Crime Novel Reviews – Phil Jones
I read a lot is crime fiction and recommend the two latest books by Mark Billingham. A previous series involved the flawed DI Tom Thorne and his character evolved as the books progressed. He has created a new ‘flawed’ detective, Declan Miller, who loves ballroom dancing and keeps pet rats. In The Last Dance he returns to work in Blackpool following the murder of his wife, who was also a detective. He has no respect for authority and takes time to establish a relationship with his new work partner. Unofficially he is trying to discover his wife’s murderer as he doesn’t ‘t have confidence in the team who are investigating it. Whilst the writing is hard hitting it is also humorous, full of surprises and thrilling. The follow up, The Wrong Hands, continues in the same vein. Highly recommended for anyone who loves crime fiction.
Always on the lookout for new crime fiction, I followed Mark Billingham’s recommendation of books by Doug Johnstone. One series follows the Skelf family, Dorothy, Jenny her daughter and Hannah her granddaughter, who run a funeral business and a private investigators. So far, I have read the first three in the series, A Dark Matter, The Big Chill and The Great Silence. Whilst they are dark they are also funny and keep you guessing. As above, highly recommended if you are a fan of crime fiction.