Crime Reads - Suspense, Thrillers, Crime, Gun!
CrimeReads is a culture website for people who believe suspense is the essence of storytelling, questions are as important as answers, and nothing beats the thrill of a good book. It's a single, trusted source where readers can find the best from the world of crime, mystery, and thrillers. No joke,
3,448 topics in this forum
-
- 0 replies
- 177 views
In 43 AD, the Romans founded the settlement of Londinium. In 61 AD it was stormed by Iceni Queen Boudica and burnt to the ground but, by 100 AD, Londinium had superseded Colchester to become the capital of the Roman province of Britannia. Roman London had a population of around 60,000, nowadays the city is home to almost nine million people. Given London’s rich history, it’s not surprising that the metropolis has been the setting for many classic novels. Think of Sherlock Holmes: Baker Street, hansom cabs, Big Ben looming out of swirling fog. Holmes’ creator, Arthur Conan Doyle, was from Edinburgh but he knew there could only be one address for his sleuth. Charles Dicken…
Last reply by Admin_99, -
- 0 replies
- 176 views
Perhaps predictably, the most famous movie about electronic eavesdropping ever made, Francis Ford Coppola’s The Conversation (1974), ends with a telephone call. After discovering that he has facilitated the murder of a high-powered corporate executive, professional wiretapper Harry Caul (Gene Hackman) sits alone in his apartment, playing his saxophone along with the jazz recording that blares from his stereo. Harry’s number is unlisted, so when the sound of a telephone interrupts his performance he hesitates to pick up the receiver. At first no one responds on the other end of the line. But the phone rings a second time a few moments later, and the high-pitched sound o…
Last reply by Admin_99, -
- 0 replies
- 176 views
To say John Glatt is prolific is an understatement. Glatt, an investigative journalist with more than three decades of experience, has researched, written, and published 19 true crime books and 4 biographies in the last fourteen years. His latest, The Doomsday Mother: Lori Vallow, Chad Daybell, and the End of an American Family, is a gripping, enraging narrative that chronicles the lives of Vallow and Daybell and then everything that happened after they met. The book, which Glatt wrote using everything from court documents and police reports to Vallow’s own text messages and interviews with many of the people involved, is the kind of creepy true crime narrative that gets …
Last reply by Admin_99, -
- 0 replies
- 176 views
April 23, 7:23 a.m. CAT Tshopo Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo A sharp sting woke Charlotte Girard to the harsh reality of her situation. She had been dreaming of swimming naked in the bracingly cold pool at her family’s country estate on the French Riviera. She slapped at her neck and sat up abruptly inside the hot, humid tent. The air stifled and swamped. Another sting struck the back of her other hand. Startled, she shook her arm, tangling it in the gauzy mosquito netting around the cot. She cursed in French and fought her limb free. She stared down at the culprit, expecting to see one of the biting black flies that plagued the refugee camp. Instead, a re…
Last reply by Admin_99, -
- 0 replies
- 176 views
Tell me if this story sounds familiar: A young woman moves to a new town and finds work caring for a little boy (or a little girl, or maybe one of each). The parents are distant or completely absent, caught up in busy careers (or possibly dead). The children have few friends, and every night the house is troubled by strange noises. The nanny suspects supernatural activity, but everyone says it’s just her imagination. These are the broad strokes of The Turn of the Screw by Henry James, and my novel Hidden Pictures plays with the formula by moving the action to an affluent New Jersey suburb and adding tons of creepy black-and-white drawings (the child in my story is an art…
Last reply by Admin_99, -
- 0 replies
- 176 views
I know this veers perilously close to ‘what are you wearing?’ territory, but please, bear with me—What do you wear to sleep at night? Flannel pjs? Pyjama shorts set? Night gown? Adult onesie? Growing up in Canada within a lower-class immigrant family, the only pyjama sets I ever got were gifts. I mean, I knew what they were, of course I did. I watched TV. I’d even worn at least one set, when I was maybe two years old. I’ve seen the photo. The before times, when I lived in Hong Kong. Maybe, if my family had stayed, I’d have grown up with sets upon sets of coordinated tops and bottoms, all properly matched together for the sole innocuous purpose of being slept in. As it …
Last reply by Admin_99, -
- 0 replies
- 176 views
As the title of our new historical thriller The Lawless Land suggests, plenty of crimes are committed in the story. Since our book takes place in 1351—not long after the worst of the Black Plague and during the Hundred Years’ War between France and England—lawlessness reigned over wide swaths of Europe where civilization had been pushed to the brink, so the title is well-earned. It’s fascinating (and rather appalling in some cases) that human nature never really changes. Even though our book takes place more than 670 years ago, many of the crimes we featured in the plot are just as relevant today: murder, kidnapping, embezzlement, bribery, price-gouging, and theft by cut…
Last reply by Admin_99, -
- 0 replies
- 176 views
Why do some murder mysteries sell more copies than others? There are countless possible explanations. I’d like to focus on one: the impossibility of the murder. Perhaps the most recognizable example of an impossible murder is the locked-room mystery. But there are infinite possibilities. At the heart is a murder that, based on what the reader knows coming into the novel and at least in the early pages, seems utterly impossible based on the known laws of science and first impressions of the characters. So why do impossible murders sell? I have a few theories. #1: They blend genres Stories featuring impossible murders go beyond the well-worn paths of police procedurals. T…
