We are still in the throes of Covid and many places are once again locked down, children remote learning and most people spending most of their time at home. In my home state the restrictions are still not too strict, and my children are still in school; though there are still many restrictions in place. We can certainly see that there’s been a lot of reading taking place in the Crime fiction stats over the past couple of months. I was surprised to see how many reviews have been logged, so let’s take a look.

Over the past 2 months we have had 97 reviews logged of 62 books by 51 Authors, and what beautiful numbers they are.

The top reviewed title was The Silk House by Kayte Nunn and that has 10 reviews and an Interview this round-up. Quite an impressive number I thought. It was released at the end of June and has been quite highly rated.

Ashleigh Meikle – The Book Muse says: A wonderfully gothic and transfixing read.

Theresa Smith Writes says: Brilliant, enthralling, and utterly perfect to curl up with for some winter reading. Preferably on a dark, stormy night.

From snowqueensvt‘s pulbication day review: “I am not sure what gothic mystery should be like but I loved it. I loved The Silk House from the first to the last page. All three women (living across generations and across social spectrum) are amazing heroines. Each one of them as deep as the next one. There are many dimensions to the characters and to the setting.

There is an interesting review posted at The Intrepid Reader which is a two person discussion review with the first half at The Intrepid Reader and the review concludes over at All The Books I Can Read. This is fantastic in that it is a proper book discussion that sounds like quite a fun way to review. I suggest you check it out.

Cass Moriarty reviewed on Goodreads and closes with: This is an easy-to-read, atmospheric novel that rests lightly on its historical scaffolding while incorporating modern dilemmas, and will appeal to readers of Lauren Chater, Melissa Ashley and Kate Morton.”

Tracey at Carpe Librum published both a review and an interview with author Kayte Nunn, both well worth a read.

Shelleyrae @ Book’d Out is a reviewer I follow, and respect, and she closes her review with: “Nevertheless, part ghost story, part mystery the pacing is excellent as the story unravels. Nunn skilfully develops a sense of foreboding and unease as she weaves in and out of the past and present. The story is enriched by historical detail, enhanced by its feminist themes, and enlivened by interesting characters.
Atmospheric and intriguing, with gothic sensibilities, The Silk House is a finely written, spellbinding tale.”

The second most popular title in the round up is The Safe Place by Anna Downes, reviewed five times and gaining favourable reviews.

Mrs B’s Book Reviews closes her review with: “All in all, The Safe Place is a gratifying domestic fiction title. The eventful character journey of Emily Proudman is compelling, pulling the reader in to this dark contemporary novel. I would be more than happy to read further books by Anna Downes, an exciting new voice in the fiction world.”

The Safe Place is also reviewed by Jennifer and Brenda on Goodreads, as well as snowqueensvt and Jo @ Booklover Book Reviews

Croc Country by Kerry McGinnis garnered four reviews, all by reviewers I’ve already featured this round-up.

Theresa Smith says: “This really is an ideal read for anyone interested in Australian wildlife, ranging, and the top end. It provided a relaxing way to fill my mid-week evenings and introduced me to a few things I wasn’t previously aware of.”

At Book’d Out Shelleyrae’s thoughts include: “McGinnis develops a strong and interesting plot of intrigue in Croc Country involving smuggling, corruption and murder. I thought the intersection of various agencies was quite unique and the the action was well paced, tense, and exciting.”

The closing statement of the review by Mrs B’s Book Reviews is: “Strong characters, an incredible setting, an intriguing mystery and the opportunity to learn more about living and working in remote Australia in a sustainable way defines Croc Country. Highly recommended reading!”

Brenda reviewed on Goodreads and concludes her review: The characters are great – Tilly had immense strength, while Sophie was a strong support. Luke was an enthusiastic ranger, delighting in his daily finds. The backup characters brought the story together well and once again the author has written a winner in my opinion. Highly recommended.

It’s always interesting to see the spread of when the books that are reviewed were published and in this round-up the bulk are certainly from 2019/2020 but our oldest title was Death at Victoria Dock (Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries #4) by Kerry Greenwood reviewed on Goodreads by Eleni Konstantine.

That’s probably enough for today but there are so many other great crime novels reviewed and if you want to check out all of the crime novels that have been reviewed you can head to the AWW Books Reviewed page and search by Genre. It will put all of the reviews at your fingertips.

We would love to hear about the great crime reads you have enjoyed recently, and I’m off to see what else I can catch up on so that I can get some reading done. Please tell us who’s helping you survive the isolation of social distancing and if you are in Victoria we send our love and strength that your lockdown lifts soon.

Have a great evening and a reading filled weekend.