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,
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Another week, another batch of books for your TBR pile. Happy reading, folks. * Santiago Gamboa (transl. Andrea Rosenberg), The Night Will Be Long (Europa) “Each novel by Santiago Gamboa is at the forefront of the best Latin American novels. Gamboa dismantles the legacy of Chandler and Hammett, adapting it to the craggy environs of Colombia, and adds to it a tireless sense of ethics. His novels revitalize a genre that we thought could do no more.” Martín Solares Shelley Noble, A Secret Never Told (Forge) “Fascinating history about Coney Island …those with a taste for the madcap will be entertained.” Publishers Weekly Carlos Ruiz Zafon, City of Mist: Stor…
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When I was fourteen years old, much to the annoyance of my parents, I would only read one type of novel: the ones that were written by Agatha Christie. My mother used to nag and/or bribe me to read more upmarket fare, and actually I was busted, around the same time, having pocketed the prize money, for claiming to have finished Jane Eyre and then ‘not remembering the bit’ about Mrs Rochester. I am still teased about it today—but that is another story. Attempting to defend the quality work of Agatha Christie, my teenage self told my far-from-stupid mother that I had been moved to tears while reading Death on the Nile, due to the amazing character development of its variou…
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My new book, Murder at Mallowan Hall, is a mystery set in the (fictional) home of Agatha Christie. The housekeeper at Mallowan Hall, Phyllida Bright, discovers a dead body in the library during a house party hosted by Agatha Christie and her husband Max Mallowan. When the authorities seem far too bumbling and slow to solve the crime—and, just as importantly, chase away the journalists and photographers camped out on the premises—Phyllida takes on the task of exercising her own “little gray cells” to unmask the killer. Having the protagonist of the mystery series being a housekeeper—that is, being from the downstairs world—made it both a challenge for me, and a refreshing…
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Looking for the perfect present for your crime-obsessed loved one? Well, look no further, for I have a host of gift books to recommend this holiday season, from oversized to pocket-sized, and everywhere in between. (What is a gift book, you might ask? A gift book is a book that someone would not ordinarily buy for themselves but would love to receive as a present. There. Easy peasy.) These beautifully designed books should make perfect gifts for the fan of true crime, detective fiction, graphic novel mysteries, or film noir. Check out Olivia Rutigliano’s great list from earlier this week for crime-themed candles, mysterious wall prints, and much more. Poe For Your Pr…
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CrimeReads editors select the month’s best new nonfiction crime books. * H.W. Brands, Our First Civil War: Patriots and Loyalists in the American Revolution (Doubleday) Brands’ latest history is an engaging, provocative look at the American Revolution and the largely forgotten battle lines it drew within the colonies: dividing neighbors, families, and communities. Our First Civil War is a study of the schism between Americans who wanted to throw off British rule and those who stayed loyal to the crown. Centuries later, the American Revolution is often taught as a great swelling of popular unrest, but Brands shows how fine the distinctions were, and how the build-u…
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A reptilian line of hills, the Serrata del Marchante, drags itself from the east like fossilized vertebrae. Beyond it lie the windings of a bleached and twisted labyrinth. Through the haze I have an impression of ravines and riven rock, but if I stare at them too long the lines detach and lose their form, dissolving into pale glare. My eyes cannot get a grip; it is too hot to see. Downward now on a slope of dust, past shattered canyons of grey and kidney-purple rock. The sun is high overhead. Trees are an extinct species. My boots crunch on gypsum shards which I mistake, at first glance, for broken windscreen glass. The ground is white, baked hard, interspersed with flak…
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In the Netflix’s documentary, Making a Murderer, 16-year old Brendan Dassey is interrogated by two detectives who believe he might be implicated in a murder. The detectives stressed that they knew what happened and had physical evidence to prove it, all of which was untrue. They aggressively commanded that he tell the truth while simultaneously befriending him, saying things like, “We’re here to help…” They offered a rationale for the alleged killing, telling Brendan that it wasn’t his fault, and directed the blame onto his uncle, the man they did the killing.. After hours of interrogation, Brendan, with an IQ of 70 and his perception of events muddled by the persuasivene…
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One of our favorite things, over at the CrimeReads desk, is when a character in a movie grabs a pen and uses it as a weapon in a fight scene. Don’t ask me why we enjoy it so much. Maybe it’s because we’re writers. I wouldn’t read too much into it. Anyway, for fun, we picked the ten best movie scenes where someone gets offed by a pen. What are the criteria? Well, first of all, I’m accepting “pencils” in lieu of pens. They might not be interchangeable on a Scantron, but they are for the purposes of this list. Second, we are not counting staking vampires or other undead entities with pencils, so this rules out From Dusk Til Dawn and Fright Night. Third, and this is the b…