Last reply by Admin_99, -
- 0 replies
- 176 views
Deanna Raybourn, Killers of a Certain Age (Berkley Books) “… so inventive, the only ageist wisecracks it deserves are the ones its characters make about themselves … a singular suspense story thanks to its deftly fluctuating tone, which is by turns comical, violent and unexpectedly affecting … t’s impossible not to root for these dangerous dames and their refusal to let themselves be put on the ash heap — a phrase that, in this thriller, should be taken literally.” –Maureen Corrigan (Washington Post) Robert Harris, Act of Oblivion (Harper) “Fast-paced yet wonderfully detailed … Cleverly, the adventures and privations of Ned Whalley and his son-in-law, Will Goffe…
Last reply by Admin_99, -
- 0 replies
- 175 views
Cara Black and Tara Moss have some of the best-dressed characters in crime fiction around, so we thought it would be fun to set them up in conversation together to discuss the art of dressing for a life in crime. Their conversation was just as wonderful as we expected, and below you’ll find a wide-ranging discussion on everything from the Little Black Dress to what to wear while in hot pursuit. Cara Black’s latest Aimee Leduc mystery, Murder at the Porte de Versailles, was released by Soho Press on March 15th; Tara Moss’ latest, The Ghosts of Paris, releases today from Dutton Books. Thanks to Cara Black and Tara Moss for participating in this conversation and providing us…
Last reply by Admin_99, -
- 0 replies
- 175 views
Near the end of his enthralling 2019 book Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland, Patrick Radden Keefe recalls the frustration he felt while trying to solve a cold case that had stymied detectives for almost fifty years. His main concern? That those who knew “the whole truth of this dark saga”—the 1972 kidnapping and murder of Jean McConville, a Belfast mother of ten—“would take it with them to their graves. Then, just as I was completing the manuscript, I made a startling discovery.” His digging essentially solved the case. If Say Nothing confirmed that he’s among the finest true-crime storytellers working today, Keefe’s new book suggests he…
Last reply by Admin_99, -
- 0 replies
- 175 views
“How can they call it a detective story? The thing ends like a Monty Python skit where they drop a 16-ton weight on Eric Idle,” I protested. “Edgar Allan Poe is christened the Father of the Detective Story because an escaped orangutan swung into an apartment and smashed the victims apart?” Professor Houtz likely wanted to smash me one in the kisser, but he contented himself with theatrically rolling his eyes and ambling back to the blackboard. It was my final year of high school, and my elderly World Lit instructor was having us college-bound twits read The Murders in the Rue Morgue. The class had collectively shrugged in agreement with me about the cop-out ending—it had…
Last reply by Admin_99, -
- 0 replies
- 175 views
When I first started thinking about writing a spy novel, I read every book I could find about espionage. From Kim to Ashenden to Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, along with every book that became a film starring Michael Caine. Having spent several years steeped in spies, I can honestly say that in books, real life is better than fiction. The best books I’ve discovered about espionage are not novels, but non-fiction works about actual spies and their remarkable, deadly exploits. These books are darker than Smiley. Funnier than Bond. More extreme than Jason Bourne. Here are my favorite, stranger than fiction, utterly gripping, non-fiction books about real spies. Operation K…
Last reply by Admin_99, -
- 0 replies
- 175 views
Many of us are familiar with the men of the Manhattan Project: J. Robert Oppenheimer, Edward Teller, dozens of male scientists rolling up their shirtsleeves in the Nevada desert. You may not be aware that thousands of women also contributed to the project, both in developing the science that made it possible and in running the top secret facilities where the atomic bomb was made. The Woman With Two Shadows follows Lillian, who travels to the secret city of Oak Ridge, Tennessee where her twin sister Eleanor works on the Manhattan Project as a calutron girl. In order to find her twin, Lillian must pretend to be her. While researching Oak Ridge and the time period, I learne…
Last reply by Admin_99, -
- 0 replies
- 175 views
A deadly airborne virus ripping through the population. Government mandated quarantines and mask requirements. Overwhelmed hospitals. State maps with daily death tolls. The Covid-19 pandemic thrust Americans—and much of the world—into the plot of a dystopian novel. Suddenly, gatherings of any kind were dangerous. Gone was the ability to pop into a local grocery store, take the kids to school, or work in an office—liberties once so central to existence that they seemed less liberties than chores. In those early days, the government urged everyone to stay indoors. Other people could kill you. Perhaps worse, you could kill them. As a writer, the mandate to remain at home (…
Last reply by Admin_99, -
- 0 replies
- 175 views
Jasper said, “Your father is up for parole again in six months.” Something about his tone twisted Andrea’s stomach into a knot. The only reason she was able to sleep at night was because she knew that Nick was behind bars. “He’s had parole hearings before. He always gets turned down. Why do you think this time will be any different?” “One could say that the general attitude toward domestic terrorism has taken a recent turn, especially among historically more conservative parole boards.” Jasper shook his head as if a United States senator had little control over the world. “In past years, I’ve been able to prevent his parole from being granted but, this time, he might ac…
