Wandering the world

I love dark and disturbing Scandinavian thrillers! There's something unique about these stories and their exploration of the heinous side of humanity, plus there's the bonus of the stunning northern European landscapes. Lackberg has been one of the highest selling Swedish thriller writers for some time. She has a degree in economics from Gothenburg University, and was a marketing director and product manager before turning to writing. The Fjallbacka series, featuring Detectiv

Karin Slaughter is a prolific crime writer. If anyone was destined to following that calling, it is someone with that surname! Check out my post that introduces Slaughter's work , my review of her four standalone novels to date, and my thoughts on her new series featuring Andrea Oliver , a US Marshal. The two series that Slaughter is most known for are the Grant county and Will Trent books. The former includes six books (published 2001-2007) set in a small fictional Georgian

Even though Grown ups was published four years ago at the time of writing this post, it's Marian Keyes's most recent standalone novel. The book is written in a similar vein to her Walsh family saga in that it explores a complex and dysfunctional family, addressing a bunch of important topics amongst all the mayhem and Irish humour. Check out my reviews of other Keyes novels, The brightest star in the sky and Sushi for beginners , and Lucy Sullivan is getting married. Grow

I adore Marion Keyes. Her books are so Irish and I love that brand of humour. She tackles weighty subjects wrapped up within a bunch of eccentric characters doing bonkers things (in a good way 😉). I've read all of the Walsh family saga and some standalones, The brightest star in the sky , Lucy Sullivan is getting married and Grown ups. What's Sushi for beginners got to do with sushi, you ask? Read on to find out... Sushi for beginners | Published November 2000 | Read Septe

Louise Jensen is a bestselling British author of psychological thrillers. She's also written a couple of romance novels under the name, Amelia Henley. One of the reasons I love psychological thrillers so much is that the darker side of humanity fascinates me. I also find that good thriller writers are clever, as they can weave intricate stories about flawed and relatable people who do bad things, or have bad things done to them. I don't think you need a bonkers ending - or a

Lucy Clarke has a first class degree in English Literature. I've read that she is a passionate traveller and diarist. Before taking up writing full time, Clarke worked as a presenter of social enterprise events and led creative writing workshops. She is married to James Cox, a professional windsurfer, and together they spend their winters travelling (ostensibly for research for her novels😉) and their summers at their home on the south coast of England. Until I found Lucy Cla

One can never have enough British thriller writers in one's reading diet and Gilly Macmillan is another I discovered recently. Macmillan studied Art History and was formerly a photographer before becoming a writer. She is now the author of eight thriller novels, including a detective series. I found Macmillan in my Kobo library subscription and have read three of her novels so far. Give them a go as I think Macmillan is a clever and accomplished writer who manages to unsettle

Lesley Kara is yet another British thriller writer whom I stumbled across recently. At the time of writing this post, there were four Kara books, published between 2019 and 2024. These books have placed Kara on the Sunday Times list of Top 10 psychological thriller authors. This post reviews two of those books, The apartment upstairs and The other tenant. I'd describe Kara as an understated thriller writer. In the two books I've read so far, there were no bonkers endings and

I've now read all five of the novels British contemporary fiction writer, Beth O'Leary, has written to date. This post covers three of her books. Check out my review of her other two, The no-show and The road trip. I love O'Leary's books! She's so unashamedly British and I love the eccentric band of characters in each of her books. Weighty subjects are tackled but they are balanced out with typical British charm and wit. O'Leary might be described as a chick lit writer, but

I've found another British author I love! Her name is Michelle Davies and she is the author of six crime novels to date. Davies has a long history of journalistic writing, as a freelance features writer and editor at Grazia magazine and a crime fiction reviewer for The Sunday Express. She has written two standalone books. I have read both of them, reviewed in this post. She's also written a four-book series featuring DC Maggie Neville. I've read book 4 in the series, also rev

Clare Mackintosh is a British author with an interesting background. She studied French and Management at university and spent a year as a bilingual secretary in Paris as part of her program. After graduation she joined the police force, first becoming a sergeant in Chipping Norton and later Operations Inspector for Thames Valley Police in Oxfordshire. Mackintosh left the police force in 2011 to become a writer full time. Mackintosh now lives in rural north Wales and has foun

Fiona Barton is a British author who started her writing career as a journalist, covering notorious crimes and trials for a bunch of daily newspapers. She has penned two series, one featuring journalist, Kate Waters, and the other featuring Detective Elise King. I'd rate Barton as a solid thriller writer, not at the top of my list of writers of the genre, but still worth the read. This post reviews the three Kate Waters books: The widow (2016), The child (2017) and The suspe

Ugandan born JP Delaney is a British writer of psychological thrillers, also published as Tony Strong and Anthony Capella. I've not read anything by the author under any of the pseudonyms. I gave The perfect wife a go as it sounded original, and that's a tough ask in a crowded genre. Read on for my thoughts on the (kind of weird) sci fi mystery thriller. The perfect wife | Published August 2019 | Read October 2024 The perfect wife opens with Abbie waking up in hospital with n

I picked The murder stones up at my local library as I was intrigued by the idea of a Polish detective in a Scottish crime novel. The author, Hania Allen, was born in England to Polish refugees. Allen once worked in information management at the University of St Andrews before she gave up her job to write full time. I found this on her Goodreads bio: Hania has lived in Scotland longer than anywhere else and loves the country and its people, despite the nine months of rain and

Naomi Alderman is a British novelist who studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Oxford before taking up a career as a writer. She also has experience as a writer for an alternate reality game. I'm not a huge fan of science fiction/futuristic/dystopian novels, but this one piqued my interest. I was surprised at how much I liked it! The future | Published November 2023 | Read October 2024 In The future, we follow Martha Einkorn and Lai Zhen through a dystopian scenario.

Emma Cline is an American novelist of contemporary fiction whose first bestselling book, The girls, was published in 2016. The adjectives on the cover of The guest describe a different book to the one I read. Perhaps it's time for me to stop reading novels about 20-something women as they just don't resonate with me. Contemporary literature, too, seems to be code for exploring part of the human experience that I don't want to read about. Am I just old? Anyway, here's my revi

I've seen Shari Lapena's books lying about my local library and I know she's a popular Canadian author. Lapena was a lawyer and an English teacher before becoming a novelist. She has published ten bestselling novels to date. I managed to get hold of a copy of her 2023 book, Everyone here is lying. Here's my review. (Spoiler alert: I didn't like the book.) Everyone here is lying | Published July 2023 | Read September 2024 Here's the premise of the book: William Wooler is a fam

Lucy Foley is a British author of thrillers and historical fiction. The guest list is one of two of her novels that has made the New York Times Best Sellers List. Foley studied English literature at University College London and was formerly an editor with two different publishing companies before taking up writing full time. Here's my review of The guest list. You can also check out my review of The Paris apartment, another locked room mystery by the same author. The guest

I just had to read Home by first-time Scottish author, Cailean Steed. I've always been interested in cults, how people get sucked into them, and the power wielded by their (usually male) leaders. Home is not a light read, but if you're interested in the subject matter, give it a go. Home | Published January 2023 | Read July 2024 In Home, Zoe has escaped from the cult she was raised in and is working in a Dublin café. She leads a simple life, well supported by the woman who ow

Kate London is a graduate of Cambridge University, interestingly working in theatre before joining the London Metropolitan Police Service. Before taking up writing. Kate was part of the Major Investigation Team on the Met's Homicide Command. She certainly has the background to write an authentic police series so I was intrigued to read her books. Also, gritty female detectives are totally my jam. The Collins and Griffiths books form the Tower series, four novels published in