Temporary Perfections sees the counsel for the defence, Guido Guerrieri taking on a case outside the more usual perimeters of his work.  He is persuaded by a friend to look into the disappearance of Manuela Ferraro, the daughter of a rich couple from Bari.  The police have lost interest, long ago thwarted in their attempts to find leads, but the friend wants Guerrieri to see if there is any chance of re-opening the case.

Guerrieri may be diligent in his approach to the work, but there is a great sense of accompanying him as he operates through the haze of his ponderous, introspective, navel fluff-inspecting mid-life crisis, and as he reflects back on his life.  Alone, the former amateur boxer’s company ranges from the punch bag in his home with which he engages both physically and verbally, to a former prostitute and client, Nadia who now runs a local gay bar called The Chelsea Hotel, with whom he drinks, walks and talks.

Guerrieri proves to be a reluctant investigator, uncomfortable in his role and calling on the techniques of his literary heroes (allowing the author to pay homage to his own heroes).  But, all that is cut through with a fine scalpel when Guerrieri encounters the friend of the missing Manuela, Caterina.  As she manipulatively toys with him like a femme fatale in the making, he responds, often incurring guilt at his all too easy reactions.

The crime plot is not the essence of Temporary Perfections, its characters and their lives are.  In fact, the crime plot feels incidental.  But, as Carofiglio so carefully and often beautifully draws his characters and their circumstances, we are privy to the devastating consequences of crime.  Described as a legal thriller, this is not one for those seeking a thrill and hanging hook every short chapter; Temporary Perfections hits the spot of the cerebral and considered venture into the investigation of crime and its effects.  Our narrator’s mid-life crisis also has the feel of being very real, from which no refuge can be sought, although the narrative is imbued with humour too.

Gianrico Carofiglio is one of Italy’s bestselling authors, having sold over 2.5 million books in the Guerrieri series in Italy alone. Formerly an anti-Mafia prosecutor in Bari, a port on the coast of Puglia, he is now a member of the Italian Senate.  Temporary Perfections is the fourth in the series, available in the UK thanks to the wonderful Bitter Lemon Press in paperback and ebook edition here.

Sixteen years ago, 75 holiday-makers are taken to an offshore island for their day of relaxation in the sun; six hours later, 74 return and a body lies bleeding to death in the sea.  No one is ever brought to account… and so begins the fourth instalment in Jim Kelly‘s excellent Norfolk-based ‘Shaw and Valentine’ mysteries.  Considered an ideal ‘cold case’ to be re-evaluated, a mass DNA screening is ordered amid much fanfare, but with results that no one could have foreseen; all the more so when one of the 74 turns up dead before their screening can even take place.

A few years ago, I shared my thoughts on the first book to feature the odd pairing of DI Shaw and DS Valentine, Death Wore White, and I am delighted to report that this unlikely coupling is going from strength to strength, with a backstory filled in over the intervening books which forms an integral part of the series. Valentine is the demoted Sergeant to the younger DI Shaw and I have been particularly keen on Kelly’s ability to show how this disparate pair has learned to appreciate one another’s talents and abilities. In Death’s Door, we also have a very effective weaving of past events with a modern day crisis.

This is a superior story that by far exceeds the trend for ‘boys’ own adventures’ – perfect for cold winter evenings, this is a traditional mystery that is a pleasure to read.

Death’s Door is available now in HB from Severn House via Amazon and Waterstones.

In 2010′s Terror’s Reach, Tom Bale created a memorable protagonist in former undercover cop Joe Clayton, and with Blood Falls, we have Clayton making a very welcome second appearance. Moving location geographically, Clayton is still a man on the run from villains he has crossed in the past, and he ends up in the small Cornish community of Trelennan, seeking help from Diana, the wife of a former police colleague.  On the surface, this is a picturesque town typical of the quieter end of the Cornish Riviera, but Clayton soon senses that there are simmering undercurrents, made all the more puzzling by Diana’s out-of-character behaviour, as well as other locals’ reactions to his arrival in town.  There is a reason why Trelennan has a zero crime rate, and it’s nothing to do with the decent, clean-living inhabitants…

With danger encroaching from all directions, Clayton is determined to get to the root of the evil that has pervaded the area.  Blood Falls is fast-paced and action-packed, and a rare example of quality matching quantity in the writing.  This is no throw-away ‘beach read’ but a thumping good thriller that will keep you up late.

