THE SPYMASTERS - ASPECTS OF CRIME Best Thriller Books of the Year - 2025. Antonia Senior, Mark Ellis, Thomas Waugh & Paul Burke chat about about their favourite spy novels, non-fiction and thrillers of the year.

Featuring books by Mick Herron. Jason Burke, Jane Thynne + nine others.

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Simon Dinsdale talks to Paul Burke and Aspects of Crime about Christian Dane, Justice Served, police service and cruise talks with Martin Edwards.

Justice Served Detective Superintendent Christian Dane is a veteran Senior Investigating Officer who specialises in solving murders.
He is approached by Sue Wright, an archaeologist, to re-investigate the case of her cousin.
Ned Harrison was locked up for the horrific killings of two young girls thirty years ago and remains in prison. Sue is convinced that Ned is the victim of a dreadful miscarriage of justice.
Dane agrees to help but powerful forces quickly move to obstruct him and threaten his career and family. Undeterred, he exposes the police corruption and lies that convicted Ned and secures his release.
With a hand-picked team including his best officer Hayley Cross working with him Dane must now find the real murderer.
As the investigation unfolds more victims are identified revealing the terrifying work of a prolific serial killer.
With little physical evidence and no suspect Dane is under pressure to bring them to justice before they can strike again.
Simon Dinsdale served in the British Army in the 1970s. He joined the police in 1980 and spent twenty seven years as a detective. He now writes, travels and speaks about his experiences. He lives in Essex.

Recommends Martin Edwards, Michael Connelly, Roger A Price and Agatha Christie

Paul Burke is editor of Aspects of Crime.

Produced by Junkyarddog

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Peter Tonkin talks to Paul Burke about his new historical spy thriller SHADOW OF A QUEEN, can syphilis cure the plague? Mary Queen of Scots, the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre, the household brewery, Robert Poley and Hornblower.

SHADOW OF A QUEEN: Saint Bartholomew's Day. Sunday, August 24 1572. Paris.
Robert Poley, fresh from graduating from Cambridge, rescues Sir Francis Walsingham and his household from the Catholic mobs led by the Duke of Guise who are slaughtering every Protestant they can find.
Poley becomes one of Walsingham's most trusted intelligencers. Despite his Catholic upbringing, he infiltrates one Catholic plot after another, all designed to overthrow Queen Elizabeth.
The agent soon realises that the most dangerous conspiracies centre around the Duke of Guise's Catholic cousin, Mary, Queen of Scots.
The plots to install Mary on the English throne become more ambitious and substantive. Walsingham decides on a pre-emptive strike.
The spymaster tasks Poley with infiltrating the enemy's inner circle and compromising Mary, so she becomes the author of her own demise.
A kingdom - and the life of a queen - hang in the balance.

PETER TONKIN: was born in 1950 in Ulster, Northern Ireland and was raised in the UK, Holland, Germany, and the Persian Gulf. The son of an RAF officer, Tonkin spent much of his youth travelling the world from one posting to another. He is also the author of the Richard Mariner thriller series.

Mentions: Garet Rogers - Brother Surgeons, Garrett Mattingly - The Defeat of the Spanish Armada, Park Honan - Christopher Marlowe, Charles Nichols - The Reckoning.

Recommended: Slow Horses Mick Herron, Roman series Richard Foreman, and CJ Sansom.

Paul Burke is the editor of Aspects of Crime.

Produced both Junkyarddog

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Caroline England talks to Guy Hale and Aspects of Crime about her psychological thriller Behind Her Smile, a quiver full of arrows (stories) people spotting, no hard and fast rules, diplodocus and Shakespeare. Who should Ben the other next crime fiction Dame/Sir.

BEHIND HER SMILE Laurie Dunn has returned to her childhood attic bedroom and her old nightmares have come rushing back. Terrorised by a client-related mugging, her job as a criminal solicitor causes more problems than solutions.

Finn Ballentine yearns for a fresh start, but even the glossy façade of his new law firm can't protect him from the past he's running from.

After a disturbing remark by her confused father, Laurie joins forces with Finn to uncover dark truths. But the long-buried secrets they unearth are laced with danger for them both.

