When Paddy Hirsch started out researching America’s first financial crisis, the Panic of 1792, he intended to write a history book, but as he delved deeper into the colourful but brutal world of the fledgling New York Stock Exchange it quickly morphed into a high octane murder mystery that is his…
A clever and sinister twist to Scandi-Noir queen Anne Holt’s The Final Murder
The Final Murder is the second in Anne Holt’s crime series starring senior Norwegian
police Superintendent Adam Stubo and psychologist Johanne Vik. The two met in the series debut, Punishment which was released in translation earlier this year, and quite apart from working well together they obviously hit it off socially in a big way.
When The Final Murder opens they are now married and Stubo is on paternity leave after the birth of their daughter, Ragnhild. It’s a sad commentary on the marital skills of many factional cops, that he flatly refused, even when ordered, to return to the back in the office due to a particularly high-profile killing of an attractive TV presenter. Stubo is a refreshingly normal character. Humane and caring. Apart from the occasional forbidden cigar and glass of wine to assist contemplation, he’s devoid of the traits that tend to single out the modern crime buster. He’s a good father both to Ragnhild and to the strangely quirky Kristiane, Vik’s daughter by an
Review: Dead Joker from the ‘Godmother’ of Norwegian crime, Anne Holt
Anne Holt’s crime credentials are impeccable. After several years with the Oslo Police
department she set up her own law firm then went on to serve as the Norway’s Minister for Justice for two years. She then decided to turn her skills to writing novels. It was a good move.
She has gone on to write six books starring Oslo University psychology professor and ex FBI profiler and DI Adam Stubb, and the series around Chief Inspector Hanne Wilhelmsen of the Oslo Police Department. Holt’s now sold more than six million worldwide, scooped up a pocketful of awards and earning the soubriquet of the “Godmother of Norwegian crime. It’s a lot to live up to.
Dead Joker released (in Australia) this week is the latest in the Hanne Wilhelmsen book. Brilliant, irascible, unorthodox, Wilhelmsen is called in
The Assassins by Gayle Lynds is everything a rippingly good thriller should be
There may be no honour amongst thieves but it seems there’s quite a lot of respect amongst professional killers particularly the group of world’s best, brought together in the pages of Gayle Lynds new thriller, The Assassins. Not that respect can guarantee you a long life or even a dignified death.
You need to be paying attention while reading The Assassins which is the seventh thriller by the award-winning writer who also worked with Robert Ludlum on three of his top-sellers. The action zips around the world with the speed of a $50million private jet and almost nothing is what it seems.