Crime Fiction Pick of the Month December 2013

December 2013 was another month of interesting reading. The two most outstanding books were Police by Jo Nesbo and Plata quemada by Ricardo Piglia, the first of which was my read of the month.

• In a Word: Murder – An Anthology. Margot Kinberg editor, 2013. Kindle version. (B)
• Police (Hervill Secker, 2013). Translated from the Norwegian by Don Bartlett. First published with the title Politi in 2013, by Jo Nesbo. (A+)
• Then We Take Berlin (Grove Press, 2013) Kindle edition, by John Lawton. (B) My review will be posted soon
• Plata quemada (Anagrama, 2006) Primera edición en Narrativas hispánicas, 2000, de Ricardo Piglia. (English title: Money to Burn, Granta Books, 2003). (A) My review will be posted soon
• Bruno and le Père Noël: A Christmas Short Story (Quercus, 2012) Kindle edition, by Martin Walker. (B)
• A Man Whitout Breath (Quercus, 2013) Kindle edition, by Philip Kerr. (B) My review will be posted soon.

Best new-to-me crime fiction authors: a meme: October to December 2013

Kerrie at Mysteries in Paradise has launched this meme to encourage us to read new authors. It’s easy to join in. All you need to do is write a post about the best crime fiction book by a new (to you anyway) author that you have read during this time frame. And do not forget to visit the links posted by other fellow participants to discover even more books to read.

In the fourth quarter I’ve read this year seventeen books of which two were by new (to me anyway) authors.You can see my reviews by clicking on the book title:

The Necessary Death of Lewis Winter (Pan Books, 2013) by Malcolm Mackay (A)

Bruno Chief of Police (Quercus, 2009) by Martin Walker (B)

I truly enjoyed both books.

Read HERE what other fellow participants have to say.

My 2013 Favourite Readings

After considerable thought I would like to highlight the following 10 books as my personal favourites:

1. Two books by William McIlvanney in the Laidlaw Trilogy (Laidlaw and  The Papers of Tony Veitch) the only ones I’ve read so far.

2. Three books in Peter’s May Lewis Trilogy (The Blackhouse, The Lewis Man and The Chessmen)

3. Police by Jo Nesbo. Translated by Don Bartlett 

4. Norwegian by Night by Derek B Miller

5. Last Will by Liza Marklund. Translated by Neil Smith

6. La neblina del ayer  by Leonardo Padura. English title: Havana Fever

7. The Deep Dark Sleep by Craig Russell

And three honourable mentions:

1. Cold Hearts by Gunnar Staalesen. Translated by Don Bartlett

2. Capture by Roger Smith 

3. Hard Bite by Anonymous-9

The list of crime fiction books I read during 2013 is HERE.