Caroline is the CWA Short Story Dagger shortlisted author of psychological suspense thrillers BENEATH THE SKIN, the best selling MY HUSBAND'S LIES, BETRAY HER, TRUTH GAMES, THE SINNER, THE STRANGER BESIDE ME, THE RETURN OF FRANKIE WHITTLE and her new novel BEHIND HER SMILE. She also writes gothic-tinged psychological thrillers as CE Rose - THE HOUSE OF HIDDEN SECRETS, THE HOUSE ON THE WATER'S EDGE, THE SHADOWS OF RUTHERFORD HOUSE, THE ATTIC AT WILTON PLACE.

Mentions: Vaseem Khan, Lisa Jewell, Abir Mukherjee, Mari Hannah, Howard Linskey, Ian Rankin, Elly Griffiths, Mark Billingham and Warwick Books.

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Ambrose Parry (Chris Brookmyre & Marisa Hearzman) talk to Paul Burke about The Death of Shame, Edinburgh, the Scottish enlightenment, partnership writing and the myth of Burke & Hare.

THE DEATH OF SHAME 1854, Edinburgh.Respectable faces hide private sins.
Apprentice Sarah Fisher is helping fund Dr Will Raven's emerging medical practice in exchange for being secretly trained as a doctor. Sarah needs no instruction in the inequalities that beset her gender, but even she has her eyes opened when her help is sought in the search for a missing woman. Annabel Banks was promised a job in a prestigious household, but she never appeared at her employer's house, and there has been no word from her since.
Sarah's inquiries lead her to discover the plight of hundreds of girls ensnared in Edinburgh's many brothels: lured, abused and left ruined in the eyes of a society obsessed with moral purity. Meanwhile, when a prominent society figure throws himself from the Scott Monument, Raven is asked to establish whether the death was indeed suicide and, if so, what might have driven this highly successful man to take his own life.
Drawing upon real historical events, The Death of Shame takes Raven and Sarah into a treacherous labyrinth of exploitation, corruption and high-level complicity. In a world where people are the prisoners of their secrets, the death of shame is the only path to liberty.

Ambrose Parry is a pseudonym for a collaboration between Chris Brookmyre and Marisa Haetzman. The couple are married and live in Scotland. Chris Brookmyre is the international bestselling and multi-award-winning author of over twenty novels. Dr Marisa Haetzman is a consultant anaesthetist of twenty years' experience, whose research for her Master's degree in the History of Medicine uncovered the material upon which this series, which begun with The Way of All Flesh, is based. The Way of all Flesh was longlisted for both the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award and the McIlvanney Prize for Scottish Crime Book of the Year.

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Vaseem Khan talks to Paul burke about Quantum of Menace, The Girl in Cell A, Major Boothroyd 'Q', Quantum Mechanics, headhunters and out for a duck.

Quantum of Menace: Q is out of MI6 . . . and in over his head

After Major Boothroyd (aka Q) is unexpectedly ousted from his role with British Intelligence developing technologies for MI6's 00 agents, he finds himself back in his sleepy hometown of Wickstone-on-Water. His childhood friend, renowned quantum computer scientist Peter Napier, has died in mysterious circumstances, leaving behind a cryptic note. The police seem uninterested, but Q feels compelled to investigate and soon discovers that Napier's ground-breaking work may have attracted sinister forces . . . Can Q decode the truth behind Napier's death, even as danger closes in?

Vaseem Khan is the author of two award-winning crime series set in India, the Baby Ganesh Agency series set in modern Mumbai, and the Malabar House historical crime novels set in 1950s Bombay. His first book, The Unexpected Inheritance of Inspector Chopra, was selected by the Sunday Times as one of the 40 best crime novels published 2015-2020, and is translated into 17 languages. In 2021, Midnight at Malabar House won the Crime Writers Association Historical Dagger. Vaseem was born in England, but spent a decade working in India. In 2006, he returned to the UK and joined University College London's Department of Security and Crime Science, where he has helped manage the Dawes Centre for Future Crime. In 2023, Vaseem was elected Chair of the UK Crime Writers' Association.

Recommends The Ministry of Time Kaliane Bradley

Paul Burke is editor of Aspects of Crime, a CWA Gold Dagger judge and a contributor to crime magazines. His first book The Encyclopedia of Spy Fiction will be released in September, 2026.

