, Steve - Old Testament #4 Albert Smith
Holland, Sam - The Countdown Killer
Holtom, Robert - A Queer Case #1 Selby Bigge, London, 1920s
Hood, D K - Good Girls Don't Cry #26 Detectives Kane and Alton
Huber, Anna Lee - A Tarnished Canvas #13 Lady Darby, Scotland, 1830s
Hurley, Graham - Kane #10 Wars Within
Hurst, Daniel - You Started It (ebook only) - Short Story
James, Daisy - Retreats, Roulade & Revenge (ebook only) #2 Just Desserts Club Mysteries
James, Syrie - The Secrets of Thorndale Manor #2 Audacious Sisterhood of Smoke & Fire
Jennings, Luke - Killing Eve: Resurrection #4 Villanelle, Russian Assassin
Johnston, Anthony - Can You Solve the Murder?
Jónasson, Jón Atli - Broken tr. Quentin Bates
Jordan, G R - Save The King #45 Highlands and Islands
Kabler, Jackie - The Revenge Plot
Kemp, Martin - The Fall
Khavari, Kate - A Botanist's Guide to Rituals and Revenge #4 Saffron Everleigh, 1920s, London
King, Laurie R - Knave of Diamonds #19 Mary Russell and her husband, Sherlock Holmes
Lagercrantz, David - False Note (ebook/audio only) tr. Elizabeth DeNoma - Novella
Lancaster, Mary - Petteril's Baby (ebook only) #8 Lord Petteril
Lawler, Liz - Nobody Saw Him
Lewis, Beth - The Rush
Lewis, David - A Beacon in the Night #2 The Secret Churchill Files
Lloyd, Sam - The Bodies
Lovesey, Peter - The Best of Peter Lovesey Stories - Short Stories
Lynn, H M - The Silent House
McCleave, Simon - Five Days in Provence
McDonagh, Michelle - Some of This is True
Manning, Nina - The Beach Holiday
Mark, David - Don't Say a Word #2 Sal Delaney, Traffic police
Marsay, H L - The Bordeaux Case #1 Emma King
Martin, Faith - Murder Under the Sun #22 DI Hillary Greene, Oxfordshire
Mason, Simon - The Woman Who Laughed #3 Finder
Menuhin, Karen Baugh & Zoe Markham - A Very Elegant Murder #4 Miss Busby investigates
Moore, Ian - Death and Boules #5 Follet Valley Mystery
Morris, M S - A Dying Echo #9 DCI Tom Raven
Morrison, Lynn & Radcliffe Anne - Shadows and Splendour #2 Diamond of the Ton
Mosse, Greg - Murder at the Wedding #6 Maisie Cooper
Nairn, A K - The Dance of Vipers #2 Antoine de Lissieu 16C
Nevin, E C - A Novel Murder
Norman, Sadie - Murder in the Lake #3 Detective Constable Anna McArthur
Obregon, Nicolas - The Sugar Man
O'Neill, Mark - The Kill List #1 Jack Maddox
Organ, Emily - Murder in the Gallery #10 Augusta Peel, 1920s
Parry, Ambrose - The Death of Shame #5 Will Raven & Sarah Fisher, 19C
Peck, Heather - Spinning into the Dark #8 DCI Greg Geldard, Norfolk
Penn, J F - Death Valley
Pennant, Mel - A Murder for Miss Hortense #1 Miss Hortense, Birmingham ***
Penney, Elizabeth - Bodies and Battlements #1 Ravensea Castle
Plant, Nigel - The Ripper's Legacy #3 Reed Hascombe
Probyn, Jack - Death's Scratch #9 DS Tomek Bowen
Rawlins, CM - Death in a Phone Box #3 Maeve Morgan, Scotland, 1920s
Reid, Eliza - Death of a Diplomat
Reid, TG - A Devil's Share #8 DCI Bone
Rhodes, GS - All That Remains #12 DI Benjamin Kidd
Rinder, Rob - The Protest #3 Adam Green
Robotham, Michael - The White Crow #2 PC Philomena McCarthy
Rowney, J E - Wish You Were Her
Russell, Leigh - Poppy Plays Fair
Ryan, Joanne - The Perfect Weekend
Seales, Julia -A Terribly Nasty Business #2 Beatrice Steele
Shapiro, Irina - Murder in Bloody Weald #16 Redmond and Haze
Simpson, Carla - Deadly Attraction #13 Angus Brodie and Mikaela Forsythe, Victorian London
Sinclair, Rob - Dead Reckoning #1 Simon Peake
Skinner, P J - Lethal Secret #8 Seacastle Mystery

