Crime Time FM

MAXIM JAKUBOWSKI, publisher, editor, bookseller, writer & critic chats to Paul Burke about his new novel Just a Girl with a Gun. "Less sex Jakubowski" Cornelia c'est moi...

Just a Girl with a Gun  Killing Eve meets Mr and Mrs Smith
In the neon-lit world of seduction and secrets, Cornelia, a mesmerizing stripper, finds herself pulled into a sinister web spun by the enigmatic organization known only as ‘The Bureau’. Recruited for her hidden talents, she becomes an unlikely assassin, caught between the dance floor and a life of deadly precision.
But Cornelia harbours a secret passion that sets her apart from the other killers – she has a penchant for rare books. With each mission she completes, Cornelia indulges her obsession, using her ill-gotten gains to amass a collection that becomes both her refuge and her escape.
Amidst the chaos and danger, Cornelia’s path intertwines with Hopley, a fellow assassin haunted by his past. Unwittingly drawn together by their shared world of shadows, they navigate a treacherous landscape where trust is scarce, and survival is paramount.
As their forbidden romance blooms amidst the darkness, Cornelia and Hopley find solace in each other’s arms, their connection a fragile thread of love against a backdrop of deceit and danger. Yet, as they delve deeper into the heart of The Bureau, they discover a haunting truth that threatens to tear them apart. 
In this exotic and gripping thriller, where death is a dance partner and love flickers in the shadows, Cornelia must confront her own loneliness and unravel the mysteries that surround her. Will she find redemption and a chance at a life beyond the deadly stage? Or will the sinister forces at play consume her, leaving only echoes of a lost love in their wake?

Maxim Jakubowski worked for many years in book publishing and is well-known for his books in a variety of genres. Under a pen name, he is also a Sunday Times bestseller. He lives in London and is currently the Chair of the Crime Writers' Association.

Recent books by Maxim jakubowski - (co-ed) Reports from the Deep End & Death Has a Thousand Faces (short stories)

Recommendations
Film POOR THINGS Jan, 24,
Mentions: Boris Vian, Lawrence Block, Cornell Woolrich, Day Keane, Brett Halliday, James Hadley Chase, Peter Cheyney, Edward Hopper (painter), WR Burnett, Brian Aldiss, JG Ballard, Michael Moorcock, Philip Jose Farmer 

Paul Burke writes for Crime Time, Crime Fiction Lover and the European Literature Network. He is also a CWA Historical Dagger Judge 2023.

Music courtesy of  Guy Hale author of The Comeback Trail trilogy, featuring Jimmy Wayne - KILLING ME SOFTLY - MIKE ZITO featuring Kid Anderson
GUY HALE 

Produced by Junkyard Dog

Crime Time

Crime Time FM is the official podcast of
Gwyl Crime Cymru Festival 2023 & 2025
CrimeFest 2023
CWA Daggers 2023-2026 & National Crime Reading Month
& Newcastle Noir 2023 and 2024
2024 Slaughterfest,  

S9 E8: LIZZY BARBER & JP DELANEY #OnTheSofaWithVictoria Location, location, location.
JP Delaney (THE NEW WIFE) & Lizzy Barber (NANNY WANTED) join Victoria to discuss the importance of place in Crime Fiction. Why different stories need different settings, the link between character and place and how to evoke atmosphere. 

VICTORIA SELMAN
SundayTimes bestselling author of ALL THE LITTLE LIARS
Amazon Author Page: https://amzn.to/3xmvMeS
Website for news and giveaways: http://www.victoriaselmanauthor.com
Twitter: @VictoriaSelman

We love to hear from our listeners! Find me on Twitter @VictoriaSelman and join in the chat using #OnTheSofaWithVictoria

Music courtesy of  Guy Hale author of The Comeback Trail trilogy, featuring Jimmy Wayne - KILLING ME SOFTLY - MIKE ZITO featuring Kid Anderson
GUY HALE 