Now available from 2 February in Arrow paperback.  Trade paperback and Kindle also available.

If you are tormented by the abundance of contemporary crime novels that invoke violence to the extent they verge on the horror genre, then Kitson’s series may be one for you.  The Mike Nash novels are contemporary police procedurals set in north Yorkshire, much in the tradition of Colin Dexter’s Morse and R D Wingfield’s Frost, and with a setting true to its heart.  Back-Slash opens with a troublesome backstory: a woman is killed in a car park in 1999 and the following year sees her husband, Alan Marshall convicted of her murder.  But by 2006 the verdict is set aside by the Court of Appeal following the presentation of findings of inconsistencies in the original evidence.

DI Mike Nash’s immediate problem in the policing of his area is the lack of available staff due to a rampant flu bug over the festive season.  DC Lisa Andrews is called back from an attachment to Yorkshire Central and receives a call out to a case on arrival at Helmsdale.  Andrews is sidetracked by the apparent dangerous driving of a Land Rover on her way, only to discover a seriously injured man at the wheel, following an accident with a chainsaw.  However, her connection is not severed when she leaves him safely at the hospital, for the following morning she learns that the hospital can find no trace of him in NHS records based on the identity details provided via his vehicle registration.  The Mr Myers in the hospital bed eventually agrees to explain his chosen anonymity to Andrews when he leaves the hospital.

Following New Year’s Eve celebrations, a Leeds couple is found in their suite at The Golden Bear: both with their throats cut.  DC Andrews finds her connection to Mr Myers continues when he is linked to the murders and, under the direction of DI Mike Nash, it takes some unexpected and unorthodox turns in the ensuing investigation…

Interspersed with occasional telephone dialogues between a ‘Mr Jones’ and a ‘Mr Brown’, it is obvious that a hit man is contracted to protect the economic interests of major project.  Back-Slash’s plot then enters the arena of greed and fraud in property deals and local government, and it’s a tightly plotted novel.  For a main protagonist, DI Mike Nash takes a bit of a back seat in this novel, bringing DC Andrews to the fore.  Neither is Andrews the only strong female character in Back-Slash, with Nash at the behest of a female boss who is to police management what Tesco’s demographic stocking plans and logistics are to supermarket distribution and sales.  Where Nash may not be a maverick copper per se, he is prepared to think creatively in his investigation and employ a ‘maverick’ approach.  Back-Slash plays out a fine tune in this aspect which forms a great twist.

Kitson also deserves applause with Back-Slash for his depiction of a man’s (or woman’s) relationship to his (her) dog.  Expect your emotions to be prodded in more ways than one here.

Robert Hale is mainly a publisher of books for libraries in the UK.  Thus you will find Kitson on your local libraries’ shelves, but Back-Slash can also be purchased in HB format from Amazon. Previous novels Depth of Despair and Chosen are available from Amazon in Kindle format.

Kitson’s Nash series continues in the tradition of police procedurals that feed from the trough of realism over horror.  If that’s what you seek, you will find it here, plus a bevy of creative twists and creative police investigation techniques in the plotting.  Back-Slash provides a satisfying and enjoyable read on all those fronts, plus a big ‘thumbs up’ to women depicted as strong characters and not victims only.

Never Apologise, Never Explain is James Craig’s second novel in his Inspector John Carlyle series which kicked off with London Calling in 2011.  Set in central London, it’s where Carlyle lives and works.  He is, literally, in the area of his beat for 24/7.  It’s also where the author himself lives and due to this we have a vibrant evocation of London and its locals, all of which feel very real.  This is the heart of central London properly exposed and examined.

Never Apologise, Never Explain sees Carlyle juggling a few cases.  Officially, he is investigating the murder of Agatha Mills, found dead in her flat near the British Museum by her husband Henry.  It looks like a quick wrap with a guilty Henry, but not only does he refuse to confess, he suggests that his late wife’s Chilean ‘enemies’ are responsible after enduring thirty years of her campaign to see her brother’s killer brought to justice.  Unofficially, Carlyle is distracted when called upon to assist a local prostitute in preventing the father of their very young son from abducting him, where he threatens to sell him to a paedophile ring.  Thirdly, out of the blue, a TV news presenter Carlyle met on a previous case phones him to call in a favour owed.  As might be expected, none of these cases runs smoothly.

