The longlist for the McIlvanney Prize for Scottish Crime book of the year 2024 has been announced – congratulations to DV Bishop, SG Maclean, Chris Brookmyre, Charles Cumming, Andrew James Greig, Doug Johnstone, Val McDermid, Abir Mukherjee, CS Robertson, Kim Sherwood, Doug Sinclair, & Douglas Skelton
The sense of place is strong, without being overplayed . This is hot, dry, regional Australia, farming country and small towns, people who are interconnected with that place, and each other over many generations.
Just posted a review of Death Holds the Key, the 2nd Itinerant Mendicant novel by Alexander Thorpe:
Slightly on the cosier side, the personalities, and interactions between the two main characters is a big part of the attraction of DEATH HOLDS THE KEY.
Highlights were a most unusual read in Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton, getting to review Going Zero by Andrew McCarten and starting in on a couple of excellent #AusCrime books - one part of a series, the other a debut.
Não me esqueci do aniversário da Dorothy L. Sayers no dia 13 de Junho, escolhendo estes 4 livros, mas o dia ficou complicado e acabei por não partilhar. Copywriter em publicidade, foi fundadora e presidente do The Detection Club, e é uma das minhas autoras de policiais favoritas.
Technology based thriller which worked for this reader (they often don't). Surveillance contest between tech bro and a book reader that goes down the wire with heaps at stake for both parties.
A well balanced combination of extremely good characters, a very solid and intriguing plot, great atmosphere and some well placed social commentary into the bargain, THE QUARRY tackles quite a bit and achieves all of it with considerable flair.
The #TBR tin has spoken.
Next read for fiction:
Great tales of detection has 19 short stories selected and introduced by Dorothy L. Sayers. This collection was originally published in 1936, but it's still easy to find this more "recent" edition from Everyman.
Sayers edited several short stories collections and besides the interesting stories, she also wrote insightful introductions about the history and development of the genre.
I'll be using an Oxford related bookmark.
Next read for non-fiction:
Howdunit is a collection of essays about the genre and the work of detective, crime, thrillers authors. The articles are all from the past and present members of The Detection Club, organised and edited by Martin Edwards.
Bookmark from the Portuguese edition of The Floating Admiral, also a The Detection Club work.
1911, on a winter's night in arid New South Wales wool country, mounted trooper Augustus Hawkins discovers the bodies of three young people. They are scions of the richest family in the district...
... first novel featuring DI Nyree Bradshaw (BETTER LEFT DEAD is now available), set in the upper north island region of New Zealand, with idyllic scenery, pockets of poverty, a strong, tight knit Māori community, and a lot of fractious relationships.