Produced by Junkyard Dog

Crime Time

Crime Time FM is the official podcast of
Gwyl Crime Cymru Festival 2023 & 2025
CrimeFest 2023
CWA Daggers 2023-2026 & National Crime Reading Month
& Newcastle Noir 2023 and 2024
2024 Slaughterfest,  

SHELLEY BURR chats to Craig Sisterson about her novels WAKE and MURDER TOWN*, winning awards, getting published, women crime writers leading the way down under.
*referred to as Ripper in the interview, it's Austrialian title

MURDER TOWN: Gemma Guillory has lived in Rainier her entire life. She knows the tiny town's ins and outs like the back of her hand, the people like they are her family, their quirks as if they were her own.
She knows her once charming town is now remembered for one reason, and one reason only. That three innocent people died. That the last stop on the Rainier Ripper's trail of deaths fifteen years ago was her innocuous little tea shop. She knows that the consequences of catching the Ripper still haunt her policeman husband and their marriage to this day and that some of her neighbours are desperate - desperate enough to welcome a dark tourism company keen to cash in on Rainier's reputation as the murder town.
When the tour operator is killed by a Ripper copycat on Gemma's doorstep, the unease that has lurked quietly in the original killer's wake turns to foreboding, and she's drawn into the investigation. Unbeknownst to her, so is a prisoner named Lane Holland.
Gemma knows her town. She knows her people. Doesn't she?

Shelley Burr is the winner of the CWA Debut Dagger award with Wake, an alumni of the ACT Writer's Centre Hardcopy program (2018) and a Varuna fellow. When not writing she works at the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment. She lives in Canberra, but grew up splitting her time between Newcastle and Glenrowan, where her father's family are all sheep farmers. WAKE is Shelley's first novel. Winner of the Ned Kelly best debut. *Ripper is published in the UK as Murder Town

Recommendations
James McKenzie Watson Denizens
Matthew Spencer Black River
Hayley Scrivoner
Dinuka McKenzie The Torrent

Craig Sisterson is a features writer and crime fiction expert from New Zealand who writes for newspapers and magazines in several countries. In recent years he's interviewed hundreds of crime writers and talked about the genre on national radio, top podcasts, and onstage at festivals on three continents. He's been a judge of the McIlvanney Prize and Ned Kelly Awards, and is founder of the Ngaio Marsh Awards and co-founder of Rotorua Noir. He lives in London with his daughter. He is the author of  SOUTHERN CROSS CRIME: The Pocket Essentials Guide to the Crime Fiction, Film & TV of Australia & New Zealand.

Produced by Junkyard Dog

Crime Time

Crime Time FM is the official podcast of
Gwyl Crime Cymru Festival 2023 & 2025
CrimeFest 2023
CWA Daggers 2023-2026 & National Crime Reading Month
& Newcastle Noir 2023 and 2024
2024 Slaughterfest,  

TED FLANAGAN EVERY HIDDEN THING, of Worcester (Woosta) Mass,, and PAUL BURKE chat about some of their favourite crime novels of 2023 and gives us a couple of titles to look out for in 2024, Translation,

EVERY HIDDEN THING Big city politics, nasty secrets, a dirty cop, and a deranged sociopath set the stage for a riveting journey deep into the urban jungle. The last scion of a once-powerful political family, Worcester mayor John O'Toole has his sights set on vastly higher aspirations.
When night shift paramedic Thomas Archer uncovers a secret that could upend the mayor's career, O'Toole is set on silencing him, and sends Eamon Conroy, a brutal former cop, to ensure the truth remains under wraps. But O'Toole doesn't stop there. With bribes, buried secrets, and personal attacks, he wreaks havoc on Archer's life in an attempt to save himself. 
Archer's troubles continue to mount when domestic terrorist and militia member Gerald Knak, who blames Archer for his wife's recent death, sets in motion a deadly plan for revenge.
With two forces of evil aligned against him, Archer doesn't stand a chance. But things aren't always what they seem — and he may just have a few tricks up his sleeve in a last gambit to get out alive.
Reputations and lies unravel in this gripping tale of corruption, revenge and power.