Produced by Junkyarddog

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LOUISE PENNY talks to Paul Burke about the latest Armand Gamache Three Pines novel, THE BLACK WOLF, the scary leap into publishing your work, Canada/US, Quebec, big picture/small picture, emotional safety, Virginia Wolff, Emily Carr, bringing history to life, setting up a cafe, Brussel sprouts.

THE BLACK WOLF Several weeks ago, Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Sûreté du Québec and his team uncovered and stopped a domestic terrorist attack in Montréal, arresting the person behind it. A man they called the Black Wolf.
But their relief is short-lived. In a sickening turn of events, Gamache has realized that plot, as horrific as it was, was just the beginning. Perhaps even a deliberate misdirection. One he fell into. Something deeper and darker, more damaging, is planned. Did he in fact arrest the Black Wolf, or are they still out there? Armand is appalled to think his mistake has allowed their conspiracy to grow, to gather supporters. To spread lies, manufacture enemies, and feed hatred and division.
Still recovering from wounds received in stopping the first attack, Armand is confined to the village of Three Pines, leading a covert investigation from there. He must be careful not to let the Black Wolf know he has recognized his mistake. In a quiet church basement, he and his senior agents Beauvoir and Lacoste, pore over what little evidence they have. Two notebooks. A few mysterious numbers on a tattered map of Québec. And a phrase repeated by the person they had called the Grey Wolf. A warning...
In a dry and parched land where there is no water.
Gamache and his small team of supporters realize that for the Black Wolf to have gotten this far, they must have powerful allies, in law enforcement, in industry, in organized crime, in the halls of government.
From the apparent peace of his little village, Gamache finds himself playing a lethal game of cat and mouse with an invisible foe who is gathering forces and preparing to strike.

Louise Penny is the #1 New York Times and Globe and Mail bestselling author of the Chief Inspector Armand Gamache novels. She has won numerous awards, including a CWA Dagger and the Agatha Award (five times) and was a finalist for the Edgar Award for Best Novel. She lives in a small village south of Montréal.

RECOMMENDS: Simon Winchester The Map That Changed the World, Lyse Doucet The Finest Hotel in Kabul, Maigret, WH Auden.

Paul Burke is the editor of Aspects of Crime and is a regular contributor to online crime magazines, he is a CWA Gold Dagger judge and his first book An Encyclopedia of Spy Fiction wil be published in 2026.

Produced by Junkyarddog

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ANN CLEEVES chats to Paul Burke and Aspects of Crime about her new Jimmy Perez novel, THE KILLING STONES, Orkney, island communities, Vera, TV, birdwatching and a Spanish Galleon

THE KILLING STONES When a ferocious storm rages across the islands, it leaves behind more than just damage: it uncovers the body of Archie Stout, a popular, larger-than-life member of the community.
The murder weapon? A Neolithic stone, bearing cryptic, ancient inscriptions.
Now living in Orkney with his partner, Willow, and their young son, Perez is drawn into a case that is chillingly personal – Archie was a friend from his own childhood. And the island is full of familiar faces, all of whom are potential suspects in the killing.
Perez must immerse himself in the lives of the islanders, separating truth from local legend before a desperate killer can strike again . . . and threaten the new life he's desperately trying to build.

recommended: Mick Herron Clown Town, Hayley Scrivenor, Chris Hammer, Jane Harper, Garry Disher, Careless People Sarah Wynn-Williams.

produced by Junkyarddog

Paul burke is the editor of Aspects of Crime, a regular contributor to crime fiction magazines and websites. He is a CWA Gold Dagger judge and his first book An Encyclopedia of Spy Fiction will be out next year.

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LAURA LIPPMAN talks to Paul Burke about her new cosy crime novel, Murder Takes a Vacation, Mrs. Blossom, why this was the hardest book to write, Mick Herron, TV writing with Megan Abbott and getting to live a fantasy life.

MURDER TAKES A VACATION

Recommends: Mark Billingham What the Night Brings, Peacemaker (TV)

Paul Burke is editor of Aspects of Crime, a regular contributor to crime fiction magazines and websites and is a CWA Gold Dagger judge. his first book The Encyclopia of Spy Fiction will be published in 2026.

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