Smith, Alex - Cold Iron Kills #18 DCI Robert Kett, Norfolk
Smith, Miranda - Smile for the Cameras

Sweet, Matthew - The New Forest Murders
Tallon, Emma - A Family Betrayal #1 Capello Family
Taylor, Andrew - A Schooling in Murder
Taylor, C L - It's Always the Husband
Taylor, Marsali - An Imposter in Shetland #13 Shetland Sailing Mysteries
Taylor, Stephen - Enemy At the Door #12 Danny Pearson
Tope, Rebecca - The Dacre Dilemma #15 Persimmon Brown, Florist, Lake District
Tustin, Nupur - The Ghost in the Closet #1 Sister Margaret & Michel ***
Uketsu - Strange Houses tr. Jim Rion
Vincent, Yvonne - Cruisers Club #9 Losers Club, Scotland
Walker, Martin - An Enemy in the Village
Walsh, Bridget - The Spirit Guide #3 Variety Palace Mysteries
Ward, Sarah - Quiet Bones #2 Professor Carla James, New England
Watson, Sue - His First Wife
Williams, G J - The Cygnet Prince #3 The Tudor Rose Murders
Wolf, Inger - The Perfect Place to Die (ebook only) tr. Mark Kline #7 Inspector Daniel Trokic, Arhus
Woods, Karen - The Escape
Wright, Adam J - Bury the Maiden (ebook only) #2 Dark Peak Detectives
Wright, G D - Into the Fire #2 DS Sue Willmott
Yarwood, Mark - Track Down #1 Simon Doakes
Yarwood, Mark - Hunt Down #2 Simon Doakes

Cover Theme - Beds

2025-06-29T14:45:00.000+01:00

It's been a surprisingly long while since I've done one of these cover theme posts. Earlier themes can be found here.

(Apologies for the slightly odd formatting.)

New Releases - May 2025

2025-06-27T14:43:00.003+01:00

I'm still behind so this is what I have for May 2025 (133 titles) and I will make a start on June and so on...

Please note that, unless specifically mentioned, when a book has differing print and ebook release date, I use the print release date. Translators' names are included where known.

Further to my post about writers of colour and the 2024 Theakston Crime Novel of the Year, I have identified the writers of colour (that I know of) with a ***.

