Mystery

Civilian Reader is… 20yrs Old. WTF? Anyway, Here’s the First Review I Wrote…

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Twenty years ago today, I posted my first fiction review on Civilian Reader. That is… pretty wild.

Before creating CR, I’d been reviewing music for my own fanzine that I’d been running for about four years. I first put that together using Microsoft Publisher, and printed, stapled, and mailed it out to the handful of subscribers I had. After I discovered this thing called “blogging”, while studying journalism, I shifted everything online. (It’s just so much easier, quicker, and cheaper — no more multipacks of printer ink!)

I wanted to do something to mark the occasion, and more than just the one post marking the milestone, and have been mulling this ever since I noticed we were coming up to the 20th anniversary. I’m still not entirely sure what I want to do, so I’ll have to keep thinking about (hopefully) interesting and related things to do. I am currently toying with revisiting early books I read and reviewed for the website, and taking a look at “Before Civilian Reader” books that I love and think deserve a little more attention. (Basically, it’ll be an excuse to re-read some older favourites.) I’m hesitant to make any concrete plans, though, as I invariably don’t follow through on “reading plans” or “reading goals” for a variety of reasons.

The first book review I ever wrote was for Richard Morgan’s Market Forces, for my university paper. It was a good book, and I thought I wrote a pretty good (albeit too-long-for-print) review, which was then butchered for publication. What went to press stripped out the discussion of what actually made the novel interesting and worth reading. So, I decided to create my own space to review books. Continue reading →

Upcoming: IN THE DEVIL WIND by Richard Kadrey (Harper Voyager)

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This November, Sandman Slim rides again! I’ve been a fan of Richard Kadrey‘s excellent series since they were first published in the UK (2012), when the publisher gifted me the first three books. Each new book has been a must-read for me (in addition to the author’s other, non-Sandman Slim books), but after a busy period I fell a little behind. With In the Devil Wind — the 13th, final novel in the series — on the way, I think I have the incentive to finally get caught up! A nice goal for the summer, perhaps.

Here’s the synopsis:

In this heart-pounding epilogue novel to the acclaimed, New York Times bestselling Sandman Slim series, James Stark once again finds himself between a rock and a hard place — except this time the rock is Heaven, and the hard place is Hell…

A devil’s work is never done.

James Stark, aka Sandman Slim, is trying to find his footing in a Heaven that’s anything but heavenly. And when God gets attacked and the angels and hellions start picking sides for a new war, the celestial realm is one spark away from an explosion. Stark just wants to be left alone to watch old movies, but when a madman named Dixie Midnight starts cutting a bloody path through the palace, he’s dragged back into the fray.

Stark’s investigation uncovers a conspiracy that goes deeper than he could have ever imagined. And every new encounter leads to yet another mystery, another foe, and — at one point — a spell that is inexorably draining his very essence. Betrayed by those he should be able to trust, hunted by supposed friends and enemies alike — all while running out of time, because apparently there is nothing after the afterlife — Stark must navigate the treacherous corridors of Heaven and the backroads of Hell to solve a problem he only sort of understands.

And he’d kill for a good apple fritter.

Death is not the worst thing that can happen to Stark — dealing with bureaucratic assholes, renegade angels, and homicidal sociopaths is. Stark thought he was done with being the monster killer… done with being the monster. He was wrong.

And that means Heaven must wait…

Richard Kadrey’s In the Devil Wind is due to be published by Harper Voyager in North America and in the UK, on November 17th.

Also on CR: Reviews of Sandman Slim, Kill the Dead, Aloha From Hell, Devil in the Dollhouse, Devil Said Bang, and Kill City Blues

Follow the Author: Website, Goodreads, Instagram, BlueSky

Upcoming: THE CALAMITIES by Chuck Wendig (Del Rey)

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Earlier today, Del Rey unveiled the cover and synopsis for Chuck Wendig‘s next novel, The Calamities. That stunning cover was the first thing to catch my attention — it’s giving off Devil’s Advocate vibes, maybe? The synopsis, which promises a mix of occult magic and family drama, only increased my interest. Check out the synopsis:

The heir to one of the world’s most influential families reckons with the demonic secret to their power…

Mourning Mayne knows he’ll one day bear the duty of managing his family’s vast empire of wealth and power. But the feckless Mourning has always struggled to accept this legacy, which is one of cruelty, domination, and exploitation… and something even darker.

