Staff Review: Take Your Breath Away

Title/Author: Take Your Breath Away - Linwood Barclay

Genre(s): Mystery, Crime Fiction, Psychological Thrillers

Andrew Mason went through the unthinkable: His wife Brie disappeared, and everyone assumed he’d gotten away with her murder. Now, six years after his world fell apart, Andrew is finally in a position where he’s moving on with his life, until a woman with a striking resemblance to Brie shows up at his door, demanding to know what happened to her house, Andrew if forced to question: Is his wife alive, and if so, where’s she been??

Linwood Barclay is as close to a sure thing in crime fiction as anything you’ve read. No B.S., nothing fancy, just airtight plotting, surprisingly nuanced characters, and lots of moves. A great ‘dram and a hammock’ book!

Reviewed by: David

Staff Review: Razorblade Tears

Title/Author: Razorblade Tears - S.A. Cosby

Genre(s): Mystery, Detective Stories, African American Fiction

Full to the brim with rage, bloody revenge, and grief, Cosby's writing also bursts with humor and redemption. A Black father and a white father begin a desperate search for the murderer of their gay sons. Their sons fell in love, married, and started a family before being mysteriously murdered. Both fathers are plagued by their pasts and go through difficult transformations of character as they confront the harsh reality of the pain they caused their sons by not fully accepting them. An insightful exploration of racism, homophobia and parenting. Its a mystery crime thriller at its core with plenty of violence and fast paced action, as Cosby fuels every shocking twist and turn with visceral character development and emotional depth.

Reviewed by: Rosemary

Staff Review: Gun Machine

Title/Author: Gun Machine - Warren Ellis

Genre(s): Mystery, Thriller, Police Procedural

Following a shootout in an old tenement building, an NYPD detective discovers a seemingly abandoned apartment filled with guns of all sorts, arranged to look like the cogs of a machine. When each gun is traced back to previously unsolved homicides, the detective realizes this is a much bigger case than he ever could have imagined, and the hunt for a mysterious killer is on. This book reads with the flow of the best of crime fiction, with enough twists for a rollercoaster. Do yourself a favour and give it a go!

Reviewed by: Alex

Staff Review: The Dead and the Dark

Title/Author: The Dead and the Dark - Courtney Gould

Genre(s): YA, Mystery, LGBTQ+

This novel was the dark mystery I was looking for, with just enough of a supernatural twist to make it even more interesting. It offers a creepy vibe, perfect late night reading, twists you don’t see coming, & it takes a strong look at the anti-LGBTQ+ attitudes that unfortunately still persist even in 2021, especially in small communities. A look at identity, perception and expectation, as well as the possibility of finding love in the most unlikely of places, this is a near perfect read, and a powerful debut YA novel.

Reviewed by: Alex