Cara Hunter

true detective – night country

The first series of True Detective is one of the finest crime series I’ve ever seen, and this fourth outing starts out with two huge aces – Jodie Foster and the awe-inspiring Alaskan darkness. Foster is superb as the sassy, self-centred, in-your-face Liz Danvers, who couldn’t care less who she offends, citizen or spectre. And there’s the rub. There are some fantastic moments, and the setting is, indeed, incredible, but the uneasy fusion of police procedural and paranormal just didn’t quite work for me in the end.

ripley

I’m the most massive fan of the Anthony Minghella film, so I came to this with some trepidations, but Steven Zaillian’s is a strikingly different take, shot in stunning black and white (sounds a contradiction in terms, but you’ll see what I mean). Andrew Scott is a brooding, knowing but increasingly compelling presence, set against Johnny Flynn’s languorous Dickie. What was music in the Minghella becomes art here – there are many beautiful shots of architectural details but the main focus is on Caravaggio, which is an inspired choice and works beautifully. The Malkovich cameo is a very nice touch, and I should, of course, mention the excellent performance by a splendid cat. Highly recommended

defending jacob

An impressive variant on the We Need To Talk About Kevin plot trope as high-achieving parents Andy (Chris Evans) and Laurie (Michelle Dockery) start to doubt the innocence of their own son (Jaden Martell) after a pupil at his school is killed. Excellent performances all round, and the ending is not quite as predictable as you might assume.

the house guest – hank phillippi ryan

My second from Hank, and another fab read. She’s a big hit in the US but definitely deserves to be better known this side of the Atlantic – she writes so well, and her plots give corkscrews a run for their money and no mistake! In The House Guest, the hitherto rich and privileged Alyssa finds her world falling apart when her husband suddenly leaves her, until a chance meeting with a stranger at a bar lifts her spirits. Within the hour she’s offering her a place to stay, but is this apparently agreeable woman really as innocuous as she seems?

price to pay – dave sivers

Dave is an old hand at crime (in the best sense!) and the author of several long-standing series. This is part of a series but reads well as a standalone, with some intriguing well-rounded characters. A satisfying and well-constructed police procedural.

the trial – jo spain

I’m a sucker for courtroom drama, but this is a different kind of trial altogether – a drug trial. Add a mysterious long-ago disappearance and both a setting and a narrator that are hiding secrets and the result is a great read. Tense, topical and terrifyingly plausible.

the collector – john fowles

One of my all-time top ten crime books. One of the first and best psychopath thrillers ever written, it’s both utterly chilling, and horribly hard to forget.

going wrong – ruth rendell

This is another of my all-time top ten crime books. A dark and deeply unsettling read about obsessive love, from the doyenne of crime herself, Ruth Rendell.

playing nice – jp delaney

What would you do if you discovered that your child was switched with another baby at birth? Keep the child you’ve grown to love, or bring home your own flesh and blood? Because one thing’s for sure, you can’t have it both ways… Another corker from my friend JP Delaney, a real master of the dark domestic.

the nothing man – catherine ryan howard

This one is a real cracker. Years after his crimes, a serial killer who was never caught reads his own story, as written by the only one of his victims left alive. Wonderfully clever and multi-layered.

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