Last reply by Admin_99, -
- 0 replies
- 175 views
“Louise Penny,” was, at first, the sum total of what I blurted out yesterday to the interviewer wanting to know what might have influenced my new novel A Bend of Light. So many more names I’d meant to list right away in a long, lyrical response that would show both my gratitude to some favorite writers and maybe also make me sound deeply wise and well read. I’d planned to be eloquent and intellectually dazzling, of course, as one always plans, in addition to charming and funny and at least marginally coherent. I’d meant to speak compellingly about my novel’s setting, a fictional village on the coast of Maine—much like the small towns of Penny or William Kent Krueger—and …
Last reply by Admin_99, -
- 0 replies
- 175 views
When I look back at who I was just a few years ago and who I am today, it always gives me a jolt. A lot changes throughout our lives, but more often those changes happen slowly and in parts. We move house or change jobs; we meet people, we lose people. At the end of 2016, twenty years of working in Essex as an NHS radiographer in cancer services had left me feeling exhausted, frustrated, and mostly just sad. I wrote when I could, which wasn’t often, and sold short stories while still harbouring my lifelong dream of one day becoming a full-time novelist. And then, shortly after I was given a life-changing medical diagnosis, a very close family member died unexpectedly. I t…
Last reply by Admin_99, -
- 0 replies
- 174 views
Last reply by Admin_99, -
- 0 replies
- 174 views
When I began to think about writing a mystery, I realized that I had two advantages as a veterinarian. The first was that my profession was already all about solving mysteries. Human physicians have much easier access to a broader range of tests and specialists, and, to make an obvious point, they enjoy the benefit of having patients who can talk. We vets are often forced to approach our medical mysteries with much more limited data and with subjects who are, at times, uncooperative. I cannot think of another profession that parallels detective work as neatly. Just the other day I was presented with a situation where one cat out of three in a household was pooping out of …
Last reply by Admin_99, -
As soon as Agneta’s daughters had left, everything became urgent. She grabbed a rucksack from the hall and hurried upstairs. Way back when, the bathroom had felt like the safest place—for three reasons. You could lock yourself in, there was no way to see in, and no one would ask what you were up to inside. And the many visi- tors to the house always used the toilets downstairs. Burying things in the garden or heading off into the woods might seem smart in the heat of the moment, but when the equip- ment came to be needed, it might not be possible to retrieve it at once. She’d got that far in her thoughts, even back then. Now she didn’t have much time. Naturally, there …
Last reply by Admin_99, -
- 0 replies
- 174 views
While June isn’t quite so packed with urgent new series as, say, April and May, there are still some very choice selections coming your way soon, led by a Tony Hillerman adaptation and closing out with your goodbye to the Shelby clan of Birmingham. Dark Winds AMC – Premieres June 12th The long-awaited adaptation of Tony Hillerman’s Leaphorn and Chee series is finally here, brought to the screen by Graham Roland, with a starry executive producer corps that includes Chris Eyre, Robert Redford, and George RR Martin. Zahn McClarnon and Kiowa Gordon take on the iconic leading roles, which keeps its original 1970s Southwest setting and navigates a web of corruption and c…
Last reply by Admin_99, -
- 0 replies
- 174 views
In his new creation, Investigator Melchor Marín, the Spanish author Javier Cercas has created an almost unique character in the history of contemporary western crime writing. A hardworking, honest, police officer in the Mossos d’Esquadra (Catalonia’s autonomous police force), who doesn’t have a drink or drug problem, doesn’t womanise, and isn’t in a constant daily battle with his bosses. He’s a family guy, devoted to his wife and young daughter, pays his mortgage on time, works hard to get home in time for dinner, stays in at night and reads. Melchor Marín appears to be a content man, living and working in a rather dreary far flung and anonymous suburb of Barcelona, a hun…
Last reply by Admin_99, -
- 0 replies
- 174 views
Lighthouses: Charming, historical, comforting. Also: foreboding, mysterious, terrifying in their isolation. People are fascinated by lighthouses and with good reason. Not only are they important historical sites and highly visible landmarks, lighthouses speak of reliability and safety, a constant point in a changing world, yet at the same time they contain an aura of isolation and hints of mysterious goings on that might have happened within. The first lighthouses were nothing more than buckets of flaming pitch hauled up to the top of a tall pole, to show fisherman or sailors the way home. These lights were essentially to help one’s family or villagers find their way…
Last reply by Admin_99, -
- 0 replies
- 174 views
It was in Boston’s most notorious neighborhood that Professor William Douglas met sex worker Robin Benedict. Their stormy relationship, and the terrible crime that occurred, made national headlines. The irony is that they wouldn’t have met if not for the Combat Zone, a neighborhood that served as a magnet for the city’s most desperate and depraved. Douglas had probably heard about the Combat Zone dating back to his days at Brown University in nearby Providence. The neighborhood was already known on a national level as a rough, dangerous place, having earned its name in the 1950s when brawls between local biker gangs and sailors frequently spilled out of the bars along l…
Last reply by Admin_99,