Crime Fiction round-up in today's Herald

Today, my latest crime fiction round-up for the Herald on Sunday, one of New Zealand's biggest-selling newspapers, was published (see above). For those that aren't in the Herald on Sunday distribution area, here are the three reviews in the round-up:

CATCH ME by Lisa Gardner
Boston detective DD Warren is approached by a woman who thinks she’s going to be killed in four days, because her two best friends have been killed on that date in past years. At the same time Warren is investigating a series of slayings of child molesters. Are the cases linked? Is the woman crazy? Catch Me is told from the alternating perspectives of the two female leads, but is also packed with plenty of other interesting and layered characters, and flashes of insight into wider human desires, fears, and more. An engaging and emotionally tense page-turner that hooks you early and doesn’t let go.

DEATH ON DEMAND by Paul Thomas
Five years after being exiled to the Wairarapa following his handling of the hit and run death of a prominent businesswoman, coupled with a bathroom brawl with a colleague, Detective Tito Ihaka finds himself recalled to the big smoke. The hit and run victim’s terminally ill husband confesses to hiring an unknown hit man, before being murdered himself. Ihaka, slightly matured but still a maverick, dances through a minefield of police politics, old grudges, blackmail and gangs as he hunts a faceless killer. Filled with helter-skelter storylines, witty dialogue, and captivating characters, Death on Demand is a very welcome return for author and hero alike. A rollicking read.

NOBODY DIES by Zirk van den Berg
Several years ago, Namibian-born Kiwi Zirk van den Berg’s debut thriller (in English) was published to high acclaim, before becoming ‘hard to find’. Now, at last, it is widely available as an e-book. A South African cop has found an easy way to make criminals in the witness protection programme impossible to find; she kills them rather than relocating them. When Daniel, a relatively innocent man, is placed in her ‘care’, he must find a way to survive not only the crime boss who is after him, but his ‘protector’. An absorbing, tense tale that brings the expanses of South Africa to life on the page, along with the grey areas in human hearts and minds. Terrific.

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Thanks to Herald on Sunday Books Editor Nicky Pellegrino for allowing me to reprint the reviews online here on Crime Watch. What do you think of this month's books? Have you read any? Comments welcome.