Tag:

International

Review

The Shadow Step

by Willy Williams

Book of the Week February 19, 2026

In ballroom dancing, a shadow step involves a pair of dancers facing the same direction, one of them standing behind and slightly to the left. In Blackpool, detective (and ballroom aficionado) Declan Miller’s third outing (after The Last Dance and The Wrong Hands), Afghan-war veteran Barry Cheshire and his wobbly dachshund, Ruby,  find themselves in this position when they are menaced in a local park by a teenaged drug dealer and his two very large XL Bully dogs. Cheshire accidentally pushes the knife-wielding lad into the lake, unwittingly setting off a chain of escalating disastrous events that include murder and kidnapping. While Miller works to connect the dots between the crimes, he continues to mourn his late wife (he frequently chats with her ghost), parent as best he can his drug-addicted stepdaughter, attend his weekly dance classes, and torment his police colleagues with his cheeky and sometimes tactless humor. This series is lighter in tone (although there’s still some grim violence) than Billingham’s DI Tom Thorne mysteries, and there is enough backstory to inform newcomers. Quirky humor, strongly developed characters, and plenty of exciting twists make this a refreshing read for fans of British crime fiction.—Willy Williams

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Review

In the Spirit of French Murder

by Brian Kenney

Book of the Week February 5, 2026

The fourth in Cambridge’s series is a deeply compelling work of historical fiction that’s sure to appeal to a broad range of readers. Set in Paris in the years after the Second World War, these books have 30-year-old Tabitha Knight at their center, living with and cooking for her elderly uncles. She also enjoys occasional visits from her good friend, and Cordon Bleu student, Julia Child (who has just a few cameo appearances, but makes up for that by being loads of fun). In this volume, Tabitha is pulled deep into the world of the Resistance fighters, whose work often went unnoticed after the war, although the differences they made in many people’s lives were enormous. Nonetheless, not everyone is ready to celebrate their work, and when one of the Fighters is murdered, followed by another, and Tabitha’s beloved uncles are threatened, it is time for her to step up and investigate. Fortunately, she has the handsome Inspecteur Merveille on her side, and while he may look critically at Tabitha’s crime solving activities, her bravery and smarts incrementally win him over. Might we be getting close to a kiss?—Brian Kenney

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Review

A Will to Kill

by Danise Hoover

Book of the Week January 29, 2026

In a classically framed and styled mystery set in India rather than the English countryside of classic novels past, readers start off with our wealthy head of family, Bhaskar Fernandez. He’s so sure that someone is trying to kill him he has written two wills: one if he dies of natural causes, the other if under suspicious circumstances. Athreya, famed solver of crimes, has been invited to the country house to be charged with the task of solving the murder should it occur.  As the family is all gathered, there is a landslide that traps all within the compound and thick pea-soup fog that heightens confusion and adds to the intrigue. Confusion and intrigue are the least of it, though, and while murder does occur, it is not what or who was expected. In a lovely throwback to tradition, the book includes area maps and floorplans, and our investigator sorts things as methodically as Poirot might have. This is charming, character driven, and great fun to read.—Danise Hoover 

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Review

The Body in the Kitchen Garden

by Brian Kenney

Pudding Corner in the quaint parish of Pepperbridge. The name says it all, doesn’t it? The sleepy village, a bit twee. The regular offerings of teacakes or fruitcakes. The sharing of what can only be described as gossip, and quite excellent gossip at that. But then there is the shocking smell of smoke, seemingly coming from the gardens of the very grand Darlington Hall. Could it be a fire, set off by the homeless man who had taken up residence on the property, Daphne wonders? Yes, indeed! Closer inspection by Daphne—an antiques dealer helping to renovate the Hall—reveals the horrible end the man experienced, burnt to death in the Hall’s gardens. But as traumatizing as this incident might be, it does not stop Daphne from trying to determine who the man was and why he was murdered. Suffice it to say that Daphne is like some heat-seeking missile—kids, husband, even friends are pretty much moved aside while the search is on. “These villages had been the silent witnesses to secrets both harmless and grim, they had been the background of love trysts and betrayals, of an abundance of happiness and the stage set for a deluge of tears and hidden mystery.” Readers who appreciate S. J. Bennett, Janice Hallett, or Anthony Horowitz will be delighted by Sutton’s latest.—Brian Kenney

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Review

Thirty Feet Under: A Mystery

by Willy Williams

When an ancient marble sphinx is stolen from a small museum in Italy, the Carabinieri enlist the assistance of the FBI Art Squad in recovering the piece, which may have been smuggled into the United States. Lowly agent Kate Taylor, who has spent the last three years doing dull computer and filing work, is thrilled to be finally assigned to a real case, especially since she’ll be partnering (although via Zoom) with her Italian counterpart, the gorgeous Luca. Meanwhile, failed New York art dealer Paul Krugman has resigned himself to working for his dollar-store-tycoon father until he receives an intriguing call from his British dealer friend, Harry, that will change his life. Both Kate and Paul gradually find themselves involved with an international art-smuggling ring and the lost tomb of Alexander the Great. Ignore the publisher’s blurb; this debut mystery, which was a finalist for the 2024 Crime Writers of Canada Best Unpublished Crime Manuscript, is not the next Dan Brown thriller, and that is a good thing. Wodhams writes with more style and humor than the plodding Brown, and his characters, despite their sometimes irritating and foolish actions, have more appeal than the preachy Robert Langdon. Although the ending feels rushed and a few geographical errors raised this New Yorker’s eyebrows (the 9 subway train was discontinued in 2005), this promising thriller offers an entertaining and insightful look at morally ambiguous art-world trading in looted artifacts. (The book’s title refers to the depth at which significant archaeological findings have often been uncovered).—Willy Williams

