Andrew Rosenheim

Nazis and Nordics: the latest crime fiction reviewed

An alternate Britain which lost the war is the conceit behind a new book by C.J. Carey, while for Nordic buffs comes a striking debut by Helene Flood. Not to mention a brilliant suspenseful semi-thriller set in the postwar Cardiff docks

Helene Flood’s debut novel includes the familiar trappings of the Nordic crime genre including a hideaway cabin deep in the wilderness. Credit: Arterra/Universal Images Group/Getty Images 
issue 14 August 2021

Social historians of the future may look back at the reading habits of this era and conclude that we were almost exclusively interested in Nazis and Nordics. Certainly there seems no diminution in these twin tastes. Widowland (Quercus, £14.99) by C.J. Carey (a pseudonym for the writer Jane Thynne) is the latest Nazi-related novel in a crowded field, and its author wisely opts for a different, if not altogether original, conceit.

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