Mark Sanderson

Oct 30, 2024 | thetimes.com | Joan Smith |Mark Sanderson

Jorn Lier Horst was a detective chief inspector in Norway before he became a hugely successful crime writer. His most recent novels have been a joint venture with another Norwegian author, Thomas Enger, and they’ve all been bestsellers. Horst’s intimate knowledge of murder investigations works brilliantly with Enger’s taste for the macabre, and the new novel is seamless despite having two authors.

Oct 4, 2024 | thetimes.com | Mark Sanderson

The ex-cop John Rebus is banged up in HMP Edinburgh, serving life for the attempted murder of the gangster Big Ger Cafferty. His fellow inmate Darryl Christie is delighted that Cafferty, his main rival, is out of the drugs game, so he has placed Rebus under his protection on the wing he controls. However, when a snitch is murdered in his locked cell during the night, the prison governor, Rebus’s former colleagues and Christie all expect Rebus to keep them informed of any developments.

Aug 30, 2024 | thetimes.com | Mark Sanderson

Lynda La Plante has written some of the greatest crime dramas on British television — Widows (1983-85), Prime Suspect (1991), Trial & Retribution (1997-2009) — but you wouldn’t want to get on the wrong side of her. In real life she is kind, generous and an excellent raconteur. Cross her, though, as Michael Korda, an English publisher based in New York, did — “I just felt belittled” — and you’ll live to regret it.

Aug 9, 2024 | thetimes.com | Mark Sanderson

Forget Mark Twain, Kinky Friedman, Nora Ephron and David Sedaris: the funniest writer to come out of America is Carl Hiaasen. The former columnist for the Miami Herald published his first novel, Tourist Season, in 1986.

Aug 2, 2024 | thetimes.com | Mark Sanderson

Once upon a time Anita and Adam, both “foster trash”, were thick as thieves — which is exactly what the Aussie teenagers were until a bent cop co-opted Anita — nicknamed Neet — for his own abusive ends and scared off Adam. Today Neet calls herself Grace, but is still stealing art, antiques and watches. She’s permanently on the run, hyperaware that there are eyes out there, “taking aim at her from a great distance”.