The case of the ‘Hay Poisoner’ inspired many a cosy murder mystery
The case of the retired major Herbert Rowse Armstrong, a Hay-on-Wye solicitor hanged in 1922 for killing his wife Katharine…
At last, a novel about the art world that rings true: Annalena Mcfee’s Nightshade reviewed
On a winter’s night an artist of moderately exalted reputation and in lateish middle age journeys across London, away from…
The thrill of living dangerously inspires the latest first novels
Here come three novels marketed as debuts but written by authors with some sort of previous, be it in short…
First novel choice: the American connection
At the beginning of this year I underwent a complete literary detox: an absolute, cold-turkey abstention from cutting-edge fiction of…
Finders Keepers is not so much a book as a shot-by-shot description of a future film
Finders Keepers is a sort-of sequel to last year’s Mr Mercedes, Stephen King’s first foray into what he called ‘hard-boiled…
First novel choice: do you prefer your author on a skateboard, or in a vineyard?
I’m not sure I know what the mark of merit is in a first novel, any more than in a…