Because the Maynes are no ordinary family: Hidden in our world are the fiends—half-human, half-demon, and possessed of dark magic born from buying human souls—and the Maynes are one of the oldest and most influential fiendish families.

But when Mourning’s estranged father, the formidable and terrifying Hadrian Mayne, demands that he return to the fold, Mourning has to make a decision whether to accept his legacy and embrace his role in the family, or to forge his own destiny, and with it, change the course of the world.

Because along the way home, he will meet Key, a black-market seller of human souls, and Quinn, an artist who may hold the dark truth behind the fate of the fiends. Alone, they have all struggled with the darkness of their fiendish nature… but together, they might find a path out of the shadows.

It’s been a little while since I read one of Wendig’s novels (not for lack of interest, there are just so many books on my TBR mountain, I sometimes forget what I have on the pile…); but this one has shot onto my Most Anticipated of 2026 list. Can’t wait to read it.

Chuck Wendig’s The Calamities is due to be published by Del Rey in North America and in the UK, on August 18th. (No cover for the UK edition, at the time of writing.)

Follow the Author: Website, Goodreads, Instagram, BlueSky

Upcoming: THE LAST MANDARIN by Louise Penny & Mellissa Fung (Minotaur / Hodder & Stoughton)

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In May, Minotaur Books (North America) and Hodder & Stoughton (UK) are due to publish a new collaboration between Louise Penny (author of the internationally best-selling Inspector Gamache series) and award-winning journalist Mellissa Fung: The Last Mandarin. I’ve only read one of Penny’s novels — State of Terror, co-authored with Hilly Clinton — and I’m really interested in reading The Last Mandarin (as well as starting the Gamache series, hopefully soon). Pitched as a thriller “about the precarious balance of power across the world, and within a family. And what happens when both break down.” Here’s the synopsis:

Global politics become personal for two unlikely heroines. Alice Li, a first-generation Chinese-American, is an erstwhile food blogger who has lived in the shadow of her mother, Vivien Li. A Chinese dissident who escaped China after Tiananmen Square, Vivien is now a globally recognized human rights activist and passionate advocate for a free and democratic China.

When security and fire alarms go off simultaneously all around the world, setting off a panic, the signal is traced back to China. As world leaders scramble to respond, Vivien and Alice are called to the White House in hopes Madame Li can decode the Chinese intentions.

While it makes some sense that the President would turn to Vivien, since she regularly advises world leaders on the actions of today’s Chinese government, what isn’t clear is why they’d want to talk to Alice.

After looking at the evidence, Vivien says that the only thing worse than the Chinese government being behind it, is if they are not. It would mean, she explains, that some clandestine element within China is calling the shots. That the President of China has lost control. And an unstable China cannot be good for anyone.

Or perhaps that’s exactly what the shrewd old politician wants everyone to think.

Caught up in the chaos, Vivien and Alice are uniquely placed to stop the next, cataclysmic attack. But there are forces deep within both the American and Chinese governments intent on stopping mother and daughter. The estranged pair, who excels at misunderstanding each other, must figure out how to work together.

The increasingly frantic search for answers takes the women from the Oval Office to an office building in Akron, Ohio, from the noodle shops of Hong Kong to the necropolis of the first emperor. Along the way they must decode an old legend, and an old language invented by women, for women.

Louise Penny & Melissa Fung’s The Last Mandarin is due to be published by Minotaur Books in North America and Hodder & Stoughton in the UK, on May 12th.

Also on CR: Review of State of Terror

Follow the Author (Penny): Website, Goodreads, Instagram
Follow the Author (Fung): Website, Goodreads

Quick Review: SPIES AND OTHER GODS by James Wolff (Atlantic Crime)

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The hunt for an assassin, an internal scandal, and a leader losing a step…

The Head of British Intelligence is having a bad day. Only six months off retirement and Sir William Rentoul is wondering if he’ll make it that far, what with the sudden descent of a brain fog dense enough to turn every day into a series of small humiliations.

To make matters worse, when parliamentary researcher Aphra McQueen is brought in to investigate an internal complaint, she discovers something horrifying: the murder of nine Iranian dissidents. The elusive assassin, nicknamed CASPIAN, kills across borders, forcing intelligence services throughout Europe into an alliance. Their only lead? An unsuspecting dentist in the UK.

