2012 Reviews
Edge of Dark Water by Joe R Lansdale *****
Buried Strangers by Leighton Gage ***
Killed at the Whim of a Hat by Colin Cotterill **
Snapshots by Paul Brazill ****.5
Lumen by Ben Pastor ***.5
The Cold Dish by Craig Johnson ****
Dead Harvest by Chris F Holm ****
Where the Devil Can't Go by Anya Lipska ***.5
Old School by Dan O'Shea ****
Johnny Porno by Charlie Stella *****
Hill Country by R. Thomas Brown ****
Death in the City of Light by David King ***
A Dirty Job by Christopher Moore *****
White Heat by M.J. McGrath *****
Death on the Marias by Adrian Magson ***.5
The Long Midnight of Barney Thomson by Douglas Lindsay ****.5
The Imitation of Patsy Burke by John J Gaynard ****
Kiss Me Quick by Danny Miller ***
Choke on Your Lies by Anthony Neil Smith ****
Manchester 6 by Col Bury ***.5
Star Island by Carl Hiassen ***
The Point by Gerard Brennan *****
Tollesbury Times Forever by Stuart Aylis ***.5
The Janus Stone by Elly Griffiths ***
Incompetence by Rob Grant ***
Prague Fatale by Philip Kerr ***.5
Or The Bull Kills You by Jason Webster ***
When Money Dies by Adam Fergusson ****
Nobody's Perfect by Donald Westlake ***.5
Head Games by Craig McDonald ***
The Cold, Cold Ground by Adrian McKinty *****
The Eighty Five Billion Euro Man by Donal Conaty ***
The Dead Detective by William Heffernan ***
Black Sheep by Arlene Hunt ***.5
Storm Front by Jim Butcher *****
Devil's Peak by Deon Meyer ****.5
In a Lonely Place by Dorothy B Hughes ****
White Nights by Ann Cleeves ****
2011 Reviews
Crimes in Southern Indiana by Frank Bill ****.5
Taken by Niamh O'Connor ***
Zoo City by Lauren Beukes ***.5
Kursk by Lloyd Clark ***
Anglo Republic by Simon Carswell ****
The Killer is Dying by James Sallis ***
Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter by Tom Franklin *****
Mixed Blood by Roger Smith *****
The Cleansing Flames by R.N. Morris ***
Ashes by Sergios Gakas ****.5
Death and the Penguin by Andrey Kurkov ***
LA Requiem by Robert Crais ****
Outrage by Arnaldur Indridson ****
Call for the Dead by John Le Carre ****
The Red Coffin by Sam Eastland **.5
The Hanging Shed by Gordon Ferris ****
The Somme Stations by Andrew Martin ***.5
The Day Aberystwyth Stood Still by Malcolm Pryce ****
Greenwich Killing Time by Kinky Friedman ****
The Savage Altar by Asa Larsson ****
The Bloody Meadow by William Ryan ***.5
Nazi on the Run by Gerald Steinacher **.5
Garnethill by Denise Mina ***
The Holy Thief by William Ryan *****
Open Season by CJ Box ***.5
Half Blood Blues by Esi Edugyan *****
Death Toll by Jim Kelly ***.5
The City, The City by China Mieville ***.5
Every Shallow Cut by Tom Piccirilli ***
Frozen Out by Quentin Bates **.5
Bloodland by Alan Glynn ****
The Quarry by Johan Theorin ***.5
The Cleanup by Sean Doolittle ***.5
White Sky, Black Ice by Nathan Jones ****.5
The Crossing Places by Elly Griffiths ****
Winterland by Alan Glynn *****
Down Among the Dead Men by Michelle Williams **.5
City of Bohane by Kevin Barry **.5
The Big Mango by Jake Needham***.5
Absolute Zero Cool by Declan Burke *****
Bury Me Deep by Megan Abbott ****.5
Sweet Money by Ernesto Mallo *****
The Whispers of Nemesis by Anne Zouroudi ***
The Dramatist by Ken Bruen ****.5
Pariah by Dave Zeltserman ****
Anarchy and Old Dogs by Colin Cotterill ***
Headbanger by Hugo Hamilton ***
Crime Always Pays by Declan Burke ****.5
Borkmann's Point by Hakan Nesser ***
Fun and Games by Duane Swierczynski ****
1974 by David Peace ****.5
From Aberystwyth With Love by Malcolm Pryce ****
White Death by Tobias Jones ***.5
The Fatal Touch by Conor Fitzgerald ***.5
Nine Dragons by Michael Connelly **.5
The Rage by Gene Kerrigan *****
The Deputy by Victor Gischler *****
The Good Thief's Guide to Amsterdam by Chris Ewan ****
Plugged by Eoin Colfer ****
Mercy by Jussi Adler-Olsen ****.5
The Serbian Dane by Leif Davidsen ***
The Saints of New York by RJ Ellory ***.5
The Brush Off by Shane Maloney ****.5
Officer Down by Theresa Schwegel ****
One of Our Thursday's is Missing by Jasper Fforde ***.5
