NEW ON OUR BLOG

June's Review Title: Someone to Watch Over Me

She closed her eyes and he was gone – who is watching him now? When Carrie’s five-year old son, Charlie, disappeared on a Norfolk beach, her world was destroyed. Now, three years on, her marriage crushed by grief and the uncertainty around Charlie’s fate, Carrie keeps herself distracted by running a… Read More

An interview with Anya Lipska

  We loved Anya's book, Where the Devil Can't Go, and from the Amazon reviews - so did you! We caught up with her to find out a little more about it... Why did you decide to set the book within the Polish community of London? I’d wanted to write a crime novel for years but was struggling for a way to make it leap out of crime shelves already crowded with London-based police procedurals and thrillers. The light bulb moment came when my (Polish) husband suggested creating a Polish private eye working among London’s Polish community – many of whom live in my part of London, the East End. Setting my PI on collision course with a female police detective over the murder of a Polish girl she’s investigating gave me potential for conflict and a chance to gain an insight through her into the Poles’ mindset, rich culture, and turbulent recent history. Have any members of the Polish community read the book, and if so what did they think? Lots of them! And not just friends and family. As I’m English that was a bit scary. They’ve been kind enough to say that I’ve captured something of the Polish spirit: an intriguing combination of small ‘c’ conservative values with an anti-authoritarian streak which I think comes from a constant struggle against invaders and foreign occupation. One Polish reader review cited a ‘brilliant insight into the Polish mentality and the subtle differences between the generations of immigrants’ – which I was absolutely thrilled by. Read More

Paul Finch asks himself, 'Where do I get my inspiration from?'

I’m often asked where I get my inspiration from, and the truth is that I honestly don’t know. When it comes to thrillers, it can only stem from my own experiences as a copper, but also my fascination with the modern urban jungle – especially when viewed through rain, dirt and dereliction (the way I always perceive it) – as one of the most perilous backdrops against which to imagine high octane adventures.   But I’m well aware that I live in a curious place when it comes to writing. In addition to thrillers, I’ve also written horror, occasionally even diverting into sci-fi, fantasy and historical adventure.   So where does all that fit into the picture? Well, it’s a question I can’t answer easily. Read More

Win tickets to see Charles Cumming

© Toby Madden We’re giving you the chance to meet Charles Cumming, author of A Foreign Country, the thriller of the year. To win one of two pairs of tickets to his latest event in which he discusses the myths and realities surrounding the secret service,… Read More

Cold Killing is optioned for a multi-part TV series

Breaking news from the Killer Reads team! Cold Killing has been optioned for a multi-part TV drama by none other than Carnival Film and Television, the award-winning production company behind Downton Abbey, Whitechapel and Any Human Heart. We’ve had a fantastic response… Read More

Win a copy of Someone to Watch Over Me!

Goodreads Book Giveaway Someone to Watch Over Me by Madeleine Reiss Giveaway ends May 10, 2013. See the giveaway details at Goodreads. Enter to win Madeleine Reiss is the winner of The People’s Novelist competition… Read More

Simon Toyne says goodbye to his much-loved characters

“These people have plotted and schemed, lived and died, loved and lost, and suddenly they have gone, out into the wide world, leaving me alone with a silence I’ve not experienced since I began writing my thriller trilogy…”       As The Tower is released, Simon… Read More

Mark Sennen: Serial Killers: My New Best Friends

‘So,’ you ask, ‘where did you get the idea for Harry from? I mean, some of those things he gets up to…’ You scrunch your eyes closed for a second as if trying to rid yourself of the memories. ‘Awful, just awful.’ Harry. He’s the killer in my book, Touch. He’s not particularly pleasant, I’ll give you that, but awful? I’m offended. I shake my head. ‘If you think Harry’s bad then you should meet some of my other friends,’ I say. An uneasy look passes across your face, but I ignore it and begin tell you about Ted, a kind, charming and charismatic young man; Jeffrey, who likes to spend time arranging things in his flat; Dennis, who once had a bit of a problem with his drains; Harold, the odd one out; Fred, who’s got something missing in the IQ department, sure, but a salt-of-the-earth type nevertheless. Shorn of their surnames my little coterie might appear innocent enough. They could be a bunch of guys who turn out down the park to play cricket on a Sunday afternoon or more likely that group of men who shuffle dominos in the corner of your local on Thursday evenings. There’s something about the decent, old-fashioned names – none of this Joshua, Ethan, Jake nonsense – which suggests dependability. As Fred packs away the dominos you’d go over, ask him what he’s drinking, get one in for him. Pint on the table in front of his big, rough, craftsmen’s hands, you’d ask how’s he placed to come round and sort out that dripping tap for you. Spare key’s under the flowerpot to the side of the back door, you’d say. Let yourself in any time. Fred’s a builder, see? Surname of West. On second thoughts maybe you should fix the tap yourself. Read More

What's your favourite Camilla Lackberg book?

Camilla Lackberg’s irresistible new book THE LOST BOY is out today, and we are celebrating by giving away 5 copies! All you have to do is tell us which is your FAVOURITE Camilla Lackberg book, and why? We’ll reveal the 5 lucky winners… Read More

Could you interview Andrew Taylor?

Calling all fans and bloggers! Could you interview bestselling author Andrew Taylor? As so many of you approached us about reviewing The Scent of Death, we want to offer you the opportunity to interview Andrew Taylor for yourselves! The bestselling author of The American Boy returns with a brilliant new historical thriller set during the American War of Independence. Simply send in 3 questions that you would ask him if you had the chance - either as a comment, a Facebook message or an email to killerreads@harpercollins.co.uk. The three best sets will get a copy of the book and a chance to add two more questions before we put their questions to Andrew Taylor, and the final interviews will be published here on the Killer Reads site. Read More

Winners of the Voss and Edwards Treasure Hunt announced!

Thank you to everyone for entering, it was wonderful to see so many responses! But unfortunately we can only pick one winner… The Kindle Fire goes to… Lynne Griffiths! The lucky runners-up will win a signed copy of Catch Your Death and All Fall Down: Julie Moore Christine… Read More

Meet Ex-Police Detective Luke Delaney

  Luke Delaney isn't just an ex-Police Detective, he's also our brand new crime author, and he's about to release a book, Cold Killing, that we're all unbelievably excited about. Below, you can read what he told us about how he became a writer, and beneath that there's an opportunity to read the first two chapters from Cold Killing. In case the title doesn't already give it away, this isn't a book to read before bedtime...   "My senior school was a huge inner city affair. I often thought we were sent there to keep us off the streets rather than to be educated, the teachers having long since given up on us, but even then I loved to write stories. Unfortunately, if the school itself wasn’t a big enough obstacle to any literary ambitions, I was also slightly dyslexic and found my inability to spell and lack of grammar defeated me. I left school, as did most of us, with almost no qualifications. Read More