Add Pub Date to my Calendar
0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Review

Missing in Soho

by Brian Kenney

A leader of London’s huge drag scene. A mentor to many young queens. A devoted spouse. A stunning entertainer who is a partial owner of the famous club Lady’s Bar. Misty Divine is all that and a whole lot more, when all of a sudden a man lurches his way into the club, a victim of a stabbing. “You’re in danger, Misty…” is all he can say before passing out. It would be a lie to say that Misty isn’t terrified. But she’s equally aware that she needs to step it up and quickly learns that there are actually a number of leads who want to see her disappear, if not end up six feet under. Misty’s espionage work takes them from a journalist who’s in hiding to a group of creepy financiers to an infamous U.S. televangelist. Tune in to see if Misty manages to overturn the patriarchy and create a new queer order while wearing couture.

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Review

A Bad, Bad Place

by Henrietta Thornton

Fierce love from her grandmother and friendship with sweet sidekick Martin is barely enough to keep lonely Janey going. Her parents and older sister died in a Glasgow council-flat gas explosion. Granny’s doing her best ever since, but 12-year-old Janey is again pushed to the emotional brink when she finds the dead body of a young woman, Samantha, when walking badly behaved, marvelously named dog Sid Vicious. Janey did something—readers don’t know what—when she found the body, and she’s terrified that the police will find out. Still more terrifying is the local thug who’s the dead girl’s father, not to mention his violent minions who seem to show up everywhere Janey goes. There’s a glossary at book’s end explaining Glaswegian slang that’s used throughout the book, but the usage is understandable in context. It creates an immersive, chilly atmosphere for Janey’s desperate digging into who the killer is and how to get back to quiet life with Granny, Sid Vicious, and goofy, funny Martin. Love and Janey’s innocence and smarts make this a novel to remember. It’s a gem on its own, but you can also use the book as a primer for Callum McSorley’s Glasgow-gritty Squeaky Clean.

© 2025 firstCLUE Reviews

Subscribe to our newsletter today!

 

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Review

Last One Out

by Henrietta Thornton

Book of the Week

Ro Crowley is making a tough, reluctant trip to her former home of Carralon Ridge in Australia’s New South Wales. It’s a trip she makes annually, marking both her son Sam’s birthday and the day he disappeared five years ago at age 18. The town supports Ro and her family—her husband Griff, whom she’s now separated from, and their daughter, Della—although those remaining in Carralon, a town slowly being bought out by a mining company, are barely doing much better emotionally than the bereft Crowleys. Harper dives deep into the fear and loneliness of having a missing child and how disparate ways of dealing with grief can tear a family apart. Equally strong is her chronicle of a dying town and the eating-itself-from-the-inside culture created by deep pockets offering a way out. Readers will long to know what happened to Sam and will be satisfied by the ending of this haunting exploration of loss.

 

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Review

The Dead Can’t Make a Living

by Brian Kenney

This fifth installment in the Taipei Night Market series is a heartfelt crime novel that reaches deep into the lives of a rich collection of characters, all of whom have some sort of relationship with young Jing-nan, the owner of the most successful food stand in the market. It starts off when Jing-nan is throwing out the garbage only to find a corpse propped up against the dumpsters. Who is this man? He turns out to be Juan Ramos, a Philippine national who came to Taipei to work in ZHD, a vast, exploitative food-processing plant. Within days, Ramos’s family arrives, seeking an explanation. Was his death a cover-up? Curiously, Jing-nan’s gangster uncle, Big Eye, also becomes fascinated by what could be going down at ZHD. In one of the most compelling episodes in the series, Jing-nan goes to work at ZHD undercover, posing as a migrant laborer. Serious work, but Jing-nan brings along plenty of humor while still following the lives of undocumented immigrants and their living conditions.

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Review

Such a Perfect Family

by Henrietta Thornton

Tavish Advani has found an idyllic new life. He’s newly arrived in New Zealand, having eagerly left Los Angeles to live with the love of his life, Diya Prasad, in her home country. But Tavish can’t leave behind a dogged LA cop’s suspicion that he caused the deaths of several women he was involved with there. When a fire consumes the lavish home he lives in with Diya and her wealthy doctor parents, is he responsible? The savvy local police officer assigned to the case thinks so. Case notes by that officer and the LA cop who still suspects Tavish of murder are sprinkled throughout the story of the young man’s desperate efforts to clear his name and will lead readers to think that the legal picture doesn’t look so good for him. But as the details of Diya’s earlier life with her family and their friends unspools, a toxicity emerges that makes things far less clear cut. A suffocating family is perfectly drawn here, and Tavish’s early life has its own surprises; with the brilliant twists bestselling Singh drops in, it all adds up to a gripping tale.

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail