West Words Publishing Services
@westwords.bsky.social
Book reviewer, graphic designer, proofreader and copy editor. Crime Fiction Lover reviewer. Ngaio Marsh Awards and Petrona Award judge. http://sonjavanderwesthuizen.wordpress.com
Akane Araki's Murder at the End of the World has just the right amount of suspense and quirkiness. @pushkinpress.com @pushkinpress-us.bsky.social westwordsreviews.wordpress.com/2026/07/29/m...
Murder at the End of the World by Akane Araki
In two months’ time, an asteroid named Telo is due to hit Fukuoka, Japan, with a kinetic energy equivalent to 45 billion megatons of TNT. “It’s the end of the world as we know it,”‘ as Michael Stip…
westwordsreviews.wordpress.com
The Hotel Manager's Guide to Murder by Erlendur Arason maintains an impressive balance between mystery, police procedural, and noir. @ewashe.bsky.social @graskeggur.bsky.social #ErlendurArason #Blekverk westwordsreviews.wordpress.com/2026/07/29/t...
The Hotel Manager’s Guide to Murder by Erlendur Arason
A new name on the Nordic Noir horizon, arriving alongside a brand new publisher—a double treat for lovers of all things moody, cold, and murderous. Hopefully, this signals the beginning of many mor…
westwordsreviews.wordpress.com
Penny Zang’s atmospheric and claustrophobic debut novel, Doll Parts, has it all: suspicious deaths, a fractured female friendship and a Sylvia Plath suicide club set in the angsty, grunge-driven 90s. westwordsreviews.wordpress.com/2025/09/04/d... @sourcebooks.bsky.social #BestBooks2025
Doll Parts | Penny Zang
Penny Zang’s atmospheric and claustrophobic debut novel has it all: suspicious deaths, a fractured female friendship and a Sylvia Plath suicide club set in the angsty, grunge-driven 90s. So let’s d…
westwordsreviews.wordpress.com
On today's #BestBooks2025 menu: A Korean crime fiction novel that puts a spin on the classic gothic novel. A Twist of Fate by Se-Ah Jang westwordsreviews.wordpress.com/2025/08/20/a... #koreancrimefiction
A Twist of Fate | Se-Ah Jang
South Korean author Se-Ah Jang’s crime debut, A Twist of Fate, draws inspiration from classic gothic fiction. While utilising many of the genre’s tropes—family secrets, unexplained deaths, and a si…
westwordsreviews.wordpress.com
Next up on #BestBooks2025 is Fox by the sometimes controversial, always outspoken Joyce Carol Oates. A truly unsettling read. @4thestatebooks.bsky.social westwordsreviews.wordpress.com/2025/08/19/f...
Fox | Joyce Carol Oates
Francis Harlan Fox is a popular literature teacher at the elite Langhorne Academy in New Jersey, beloved by scholars and admired by colleagues. Francis Harlan Fox is also a sociopath, paedophile an…
westwordsreviews.wordpress.com
A wonderfully creepy gothic tale (with eels!) for today's #BestBooks2025: The Homecoming by Zoë Apostolides. Published by @saltpublishing.com. westwordsreviews.wordpress.com/2025/08/19/t...
The Homecoming | Zoë Apostolides
Zoë Apostolides’s debut novel, The Homecoming, is a gothic tale that masterfully blends a strong sense of place with a classic horror atmosphere. It follows Ellen, a ghostwriter sent to a remote ma…
westwordsreviews.wordpress.com
From Iceland to Japan. My next #BestBooks2025 is Japanese puzzle mystery meets time-loop caper, Yasuhiko Nishiza @pushkinpress.com @pushkinpress-us.bsky.social westwordsreviews.wordpress.com/2025/08/14/t...
The Man Who Died Seven Times | Yasuhiko Nishizawa
Japanese puzzle mystery meets time-loop caper in Yasuhiko Nishizawa’s first novel translated into English. Japanese novels playing with the concept of time have been popular recently. Last year, we…
westwordsreviews.wordpress.com
Stellaaaaa! Yes, today's #BestBooks2025 is none other than the mysterious @stellablomkvist.bsky.social with Murder Tide. If you enjoy strong female characters you'll love Stella. westwordsreviews.wordpress.com/.../murder-t... @corylusbooks.bsky.social #icelandnoir
westwordsreviews.wordpress.com
Too many #BestBooks2025 to share, so I've started up doubling up my daily shared reviews! Next up, Julie Clark's The Ghostwriter, because who doesn't love a book about writers? westwordsreviews.wordpress.com/2025/07/08/t... @crimefictionlover.bsky.social @sourcebooks.bsky.social
The Ghostwriter | Julie Clark
Olivia Dumont is a ghostwriter, but a public spat with another writer has left her career in ruins. Her luck changes when acclaimed horror author Vincent Taylor requests Olivia to ghostwrite his me…
westwordsreviews.wordpress.com
Tartan noir with a distinctive Scottish setting, endearing characters, a strong plot and some of that sardonic, self-effacing Scottish humour. Today's #BestBooks2025 is Andrew Raymond's Bonnie Dead. @crimefictionlover.bsky.social #crimefiction westwordsreviews.wordpress.com/2025/07/05/t...
