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westwords.bsky.social
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
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
December 19, 2025 at 2:08 PM
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
December 19, 2025 at 8:39 AM
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…
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December 18, 2025 at 2:58 PM
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
December 18, 2025 at 12:16 PM
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
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December 17, 2025 at 7:35 AM
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
December 16, 2025 at 5:06 PM
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
December 16, 2025 at 3:01 PM
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
December 15, 2025 at 2:51 PM
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
December 15, 2025 at 12:30 PM
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
December 12, 2025 at 9:34 AM
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
December 11, 2025 at 4:35 PM
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
December 11, 2025 at 10:10 AM
December 11, 2025 at 9:43 AM
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
December 10, 2025 at 11:28 AM
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
December 9, 2025 at 3:30 PM
Reposted by West Words Publishing Services
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#BookSky
December 9, 2025 at 7:52 AM
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.
December 5, 2025 at 11:03 AM
Reposted by West Words Publishing Services
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
December 5, 2025 at 8:28 AM
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
December 5, 2025 at 9:49 AM
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
December 4, 2025 at 10:59 AM