Author - The Durango Herald

Blind Moon Alley is hard-boiled, gritty enjoyment

John Florio is a journeyman writer of anything that covers the rent, and a closet novelist who’s finally come out with two very entertaining mysteries and the possibility of the creation of ...

DATE: Aug 24, 2014 | CATEGORY: Murder Ink

Voyeurism and deceit dominate ‘The Stone Boy’

Some of the European press have mentioned Alfred Hitchcock’s 1954 “Rear Window” when effusing about Sophie Loubière’s new book, The Stone Boy. It’s a simplistic comment but not a bad insinua...

DATE: Jul 21, 2014 | CATEGORY: Murder Ink

The Red Road: More noir than noir itself

I don’t know exactly where to start talking about Denise Mina’s new release, The Red Road. It’s different. Mina is different, and I don’t know if this new achievement of her’s is worth the e...

DATE: Jun 23, 2014 | CATEGORY: Murder Ink

For fast readers, here’s a list to keep you busy

There have been far too many superb crime fiction books piling up for lack of space to get them reviewed. And I’ve been hearing from many readers who are enjoying the books reviewed in Murde...

DATE: May 26, 2014 | CATEGORY: Murder Ink

Noir fiction ‘How’s the Pain?’ is a sleeper

Noir fiction is an ill-defined style of storytelling that for crime fiction readers has a clear but differing sense of meaning. Noir is an English corruption of the French word n...

DATE: Apr 21, 2014 | CATEGORY: Murder Ink

Good books can prompt a change in your plans

Unexpectedly, Michael Robotham came speeding into full view in my rearview mirror. The last I looked, no one was in my rear view, my “Murder Ink” column for today was in the can, ...

DATE: Mar 23, 2014 | CATEGORY: Murder Ink

Old wounds open in Poland – but not how you think

A crime novel from Poland, go figure. Zygmunt Miloszewski is a well-known fiction writer in Poland, earning acclaim in 2005 at the age of 26 with his first book, The Intercom. He ...

DATE: Feb 24, 2014 | CATEGORY: Murder Ink

Rankin scores again with 20th Rebus thriller

Scotsman Ian Rankin is on his game with Little, Brown and Co.’s new release of his Saints of the Shadow Bible. There are few crime fiction writers minting this kind of currency, a...

DATE: Jan 27, 2014 | CATEGORY: Murder Ink

Newcomer revives old-style, murder-mystery genre

Let’s back this down from the erudite to the meat-and-potatoes of crime fiction and enjoy a good murder mystery well told – the kind that got us hooked on the genre. Terry Shames ...

DATE: Dec 23, 2013 | CATEGORY: Murder Ink

Mariás makes sense of a senseless murder

The book featured today is a translation from Spanish of The Infatuations by Javier Mariás. It is not a book for the insubstantial reader, so if you read for the excitement of a f...

DATE: Nov 25, 2013 | CATEGORY: Murder Ink

A tale of murder in post-war Great Britain

A Commonplace Killing is British author Siân Busby’s final book, and its final chapter the last cogent thought before she succumbed to a drawn out and piteous death in 2012. And w...

DATE: Oct 20, 2013 | CATEGORY: Murder Ink

2 major releases to be on shelves by next month

There are two major releases coming in October from big publishing houses. You should know about them: One is huge, and the other is Andrea Camilleri’s new Inspector Montalbano machination, ...

DATE: Sep 23, 2013 | CATEGORY: Murder Ink