Ted
Deepti Kapoor Age of Vice
Todd Goldberg Gangsters Don't Die
James Ellroy The Enchanters
Mick Herron The Secret Hours

Paul
The Sins of Our Fathers Åsa Larsson trans. Frank Perry (available in the US)
Force of Hate Graham Bartlett
Gaslight Femi Kayode
Everybody Knows Jordan Harper
A Line in the Sand Kevin Powers

2024:
Tim O'Brien America Fantastica, Joe Thomas Red Menace,  Don Winslow City in Ruins, Tess Gerritsen The Spy Coast, Say Hello to My Little Friend Jennine Capó Crucet, Edward Wilson Farewell Dinner for a Spy.

Mentions:
Hubert Selby Jr Last Exit to Brooklyn, Ted Lewis GBH & Jack's Return  Home, James Ellroy, David Peace 1974, Dashiell Hammett, Charles Willford, Ross Mcdonald, dirty realism, Elmore Leonard, Jim Thomson, John Vercher, Overstory Richard Powers, Lou Barney, Duane Swierczynski, David Benioff, Brash Books & Lee Goldberg, Mark Smith, Stark House Press, Nelson Algren, Vern Smith, John Grey, Jack O'Connell, EL Doctorow, South West Review - noir edition, SA Cosby, Colson Whitehead, Brazilian Psycho Joe Thomas, jean Claude Izzo Marseilles trilogy, Olga Tokarczuk.

Paul Burke writes for Crime Time, Crime Fiction Lover and the European Literature Network. He is also a CWA Historical Dagger Judge 2023.

Music courtesy of  Guy Hale author of The Comeback Trail trilogy, featuring Jimmy Wayne - KILLING ME SOFTLY - MIKE ZITO featuring Kid Anderson
GUY HALE 

Produced by Junkyard Dog

Crime Time

Crime Time FM is the official podcast of
Gwyl Crime Cymru Festival 2023 & 2025
CrimeFest 2023
CWA Daggers 2023-2026 & National Crime Reading Month
& Newcastle Noir 2023 and 2024
2024 Slaughterfest,  

The REVIEW SHOW DECEMBER 23The latest crime fiction titles December 2023

Books
God is a Killer Max Thrax (Alpha edition)
Ravage & Son Jerome Charyn
Yule Island Johana Gustawsson
Spyhunter HB Lyle
Crime of Passion Samantha Lee Howe (Short stories)
The House of the Coptic Woman Ashraf El-Ashmawi
Dead Sweet Katrin Júliusdottir
The Wiregrass Adrian Hyland

Paul Burke writes for Crime Time, Crime Fiction Lover and the European Literature Network. He is also a CWA Historical Dagger Judge 2023.

Music courtesy of  Guy Hale author of The Comeback Trail trilogy, featuring Jimmy Wayne - KILLING ME SOFTLY - MIKE ZITO featuring Kid Anderson
GUY HALE 

Produced by Junkyard Dog

Crime Time

Crime Time FM is the official podcast of
Gwyl Crime Cymru Festival 2023 & 2025
CrimeFest 2023
CWA Daggers 2023-2026 & National Crime Reading Month
& Newcastle Noir 2023 and 2024
2024 Slaughterfest,  

Newcastle Noir Episode 3: TOO CLOSE TO HOME panel coverage
Lisa Gray TO DIE FOR, Victoria Selman ALL THE LITTLE LIARS, Liv LV Matthews SILENT WATERS & Simon Van Der Velde  THE SILENT BROTHER - moderator Frances Walker.
How often do we expect danger to lurk beyond the safety of our own home and circle of friends and colleagues? Yet when evil emerges among those closest to us, we’re left asking the questions is blood thicker than water and who can you really trust. With three incredibly twisty tales, our authors here show us that we can never truly know!

