February’s Son by Alan Parks
Alan Parks , Canongate Books , Crime / January 31, 2019

Bodies are piling up with grisly messages carved into their chests. Rival gangs are competing for control of Glasgow’s underworld and it seems that Cooper, McCoy’s oldest gangster friend, is tangled up in it all. Detective Harry McCoy’s first day back at work couldn’t have gone worse. New drugs have arrived in Glasgow, and they’ve brought a different kind of violence to the broken city. The law of the street is changing and now demons from McCoy’s past are coming back to haunt him. Read more […]

The Last by Hanna Jameson
Crime , Hanna Jameson , Horror , Viking / January 25, 2019

Breaking: Nuclear weapon detonates over Washington Breaking: London hit, thousands feared dead Breaking: Munich and Scotland hit. World leaders call for calm Historian Jon Keller is on a trip to Switzerland when the world ends. As the lights go out on civilization, he wishes he had a way of knowing whether his wife, Nadia and their two daughters are still alive. More than anything, Jon wishes he hadn’t ignored Nadia’s last message. Twenty people remain in Jon’s hotel. Far from the nearest Read more […]

Blood and Sugar by Laura Shepherd-Robinson

June, 1781. An unidentified body hangs upon a hook at Deptford Dock – horribly tortured and branded with a slaver’s mark. Some days later, Captain Harry Corsham – a war hero embarking upon a promising parliamentary career – is visited by the sister of an old friend. Her brother, passionate abolitionist Tad Archer, had been about to expose a secret that he believed could cause irreparable damage to the British slaving industry. He’d said people were trying to kill him, and now he is missing Read more […]

The Gutter Prayer by Gareth Hanrahan
Crime , Fantasy , Gareth Hanrahan , Orbit / January 5, 2019

A group of three young thieves are pulled into a centuries old magical war between ancient beings, mages, and humanity in this wildly original debut epic fantasy. The city has always been. The city must finally end. When three thieves – an orphan, a ghoul, and a cursed man – are betrayed by the master of the thieves guild, their quest for revenge uncovers dark truths about their city and exposes a dangerous conspiracy, the seeds of which were sown long before they were born. Cari is a drifter Read more […]

Priest of Bones by Peter McLean
Crime , Fantasy , Jo Fletcher Books , Peter McLean / October 4, 2018

It’s a dangerous thing, to choose the lesser of two evils. The war is over, and army priest Tomas Piety finally heads home with Lieutenant Bloody Anne at his side. When he arrives in the Stink, Tomas finds that his empire of crime has been stolen from him while at war. With his gang of Pious Men, Tomas will do whatever it takes to reclaim his businesses. But when he finds himself dragged into a web of political intrigue once again, and is forced to work in secret for the sinister Queen’s Men, Read more […]

Vicious Rumer by Joshua Winning
Crime , Fantasy , Joshua Winning / April 9, 2018

Rumer Cross is cursed. Scraping by working for a dingy London detective agency, she lives in the shadow of her mother, a violent criminal dubbed the ‘Witch Assassin’ whose bloodthirsty rampage terrorised London for over a decade. Raised by foster families who never understood her and terrified she could one day turn into her mother, Rumer has become detached and self-reliant. But when she’s targeted by a vicious mobster who believes she’s hiding an occult relic, she’s drawn into the Read more […]

KIN by Snorri Kristjansson

Everyone loves a family reunion. He can deny it all he likes, but everyone knows Viking warlord Unnthor Reginsson brought home a great chest of gold when he retired from the longboats and settled down with Hildigunnur in a remote valley. Now, in the summer of 970, adopted daughter Helga is awaiting the arrival of her unknown siblings: dark, dangerous Karl, lithe, clever Jorunn, gentle Aslak, henpecked by his shrewish wife, and the giant Bjorn, made bitter by Volund, his idiot son. And they’re Read more […]

Marked for Revenge by Emelie Schepp
Crime , Emelie Schepp , HQ , Thriller / January 4, 2018

Happy New Year! Please note: Marked for Revenge is a direct sequel to Marked for Life. If you haven’t read the first book in this trilogy then it is possible the following review may contain minor spoilers. Consider yourself duly warned… When a Thai girl overdoses smuggling drugs, the trail points to Danilo, the one criminal MMA-trained public prosecutor Jana Berzelius most wants to destroy. Eager to erase any evidence of her sordid childhood, Berzelius must secretly hunt down this deadly Read more […]

Bloody January by Alan Parks
Alan Parks , Canongate Books , Crime / December 14, 2017

When a teenage boy shoots a young woman dead in the middle of a busy Glasgow street and then commits suicide, Detective Harry McCoy is sure of one thing. It wasn’t a random act of violence. With his new partner in tow, McCoy uses his underworld network to lead the investigation but soon runs up against a secret society led by Glasgow’s wealthiest family, the Dunlops. McCoy’s boss doesn’t want him to investigate. The Dunlops seem untouchable. But McCoy has other ideas . . . My final review Read more […]

Jade City by Fonda Lee
Crime , Fantasy , Fonda Lee , Orbit / November 9, 2017

FAMILY IS DUTY. MAGIC IS POWER. HONOR IS EVERYTHING. Magical jade—mined, traded, stolen, and killed for—is the lifeblood of the island of Kekon. For centuries, honorable Green Bone warriors like the Kaul family have used it to enhance their abilities and defend the island from foreign invasion. Now the war is over and a new generation of Kauls vies for control of Kekon’s bustling capital city. They care about nothing but protecting their own, cornering the jade market, and defending the Read more […]

Edinburgh Twilight by Carole Lawrence
Carole Lawrence , Crime , Historical , Thomas & Mercer / September 21, 2017

As a new century approaches, Edinburgh is a city divided. The wealthy residents of New Town live in comfort, while Old Town’s cobblestone streets are clotted with criminals, prostitution, and poverty. Detective Inspector Ian Hamilton is no stranger to Edinburgh’s darkest crimes. Scarred by the mysterious fire that killed his parents, he faces his toughest case yet when a young man is found strangled in Holyrood Park. With little evidence, aside from a strange playing card found on the body, Read more […]

The Fifth Ward: First Watch by Dale Lucas
Crime , Dale Lucas , Fantasy , Orbit / July 6, 2017

Humans, orcs, mages, elves, and dwarves all jostle for success and survival in the cramped quarters of Yenara, while understaffed Watch Wardens struggle to keep its citizens in line. Enter Rem: new to Yenara and hungover in the city dungeons with no money for bail. When offered a position with the Watch to compensate for his crimes, Rem jumps at the chance. His new partner is less eager. Torval, a dwarf who’s handy with a maul and known for hitting first and asking questions later, is highly Read more […]

The Fourth Monkey by J D Barker
Crime , HQ , J D Barker , Thriller / June 29, 2017

For over five years, the Four Monkey Killer has terrorized the residents of Chicago. When his body is found, the police quickly realize he was on his way to deliver one final message, one which proves he has taken another victim who may still be alive. As the lead investigator on the 4MK task force, Detective Sam Porter knows even in death, the killer is far from finished. When he discovers a personal diary in the jacket pocket of the body, Porter finds himself caught up in the mind of a psychopath, Read more […]