Category Archives: Crime fiction

REVIEW: Wild Justice – Kelley Armstrong

Posted on March 13, 2014 by Ela

(Sphere e-book 2013) Francis Bacon wrote: “Revenge is a kind of wild justice; which the more man’s nature runs to, the more ought law to weed it out. For as for the first wrong, it doth but offend the law; … Continue reading →

Posted in 2014 New Reads, Crime fiction, Fiction, Read on my Kindle, Reviews, Thriller | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

REVIEW: The Luck of the Vails – E. F. Benson

Posted on February 25, 2014 by Ela

(Vintage 2013, originally published 1901) E. F. Benson is well-known for his Mapp and Lucia books, full of snobbery and bitchiness and small-town intrigues, but he also wrote this mystery novel (along with The Blotting Book, also recently re-issued by … Continue reading →

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BOOK TO SCREEN: Elementary

Posted on February 5, 2014 by Ela

(CBS television series) I blame Clare at the Literary Omnivore for sparking my interest in this show! Her occasional posts about this updated version of Sherlock Holmes – set in New York, and with a woman Watson – made me … Continue reading →

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REVIEW: The Tiger in the Smoke – Margery Allingham

Posted on December 31, 2013 by Ela

(Penguin 1975, originally published 1952) Meg Elginbrodde, recently engaged to Geoffrey Levett, has been a war widow for five years after her husband Martin was killed in France. Recently, however, photographs have been turning up, both in illustrated papers and … Continue reading →

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DISCUSSION: Impersonation stories

Posted on December 1, 2013 by Ela

The theme of an heir returning from the dead (or long-missing) is one which is occasionally used by writers – particularly thriller or crime writers – often to enable a bit of chicanery and double bluffing – is he or … Continue reading →

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REVIEW: The Last Hero – Leslie Charteris

Posted on November 24, 2013 by Ela

(originally published 1930) Leslie Charteris (the pseudonym of Leslie Charles Bowyer-Yin) was born in 1907 and published his first novel in 1927, when at university. He was the author of many books but is most famous for the creation of … Continue reading →

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REVIEW: Death in Kenya – M. M. Kaye

Posted on November 18, 2013 by Ela

Originally published as ‘Later Than You Think’ (1958) I was doing that usual thing on Wikipedia of jumping from one article to another (I think it went from Little Women to White Mischief via Gabriel Byrne and Wah Wah) when … Continue reading →

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Wild places, or, reading and not blogging

Posted on April 16, 2013 by Ela

I’ve fallen into a blogging hole again, and it’s not because I haven’t been reading. Oh no. Perhaps it’s because I’ve been reading too much, and it’s seemed like much more fun to go pick up another book than to … Continue reading →

Posted in 2013 New Reads, Crime fiction, Not A Review | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

REVIEW: Original Sin – P. D. James

Posted on March 25, 2013 by Ela

This is the tenth of P. D. James’ crime novels featuring her Metropolitan Police detective Adam Dalgliesh. Dalgliesh is a direct fictional descendent of Ngaio Marsh’s Roderick Alleyn, though James’ novels are much more modern and less concerned with the … Continue reading →

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REVIEW: Murder Actually – Stephanie McCarthy

Posted on February 18, 2013 by Ela

Elspeth Gray, a romance novelist in her mid-thirties, has been living in All Hallows (a small town in New York) following her divorce. She treads safe and unthreatening ground with her books, and proclaims her distaste for crime novels. However, … Continue reading →

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