Music courtesy of  Guy Hale author of The Comeback Trail trilogy, featuring Jimmy Wayne - KILLING ME SOFTLY - MIKE ZITO featuring Kid Anderson. song: SAFE
GUY HALE 

Produced by Junkyard Dog

Crime Time

Crime Time FM is the official podcast of
Gwyl Crime Cymru Festival 2023 & 2025
CrimeFest 2023
CWA Daggers 2023-2026 & National Crime Reading Month
& Newcastle Noir 2023 and 2024
2024 Slaughterfest,  

Christmas Collection: Episode 2  True Crime - Martin Brunt Sky's Chief Crime Correspondent chats about his book No One Ever Got  Cracked Over the Head for No Reason & former policeman Matt Johnson shares his experience of writing NO ORDINARY DAY  In Person With Paul.

Matt Johnson & John Murray - NO ORDINARY DAY: On 17 April 1984, as demonstrators gathered outside the Libyan embassy in London, two gunmen lay in wait inside. At 10.18 a.m. automatic gunfire rained down on the protestors and WPC Yvonne Fletcher fell, mortally wounded. As his friend lay dying, PC John Murray made her a promise that he would not rest until those responsible had been brought to justice. Thirty-seven years would pass before he was able to fulfil that undertaking.
While researching this moving account of one man’s dogged pursuit of justice for a murdered colleague, Matt Johnson uncovered secret-service deals and government duplicity, all part of a plan to force an end to the National Union of Mineworkers’ strike. He discovered the real reason Yvonne’s killers were allowed to go free and how events that day led to thirty years of growing political control of policing, resulting in the disarray increasingly evident today.
This compelling account pulls seemingly unconnected threads into a coherent – and shocking – whole. It provides startling insights into how decisions taken by our politicians and the actions of our intelligence agencies, supposedly in our best interests, may be anything but.

Martin Brunt - NO ONE GOT CRACKED OVER THE HEAD FOR NO REASON: What is it about crime that we find so fascinating, even if at the same time the details are repugnant? Why exactly do we immerse ourselves in true crime podcasts and TV shows? Has this appetite for gore shifted over the years? And what role does the crime reporter play in all of this?
In this compelling book, Martin Brunt draws on the most shocking and harrowing stories he’s covered over the past thirty years to document the life of a crime reporter and assess the public obsession with crime that his reporting caters for. He also considers the wider relationship between the press and the police, the impact of social media and the question of why some crimes are ignored while others grip the nation.
Featuring many undisclosed details on some of the biggest cases Brunt has covered, from the ‘Diamond Wheezers’ to Fred and Rose West, this blend of storytelling and analysis is not only a riveting overview of the nature of crime reporting but a reflection on the purpose of the profession in the first place.

Recommendations
A LOVE THAT KILLS ANNA MOTZ

Paul Burke writes for Crime Time, Crime Fiction Lover and the European Literature Network. He is also a CWA Historical Dagger Judge 2023.

Music courtesy of  KILLING ME SOFTLY - MIKE ZITO featuring Kid Anderson
GUY HALE 

Produced by Junkyard Dog

Crime Time

Crime Time FM is the official podcast of
Gwyl Crime Cymru Festival 2023 & 2025
CrimeFest 2023
CWA Daggers 2023-2026 & National Crime Reading Month
& Newcastle Noir 2023 and 2024
2024 Slaughterfest,  

Christmas Specials Part 1 - CHRIS FROST, ROBERT RUTHERFORD & STEPHEN J GOLDS In Person With Paul - feel for location. character is king, heart and drive, high concept, transgression,  subverting the Christmas murder mystery, Indie publishing. 

Chris Frost THE KILLER'S CHRISTMAS LIST - out now (20mins+)
Robert Rutherford SEVEN DAYS - coming April (15mins+)
Stephen J Golds THE DYING, THE DEAD & THE  GONE - out now, new edition, see Amazon. (50mins+)
Publishers note: Stephen J. Golds is looking for a publisher for his upcoming Japanese novel.

3 interviews for those quiet moments over the Christmas break, listen together or individually.

Paul D Brazill, Trevor Wood You Can Run, Sarah Kane 4.48 Psychosis, Charles Bukowski, Raymond Carver, John Fante, Peter Swanson - The Winter Guest, Vern Smith, Matt Phillips

Paul Burke writes for Crime Time, Crime Fiction Lover and the European Literature Network. He is also a CWA Historical Dagger Judge 2023.