Alexander, Magda - A Murder in Mayfair #1 Lady Rosalynd and Wynterbourne
Alexander, Magda - Murder at the British Museum #12 Kitty Worthington
Allingham, Merryn - The Venice Murders #11 Flora Steele, Sussex, 1955
Arlidge M J & Lisa Hall - The Mistake
Atkinson, Heather - Savage Blood #5 The Savage Sisters
Barrington, C F - When We Were Killers
Bassett, Isabella - A Case by the Seaside #9 Lady Caroline, 1920s
Batchelor, Penny - The Woman Next Door
Beckerman, Hannah - Three Mothers
Beckham, Bruce - Murder at Blind Beck #25 Detective Inspector Skelgill
Beevis, Keri - The House Sitter
Bennett, Jenna - Peril in Piccadilly #7 Pippa Darling, 1920s
Boland, Shalini - The Birthday Party
Broadfoot, Neil - Exit Wounds #7 Connor Fraser, Stirling
Brolly, Matt - Dead End #5 DCI Michael Lambert
Brown, Benedict - Murder in an Italian Castle #1 Lord Edgington Investigates Abroad
Burrowes, Grace - A Gentleman of Questionable Judgment #9 The Lord Julian Mysteries
Byrne, Ciar - A Lethal Cocktail #2 Virginia Woolf and Vanessa Bell
Cameron, Will - The Birdman of Sauchiehall Street
Carter, A J - The Missing Child
Chase, Clare - Mystery at Hideaway House #14 Eve Mallow, Saxford St Peter
Churston, B D - Murder at Five Oaks Stables #5 Lady Jane & Mrs Forbes Mystery
Comley, M A - To Hurt Them #17 DI Sam Cobbs
Comley, M A - Garden of Bones #17 DI Sally Parker
Connolly, John - Children of Eve #22 Charlie Parker, PI, Maine
Cooksley, Jody - The Surgeon's House
Cooper, Glenn - The Last Conclave
Cornwell, Steve - Copy, Kill, Repeat
Dalgliesh, J M - When Death Calls #16 Tom Janssen, Norfolk
Dawson, Mark - Leverage (ebook only) #8 Charlie Cooper
Dhand, A A - The Chemist ***
Dixon, Helena - Murder at the English Manor #20 Miss Underhay
Dounaeva, Lorna - The Wedding Party
Dranfield, Wendy - Please Don't Find Me
Durrant, Helen H - The Funeral
Eccles, Marjorie - A Fatal Necessity #6 Detective Inspector Herbert Reardon, 1928
Ellis, Emmy - Roost #40 Cardigan Estate
Ellis, Mark - Death of an Officer #6 Frank Merlin
Evans, Julie - Savage Truth (ebook only) #6 Cornish Crime
Finch, Paul - No Quarter #9 Detective Mark 'Heck' Heckenberg
Ford, Jack - Beyond This Place of Wrath and Tears
Fowler, Deborah - Secrets in St Ives #2 St Ives Mysteries
Fraine, A L - Just a Game #7 Detective Loxley, Nottinghamshire
Frankland, Maria - Ties That Bind
Freud, Emily - The Cliffhanger
Garratt, Charlie - The Thief-Taker's Apprentice #1 Meg Valentine
Golding, Julia - The Wordsworth Key #3 Regency Secrets
Gray, Lisa - Dead of Night
Greene, Morgan - The Fury #2 Solomon Church
Hamdy, Adam & James Patterson - Private Dublin #20 Private series
Hanley, C B - A Pale Horse #9 Edwin Weaver, C13
Harte, Stephanie - Double Cross #3 The Kennedy Twins
Haywood, R R - Murder Crime On Gallymay
Heley, Veronica - False Gold #18 Bea Abbott, Sixty-something owner of The Abbott (Domestic) Agency
High, Kate - Small Acts of Deceit
Howell, Lis - Killer By Candlelight #6 The Norbridge Chronicles
Hunter, Alice - The Perfect Psychopath
Huntley, Jessica - Room 21
James, Daisy - Parties, Pavlova & Poison #1 Just Desserts Club Mysteries
James, Evelyn - For King and Country #35 Clara Fitzgerald
Jenkins, Victoria - The Woman in Our Marriage
Jordan, G R - None Too Precious #44 Highlands and Islands
Kane, Alex - The Second Wife
Khan, Vaseem - The Girl In Cell A ***
Kidd, Michelle - No Red Lines #7 DI Jack MacIntosh
Kinsey, T E - The Beast of Littleton Woods #12 Lady Emily Hardcastle, 1908
Kitson, Bill - Dead or Alive #18 Detective Mike Nash, Yorkshire
Klein, Brian - The Spider Covenant
Kone, Remi - Innocent Guilt #1 DI Leah Hutch, London ***
Koning, Christina - Murder in Oxford #9 The Blind Detective, 1920s
Kyriacou, Eleni - A Beautiful Way to Die
Lawton, John - Smoke and Embers #8 Chief Inspector Frederick Troy, post WW2
Leadbeater, David - The Sacred Mask #13 Relic Hunters
Lee, M J - The Bones of Chester (ebook only) #3 DI Emma Christie
Leitch, Fiona - The Cornish Castle Murder #8 Jodie 'Nosey' Parker, Chef
Lucarelli, Carlo - The Darkest Winter tr. Joseph Farrell #1 Inspector De Luca, Italy in 1944 Prequel
MacBride, Stuart - This House of Burning Bones #13 DS Logan McRae, Aberdeen
McGilloway, Brian - The One You Least Suspect
McLean, Rachel & Joel Hames - The Pool #1 Cumbria Crime Novella
McLean, Rachel & Joel Hames - The Wood #6 Cumbria Crime
McTiernan, Dervla - The Unquiet Grave #4 Cormac Reilly
Mackenzie, M R - The Secrets We Keep #6 Anna Scavolini
Mara, Andrea - It Should Have Been You
Meyrick, Denzil - Last Orders #12 DCI Daley
Miller, Venezia - Painter #1 The Stockholm Killings
Moore, Donna - The Devil's Draper

