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UnderratedReads is devoted to discovering underrated books and under-represented authors. We highlight hidden gems from around the world–honest reviews only, never pay-to-play.
Category Archives: Crime, Mystery and Thrillers
Scouse Gothic: The Pool of Life… and Death – Ian McKinney
(Reviewed by JD Jung) “They romanticized the sex and violence but failed to appreciate the overwhelming boredom of being a vampire.” Lee Melville is depressed as he just arrived in Liverpool but has actually been alive a couple of centuries. … Continue reading
Posted in Crime, Mystery and Thrillers, Sci-Fi/Speculative/Fantasy/Mythology
Tagged book reviews, British crime, suspense, vampires
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The Last Best Friend – George Sims (Author), Martin Edwards (Introduction)
(Reviewed by JD Jung) “Had Sammy, on the towering ledge, been tempted by death, the last best friend? The endless embrace, offering oblivion and release from the remorse that Sammy felt for his parents and sisters left behind to be … Continue reading
Posted in Crime, Mystery and Thrillers, Lost and almost forgotten
Tagged British crime, fiction, London, WWII
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What Lies Within – Clare de Lune
(Reviewed by JD Jung) “…I learned how a body could become a beautiful contribution to the power of cosmetics…the most exquisite, deepest shade of blood red lipstick you’ve’ ever seen, rich soaps made from the finest fats…all those parts … Continue reading
Posted in Crime, Mystery and Thrillers, Dark/Sordid/Bizarre, Reviewers' Top Picks
Tagged book reviews, fiction, horror, New Orleans, psychological thriller, San Francisco, suspense
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Zero Avenue: A Crime Novel – Dietrich Kalteis
(Reviewed by JD Jung) 1970s Vancouver- The young punk scene is vibrant and on the rise. Twenty four year- old singer/guitarist Frankie Del Rey just wants to make enough for her band, Middle Finger, to record an EP. So to … Continue reading
Posted in Crime, Mystery and Thrillers
Tagged book reviews, Canadian literature, crime fiction, punk rock
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The Last Girl – Danny Lopez
(Reviewed by JD Jung) “Now I was a fucked-up has-been unemployed reporter for a small-town paper. All that hard work, the anger, the resolution, the desire, the accomplishments—it had all been for nothing. I was as good as my dying … Continue reading
Posted in Crime, Mystery and Thrillers
Tagged book reviews, crime fiction, Sarasota
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Fall – Candice Fox
(Reviewed by JD Jung) “How to explain it all to him, a normal human man, someone with all his faculties, with a soul. How to explain that at the core of her being Eden killed people the way she breathed, … Continue reading
Mistletoe and Murder – S.L. Smith
(Reviewed by Don Jung) Mistletoe and Murder is the fourth installment in the detective Pete Culnane series. The story starts out with a New Year’s Eve wedding reception in the historic Saint Paul Union Depot in Minneapolis where the matriarch, … Continue reading
Posted in Crime, Mystery and Thrillers
Tagged book reviews, crime fiction, police
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Plato Wyngard and the Valley of the Immortals – Marc and James Lindsay
(Reviewed by Jeyran Main) Plato Wyngard and the Valley of the Immortals is a thriller fiction story, written about Plato Wyngard. He is in search of answers to his father’s death; instead, he becomes stuck in the Vietnam War trying … Continue reading
Posted in Crime, Mystery and Thrillers, Historical Fiction
Tagged book reviews, thrillers, Vietnam War
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Death of a Busybody (British Library Crime Classics) – George Bellairs
(Reviewed by JD Jung) Fifty year old Miss Ethel Tither has made a lot of enemies in her years in the English village of Hilary Magna. She is a major financial donor to the Home Gospel Alliance for Bringing Sinners … Continue reading
Posted in Crime, Mystery and Thrillers, Historical Fiction, Lost and almost forgotten
Tagged book reviews, British crime, classic fiction, detective fiction, fiction
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Red-handed in Romanée-Conti – Jean-Pierre Alaux , Noël Balen (Translated from the French by Sally Pane)
(Reviewed by JD Jung) “Benjamin knew that sometimes people were like wine. If they sat and breathed for a while, their full complexity could be revealed, even more so in the right environment and with the right people.” Benjamin Cooker, … Continue reading
Posted in Crime, Mystery and Thrillers, French Literature, World Literature
Tagged crime fiction, French literature, wine
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