Aphra McQueen seems to know more about the operation than she is letting on. What will she uncover? What is she really up to? And can she survive the unexpected events that will bounce her from London to Birmingham to Paris to Lausanne?

What happens when the head of British Intelligence starts to lose a step? This is in many ways the linchpin upon which the novel hangs, and offers some very interesting opportunities. A complaint issued by an anonymous whistleblower has put British Intelligence’s leadership on edge, launching an unwelcome and uncomfortable investigation into certain recent missions. What follows is a cat-and-mouse hunt for the truth and an assassin. Despite some minor quibbles regarding pacing, I enjoyed this.
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Upcoming: McKENNA’S GUY by Mike Lawson (Blackstone)

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As a long-time fan of Mike Lawson‘s novels, I’m always on the look-out for his next book. I’ve already been lucky enough to read and review the latest Joe DeMarco novel, The Asset. Until today, however, I wasn’t aware of his other novel coming this year: McKenna’s Guy, which is due to be published by Blackstone on July 7th. Looks like it’s the first in a potential new series, starring DC detective Grace Lillinthal. Here’s the synopsis:

A fast-paced thriller full of secrets, lies, and betrayal.

When an intruder with murderous intent breaks into Roger Smith’s modest home one night, the big brute gets more than he bargained for, ending up a bloody corpse staining Roger’s carpet.

Washington, DC, Detective Grace Lillinthal is summoned to the crime scene and marvels at the outcome. Why would anyone want to kill gray-haired Roger Smith? He’s the picture of respectability-a widower devoted to his family, an amateur painter, and a civil servant who works at the Government Printing Office. When asked why he’d be a target, a clearly shaken Roger claims to be baffled.

But instinct tells Grace there’s more to Roger’s story, and when she learns that Roger-after killing his home invader and before calling the police-phoned John McKenna, she knows she’s onto something. John McKenna is a disreputable character of the first order. He’s the gregarious, larger-than-life owner of a local bar that’s a notorious den of thieves.

After one hired assassin fails, another’s bound to show up. The clock is ticking for Roger and McKenna to find out who wants Roger dead and why-and suspects abound. Stubborn Grace is as determined to dig up Roger’s secrets as he is to keep them hidden, and soon the investigation becomes a relentless game of cat and mouse. Even if Roger doesn’t consider himself a criminal, as chaos takes hold of his world, survival requires that he think like one.

Mike Lawson’s McKenna’s Guy is due to be published by Blackstone Publishing in North America, on July 7th.

Also on CR: Reviews of Dead on Arrival, House Secrets, House Justice, House Divided, House Blood, House Reckoning, House Rivals, and House Arrest

Follow the Author: Website, Goodreads

Upcoming: ICARUS 17 by Charles Cumming (Mysterious Press / Hemlock Press)

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Great news: Icarus 17, the fourth novel in Charles Cumming‘s Box 88 series, is due out this summer! Also, unlike many of the author’s other novels, it’ll be getting a simultaneous release in the UK and North America.

I’ve been a fan of Cumming’s novels since Typhoon (2009), which I definitely recommend to all fans of the genre. This latest series, following the missions of Lachlan Kite has been particularly good — each of the novels so far has been excellent, exploring the long-term consequences of past missions and decisions. Must-reads, in my opinion, for all fans of espionage fiction.

Here’s the synopsis for Icarus 17:

Master spy Lachlan Kite heads to Athens, Greece, after an old flame asks for help locating her missing son.

A threat to the lives of his wife and daughter in London forces elite intelligence agent Lachlan Kite to move his family to safety. Meanwhile Kite’s former girlfriend, Martha Raine, comes to him with a plea for help. Her twenty-year-old son, Max, has vanished without trace in Greece. Can Kite help to find him?

Analysts at Anglo-American intelligence agency BOX 88 discover that Max was in a relationship with an Israeli woman, Jessica Morrow, who has links to the Mossad. Morrow is being hunted by a ruthless criminal gang. Fearing the worst, Kite and Martha set out for Athens in a desperate attempt to locate Max and Jessica.

This is easily one of my most-anticipated novels of the year.

Charles Cumming’s Icarus 17 is due to be published by Mysterious Press in North America (July 7th) and Hemlock Press in the UK (July 2nd).