Morton, Mandy - Death of a Sandscratcher #14 The No. 2 Feline Detective Agency
Murray, Jack - The Maypole Murders #4 Kit and Mary Aston
Nadel, Barbara - The Wooden Library #27 Cetin Ikmen, Policeman, Istanbul
Noel, Sarah F - An Enigmatic Woman #10 Tabitha & Wolf
Norman, Sadie - Murder in Norfolk (apa Catfish (2024) #1 Detective Constable Anna McArthur

North, Alex - The Man Made of Smoke
North, Ely - Wicker Girl #10 DCI Finnegan, Yorkshire
North, Lauren - For Better, For Worse
Nunn, Kayte - The Palazzo
Oldham, Nick - Death on Wolf Fell #2 Jessica Raker
Parris, S J - Traitor's Legacy #1 Sophia de Wolfe, Elizabethan era
Parry, Ambrose - The Apple Falls Not Far (audio/ebook only) - Raven and Fisher world - Novella
Pavii, Jurica - Red Water tr. Matt Robinson
Pearce, Biba - The Putney Bridge Killer #8 Rob Miller, Police, London
Pettinger, Mark - Desperate Silence #1 Detective Inspector Paul Calvert
Phifer, Helen - Twisted Bones #15 Detective Morgan Brookes
Rawlins, CM - Death in a Prison Cell #2 Maeve Morgan, Scotland, 1920s
Reeves, S A - A Legacy of Lies #3 The Bookshop Mysteries
Reynolds, Rod - Shatter Creek #2 Detective Casey Wray, USA
Rhodes, Tyler - Campfires and Dead Liars #14 Max's Campervan Case Files
Rigby, Sally - Question of Guilt #7 Sebastian Clifford
Robotham, M J - Mrs Spy
Russell, Leigh - Cold Justice #23 DI Geraldine Steel
Ryan, Chris - Second Strike
Salisbury, Emma - One Good Reason #1 DS Chris Ashcroft, Manchester
Sampson, Freya - The Busybody Book Club
Sherratt, Mel - Safe at Home
Sinclair, J R - Shadows of the Mind #6 DI Joseph Stone
Smith, Alex - A Long-Dead Thing #1 DI Harrison Baird, Suffolk
Smith, Nikki - They Had It Coming
Smith, Wilbur & David Churchill - Crossfire #25 Courtney
Spargo, B D - Witch Hunt #2 DCI Liam Doyle
Staincliffe, Cath - Fire on the Fells #2 Detectives Donovan & Young
Stephens, D B - The Serial Killer Support Group
Stonex, Emma - The Sunshine Man
Tait, Victoria - An Auction of Secrets #1 Cotswold Antique Mystery
Thynne, Jane - The Judgement of Stars #6 Clara Vine
Toyne, Simon - Dead Water #3 Laughton Rees
Travers, Lydia - Death at the Highland Loch #1 Lady Poppy Proudfoot
Turner, M K - Close To Home #18 Meredith & Hodge
Waller, Anita - The Missing Ones
Wells, Kate - Killer at the County Show #5 Jude Gray
Wilkinson, Kerry - Your Husband's Fault
Williams, T A - Murder at the Ponte Vecchio #11 Armstrong and Oscar
Wishart, David - Dead in the Water #22 Marcus Corvinus, Ancient Rome
Wolf, Rachel - Sun Trap
Wray, C J - Bad Influence

New Releases - April 2025

2025-06-09T09:00:00.001+01:00

I'm still behind so this is what I have for April 2025 (102 titles) and I will make a start on May and now June!

