{"id":70286,"date":"2025-08-15T13:17:07","date_gmt":"2025-08-15T13:17:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/70286\/"},"modified":"2025-08-15T13:17:07","modified_gmt":"2025-08-15T13:17:07","slug":"the-best-recent-crime-and-thrillers-review-roundup-books","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/70286\/","title":{"rendered":"The best recent crime and thrillers \u2013 review roundup | Books"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Particularly Nasty Case<\/a> by Adam Kay (Orion, \u00a320)<\/p>\n

The first novel for adults from the author of bestselling medical memoir This Is Going to Hurt is, unsurprisingly, set in an NHS hospital. Dr Eitan Rose is a hot mess of guilt and self-hatred who buys cocaine from the hospital pharmacist to put in his nasal spray and has a talent for getting himself caught in comically compromising positions. Admittedly, the unexpected death by heart attack of his old enemy, consultant Dr Douglas Moran, does get him out of a tight corner. However, given that the man had just recorded a normal electrocardiogram, Eitan is suspicious \u2013 although the police see nothing amiss until his attempts to investigate cause him to become the number one suspect. The mixture of hospital soap, humour \u2013 some of it, such as the porter named Cole, rather laboured \u2013 and serious point-making won\u2019t work for every reader, but Eitan\u2019s manic energy carries us through what is, on the whole, a zippy and enjoyable read.<\/p>\n

Murder Takes a Vacation<\/a> by Laura Lippman (Faber, \u00a39.99)<\/p>\n

Lighter in tone than her previous books, bestselling American writer Lippman\u2019s latest novel puts Muriel Blossom, a supporting actor in the author\u2019s PI Tess Monaghan series, centre stage. The sixtysomething widow is on her first trip to Europe but her plans go awry when she meets the charming Allan on her flight to London and misses her connection. After a delightful day spent in his company, Mrs Blossom continues to Paris as planned, but things take an unexpected turn when she learns that her erstwhile companion has died in suspicious circumstances and it becomes clear that somebody is taking a great deal of interest in the contents of her luggage. And who is the mysterious Danny Johnson, who seems to want to be her new best friend? Masterful plotting and pacing, elements of American-in-Europe-style romantic comedy, a lightness of touch and a delightful protagonist add up to a top-notch holiday read.<\/p>\n

The Final Vow<\/a> by MW Craven (Constable, \u00a320)<\/p>\n

The seventh instalment in Craven\u2019s award-winning series sees grumpy maverick cop Washington Poe recalled from a punishment posting on a Royal Navy\/Border Force initiative \u2013 we catch up with him as he\u2019s bludgeoning a recalcitrant colleague with a halibut \u2013 for the purpose of tracking down a sniper who is causing widespread panic by picking people off, apparently at random, in different locations. There\u2019s plenty of action and some splendid set pieces, including Poe\u2019s visit to trauma therapist Dr Clara Lang, who, it\u2019s fair to say, has some issues of her own. The central \u201codd couple\u201d relationship between Poe and filterless genius Tilly Bradshaw provides some light relief, as does Poe\u2019s upcoming wedding to sarcastic pathologist Estelle Doyle. Craven sticks to his tried-and-tested formula, complete with a trademark smattering of fascinating facts, and although the dramatic ending is somewhat undermined by an information dump explaining events, this is a high-octane thriller that won\u2019t disappoint.<\/p>\n

Photograph: book jacket<\/p>\n

The Dead Husband Cookbook<\/a> by Danielle Valentine (Viper, \u00a316.99)<\/p>\n

When editor Thea is offered a chance to work on a celebrity chef\u2019s tell-all memoir, she jumps at it. Maria Capello not only has a cookery empire \u2013 books, a television show and a range of sauces \u2013 but she also has a mystery in her life: the chef husband who disappeared 30 years earlier, about whom speculation has long been rife. She is, however, paranoid about leaks, and insists that Thea work on the book at her farm in the Catskill mountains. The place is not quite the Instagrammer\u2019s dream Thea had imagined: it\u2019s isolated and foreboding, with a slaughterhouse on the premises, strange family members and a walk-in freezer that may contain something more than animal carcasses \u2026 Atmospheric, suspenseful and studded with interesting recipes (I can vouch for the spiced pear galette), this is a compelling take on marriage, motherhood, love, and the sacrifices that women are routinely expected to make.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Particularly Nasty Case by Adam Kay (Orion, \u00a320) The first novel for adults from the author of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":70287,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[64,63,457,134],"class_list":{"0":"post-70286","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-books","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-books","11":"tag-entertainment"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70286","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70286"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70286\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/70287"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70286"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70286"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70286"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}