Also on CR: Reviews of Box 88, Judas 62, Kennedy 35, Typhoon, The Trinity Six, A Foreign Country, A Colder War, and The Man Between

Follow the Author: Website, Goodreads, Instagram

Excerpt: A GRAVE DECEPTION by Connie Berry (Crooked Lane)

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Next week, Crooked Lane Books will publish A Grave Deception by Connie Berry, the sixth novel in the Kate Hamilton Mysteries series. To mark the occasion, and give readers a taste of the book, the publisher has provided CR with an excerpt to share with our readers. First, here’s the synopsis:

Antiques expert Kate Hamilton dives into the past to solve a fourteenth-century mystery with disturbing similarities to a modern-day murder in the sixth installment of the Kate Hamilton mystery series.

Kate Hamilton and her husband, Detective Inspector Tom Mallory, have settled into married life in Long Barston. When archaeologists excavating the ruins of a nearby plague village discover the miraculously preserved body of a fourteenth-century woman, Kate and her colleague, Ivor Tweedy, are asked to appraise the grave goods, including a valuable pearl. When tests reveal the woman was pregnant and murdered, the owner of the estate on which the body was found, an amateur historian, asks Kate to identify her and, if possible, her killer. Surprised, Kate agrees to try.

Meanwhile, tensions within the archaeological team erupt when the body of the lead archaeologist turns up at the dig site with fake pearls in his mouth and stomach. Then a third body is found in the excavations. Meanwhile, Kate’s husband Tom is tracking the movements of a killer of his own.

With the help of 700-year-old documents and the unpublished research of a deceased historian, Kate must piece together the past before the grave count reaches four.

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Upcoming: INDIE DARLING by Lauren Nossett (Flatiron)

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Next year, Flatiron Books are due to publish Indie Darling, the next novel from Lauren Nossett — “a mystery set in Nashville, where a Dolly Parton–loving private detective is drawn into the disappearance of an enigmatic pop star.” I very much enjoyed the author’s first two novels, The Resemblance and The Professor, both of which I would definitely recommend to all fans of crime fiction: well-written, interesting setting (they’re sort-of campus crime), and engaging characters. The author’s new novel looks equally interesting, as well as a little bit different. Here’s the synopsis:

Nashville is a city of two faces, where the glitter often masks the grit.

Kelly Williams helps women. Sisters in search of lost siblings. Wives determined to uncover affairs. Daughters haunted by men lingering outside their windows. Clients trust her because she listens, she believes them, and over the years she’s honed a specialized skill set.

Kelly is a Dolly Parton–loving, sports-car-driving private investigator in Nashville, Tennessee. Her latest client, Sarah-Faith Owens, comes to her after receiving threatening messages. Something about the woman feels familiar, and Kelly realizes she’s Seraph, the magnetic, polarizing lead singer of the indie music sensation The Garden Snakes. With feminist anthems, cryptic lyric easter eggs, and an electrifying stage presence, Seraph has built a fiercely loyal following ― and attracted a number of critics. At that level of fame, her stalker could be anyone.

Then, in the middle of a Nashville performance, Seraph is shot on stage ― and the ambulance carrying her disappears. As the city reels and conspiracy theories swirl, Kelly is pulled into a dangerous web of secrets involving Seraph’s bandmates, her troubled past, and the high cost of stardom.

Lauren Nossett’s Indie Darling is due to be published by Flatiron Books in North America, on July 28th, 2026.

Also on CR: Review of The Resemblance

Follow the Author: Website, Goodreads, Instagram

Excerpt: THE WONDER LANDS WAR by Peter Darbyshire (Poplar Press)

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Today we have an excerpt from The Wonder Lands War, the fourth book in Peter Darbyshire‘s The Books of Cross series — readers may recall that we have shared excerpts from the three previous novels in the series, too (see below for links). It’s is out now, published by Poplar Press. Here’s the synopsis:

I would take the whole world apart to find her.

The immortal Cross is back in a wild new adventure – a desperate hunt to find the enigmatic Alice from the Wonderland tales. Alice has helped Cross save the world countless times over since she stepped out of the pages of her book, but now she is the one that needs rescue after vanishing during an apocalyptic battle. Aided by the faerie queen Morgana and her court, Cross journeys to mystical islands populated with murderous immortals and into famous libraries with powerful librarians and magical texts until they reach the chaotic and terrifying Wonder Lands, the dangerous inspiration for the original Alice tales. But they are not the only ones looking for Alice – a rogue group of angels are also hunting her for mysterious reasons of their own. The very fate of the world may rest upon who finds Alice first.

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