Portrait of a Muse Reviews
"A valuable account of the offstage political work performed by able, unenfranchised women." TLS
Press & Reviews
Read reviews about our gripping crime fiction, thrillers and mysteries, detective books, crime stories and page-turning books.
Crocodile Tears Reviews
"Fast, slick and acerbically funny: buckle up and enjoy the ride." Laura Wilson, Guardian
"It reads like a marvellous mash-up of Anita Brookner and Quentin Tarantino." The Times
Night of Shooting Stars Reviews
Written in Pastor's inimitable style, the tense and dramatic atmosphere of Berlin is vividly recounted: senior army officers clustered in hotel bars and watchful of Bora. Tension is increased through the character of the police officer assigned to work with Bora but whom we are never confident is on his side. An unexpected denouement awaits the reader. Thrilling."Journal Law Society Scotland
Reviews Deep as Death
Times/Sunday Times Crime Club:
June star pick:
Welcome return for doughty 1950s Finnish cop Hella Mauzer, such a misfit in the male-dominated police force where we first met her in Evil Things, that she’s been fired and is trying to make her way as a private detective.
Reviews for The Aosawa Murders
GLOBE and MAIL: The Aosawa Murders is certain to top a lot of Best Books this year and Alison Watts’s masterful translation is part of the reason. Can this book open up the world of Japanese crime in the way that The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo opened up Scandi Noir? I hope so.
WALL STREET JOURNAL: Ms. Onda’s novel—part psychological thriller, part murder mystery—is audacious in conception and brilliant in execution.
Grab a Snake reviews
In this solid spin-off from Cuban author Pedro’s Havana Quartet, police detective Mario Conde investigates the 1989 murder of 73-year-old Pedro Cuang, a dry cleaner, in Havana’s Chinatown. Fans of the Havana Quartet will welcome Conde’s return. Publishers Weekly
How nice it is to watch a high-powered talent at work on a form that too often relies on flat-footed prose. Booklist
Padura on his very best form. Once again, we have Padura’a irresistible combination of quirky storytelling and a vivid evocation of the city of Havana –the translation by Peter Bush does full justice to the novel, which was inspired by the author’s work as a journalist when investigating the history of Havana’s Barrio Chino. ELN Barry Forshaw
Reviews Horseman's Song
Publishers Weekly Starred Review: Set in 1937, Pastor’s outstanding sixth mystery featuring German investigator Martin Bora (after 2017’s The Road to Ithaca) makes effective use of the death of Federico García Lorca, the celebrated poet, during the Spanish Civil War… Pastor does an excellent job of creating a back-story for her lead that fits in well with the previous books.
Midwestern Book Review: An expertly crafted mystery by a master of the genre, that is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $13.95), "The Horseman's Song" is an especially recommended addition to community library Mystery/Suspense collections. Also very highly recommended for dedicated mystery buffs are the other novels by Ben Pastor that feature the character of Martin Bora.
NB Literary Magazine: An accomplished historical thriller set in Spain in 1937. This novel is confidently plotted and the tempo is judged to perfection… a thoughtful intelligent thriller that plays with a historical mystery in a manner respectful of the known facts. Documents released in 2015 appear to verify the claim that the Grenada fascists killed García Lorca in 1936, but his body has never been found.
Foreword Reviews: Pastor weaves a poignant, convincing portrait of life during wartime. Bora himself is a compelling protagonist, erudite enough to recite Aristotle to himself while repelling an ambush and innocent enough to fall for a local lass who changes his perspective on love.
Fragility of Bodies Reviews
“This is how I like my noir fiction: no cops with unlikely hang-ups, no copycat serial killers, no ‘here-we-go-again’ plots. Olguín concentrates instead on villains and victims and several dollops of savage sex." SHOTS
Reviews Have You Come Far?
Of all rites of passage, few burn so deep in the memory as interviews. The artist Vaughan Grylls certainly has strong recall of the many times he has presented himself for a job: there is horrible credibility in his recollection of every interview...Despite many happy outcomes, a sense emerges of how ill-fitting – yet how vital to survival – is the relationship between artists and institutions. A useful thing to be reminded of.
Reviews Evil Things
“I read it in one sitting. It’s thrilling." Cecilia Ekbäck, author of Wolf Winter.
“This is a remarkable debut — the best novel I’ve read this year. A historical thriller with a heart that keeps you enthralled to the final page." David Young, author of A Darker State and STASI Child, both part of the Oberleutnant Karin Mueller series.
"A memorable character with just the right disdain for authority and its amoral attitudes to justice and women." Maxim Jakubowski, author of The Louisiana Republic.