Your name Elena
Your blog’s name Books & Reviews
Blog’s URL http://booksandreviews.wordpress.com
Which types of books do you review? Crime fiction, mainly written by women, but also contemporary fiction by new women writers.
What do you like about crime fiction? I think that crime fiction is a tool that helps us deal with the worst parts of ourselves and society, those things that we would rather not see, but that are as part of life as the good ones.
For anyone starting out, can you recommend 5 essential crime books to read? Yes!
- Postmortem by Patricia Cornwell.- The first in the Kay Scarpetta series, it is an incredible opportunity to explore the beginnings of forensic science as we know it nowadays. Can you imagine a modern world where DNA profiling sounded like magic? And where there were no mobile phones?
- The Coroner by M.R. Hall.- Jenny Cooper is the first and younger woman to have been appointed Coroner at her city. What I loved about this book is how complex, troubled, flawed yet admirable Jenny is. Plus, have you read about any other coroner being a main character?
- The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.- A classic, this novella made me fall in love with crime fiction.
- Case Histories by Kate Atkinson.- I love everything Atkinson writes, but her Jackson Brodie series are the perfect psychological crime novels.
- Little Lies by Liane Moriarty.- Soon to be adapted for the Silver Screen starring Reese Witherspoon and Nicole Kidman, Moriarty’s first novel after her best-selling The Husband’s Secret takes place at a primary school in Sydney. I loved that this is the first crime novel set in Australia I’ve read.
Do you have 1 or 2 personal favourites? I love “A Scandal in Bohemia” because it features Irene Adler, one of the two people who fooled Holmes. Also, I love Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn, I think there is so much to it, so many layers of psychological analysis!
New crime fiction author you are most excited by? I love Sarah Hilary and Paula Daly, and I have just recently discovered Rebecca Scherm who wrote an identity thriller – yes, that exists and you should read it! – called Unbecoming.
Greatest fictional criminal? If you consider her a criminal, then Amy Dunne from Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn, but because I don’t, let’s say all the people in The Orient Express who planned everything together. As you can see, I tend to choose some relative criminals.
Greatest fictional detective? Sherlock Holmes and Kay Scarpetta, in equal meassure.
Are you on social media? Yes! You can follow me on Twitter (@ms_adler) and like Books & Reviews’ Facebook page.
How can authors and publishers encourage you to review their books? I want to meet new women authors who are writing exciting and challenging crime fiction, especially if their books have a detective or a medical examiner as a main character.
How do you like people to contact you? The easiest way is via Twitter (@ms_adler), but I also through my email account is booksandreviewsblog@gmail.com