The Bonnie Dead by Andrew Raymond
Glasgow author Andrew Raymond is well-known for his political and spy thrillers, but The Bonnie Dead is his first venture into the crime genre – a police procedural set in his home city. You’ll fin…
westwordsreviews.wordpress.com
Nabokov meets Highsmith meets Hitchcock in Yiğit Karaahmet's Summerhouse, one of my top 5 Crime Fiction Lover reads of 2025. westwordsreviews.wordpress.com/2025/06/18/s... #crimefictionbooks #BestBooks2025 @sohopress.bsky.social
Summerhouse | Yiğit Karaahmet
Translated by Nicholas Glastonbury — It’s not often we come across Turkish crime fiction, much less examples influenced by Nabokov and Highsmith, but Yiğit Karaahmet has produced an original, atmos…
westwordsreviews.wordpress.com
Some authentic Nordic Noir on today's #BestBooks2025 Jón Atli Jónasson's Broken is published by Corylus Books. A breath of fresh air in an often saturated crime genre. westwordsreviews.wordpress.com/2025/06/12/b... #iceland
Broken | Jón Atli Jónasson
Translated by Quentin Bates— In Broken, the first instalment of a trilogy set in Iceland, Atli Jónasson introduces two new, flawed and multi-layered characters to the Nordic Noir landscape: Dóra an…
westwordsreviews.wordpress.com
Previously available only in South Africa, Irma Venter's Red Tide can now be enjoyed by UK and US readers, thanks to Catalyst Press. #IrmaVenter westwordsreviews.wordpress.com/2025/06/09/r... #BestBooks2025
Red Tide | Irma Venter
Renowned South African crime author Irma Venter plunges readers into the arid expanse of the Great Karoo where the little town of Carnavon harbours old grudges, secrets and an unsolved murder that …
westwordsreviews.wordpress.com
For three consecutive years, @juangomezjurado.com 's Antonia Scott series has made my annual list of favorite reads. This year, the trilogy concluded with the publication of White King. westwordsreviews.wordpress.com/2025/03/31/w... @panmacmillan.bsky.social
White King | Juan Gómez-Jurado
White King concludes Spanish crime author Juan Gómez-Jurado’s the popular trilogy featuring Antonia Scott, which was adapted for television in Amazon’s Red Queen series last year. Is it a goodbye …
westwordsreviews.wordpress.com
In the mood for a closed circle mystery? The Wolf Tree by Laura McCluskey might hit the spot. westwordsreviews.wordpress.com/2025/03/27/t...
The Wolf Tree | Laura McCluskey
An isolated island, a lighthouse, and an unexplained death – what more could a crime fiction reader ask for? Perhaps some secrets or even pagan rituals? And surely, a threatening storm leaving ever…
westwordsreviews.wordpress.com
Still not sure what to read this holiday season? Here are a few suggestions: crimefictionlover.com/2025/12/sonj... @crimefictionlover.bsky.social @catalystpress.bsky.social @panmacmillan.bsky.social @sohopress.bsky.social
Going local for my next #BestBooks2025 Deon Meyer's Leo sees Griessel and Cupido once again in Meyer's hometown, Stellenbosch. westwordsreviews.wordpress.com/2025/03/07/l... @groveatlantic.bsky.social #deonmeyer
Leo | Deon Meyer
Six months ago, detectives Benny Griessel and Vaughn Cupido were demoted from their posts as part of Cape Town’s elite crime-fighters, The Hawks, after an incident with the corrupt State Security A…
westwordsreviews.wordpress.com
Brooklyn native William Boyle's Saint of the Narrows has the hallmarks of a classic, reminiscent of great American novels like Dennis Lehane’s Mystic River. And it's one of my top 5 of 2025. westwordsreviews.wordpress.com/2025/03/03/s... #WilliamBoyle Published by Soho Press.
Saint of the Narrows Street | William Boyle
Brooklyn native William Boyle sets his latest novel in Gravesend, a changing part of the New York borough. It has the hallmarks of a classic, reminiscent of great American novels like Dennis Lehane…
westwordsreviews.wordpress.com
BOX SET DEAL! ❄️🔍 For a LIMITED TIME only, you can get the FIRST FIVE books in Eva Bjorg Aegisdottir's award-winning, chilling and twisty #ForbiddenIceland #Series in one GREAT-VALUE Box Set, for ONLY £1.99! 🇮🇸 Translated by Victoria Cribb Just call us crime-cringle 🎅 🔍 bit.ly/48FCVwF #BookSky
I do love a dark academia thriller, and Jacqueline Faber's The Department did not disappoint. #BestBooks2025 westwordsreviews.wordpress.com/2025/02/25/t... #JacquelineFaber
The Department | Jacqueline Faber
Jacqueline Faber’s debut novel is a dark academic thriller perfect for readers who enjoyed Joanne Harris’s St Oswald trilogy or Leigh Bardugo’s Ninth House and Hellbent. The story centers around th…
westwordsreviews.wordpress.com
Today's #bestof2025 is another Nordic Noir. Arne Dahl's Within the Circle. westwordsreviews.wordpress.com/2025/02/24/w...