Carlyle’s very busy life is spiked by his connoisseur-level penchant for coffee, sought out in old Italian establishments not the ubiquitous American chains. And if Carlyle has a busy life, Craig produces a pelting pace to match.  This is a very solid and hugely enjoyable contemporary police thriller featuring an occasionally irascible Carlyle.  It may be gritty, but it is mature and does not rely on the tendency to shock and employ the gore found in other novels of a similar description.  One of its brilliant offerings is a setting in London which is quietly contracting due to high rents and global commercial activities, for here we have a sense of community amongst the locals.  Never Apologise, Never Explain is as close as you can get to the heartbeat of London.  It may even cause palpitations when reading.

Available now for Kindle, the paperback will be published on 2 February.  A proof was read for the purposes of this review.  Find out more about the author and his novels at his site here.  The following video should also give you a fine flavour.

Young Soho detective, Vince Treadwell – also known as ‘Vinnie Clean Face’ – is sent to Brighton, his home town, for a goody bag of reasons.  After an ‘incident’ from which he has slowly recuperated, some colleagues may prefer him to be elsewhere for a while.  So the carrots are dangled before him.  He has three weeks’ holiday coming to him which he certainly doesn’t want, and he wouldn’t choose Brighton as his destination.  But he’s ambitious for the Murder Squad and is offered his first murder in an advisory capacity to the local force while he is on ‘holiday’.

Certain aspects of the Brighton in which Vince grew up have not changed.  Elusive and vicious Corsican gangster Jack Regent is still operating, and the murder case with which Vince is presented looks open-and-shut for Regent.  But he can’t be found.  Where Vince’s childhood growing up in the tough Albion Hill area was full of Regent lore, his first murder case is about to put him in direct contact.  It doesn’t help that he falls for Regent’s girlfriend Bobbie LaVita…

The plot of Kiss Me Quick can require some concentration as it’s heavily populated but, combined with an evocation of time and culture so true to the era, this repays with a very satisfying read.  It’s full of the seedier side of criminality in the 1960s and can be brutal.  We also see the effects on those living on the periphery of the crimes and on the victims.  Kiss Me Quick is bumper-packed with gangland operations, organised crime, police corruption, commercial illegal activities of the worst sort, sordid nightclubs and Mods and Rockers clashes.  But in ‘Vinnie Clean Face’ we have someone we believe in: a copper women would love to be in the company of and men would aspire to be, whatever the decade.

Kiss Me Quick presents a very juicy start to a series featuring Detective Vince Treadwell and should not be missed.  The second in the series, The Guilded Edge, follows in May 2012.

Available on Amazon, with the Kindle ebook at £1.99 at the time of writing.

Set in the near future, Arthur, a decent man and an ordinary dentist, finds himself arrested under new anti-terrorism laws.  His estranged wife Julia Priestley turns to journalist Tom Clarke for help.  Arthur is being held at a government facility managed by Henry Graves, hidden deep in the countryside of Cornwall.  Graves has dedicated his life to the prison service but his new assignment is a different and secret one presenting many new challenges.  The arrival of Dr Silk brings Graves his biggest challenge and he feels his authority threatened.  Is the reason for incarceration as honourable as it first appears?

While causing a reader to think and raise many questions within a story of good pace and characterisation, The Facility left the impression of not being complete.  I felt it needed more detail in the plotting, more explanation of the hows and whys, particularly the hows.  I love a shorter novel, feeling many are over-egged for the erroneous feeling of value for money in the number of pages, but on this occasion I longed for ‘longer’ and with more detail.  That said, Lelic still delivers visceral shocks in The Facility, and sometimes the sparse nature of the prose provides the essential DNA of this.  Lelic engages emotionally and presents a world we all fear.  Who has control and is it just?  If you reside in the tunnel of love for crime and thriller, Lelic is the one to take you into uncomfortable new territory.

Now in paperback and on Kindle.

