Pile by the Bed reviews The System by Ryan Gattis, a forensic and effective look at the United States justice system set in the early 1990s.
Allie Reynolds debut novel Shiver is an isolation thriller which, on that description makes it sound perfect for these Covid times. Set in a mainly deserted glacier-top ski resort before the start of the season it also draws heavily on Reynold’s own past as a freestyle snowboarder to flesh out its group of characters and their sketchy pasts. Milla is a former competitive snowboarder. Ten years have passed since a tragedy-filled season that changed her life. So much time has passed that Milla feels comfortable attending a kind of reunion with four of her fellow boarders from that time. She feels a thrill of nostalgia as she once again sees Brett, Dale, Heather and Curtis. But right from the start, as they board the bubble cable cars that will take them to the summit hotel, things feel a little off. And it is not long before things start to go wrong. They find the hotel completely empty of staff, their phones disappear and then during an “icebreaker” game mysterious accusations about their time ten years before emerge. All of this goes back to the event that they have come to commemorate – the disappearance of Curtis’s sister, and Milla’s main…
Pile by the Bed Reviews Clair Whitfield’s debut crime novel People of Abandoned Character, a Jack the Ripper-adjacent novel centred around an abusive relationship.
Pile by the Bed’s top 5 crime fiction novels for 2020 and 6 equally worthy honourable mentions. So overall a top 11 for the year.
Pile by the Bed reviews Hideout, the third book in Jack Heath’s Timothy Blake series. Another strong entry in this dark crime series.
Pile by the Bed reviews White Throat by Sarah Thornton (Clementine Jones #2) – another fast paced Australian crime thriller featuring Thornton’s flawed but engaging heroine.
Pile by the Bed reviews Sara Sligar’s debut Take Me Apart, a book that is part mystery, part thriller, part exploration of the world of art.
Pile by the Bed reviews The Devil and the Dark Water by Stuart Turton, a rollicking historical crime novel with possible supernatural elements and a tip of the hat to Sherlock Holmes.
Pile by the Bed reviews Consolation, the third book in Garry Disher’s Paul Hirschhausen series of Australian rural crime procedurals.
Pile by the Bed reviews The Kingdom – the new standalone rural Scandinavian-noir thriller from Norwegian crime fiction powerhouse Jo Nesbo.
Pile by the Bed reviews Nothing Can Hurt You by Nicola Maye Goldberg, a series of connected short stories that revolve around the death of a young woman at the hands of her boyfriend.
Pile by the Bed reviews Trust by Chris Hammer – the third book in his series featuring journalist Martin Scarsden, set in a windy, corrupt Sydney.
Pile by the Bed reviews Dead Man in Ditch (Fetch Phillips #2) by Luke Arnold, the second in his dark fantasy meets noir detective series.
Pile by the Bed reviews The Survivors by Jane Harper, a story of crime, grief and secrets set in a small Tasmanian coastal community.
Pile by the Bed reviews the very British crime debut The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman, featuring a group of unstoppable retiree amateur detectives.
Pile by the Bed reviews the debut thriller The Girl in the Mirror by Rose Carlyle, a thriller featuring almost identical twins and plenty of twists and turns.
Pile by the Bed reviews Seven Years of Darkness, by Korean crime writer You-Jeong Jeong, her second to be be translated into English.
Pile by the Bed reviews The Suicide House by Charlie Donlea (Moore and Phillips #2).
Pile by the Bed reviews Either Side of Midnight by Benjamin Stevenson, once again featuring Jack Quick, this time trying to solve a seemingly impossible crime.
Pile by the Bed reviews The Night Whistler by Greg Woodland another strong Australian rural crime debut set in the 1960s.