AND now for something completely different with a truly gripping thriller from a source not previously sampled. After years of immersion in the tide of Scandi Noir, I am stepping out into fresh fields with a switch to German Noir. Well, completely different and fresh for this reader, although no doubt it has been flourishing at home and abroad for quite some time. After all, the Germans have long been renowned as voracious devourers of crime fiction across its many sub genres. So it is natural to assume there exists also a pool of home-grown crime fiction talent. And here… Continue reading
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As one who is forever wary of book cover blurbs, I approached this much-praised offering with even more caution than usual. Look at those blasts from high-status reviewers: Mind-bending, Unputdownable, Masterful. Surely hyperbole gone mad. There are six more pages of them inside, all of them in the same OTT… Continue reading

You’ve gotta love what the Aussies can do to the English language. No time was wasted Down Under in adapting linguistically to the present crisis. A sample of the latest OzSpeak: “Me boss tested posi for the ’Rona so now I’m in iso. Popped down to Woollies for some sanny, but it’s been bloody magpie’d.”… Continue reading