Dead Man’s Grip is the type of story that is difficult to put into cover blurb without giving too much away.  So here’s some advice: don’t read it for Dead Man’s Grip.  I felt it went too far into the story and when reading there were occasions when I felt I was reading a padded out version of the cover.  But don’t think that’s a downer; I just aim to optimise your reading experience.  So what’s Dead Man’s Grip all about?

Three people with three quite different lives are simply going about their normal everyday business.  But this is the day it all changes when more than their lives collide and a maelstrom of horrifying events is unleashed in the aftermath.  Dad-to-be, Detective Superintendent Roy Grace finds himself with not only a tragic case to process but also a desperate need to contain the maelstrom, the roots of which are embedded across the Atlantic.  And one woman, Carly Chase, finds herself facing the biggest challenge of her life…

In its opening scenes, James is a master at engaging the reader with the three characters whose fates are about to change irrevocably and in building the tension of impending doom.  The tension and pace are maintained throughout as we want to know how all this is resolved.  Even with a couple of not entirely convincing unsavoury characters for this reader, Dead Man’s Grip is a novel that can’t be put down until the final page.

Warning for sensitive readers: James is capable of quite powerful descriptive narrative for realistic scenes of a gory nature.

Available in paperback and on Kindle.

A naked girl is washed up on London’s Thames foreshore, the only clue to her identity a heart-shaped tattoo encircling two names.  Who is she – and why did she die?

Life’s already complicated enough for Janusz Kiszka, unofficial fixer to East London’s Polish community.  His priest is nagging him to find a missing waitress, a builder on the Olympics site owes him a pile of money, and he’s falling for the married Kasia, Soho’s most strait-laced stripper.  But when he’s accused of murder by pushy young detective Natalie Kershaw and finds himself being pursued by drug dealing gangsters, Janusz is forced to take an unscheduled mini-break to Poland to find the real killer.

In the mist-wreathed medieval streets of his home town of Gdansk, Janusz must confront painful memories from the Soviet past…

How wonderful to have a British crime novel with original content.  Where Amanda Craig’s Hearts and Minds considered the lives and cultures of London’s immigrant eastern European population, Where the Devil Can’t Go delves deeply into the specifics of the Polish.  In an entertaining way – and not just through the crime story – Lipska paints a well-balanced and considered picture of the culture and how it comes into play in pragmatic terms.  With religion at its core, how do Poles reconcile their not quite legal, or not quite as originally avowed elements of behaviour?  The answers can be found here, along with a clearer understanding of motivation that should rightly shatter the prejudices of some of the home grown on our streets.  All this is the icing on the cake in a neatly-plotted package containing some strong characters.  A good, absorbing read for these indoor winter nights.

Where the Devil Can’t Go is self-published as an ebook by the author in the UK and will be published in German by Goldmann (Random House) in 2012, in Germany.

There is an interview with the author here.  Find out more about the author and the book at the author’s site here.

Few crime writers these days have the time (or publishers’ will) to produce sufficient short fiction to make an entire volume available to readers in book form; even for the once-prolific Ruth Rendell, it has been over ten years since her last collection was published.

Proving that crime is alive and well in the short story format, Robert Barnard’s latest compelling collection, Rogue’s Gallery comprises 14 short stories written mostly over the last decade. Short stories can be very hit or miss, but these are diamonds amongst the rough.  Whilst perhaps not seeking to address big issues, they provide highly entertaining asides and come with some of the very dark twists familiar to readers of Barnard’s fiction.  In “Family Values”, a mother and son display a loving public relationship that fuels the suspicion of those around them, the story coming with an unexpected take on affairs; and “A Political Necessity” has the reader rooting for the wronged – but do we really know who that is…?

It is good to see the current resurgence (and success) of short crime fiction in e-book format, giving new readers the opportunity to discover some old treats.  It is also a pleasure to see this, Barnard’s third collection, released, in both traditional and e-book form.  Short fiction is a format which Barnard embraces as ably as he does his full-length novels, and this collection is perfect for either curling up with on a cold Sunday afternoon and reading from beginning to end, or equally ideal for those shorter moments when time is of the essence.

Available now at Amazon, in HB and with a keenly priced e-book.