This is still the case - things have been a bit up in the air as my OH was knocked off his bike in early February. He is ok but not back at work yet and may need an operation. So our routines have been changed and I've not been reading as much etc.

Please note that, unless specifically mentioned, when a book has differing print and ebook release date, I use the print release date. Translators' names are included where known.

Further to my post about writers of colour and the 2024 Theakston Crime Novel of the Year, I have identified the writers of colour (that I know of) with a ***.

Allen, Jo - Death on the Small Screen #12 DCI Jude Satterthwaite, Lake District
Amsinck, Heidi - Out of the Dark #4 Jensen
Ashkanani, Tariq - The Midnight King ***
Bailey, Anna - Our Last Wild Days
Baker, J A - The Good Daughter
Barnes, Kerry - Mercy Denied #4 Carrie Verne
Bettany, Jane - Murder on Bluebell Hill #4 Violet Brewster
Blackhurst, Jenny - The Final Wife
Brett, Simon - Death in the Dressing Room #22 Carole and Jude, Fethering, Southern coast of England
Brett, Simon - Major Bricket and the Circus Corpse #1 Major Bricket
Browne, Sheryl - My Loving Husband
Callaghan, Jo - Human Remains #3 Kat and Lock
Carson, John - Always the Quiet Ones #6 DCI James Craig
Cartmel, Andrew - Underscore #8 Vinyl Detective Mysteries
Cartwright, Jack - The Devil Inside Her #4 Deadly Wolds Murder Mystery
Casey, Jane - The Secret Room #12 DC Maeve Kerrigan
Cercas, Javier - Fortress of Evil tr. Anne McLean #3 A Terra Alta Investigation
Chester, Fliss - Death in an English Village #7 Cressida Fawcett, 1920s
Child, Andrew - You Shook Me All Night Long (ebook only) - Jack Reacher short story
Clarke, Georgina - Viper in the Nest #3 Lizzie Hardwicke
Comley, M A - Shadows of Deception #27 DI Sara Ramsey
Conroy, Vivian - Death on the Rhine #5 Miss Ashford
Coombs, Alex - Death of a Mystery Guest #4 Old Forge Cafe Mystery
Cry, Morgan - The Cost #1 Blake Glover
Cummins, Fiona - A Boy Called Saul (Quick Reads)
Dapunt, Veronika - Death and Other Occupational Hazards
Davis, Lindsey - There Will Be Bodies #13 Flavia Albia, the adopted daughter of Marcus Didius Falco
Dean, Abigail - The Death of Us
Dennison, Hannah - A Fatal Feast at Honeychurch Hall #11 Kat Stanford
Dixon, Helena - The Seaside Murders #2 Miss Jane Treen, London, 1940s
Dodd, Christina - What Dreams May Come (ebook only) - Daughter of Montague - Novella
Douglas, Stuart - Death at the Playhouses #2 Lowe and Le Breton, 1970s
Dylan, Rhys - One Less Snake #16 DCI Evan Warlow
Eldridge, Jim - Murder at St Paul's Cathedral #7 Detective Chief Inspector Coburg & Sergeant Lampson
Elliott, Anna & Veley, Charles - The Judas Monk Murders #4 The Homefront Sleuths
Flynn, Sophie - The Other Miss Jones
Galloway, K T - The Ghost Portrait #12 O'Malley & Swift
Gatland, Jack - Stand and Deliver #22 DI Declan Walsh
Giles, Stewart - Fury on the Island #15 DI Liam O'Reilly, Guernsey
Gold, Robert - Nine Hidden Lives #4 Ben Harper
Greene, Morgan - The First Snow of Winter #12 DI Jamie Johansson
Hall, Emylia - The Arts Trail Killer #5 Shell House Detectives, Cornwall
Harman, Sarah - All the Other Mothers Hate Me
Harper, Bradley - The Exchange Principle (ebook only) - Margaret Harkness and Arthur Conan Doyle - Novella
