REVIEW: An Event in Autumn by Henning Mankell

I believe that for a very long time, as long as we speak and write about crime fiction, Henning Mankell will be held as a gold standard, one of the great voices of the genre, one of the true innovators. 

His impact in terms of the growth of “Nordic Noir”, and the huge uptake in writers from Scandinavia in this country, and the impact on writers in other countries, is immense.

Of course, he didn’t just write crime fiction – and for me the surreal Depths might well be his masterpiece outside of genre – but he will be forever remembered for his crime thrillers. And especially for Wallander, a character as important now in the history of crime fiction as Holmes, Poirot, Marple, Morse …

REVIEW The Demonologist by Andrew Pyper

What if all of it isn't merely allusion but literal history, an account of actors performing verifiable actions, both long ago and reaching into the present?

Andrew Pyper's The Demonologist is a swift travelling, deeply thoughtful and highly enjoyable novel. This comes as no surprise to ShadePoint; we loved The Guardians a lot, and reviewed it here.

REVIEW The Missing File by D.A. Mishani

Avraham didn't know why he thought the things he did.

ShadePoint reads a lot of crime fiction in the course of a year. Much of it isn't reviewed on the site, and not always because it isn't enjoyable in some way, but more likely because it just wasn't terribly original - from samey stock-image covers of deserted basements, to predictable characters, disappointing endings or absent thematic purpose. It's not to say these books aren't escapist diversions for a bit, and there's nothing wrong with that at all, but they just don't stand out. They just don't ring and ring and ring and we don't answer.