***** A murder in a Glasgow flat sees forensic scientist Rhona MacLeod attending an early-morning crime scene. The shocking killing of a teenage boy brings back memories from MacLeod’s own past as she struggles to come to terms with the disturbing resemblance between herself and the victim. Having given up a baby boy for adoption…
Category: Characters
‘The Bowery Slugger’ by Leopold Borstinski
**** Arriving in America in 1915, Alex Cohen is tagged with an unusual name, courtesy of a dull-witted official. Moving into a tenement apartment with his family, Alex’s reputation as a fighter (Slugger) secures him work in one of the many gangs who use extortion and muscle to make their money. This is book 1…
‘Fog of Doubt’ by Christianna Brand
***** When Belgian paramour Raoul Vernet is found with his head bashed in on the night of a particularly dense fog, suspicion naturally falls on members of the house he was visiting at the time. While no-one appears to have been in the immediate vicinity when Vernet was killed, Inspector Charlesworth is certain someone in…
‘Blade Runner’ by Philip K Dick
***** (Audiobook) Classic sci-fi novel originally published as ‘Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?’ Set in 2021, after World War Terminus has killed millions, living creatures are coveted by everyone. While most individuals can only afford fake animals, the few remaining real ones go for very high prices. As well as animals, a range of…
Author Interview – Lex Lander
Creator of the Andrew Warner Manhunter series, author Lex Lander talk about characters, place and Brigitte Bardot… Thinking back to when you started writing, is there anything you would do differently in terms of the writing, or in getting your books to market? I started at…
‘Spanish Rock’ by Lex Lander
***** In a bid to retire from his murderous day job, hitman Andre Warner plans to buy a bar in Spain. However, while in London, he’s invited to a posh party where he agrees to look up the wayward daughter of an American acquaintance. Back in Spain, he…
‘The House in the Woods’ by Mark Dawson
The House in the Woods A shooting at a remote farmhouse on Christmas Eve launches DCI Mackenzie Jones and her team on a murder investigation. On the face of it, the culprit seems all too obvious—a murder/suicide by an unstable sibling leaves…
‘Angel’ by LJ Ross
Angel Easter bank holiday weekend looks like it might be a relaxing time for DCI Ryan, but when he’s called to a crime scene in a Newcastle cemetery, a bizarre murder sets him off on the trail of a killer. Meanwhile, Lowerson and MacKenzie take…
Author Interview – Elizabeth Jade
Children’s writer Elizabeth explains how living with Aspergers Syndrome has influenced her writing… Do you write to please your readers or to please yourself? Actually, I write to empty my head before it explodes – well that’s what it feels like sometimes. My head is full of story ideas, part written stories, or sometimes what…
‘Seeking Mr Hare’ by Maurice Leitch
Seeking Mr Hare Following the hanging of his partner in crime Willie Burke, William Hare (having been offered immunity from prosecution) is set free and put on a coach to Carlisle. But the people of Edinburgh are unhappy that such a vile individual has escaped his crimes and Hare soon recognises the need to disappear…
