book-review
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“I know that some novelists do not plan, just start writing and see where the story takes them, but in my experience that often takes them into a cul-de-sac and things can become horrendously convoluted as they try to write themselves back out. I am one of the many novelists who do plan and I…
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A question which I am sometimes asked by readers is ‘what do you think is your best book?’ The answer may come over as glib but is absolutely genuine. ‘The next one,’ I say. That is because I genuinely believe that an author never stops learning, however many books they sell and however positive reviews…
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One of the most prestigious honours in the crime writing world has been awarded to Mark Billingham, in recognition of his twenty-five year contribution to the genre. The author, whose debut novel Sleepyhead was abestseller, the first of many, has been awarded the Diamond Dagger by the Crime Writers’ Association. Mark was born in Birmingham…
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He’s back! One of the fictional world’s most unusual killers has returned in the sequel to the novella Koki, by thriller writer Malcolm Beadle. The first book in the series by Malcolm, of Darlington, County Durham, which was published in 2025, introduced readers to former rodeo clown/turned Army sniper Trent Blane. Blane has been a…
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Authors and football personalities supported the official launch of the National Year of Reading at The Emirates, the home of London club Arsenal. The nationwide initiative from the Department for Education and the National Literacy Trust seeks to address the steep decline in the nation’s enjoyment of reading by inspiring people of all ages to…
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The latest book written by author Tracey Iceton has been published – and it’s a remarkable work which is very different from her previous titles. Sparky: My Barn Owl Tale (2026, Cinnamon Press) is Sparky’s semi-(auto)biographical account of life before, and since, she and Tracey met in 2022. Hatched in the UK in August 2017,…
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Readers are being given the opportunity to learn about the dark side of the human imagination at three events to be staged as part of the forthcoming Kirkcudbright Book Festival. Crime fiction has always been well represented in the annual celebration of books held in the South West Scotland town and the 2026 festival, due…
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This is another of my posts reminding visitors to my website about one of my older crime novels that they may have forgotten, on this occasion Death List. (The Book Folks, a Joffe Books imprint) one of the DCI John Blizzard series – and it comes with an example of the many elements that go…
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Publisher Joffe Books has announced the winner of the Joffe Books Prize 2025, which has gone to T.L. Haseeb, for The Portrait Maker, the first in a new police procedural series featuring Amber Kash, a seasoned British Asian Detective Inspector in her forties. The author receives a two-book publishing deal with Joffe Books, a £1,000…
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The latest book in the DCI Jack Harris series of crime fiction novels (published by the Book Folks, a Joffe Books imprint) continues to attract encouraging reviews, which is gratifying. More gratifying than usual, actually, because I deliberately set out to do things differently in Murder on the Pennines, including giving the main character’s back…
John Dean - Crime Writer 