Harris, C S - Who Will Remember #20 Sebastian St. Cyr, Regency England
Harrod-Eagles, Cynthia - Easeful Death #25 Bill Slider, Shepherd's Bush CID
Hayes, Samantha - The Marriage Rules
Hegarty, Louise - Fair Play
Hicks, Andrea - The Diplomat Who Vanished #1 Ottilie Divine
Hooton, Richard - The Margaret Code
Horowitz, Anthony - Marble Hall Murders #3 Susan Ryland
Hunt, Rosie - Murder by the Thames #8 Lady Felicity Quick, 1920s
Hunter, Evie - Dirty Business
Hurst, Daniel - My Secret Ex
Hussey, William - Burying Jericho #3 Killing Jericho
Jensen, Louise - The Liar
Jones, Conrad - Cuckoos on the Mersey 4 #4 Cuckoos on the Mersey
Kirk, JD - My Daughter Is Missing
Koff, Clea - Deadly Evidence #2 Jayne and Steelie, Forensic Anthropologists, USA
La Plante, Lynda - Crucified #5 DC Jack Warr
Lackberg, Camilla & Fexeus, Henrik - Mirage tr. Ian Giles #3 Detective Mina Dabiri & Mentalist Vincent Walter
Lewis, Susan - Don't Believe a Word #2 Cristy Ward
Louth, Nick - The Dark Edge #3 DI Jan Talantire, Devon
McCleave, Simon - Deadly Care #3 Frank Marshal
McLean, Rachel & Ravensworth, Millie - The Dorset Cream Tea Mystery - The Lyme Regis Women's Swimming Club - Novella
McLean, Rachel & Ravensworth, Millie - The Lyme Regis Women's Swimming Club #1 The Lyme Regis Women's Swimming Club
McLean, Rachel & Ravensworth, Millie - Murderous Mystery Tours - Short Stories
McPherson, Catriona - The Edinburgh Murders #17 Dandy Gilver, Society Sleuth, 1920s Scotland
Mariani, Scott - The Pilgrim's Revenge #1 Will Bowman, 12C
Marlowe, Deb - Betrayal from Beyond #6 Kier and Levett, Victorian Era
Maslen, Andy - The Lying Man #4 Detective Kat Ballantyne
Miller, Zoe - The Girls' Trip
Mitchell, Dreda and Carter, Ryan - Gone ***
Morgan, Anna-Marie - The Scaffold Murders #5 DI Grant McKenzie
Nadal, Jay - A Matter of Justice #14 DI Karen Heath
Nicholl, John - The Boyfriend
Nickson, Chris - No Precious Truth #1 Sergeant Cathy Marsden, Leeds, 1940s
Nixon, Keith - What the Dead Know #15 Solomon Gray
Nore, Aslak - The Heirs of the Arctic tr. Sean Kinsella #2 The Falck Saga
O'Sullivan, Darren - Win or Die
Paton, Maureen - The Mystery at Rake Hall #1 C S Lewis Investigates
Rawlins, CM - Death in a Classroom #1 Maeve Morgan, Scotland, 1920s
Riches, Marnie - The Gardeners' Club #1 Gill Swanley
Russell, Michael - The Dead City #9 Garda Detective Stefan Gillespie
Rutherford, Robert - The Missing Hour
Samuel, Peter - The Blood-Red Fountain #2 Inspector Rupert
Sarginson, Saskia - One Dark Summer
Scarrow, Alex - The Fool #12 DCI Boyd
Seymour, Gerald - A Duty of Care #5 Jonas Merrick
Skelly, April J - A Lethal Engagement #1 Cora Beaumont, 1890s
Smith, Fiona Veitch - The Penford Manor Murders #4 Miss Clara Vale, 1929
Smith, Miranda - Did You See Evie?
Sullivan, Emily - A Death on Corfu #1 Minnie Harper
Sutherland, John - The Castle
Thomas, Will - Season of Death #16 Barker and Llewelyn, Victorian London
Trow, M J - Maxwell's Reality #22 Peter Maxwell, Teacher
Vine, Jeremy - Murder on Line One
Watkin, Sean - Black Water Rising #1 DCI de Silva
Wood, Michael - The Devil's Code #2 Dr Olivia Winter
Zander-Howell, Peter - Death in Piccadilly #3 David Adair
Zander-Howell, Peter - The Devon Murders #14 Chief Inspector Bryce Murder, 1950s