A Stone of the Heart by John Brady ****.5
Stratton's War by Laura Wilson ***
The Man Who Went Up in Smoke by Maj Sjowall and Pers Wahloo ****
Agent X by Noah Boyd **
The Big Short by Michael Lewis ***.5
Still Life by Louise Penny ***.5
The Swiss, The Dead and The Gold by Jean Ziegler ***
The Cutting Crew by Steve Mosby ****
Devil Red by Joe Lansdale ****.5
Slow Burn by G.M. Ford ***
30 For a Harry by Richard Hoyt ***.5
The Rainy City by Earl Emerson ***.5
Caught Stealing by Charlie Huston *****
Ghost Mountain Boys by James Campbell *****
Beyond Hitler's Grasp by Michael Bar-Zohar ***
Secret Dead Men by Duane Swierczynski *****
People Who Walk in Darkness by Stuart Kaminsky **.5
The Main by Trevanian ****.5
A Beautiful Place to Die by Malla Nunn ****.5
The Burning Girl by Mark Billingham ***
He Died With His Eyes Open by Derek Raymond ****
Berlin at War by Roger Moorhouse ***.5
Spitting on a Soldier's Grave by Robert Widders **.5
Miami Blues by Charles Willeford ***
Falling Glass by Adrian McKinty ***.5
The Vienna Assignment by Olen Steinhauer ****
Dirty Old Town by Nigel Bird ****
Field Grey by Philip Kerr *****
The Ice Harvest Scott Phillips ****
The Wild Blue by Stephen Ambrose **
The Fifth Elephant by Terry Pratchett ****
Black Diamond by Martin Walker **.5
Tilt-a-Whirl by Chris Grabenstein ****
The Killer Inside Me by Jim Thompson ****.5
Gun Monkeys by Victor Gischler ***
Orchid Blue by Eoin McNamee ***
Case Histories by Kate Atkinson ***.5
Peeler by Kevin McCarthy ****
2010 Reviews
London Boulevard by Ken Bruen ****
Collusion by Stuart Neville ****.5
A Brief History of Neoliberalism by David Harvey ****
Raven Black by Ann Cleeves ****.5
Blood of the Wicked by Leighton Gage ****.5
And Then You Die by Michael Dibdin **.5
Ten Days to D-Day by David Stafford ****
We Die Alone by David Howarth *****
The Mask of Dimitrios by Eric Ambler ****
Breakfast with Anglo by Simon Kelly ***.5
The Samaritan's Secret by Matt Beynon Rees ***.5
Vanilla Ride by Joe Lansdale *****
I, The Jury by Mickey Spillane***.5
Killer Country by Mike Nicols ***.5
Enough is Enough by Fintan O'Toole ****
Small Crimes by Dave Zeltserman *****
Operation Napoleon by Arnaldur Indridason ***
Halo in Blood by John Evans/Howard Browne ****
Wasters by Shane Ross and Nick Webb ***
Needle in a Haystack by Ernesto Mallo ****
Gunshot Road by Adrian Hyland *****
The Coroner's Lunch by Colin Cotterill ****.5
Love, Sex and War by John Cosgrove ****.5
South of no North by Charles Bukowski ****
Smoked by Patrick Quinlan ***.5
The Green Ripper by John D. Macdonald ***.5
The Arms Maker of Berlin by Dan Fesperman ***
Saturday's Child by Ray Banks****
Bangkok Tattoo by John Burdett ***
The Case of the Missing Books by Ian Samson ***
The Thin Man by Dashiell Hammett ****
Tomato Red by Daniel Woodrell ****
Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett****.5
Hypothermia by Arnaldur Indridason *****
Dead I May Well Be by Adrian McKinty *****
Client by Parnell Hall**.5
The Information Officer by Mark Mills **.5
No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy ****.5
Point Blank by Richard Stark****
The Scarecrow by Michael Connelly ***.5
Instruments of Darkness by Robert Wlison ***.5
The Spies of Warsaw by Alan Furst ***
The Burglar Who Studied Spinoza by Lawrence Block ***
Tonight I Said Goodbye by Michael Koryta ****
Damnation Street by Andrew Klavan ****
Gallows Lane by Brian McGilloway ***.5
Almost Blue by Carlo Lucarelli ***.5
Vodka Doesn't Freeze by Liah Giarrantano ****
Brodeck's Report by Phillipe Claudel *****
Cogan's Trade by George V Higgins ***
Water-Blue Eyes by Domingo Villar ***
Badfellas by Tonino Benacquista ***
GUBU Nation by Damian Corless ***
Bad Things Happen by Harry Dolan ***
Then Came The Evening by Brian Hart ****
Blood Moon by Gary Disher **
Fury by G.M. Ford ***
The Big O by Declan Burke ****
Hand in the Fire by Hugo Hamilton ***
Killer by Dave Zeltserman *****
The Day of the Jack Russell by Colin Bateman ****
A Deadly Trade by Michael Stanley ***
The Goodbye Kiss by Massimo Carlotto ****
