February can be summed up as quality not quantity when it came to crime fiction reading. After a glut of Scandinavian crime fiction in December and January it was great to read some excellent books by British writers including Elly Griffiths and R J Ellory.
However, my book of the month is a tie between Stav Sherez’s A Dark Redemption and Peter May’s The Black House. I loved Sherez’s book because it cleverly combined the horror of modern day demonic crime in London with the political violence of East African insurgent groups. I’m already looking forward to the next in the series. Peter May’s book, the first of a trilogy, created some memorable characters to the backdrop of the picturesque Isle of Lewis. Again it should make a great series.
The 8 books I read for crimepieces were:
1. City of the Dead by Sara Gran
2. A Simple Act of Violence by R J Ellory
3. Bereft by Chris Womersley
4. A Dark Redemption by Stav Sherez
5. Skin and Bone by Kathryn Fox
6. The Black House by Peter May
7. The Crossing Places by Elly Griffiths
8. Tom-All-Alone’s by Lynn Shepherd
February was also marked by a cold snap across Eastern Europe including Greece. The picture is the view from my balcony in Athens. Meagre by British standards I appreciate but Greek houses are not insulated….
Kerrie over at Mysteries in Paradise is hosting a meme summarizing the crime fiction recommendations for February 2012.