Words in Titles

2025-05-24T09:00:00.001+01:00

Doing the monthly lists of new releases I'm struck by how many have a family member in the title, however it's not as prevalent as I thought. Looking at 2024 and 2023, I did a search of approximately 1050 titles per year with some common words and this is what I found:

Name - 2024 (2023)

Daughter - 1 (5)

Father - 1 (1)

Husband - 6 (5)

Mother - 8 (7)

Sister - 3 (5)

Wife - 8 (9)

and the still popular but decreasingly so I think with only 3 so far in 2025:

Girl/Girls - 18 (23)

Do let me know in the comments if you want any other words checking...

New Releases - March 2025

2025-05-21T11:43:00.000+01:00

I'm still behind so this is what I have for March 2025 and will make a start on April and May!

Things have been a bit up in the air as my OH was knocked off his bike in early February. He is ok but not back at work yet and may need an operation. So our routines have been changed and I've not been reading as much etc.

Please note that, unless specifically mentioned, when a book has differing print and ebook release date, I use the print release date. Translators' names are included where known.

Further to my post about writers of colour and the Theakston Crime Novel of the Year, I have identified the writers of colour (that I know of) with a *** (none this time).

Abell, Stig - The Burial Place #3 Jake Jackson
Adams, Will - The Hallowed Grail #3 Warne and Elias
Bannalec, Jean-Luc - An Island of Suspects tr. Jamie Lee Searle #10 Commissioner Dupin
Barrettt, Andrew - Cutting Ties #3 DS Regan Carter
Beaumont, Charles - A Spy at War #2 Oxford Spy Ring
Black, Pat - To Pay the Ferryman #1 D.I. Lomond
Boland, Peter - Death of a Wild Swimmer #5 Charity Shop Detective Agency
Briggs, J C - The Secrets of Treasonfield House #3 Gothic House Mystery
Bright, Verity - A Recipe for Murder #21 Lady Eleanor Swift, 1920s
Bruen, Ken - Galway's Edge #18 Jack Taylor
Bull, Jessica - A Fortune Most Fatal #2 Miss Austen Investigates
Carter, Andrea - There Came A-Tapping
Chapman, Julia - Date with Destiny #10 The Dales Detective Series
Chibnall, Chris - Death at the White Hart
Cockburn, Tormod - The Torn Isle #9 Mysterious Scotland
Coles, Catherine - Murder at Kelleven Castle (ebook only) #10 Tommy & Evelyn Christie
Croft, Kathryn - The Last One to See Him
Cullen, R M - Harlequin Is Dead #1 Richard Brinsley Sheridan, C18
Dalgliesh, J M - A Dead Man on Staffin Beach #5 DI Duncan McAdam, Isle of Skye
Dawson, Mark - The Haunting of Hallows House (ebook only) #3 The Casebook of Atticus Priest
Devlin, Cara - Method of Revenge #2 Spencer & Reid
Dixon, Helena - The Secret Detective Agency #1 Miss Jane Treen, London, 1940s
Ellis, Emmy - Raton #38 Cardigan Estate
Ellis, Emmy - Regal #39 Cardigan Estate
Frankland, Maria - I Don't Like Mondays
Gatward David J - Stone Cold #20 DCI Harry Grimm
Gayle, Katie - A Village Theatre Murder #7 Julia Bird, Cotswolds
Gomez-Jurado, Juan - White King tr. Nick Caistor & Lorenza Garcia #3 Antonia Scott
Gustawsson, Johana & Enger, Thomas - Son trs. Thomas Enger & Johana Gustawsson and Mr Enger Snr #1 Kari Voss
Hannah, Mari - Her Sister's Killer #5 Stone and Oliver
Hays, Katy - The Vipers
Hendy, Hannah - An Extremely Unlikely Death #6 The Dinner Lady Detectives
Hood, D K - Fear for Her Life #25 Detectives Kane and Alton
Hornsley, Sarah - Bad Blood
Hunter, M A - The Woman on Platform 8
James, Ed - Fear of Any Kind #7 DI Rob Marshall
Jones, Sandie - I Would Die for You
Jordan, G R - Drop Like Flies #42 Highlands and Islands
Kidd, Jess - Murder at Gulls Nest #1 Nora Breen, 1950s
Lancaster, Neil - When Shadows Fall #6 DS Max Craigie, Scotland
Limoncelli, Rosanne - The Four Queens of Crime
McCleave, Simon - False Witness #2 Frank Marshal
McDine, A J - The Husband Before You
McEwan, Lynne - A Troubled Tide #5 DI Shona Oliver, Dumfries
McNamee, Eoin - The Bureau
Mackay, N J - The Vanished #3 DI Sebastian Locke

