I Choose You by Gayle Curtis
“Mental illness is sickness of the mind caused by the constant overwhelming battle one has with one’s essence, beliefs and purpose.” (I Choose You, p. 235) If this is the definition of mental illness, then the only sane person in the novel, I Choose You, is the serial killer (ironically the one responsible for this…
Darlington by Tripsy South
“Sometimes it was just best to shut the f*** up and let the wisdom flow over you.” – (p. 217) Such was the approach I attempted to take while reading Darlington. This novel is a sort of Kerouac-like stream of consciousness that follows a few months in the life of Tommy Darlington – a part-time…
Social Creature By Tara Isabella Burton
Props to Stacey Maddon, my friend and past Writing Mystery teacher, who put me on to this novel. It was in Stacey’s class that I started what would become the first Candace Starr crime novel, The Starr Sting Scale (Dundurn Press, Feb 2020). So, I guess I have more to thank Stacey for than his…
The Blood Spilt By Åsa Larsson
Before reviewing this book, I had to look up the term “Nordic Noir.” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nordic_noir) Basically, it is crime fiction that is set somewhere in Scandinavia that is short on metaphor and long on bleak landscapes. The weather in that part of the world lends itself well to bleakness apparently, particularly in the north. And this…
Book Review: The Chalk Man by C.J. Tudor
Okay, this time I wasn’t going to be fooled by initials into reviewing a book that was really written by a dude. C.J. Tudor’s first name is Caroline. Her friends call her Caz. I also write under initials my initials. My first name is Carole. The only nickname I had that ever stuck was the…
Black Water Rising By Attica Locke
Jay Porter wants to give his heavily pregnant wife, Bernie a decent birthday present. So, he arranges for a “moonlight cruise” on the bayou. He should have stuck with jewelry. The boat is basically a barge strung with mismatched Christmas lights and the bayou is a narrow strip of muddy water thirty metres below Houston’s…
Review: Field of Blood – Denise Mina
I love Denise Mina. Nobody does down and dirty Glasgow like she does. She makes Scotland into this wildly dangerous and exotic playground for criminals that barely manages to control itself enough for the trains to run. I am travelling there on holidays this fall and fully expect to be stabbed with the blowstick of…
Book Review: Death Flight by Melissa Yi
“My cochlea vibrates for thee.” Only a real doctor and romantic could coin such a phrase. And Melissa Yi is both. Her bad guy busting medical resident and possible avatar, Dr. Hope Sze, takes to the not-so-friendly skies in Death Flight, the sixth book in her popular thriller series. Hope still can’t decide between Ryan…
The Dame was Trouble: Edited by Sarah L. Johnson, Halli Lilburne & Cat McDonald
What a treat to read this collection of short stories featuring some of the best women Canadian crime writers out there. Special call-outs to the authors recently interviewed by She Kills Lit, Elle Wild and R.M. Greenaway who bring both award winning skill and experience to their short stories. Both these writers riff on an…
Book Review -‘Our Kind of Cruelty’ by Araminta Hall
Rarely has a book ever creeped me out quite this much. Such a simple problem, a guy that is way too in to you, can become a nightmare of epic proportions. And in Our Kind of Cruelty, Araminta Hall takes this to the nth degree, while throwing in some not too subtle commentary on society’s…