Leather Maiden by Joe Lansdale ****
Roseanna by Maj Sjowall and Pers Wahloo ****
The Mystic Arts of Erasing All Signs of Death by Charlie Huston *****
The People's Manifesto by Mark Thomas ****
The Devil's Garden by Ace Atkins ***
Chickenhawk by Robert Mason ****
Trail of Blood by S.J. Rozan ***
The American Envoy by Garbhan Downey ***
The Grave in Gaza by Matt Beynon Rees *****
Old Dogs by Donna Moore ****
Motor City Blue by Loren Estleman ***
Truth by Peter Temple ****
Paying For It by Tony Black ***
Criminal Summer by Luigi Guicciardi ***
A Firing Offense by George Pelecanos ****
Have Mercy on Us All by Fred Vargas ***
Expiration Date by Duane Swierczynski *****
The Silence of the Rain by Luiz Alfredo Garcia-Roza ****
The Good Thief's Guide to Paris by Chris Ewan ****
Devil's Food by Anthony Bruno ****
Operation Mincemeat by Ben Macintyre ****
The Complaints by Ian Rankin ****
Pies and Prejudice by Stuart Maconie **
The Postman Always Rings Twice by James M Cain *****
The Song is You by Megan Abbott ****
Kamikazi by Raymond Lamont-Brown ***
Grift Sense by James Swain ****
Havana Fever by Leonardo Padura ***
The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett *****
The Ones You Do by Daniel Woodrell *****
Old Flames by John Lawton ***
Dead Set by Kel Robertson ****
Up in Honey's Room by Elmore Leonard **
The Fugitive Pigeon by Donald Westlake ***
Via Delle Oche by Carlo Lucarelli ****
Shinjuku Shark by Arimasa Osawa **
Isle of Joy by Don Winslow ****
The Last Good Kiss by James Crumley ****
2009 Reviews
Diamond Dove by Adrian Hyland *****
Banksters by David Murphy and Martina Devlin ***
The Build Up by Philip Gwynne ***
The Wheelman by Duane Swierczynski *****
Calumet City by Charlie Newton ****
Ship of Fools by Fintan O'Toole ****
Stiff by Shane Maloney ***
The Herring Seller's Apprentice by L.C. Tyler **
Frost at Christmas by R.D. Wingfield ****
If the Dead Rise Not by Philip Kerr ****
Rubble by Jeff Byles **
Death of a Red Heroine by Qui Xiaolong ***
The Builders by Frank McDonald and Kathy Sheridan ***
Dirty Sweet by John McFetridge ****
Walking the Perfect Square by Reed Farrel Coleman *****
The Lime Pit by Jonathan Valin ****
Satan's Lambs by Lynn Hightower ***
The Killing of Strangers by Jerry Holt **
Unseen Academicals by Terry Pratchett ****
The Irish Sports Pages by Les Roberts ***
Winter's Bone by Daniel Woodrell *****
The Devil Met a Lady by Stuart Kaminsky ****
The Rabbit Factory by Marshall Karp ****
Mrs D'Silva Detective Instincts and the Shaitan of Calcutta by Glen Peters ***
The Small Back Room by Nigel Balchin ****
The Collaborator of Bethlehem by Matt Benyon Rees *****
Zoo Station by David Downing ***
The Reapers by John Connolly ***
Go to Helena Handbasket by Donna Moore *****
The Damned Season by Carlo Lucarelli ***
The Price of Darkness by Graham Hurley ****
A Trace of Smoke by Rebecca Cantrell ***
'Rommel?' 'Gunner Who?' by Spike Milligan ****
The Foreign Correspondence by Alan Furst *****
Queenpin by Megan Abbott ****
Disco for the Departed by Colin Cotterill ****
All the Colours of the Town by Liam McIlvanney ***
Black Delta Night by Jessica Speart ***
The Tin Roof Blowdown by James Lee Burke **
Fifty Grand by Adrian McKinty *****
Last Rituals by Yrsa Sigurdardottir ***
Inspector Mallon by Donal McCracken ***
Winter Frost by R.D. Wingfield ****
Stop Me by Richard Jay Parker ***
Black Out by John Lawton ****
Bombs over Dublin by Sean McMahon ***
Harold Shipman: Prescription for Murder by Brian Whittle and Jean Ritchie *****
The Last Llanelli Train by Robert Lewis ***
Death in Breslau by Marek Krajewski ***
The Shape of Water by Andrea Camilleri ****
The Unbearable Lightness of Being in Aberystwyth by Malcolm Pryce ****
Before the Deluge by Otto Friedrich ****
Alone in Berlin by Hans Fallada *****
Carte Blanche by Carlo Lucarelli ****
M*A*S*H by Richard Hooker ****
August Heat by Andrea Camilleri ***
The Devil's Star by Jo Nesbo ***
Dark Times in the City by Gene Kerrigan ***
The Twelve by Stuart Neville ****