Music courtesy of  Guy Hale author of The Comeback Trail trilogy, featuring Jimmy Wayne - KILLING ME SOFTLY - MIKE ZITO featuring Kid Anderson
GUY HALE 

Produced by Junkyard Dog

Crime Time

Crime Time FM is the official podcast of
Gwyl Crime Cymru Festival 2023 & 2025
CrimeFest 2023
CWA Daggers 2023-2026 & National Crime Reading Month
& Newcastle Noir 2023 and 2024
2024 Slaughterfest,  

TERRY HAYES chats to Paul Burke about THE YEAR OF THE LOCUST, off earth mining, epic adventure tales, the limits in fiction, screenwriting and whether there'll be a Pilgrim II.
 
THE YEAR OF LOCUST - If, like Kane, you're a Denied Access Area spy for the CIA, then boundaries have no meaning. Your function is to go in, do whatever is required, and get out again - by whatever means necessary. You know when to run, when to hide - and when to shoot.
But some places don't play by the rules. Some places are too dangerous, even for a man of Kane's experience. The badlands where the borders of Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan meet are such a place - a place where violence is the only way to survive.
Kane travels there to exfiltrate a man with vital information for the safety of the West - but instead he meets an adversary who will take the world to the brink of extinction. A frightening, clever, vicious man with blood on his hands and vengeance in his heart...

Terry Hayes is the New York Times bestselling author of I Am Pilgrim and the award-winning writer and producer of numerous movies. His credits include Payback, Road Warrior, and Dead Calm (featuring Nicole Kidman). He lives in Switzerland with his wife, Kristen, and their four children. The Year of the Locust is his second novel.

Recommendations
Chernobyl,
Frederick Forsyth
John le Carré
William L Shirer - The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich
Russell Hoban - Ridley Walker

Paul Burke writes for Crime Time, Crime Fiction Lover and the European Literature Network. He is also a CWA Historical Dagger Judge 2023.

Music courtesy of  Guy Hale author of The Comeback Trail trilogy, featuring Jimmy Wayne - KILLING ME SOFTLY - MIKE ZITO featuring Kid Anderson
GUY HALE 

Produced by Junkyard Dog

Crime Time

Crime Time FM is the official podcast of
Gwyl Crime Cymru Festival 2023 & 2025
CrimeFest 2023
CWA Daggers 2023-2026 & National Crime Reading Month
& Newcastle Noir 2023 and 2024
2024 Slaughterfest,  

Panel discussions from the Newcastle Noir International Crime Writing Festival recorded live 8th-9th December at Newcastle Central Library and the Northern Crime Syndicate recorded at Tyneside Irish Centre.

1. Ann Cleeves and Marsali Taylor
2. Mari Hannah and Kate London
3. Katrin Júliusdottir, Michael J Malone, Essie Fox
4 The Caledonian Crime Collective - Emma Christie, Marion Todd, Andrew James Grieg & Allan Martin
5. Philip Gwynne Jones and Chris Lloyd
6. Doug Johnstone and Trevor Wood*
7. The Northern Crime Syndicate - Trevor Wood, Emma Christie, Robert Rutherford, Chris McGeorge, Jude O'Reilly & Rob Parker

Paul Burke writes for Crime Time, Crime Fiction Lover and the European Literature Network. He is also a CWA Historical Dagger Judge 2023.

Music courtesy of  Guy Hale author of The Comeback Trail trilogy, featuring Jimmy Wayne - KILLING ME SOFTLY - MIKE ZITO featuring Kid Anderson
GUY HALE 

Apologies for occasional background noises but this shouldn't interfere with listening pleasure.

*Language unsuitable for children in excerpt 6.

Produced by Junkyard Dog

Crime Time

Crime Time FM is the official podcast of
Gwyl Crime Cymru Festival 2023 & 2025
CrimeFest 2023
CWA Daggers 2023-2026 & National Crime Reading Month
& Newcastle Noir 2023 and 2024
2024 Slaughterfest,