Mason, Kelly - Death by Diamond #5 Lady Ellen Investigates, 1920s
Morrison, Lynn & Radcliffe, Anne - Brilliance and Betrayal #1 Diamond of the Ton
Oswald, James - The Rest is Death #14 Detective Inspector McLean, Edinburgh
Perks, Heidi - Someone is Lying
Perrin, Kristen - How To Seal Your Own Fate #2 Castle Knoll Files
Petit, Chris - Come In and Shut the Door
Rhodes, Tyler - Death Slides and Cheese Pies #13 Max's Campervan Case Files
Roth, Lucy - When Sally Killed Harry
Salter, Michelle - A Murder at Mill Ponds #6 Iris Woodmore, 1920s
Smith, Dandy - The Wedding Vow
White, S R - Pacific Heights
Whyte, Nicola - 10 Marchfield Square
Williams, Lana - The Gravesend Murder #3 Field & Greystone

Snowblind - Anniversary Edition

2025-05-19T13:59:00.000+01:00

I'm very pleased to share the official news of a tenth anniversary edition of Snowblind by Ragnar Jónasson. Snowblind was first published by Orenda Books in 2015 with a translation by Quentin Bates and was the first of Ragnar's crime novels to be translated into English. I reviewed it on the blog

Ten years on, not only do we have this gorgeous sprayed edge hardback edition, but it also contains a newly translated prequel novella, Fadeout (tr. Larissa Kyzer). It's published on 10 October 2025 and you can pre-order a copy here.

And without further ado...the cover:

You can watch a teaser video on Instagram

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And here's the blurb:

Snowblind – 10th Anniversary edition, including NEW Dark Iceland series prequel, Fadeout.

Siglufjörður: an idyllically quiet fishing village in Northern Iceland, where no one locks their doors – accessible only via a small mountain tunnel. Ari Thór Arason: a rookie policeman on his first posting, far from his girlfriend in Reykjavik – with a past that he's unable to leave behind. When a young woman is found lying half-naked in the snow, bleeding and unconscious, and a highly esteemed, elderly writer falls to his death in the local theatre, Ari is dragged straight into the heart of a community where he can trust no one, and secrets and lies are a way of life.

An avalanche and unremitting snowstorms close the mountain pass, and the 24-hour darkness threatens to push Ari over the edge, as curtains begin to twitch, and his investigation becomes increasingly complex, chilling and personal. Past plays tag with the present and the claustrophobic tension mounts, while Ari is thrust ever deeper into his own darkness – blinded by snow, and with a killer on the loose.

Taut and terrifying, Snowblind is a startling debut from an extraordinary new talent, taking Nordic Noir to soaring new heights.