The November Crime review
Discover the new crime books our booksellers are excited about this month!
Leave the Girls Behind by Jacqueline Bublitz
Reviewed by Aurelia Orr from Readings Kids
The author of the award-winning debut Before You Knew My Name, Jacqueline Bublitz’s newest novel challenges the glamourisation, by the media and in pop culture, of male serial killers and redirects our attention to the lives of the girls and women taken by travesty.
Ruth is haunted by the disappearance and murder of her best friend, Beth, when they were kids living in Hoben, Connecticut. Having moved away to New York as an adult, the only reminder of her past is Beth’s ghost, who she talks to, as well as the ghosts of other young girls who have been kidnapped and killed. Although their music teacher was arrested the same day Beth’s body was found, Ruth has always had her suspicions about what really happened that dreadful day. So, when another young girl, Coco, is also kidnapped in Ruth’s hometown years later, Ruth sees it as her responsibility to uncover the truth herself.
Ruth is as dedicated and resourceful as a detective can be, contacting online chatrooms of amateur detectives hoping to solve unsolved cases, posing as a fake true-crime podcaster, and even travelling across the world for answers. We follow Ruth as she connects the dots with other women whose lives have been uprooted by the music teacher, and whose tragic pasts have left them vulnerable to the whims of more evil men. Within an enthralling murder mystery, Bublitz shines a light on the reality of male violence against women and the ripple effects it leaves behind. Bublitz skilfully makes clear that, much as Ruth often strays from her search for Coco to attempts to answer the questions of her own past, all too often in real life the gore and mystery behind a killer’s actions steal the focus from the people left behind, who must survive without their loved ones, and from the women whose lives are taken every day.
Hotel Lucky Seven by Kotaro Isaka & Brian Bergstrom (trans.)
Reviewed by Aurelia Orr from Readings Kids
Kotaro Isaka, author of the internationally best-selling novel Bullet Train, returns with an equally exciting, fast-paced, high-stakes thriller in this sequel, Hotel Lucky Seven.
Nanao – codename ‘Ladybug’, the self-proclaimed unluckiest assassin in the world – is back with another mission that should be incredibly easy to accomplish, and yet, of course, turns out not to be. Here, he must deliver a birthday present to a guest staying at a Tokyo hotel. The only thing standing in the way is the portrait he’s delivering, which doesn’t match the recipient, and the countless assassins crawling throughout the hotel, each with their own mission to accomplish. Although beloved Tangerine and Lemon do not return, fans will still love Blanket and Pillow with equal measure.
Hotel Lucky Seven is Tarantino-esque with its storytelling and aesthetic delivery, peppered with Isaka’s signature stylistic violence, dark humour and witty banter, which remains intact even after the English translation. Ladybug continues as a captivating protagonist, once again highlighting his resourcefulness and uncanny ability for getting out of the trickiest situations. His interactions with the quirky hotel staff and assassins create a memorable cast who breathe new life and eccentricity into the crime genre. Amid all the plot twists and intense fight scenes, this novel effortlessly explores themes of identity and the unpredictability of life, and contemplates whether we are governed by fate or by our own choices.
While there are references from Bullet Train, Hotel Lucky Seven can still be read as a standalone. This bizarre gem of a book is perfect for crime readers looking for something beyond your classic whodunnit. If you loved the 2022 film Bullet Train starring Brad Pitt, or are immediately intrigued by the sound of a hotel full of hitmen and not a single mission going right, this is a crime novel for you.
Available from 12 November
Ink Ribbon Red by Alex Pavesi
Reviewed by Aurelia Orr from Readings Kids
Just when I think my heart has been captured by the newest romances, or I’m getting swept away into a fantasy novel, I read mysteries such as Alex Pavesi’s Ink Ribbon Red, which make me fall in love with the crime genre all over again and, ultimately, win the day for me.
Every year, a group of six friends gather at a luxurious home in the country to celebrate their friend Anatol’s birthday. However, this year, after Anatol’s father dies in a tragic accident, the mysterious circumstances surrounding the death lead Anatol’s friends to suspect that he murdered his father. Despite this, Anatol insists on his birthday tradition of the friends competing at writing the best crime story. Each friend must draw one of their names out of a hat and write their murder, with the best motive, method, and death voted as the winner. But where do the lines between fiction and reality blur? In their stories, how much is purely creative imagination, and how much is making the most of the perfect opportunity to carry out their darkest and bloodiest desires on each other?
Pavesi is a magician at storytelling, whipping out tricks and illusions that slip past your eye as you tear through the pages. Alternating back and forth over the course of three days, each character is as deceptive and traitorous as the others, yet nothing is as it seems. As well as being testament to Pavesi’s own mastery of truth and lies, Ink Ribbon Red is a love letter to all crime writers: to their originality, perceptiveness, and ingenuity in weaving endless webs of mystery and murder, always testing, entertaining and shocking us with their stories.
So, settle in and get comfy – this is not a book you will be putting down easily.
Available from 19 November
Also recommended are:
The Close-up by Pip Drysdale
Once a promising young novelist, Zoe has a failed debut, a mountain of debt, a dead-end job and, worst of all, writer’s block. But all that changes when she starts dating her old flame, Zach. But Zach isn’t just a guy with a dream anymore: he’s a movie star. Though they’re dating in secret, Zoe soon finds herself splashed all over the press. Then Zach’s stalker starts re-enacting violent, creepy plot twists from Zoe’s first novel, exactly how she wrote them – except this time, she’s the victim.
The Grey Wolf (Chief Inspector Gamache, Book 19) by Louise Penny
Relentless phone calls interrupt the peace of Armand Gamache, head of homicide, as he sits with his wife in their back garden on a warm Sunday morning in the village of Three Pines, Quebec. When he finally answers the call, his rage shatters their calm. That’s the first in a sequence of strange though small events, followed by a murder. All propel Chief Inspector Gamache and his team toward a terrible realisation. Something much more sinister is fast approaching – a threat unlike anything they’ve seen before.
The Dream by Iain Ryan
Haunted by past secrets, Detective Bruno Karras receives mysterious photos of a bloodstained house. Amy Owens, a reluctant investigator entangled with the underworld, digs into the dark dealings of a wealthy businessman. Mike Nichols, a backroom player with big dreams, finds himself caught in the crossfire. Gripped by recession and shattered by violent bank robberies, the glittering facade of the Gold Coast crumbles during the 1982 Commonwealth Games, as Bruno, Amy, and Mike uncover a sinister plot that threatens to consume them all.
Available from 3 December