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Over several years in the early 1930s the spousal writing team of Gwen Bristow (1903-1980) and Bruce Manning (1900-1965) published four crime novels: The Invisible Host, which possibly inspired Agatha Christie’s classic mystery And Then There Were None, The Gutenberg Murders, Two and Two Make Twenty-Two and The Mardi Gras Murders. The couple later went on to enjoy highly successful careers in entertainment, she writing historical fiction, including her bestselling Plantation Trilogy, he writing screenplays in Hollywood in Hollywood, including most of the scripts for the hugely popular films of youthful star Deanna Durbin. Before turning to writing crime fiction and these …
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A bar in a Las Vegas casino isn’t generally a place where one would contemplate what we owe to our Victorian ancestors, but that’s exactly where I was when it hit me that we owe them more than we think. My husband was playing a Senior Event at the World Series of Poker and I was perched on a bar stool waiting for him when I realized that the flashing lights of the slot machines, the ear-splitting music and the endless taxis discharging fares outside the big glass doors couldn’t exist without them. I’d been working on this article for some time, but I wasn’t satisfied with anything I’d written. But that changed when I was sitting on that bar stool sipping my glass of mer…
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I’ve always been a huge fan of the young adult dystopian fiction of the early twenty-first century – The Hunger Games, Divergent and their ilk. I loved these new, feisty representations of young female protagonists who were determined to take on the injustices of the world. However, when I began analyzing what was making them so popular, I began to notice a pattern. Surprisingly often, the characters’ mothers were absent figures in their daughters’ lives. The more I looked into this, the more questions arose. I found that the reasons for this maternal absence varied: from mental breakdown (Katniss’s mother in The Hunger Games), to disinterest (the Uglies series by Scott …
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CrimeReads editors select the month’s best debuts in crime, mystery, and thrillers. * Yasmine Angoe, Her Name is Knight (Thomas and Mercer) This action-packed origin story introduces one of the most kick-ass heroines I’ve ever encountered. As a child, Nena Knight lost her family and most of her village to violence. Taken in by an elite family of movers and shakers, Nena becomes a highly effective assassin, fulfilling her duties to her adoptive clan with nary a stray thought. But when her latest assignment—coupled with the appearance of an old nemesis—causes Nena to question the pattern of her life, no one is safe (especially Nena). –Molly Odintz, CrimeReads Senior E…
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My 27-year career as a diplomat in countries around the world, and the U.S. State Department, has quite naturally drawn me to espionage fiction writing. I actively dealt with issues in Europe, Asia and the Mideast, with Latin America and Asia, focusing on national security and arms control issues and negotiated with the then-Soviet Union. I have been tutored through real world experience on how diplomacy and intelligence operatives work. This world is marked by officials of intelligence, courage and others who may be personally flawed, who often face high personal risks and choices marked by moral ambiguity. Fiction affords a superb platform to explore such themes. Night…
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One of the most important aspects of writing fiction is knowing when to communicate which pieces of information with the reader or audience. Suspense of any kind is created by selective ignorance—the author’s job is to dole out each parcel of knowledge in a way and a time that will be satisfying. And then there’s the dynamic between the reader and the protagonist— should they learn each new thing at the same time, or is there a dance to be done with the reveal, with one sometimes a few steps ahead of the other? Found text is its own specific dance, with the limitations drawn tight around writing that exists in the fiction you’re creating. There are plenty of examples, o…
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Questions of faith are a universal part of the human experience. Why am I here? What does my life mean? Is there a God and if so, what is His role in the universe and in my life? These are big and fundamental questions and how writers and readers tackle them matters. Yet themes of faith, doubt, crisis, and belief are not typically found in the pages of thriller fiction. Recently we had the honor of launching a new thriller series for Tyndale House—the leading Christian publisher in the industry—and the journey has us thinking a lot about the changing face of faith in fiction and in the world at large. In our mind, the new series is not a departure from what we’ve always …
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Seasons greetings! It’s November, so we’re officially in the (new, extended) Holiday season that apparently begins right after Halloween (as opposed to after Thanksgiving). But that’s okay with me. The days are getting shorter, so perhaps some gift-giving-related-cheer will help light up the next few weeks until Official Holiday Time begins. I’ve been tasked with putting together this year’s CrimeReads Holiday Gift Guide, and I could not be more excited to do so. This gift guide is intended for literary and/or cinephilic persons (particularly, mystery and crime fans) and—here’s the big red bow on top—does not include books. Mostly. This list is for book-adjacent stuff (mo…
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This draft of “The Bloomingdale Story” was written by Patricia Highsmith in 1948. It would later be expanded and significantly reworked before being published as the novel The Price of Salt, later titled Carol. The draft is included in the newly released book, Patricia Highsmith: Her Diaries and Notebooks, 1941 – 1995, published by Liveright Publishing, which has made it available here. Notes presented in the right margin were made by Highsmith upon revisiting her notebooks at a later date, accompanied by explanatory notes from her longtime editor, Anna von Planta. ___________________________________ 12/9/48 I see her the same instant she sees me, and instantly, I lo…
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Dostoevsky was fascinated by the ways people found freedom in Siberia. He took a special interest in Grandpa, the old Raskolnik in his barracks, and listened. “At the end of the world the river of fire shall flow, to the doom of sinners, to the cleansing of saints. All cliffs and mountains shall become flat. For mountains are made by the demons.” Dostoevsky thought of Raskolniks as dogmatic, but he admired Grandpa’s honesty and fervor. Suffering is what kindled it, Dostoevsky realized. Suffering was a strength-giving virtue. A hard-labor prison was a blessing. Most prisoners pursued another kind of liberation. “Money is minted freedom,” Dostoevsky said of life in a Siber…
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My first novel The Bloodless Boy includes dozens of real, and people from history, both the famous and the infamous, placing them in a fictional setting. The time and place in which the action takes place—late 1670s London—was full of larger-than-life characters. Here, I profile ten ‘rogues’ of the time, some of whom appear in The Bloodless Boy, and some in the sequels I have written. Charles II 1630—1685 At the time of The Bloodless Boy, Charles has just prorogued Parliament, seeking to rule without it. This provoked fear that he wanted to rule absolutely, like his father Charles I. A genuine fear (along with the fear caused by the Popish Plot) was that there would b…
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The first lesson I learned about writing was to check for errors and then check again. And I keep learning the same lesson over and over. I’m not the first or the worst mistake-maker. Writers have been making errors forever. Google the topic “mistakes in books” or “authors’ mistakes” and prepare to be overwhelmed. These mistakes take many forms, and some have become famous. In the “Wicked Bible” of 1631, the 7th Commandment reads, “Thou shalt commit adultery.” In Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe, the shipwreck survivor Crusoe is on the island watching his ship sink. He takes off his clothes and swims back out to the ship to salvage supplies, which he brings back to shore in…
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Another week, another batch of books for your TBR pile. Happy reading, folks. * Thomas Perry, The Left-Handed Twin (Mysterious Press) “Perry seasons the fast-moving chase narrative with engrossing details about becoming a new person, from constructing a false identity to relearning how to move through daily life in an unrecognizable way. This time, though, there is a stunning extra: with the mobsters closing in, Jane hopes to lose her pursuers by hiking Maine’s Hundred-Mile Wilderness, the most arduous stretch of the Appalachian Trail…Another stunner from a modern master.” ― Booklist (starred) Kevin Birmingham, The Sinner and the Saint: Dostoevsky and the Gentl…
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You would be forgiven for having missed one particular news story that did the rounds in August this year. ‘Briton suspected of spying for Russia arrested in Germany’ read the BBC headline, and the accompanying article, describing the arrest of a Scottish security guard working at the British embassy in Berlin, suggested that the same old shadow games were still being played. One of the most remarkable things about the story was that journalists who visited the suspect’s apartment in Potsdam peered through his window and saw ‘two Russian flags alongside scores of military history books, some in Russian.’ Two Russian flags? Isn’t it astonishing that someone working for th…
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There’s something very cozy about Savannah, Georgia. Could it be the weather, the food, the cocktails, the folk down there? It’s an easy city to feel very comfortable in. Major General Sherman’s decision not to burn down the city of Savannah was bad news for Atlanta but remains good news for heritage lovers. The old town historic district has restored houses, park squares, cemeteries, cobblestone streets and the incredible Live Oaks draped in moss. It’s a history overload and a major reason cozy writers are drawn to Savannah more than most other cities in America. Savannah is a place, we like to imagine, of good manners, porches at sunset, Mint Juleps, romantic Gothic par…
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Given the enduring passion of the reading public for Christmas murder mysteries, I am prompted to ask, What is it about Christmas and crime? It can’t just be the alliteration (although I love me some good alliteration, as will become obvious as you read on). No, I’m convinced it has something to do with that moment we’ve all had at least once when, at a holiday gathering, you think, “I wish someone would put us out of our misery and just kill Great-Uncle Albert/Cousin Bertha/[insert family member’s name here].” What? You’ve never felt that way? Well, then, this essay isn’t for you. But for the rest of us normal people, there is something wonderfully satisfying about a boo…
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The two cubs stopped abruptly and stood staring. As the biologists approached, one of the cubs moved toward them, curious. The cubs were tiny and probably fresh out of their den, putting them at a little over three months old. A female polar bear reached sexual maturity when she turned five. She could have cubs from then until she was twenty. The cubs stayed with her for two to two and a half years, so females tended to have a litter of only one to three cubs every three years. Over a life- time, a mother bear typically had ten cubs. However, cub mortality was so high, with only a 40 to 60 percent survival rate, that polar bear populations grew very slowly. Alex hoped t…
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