When we started Crime Time FM in April I don’t honestly think we had any idea where we’d be by Christmas. We just wanted to create a platform for book chat, debate, interviews and reviews. There were shaky moments in the beginning, learning how to edit interviews for podcasting was one challenge, emergency road works outside my house was another. However, we were soon flying along. Barry Forshaw, Victoria Selman and myself love to chat to people who love to talk about books. Buoyed by our success we decided to have a book of the year prize too.
Setting up the Crime Time FM Novel Of The Year was more complex than we first realised but we came up with a very straightforward one-person-one-vote system. Our panellists each had a single vote, no debate, no second choices, one shot at picking a title released in 2021 that each thought deserved a shout out. It’s not easy picking one book and not everyone agreed with each others’ choices but from the short list a clear winner emerged and a runner-up too. Here’s a reminder of the shortlist: The Village of Eight Graves by Seichi Yokomizo trans. Bryan Karetnyk (Pushkin Press), The Turnout Megan Abbott (Faber & Faber), The First Day of Spring Nancy Tucker (Hutchinson), Vine Street Dominic Nolan (Headline), Future Perfect Felicia Yap (Wildfire) and Razorblade Tears SA Cosby (Headline).
So without further ado, Crime Time FM is thrilled to proclaim the Winner and Runner Up of the CTFM Crime Novel Of The Year:
Runner Up: VINE STREET DOMINIC NOLAN In 2002 the police are investigating two bodies found in a Cotswold quarry, one is believed to be Met detective sergeant Leon Geats, the last record of the him was in 1936. In 1935 the body of a woman, Josephine, a working girl known as Fifi, is discovered in a Soho flat in Archer Street, home to The Windmill, Cairo Club and The Globe, run down seedy joints that the Bloomsbury set flock to for illicit entertainment; girls, Jazz played by black musicians, alcohol and drugs. The detective inspector in charge wants to shelve the case as a suicide but Geats is determined to find the killer and find out whether he is responsible for other similar crimes. Meanwhile, Russian pimp and trafficker, Max Kassel, is shot dead and that leads back to the same Soho club-land, gangs and underworld as Josephine inhabited. A historical novel of huge breadth and ambition. It’s energy and atmosphere are captivating, clearly this is a labour of love, genuinely inspired. An intriguing thriller, a beautifully crafted character study and an addition to the canon of great London novels bringing the past to life. A social novel dealing with issues as broad as; the value of a human life, racism, poverty, class and privilege, misogyny and corruption. The novel is relevant today. Vine Street has a big cast and an intricately woven plot. It speaks to the experience of the victims. There are many colourful characters but you will be drawn to Geats, he is a wonderful creation.
Victoria Selman’s interview of Dominic Nolan for the release of Vine Street for crimetime.fm is available on Crime Time FM.
Winner: Razorblade Tears SA Cosby Ike Randolph has been out of prison for 15 years now but the arrival of a cop at a black man’s door is never good. Ike’s son Isiah has been murdered along with his white husband Derek. It’s a moment of profound loss made worse by the realisation that he can never reconcile with his son about his sexuality. Derek’s father, a white racist, is also an ex-con, and like Ike, Buddy Lee regrets his relationship with his son. Seeking to make up for failing their boys the two fathers, united in grief, set out for retribution. Razorblade Tears moves you and pricks your conscience. It addresses toxic masculinity, as well as race, ingrained prejudice and the guilt, pain and anger associated with death. It’s also about the resilience and beauty of the human spirit and the possibility of redemption. Though violent it is deeply poignant and corruscating but yet hopeful. A breakneck, action fuelled thrill ride with richly drawn characters that gain our empathy, we weep for them and bleed with them. Razorblade Tears by SA ‘Shawn’ Cosby is emotionally draining, truly insightful of desperation and marginalisation and utterly entrancing.
Craig Sisterson conducted an interview special with Shawn Cosby for the Crime Time FM podcast, a great listen available now.
Barry Forshaw Financial Times A tense thriller set in the American South which folds in issues of bigotry, class and sexuality. After the dual murder of their sons, two fathers in rural Virginia, both ex-cons, undertake a blood-drenched odyssey of revenge, encountering hostility from Hells Angels, the LGBTQ+ community and even formidable political forces.