Within the Circle | Arne Dahl
Popular Swedish novelist, Arne Dahl, is back with a new series revolving around Detective Eva Nyman and a team of investigators known as the NOVA squad. The story kicks off with seemingly accidenta…
westwordsreviews.wordpress.com
The Kill Clause by Lisa Unger @launger @lisaunger.bsky.social @leheny_leheny @brilliancepublishing #TheKillClause bluemoodcafe.com/2025/12/05/t... @bluemoodcafe.bsky.social
The Kill Clause by Lisa Unger @launger @lisaunger.bsky.social @leheny_leheny @brilliancepublishing #TheKillClause
the setup… It’s the week of Christmas but the holiday season isn’t any reason for Paige, a professional assassin, to slack off on the job. But when she enters the home of her target, she’s surprise…
bluemoodcafe.com
Can we please stop shaming people who read 100+ books a year? Yes, it's possible. We make different choices, e.g., watching fewer series and carrying books everywhere, reading instead of being on our phones. It's not that difficult.
New review! #Blackwater by #SarahSultoon (pub'd @orendabooks.bsky.social thx @annerandomthings.bsky.social) - "I put the book down and was left unsettled and uncertain ... It's a powerful, atmospheric story, let yourself sink into it" #BooksSky
Review: Blackwater
Sarah Sultoon - Blackwater (blog tour) Published by Orenda Books, paperback £9.99, also available in ebook. I received a proof copy of the novel from the publisher for review purposes. Many thanks to Anne Cater at Random Things Tours for inviting me to take part in the blog tour. You can buy the book direct from the publisher here: …
crimebookgirl.com
Today's #BestBooks2025 is a slow-burn, domestic Nordic Noir. The Widow by Helene Flood is published by MacLeHose Press and distributed in South Africa by Jonathan Ball westwordsreviews.wordpress.com/2025/02/24/t...
The Widow | Helene Flood
Helene Flood’s new novel, translated by Alison McCullough from Norwegian, centers on Evy, a woman in her early sixties whose husband, Erling, unexpectedly dies while cycling. On the surface, …
westwordsreviews.wordpress.com
For today's #BestBooks2025 we're off to Japan with Tomihiko Morimi's Tatami Time Machine Blues. A fun, quirky and entertaining read that doesn’t take itself too seriously. @jonathanball.bsky.social @harpercollins.bsky.social westwordsreviews.wordpress.com/2025/02/07/t...
Tatami Time Machine Blues | Tomihiko Morimi
Translated from the Japanese by Emily Balistrieri—Imagine you stumble upon a time machine and can travel to any place and time in the past. What would you do? Go back to change history, meet your g…
westwordsreviews.wordpress.com
#BestBooks2025 It's back to crime fiction with Sara Sligar's twisty family drama, Vantage Point. westwordsreviews.wordpress.com/2025/02/04/v... @panmacmillan.bsky.social #SaraSligar
Vantage Point | Sara Sligar
Subterfuge, deep fakes, grisly deaths and a family curse. Californian writer Sara Sligar whiplashes between Gothic family drama and outrageous high-tech caper in Vantage Point, her latest thriller …
westwordsreviews.wordpress.com
#BestBooks2025 February clearly was a month for horror. After Witchcraft for Wayward Girls, I went even darker with Of the Flesh: 18 Modern Stories of Modern Horror. westwordsreviews.wordpress.com/2025/02/04/o... #JonathanBallPublishers #horrorfiction
Of the Flesh: 18 Stories of Modern Horror
Body horror has recently regained popularity, particularly in literature. However, this form of horror has existed for much longer than we realise. One of the first examples is Mary Shelley’s…
westwordsreviews.wordpress.com
Feel like a trip to Amsterdam without the travel expenses? Ruth Kelly's latest one can take you there, and as a bonus, there's a crime story thrown in too. westwordsreviews.wordpress.com/2025/12/01/t... @panmacmillan.bsky.social
The After Party | Ruth Kelly
Amsterdam. The city of red lights, weed, canals and stroopwafels. The perfect setting for Ruth Kelly’s latest destination thriller and the new home of her main character, Becca. Becca and Nath…
westwordsreviews.wordpress.com
#BestBooks2025 Occasionally when I need a break from crime fiction, I dive into a nice, hair-raising horror. I thoroughly enjoyed Grady Hendrix's Witchcraft for Wayward Girls, an unsettling read with a clear feminist message. westwordsreviews.wordpress.com/2025/02/04/w... Published by Tor Nightfire
Witchcraft for Wayward Girls | Grady Hendrix
Grady Hendrix has carved a unique niche for himself in the horror genre with works like The Final Girl Support Group and My Best Friend’s Exorcism. Witchcraft for Wayward Girls has no knife-w…
westwordsreviews.wordpress.com