Probably the most popular detective duo since the passing of Reginald Hill’s Dalziel and Pascoe.

I’ll make a prediction now – Wild Chamber will be in my top five books for 2017. Bryant and May continue to be at the top of their game, and in some ways the novels are improving with age . . . there’s no author quite like Christopher Fowler, and there are no characters quite like Arthur Bryant and John May. There are a multitude of facets to Wild Chamber which make it stand out . . . Fowler is London born and bred, and his love for the city and all its eccentricities clearly comes through in the narrative. .

A joy to read. It's intelligent crime fiction that’s accessible to everyone.

Delightfully entertaining . . . I for one, think this is incredibly clever. Fowler richly deserves his CWA Library Award.

These books are clever, inventive and wonderfully original – and we simply can’t get enough of them. Prepare to be enchanted.

Fowler is, among other things, a comic genius. He mines the rich and productive seam of peculiarly English comedy which gave us George and Weedon Grossmith, J B ‘Beachcomber’ Morton, the sublime pretensions of Anthony Aloysius Hancock and the surreal world of Basil Fawlty. The book is full of great gags and very good one-liners. Such is the rich entertainment that Fowler serves up – bravura writing, poignancy, compassion, complex plotting, biting humour and a unique view of London’s landscape – that it doesn’t really matter who did what to whom, but he stays staunch and true to the crime fiction genre and gives us the answer to the intricate whodunnit he has constructed. If you love an intriguing murder plot, sparkling humour, wonderful scene-setting and brilliantly stylish writing, then get hold of a copy of this. You won’t be sorry.

Don’t make the mistake of thinking that these novels are on the cosy side. Despite the artful plotting, the nostalgic view of an England we have lost, the in-jokes, and the warmth Fowler shares with anyone who loves London, there is dark side. Death is a frequent caller, and when we answer the door, he is not draped in a discreet undertaker’s sheet, but is red in tooth and claw. Christopher Fowler is unique in contemporary English fiction. He blends Golden Age crime with the poetic insights of John Betjeman, the gimlet eye of Charles Dickens and Peter Ackroyd’s dark nostalgia.

Nobody can write like Chandler on his home turf, not even Faulkner. . . A great artist

Weaver's books get better each time - tense, complex, written with flair as well as care

Terrific

Tim Weaver writes books so meticulously researched that the reader is educated as well as entertained, enthralled and intrigued

A dark, complex and visceral read

The story-telling is little short of brilliant

Perfect plotting, great characterisation, and the kind of payoff that a thriller of this calibre deserves

Darkly atmospheric . . . Beautifully and evocatively written, clever in structure, and decidedly unusual . . . a novel that will surely feature on prize shortlists.

Comparisons with Jim Crace’s Harvest or Hilary Mantel’s Tudor novels stand . . . There is a feeling that [The Western Wind] could establish Harvey as a commercial, as well as literary, contender.

Harvey isn't afraid to end a chapter with a jolt of drama . . . As tension mounts towards the final (or first) act, it's hard not to be riveted.

A gripping mystery.

The questions of faith and the purpose of humanity raised in this bold, impressive and lustrously written reimagining of a past world are as important as the solving of the crime.

Samantha Harvey’s brooding historical mystery The Western Wind . . . is rich in both local and historical detail; the novel powerfully conveys the murky atmosphere of Oakham . . . [Reve’s] moral path is as muddy as the tracks down to the river.

Blending human interest with ecclesiastical "realpolitik", this is a riveting portrait of a "community in the grip of secrecy.

This medieval whodunnit evokes the rural past with skill . . . shares common ground with Sarah Perry's The Essex Serpent and Andrew Michal Hurley's The Loney.

A peek behind the respectable curtain of village life, narrated by someone who has seen more than most… Reve’s voice develops into one of freshness and restrained lyricism.

A consistently interesting contemporary voice.

Samantha Harvey's fourth novel is set in the 1400s but feels vivid and intimate.

In the end, the questions of faith and the purpose of humanity raised in this bold, impressive and lustrously written reimagining of a past world are as important as the solving of the crime.

Harvey's luminous prose, tight plotting and rich characterisation make this a riveting read.

Ingenious… Harvey has captured an unconsciously sophisticated, morally muddled, truly good and truly interesting protagonist.

A visceral sense of the smell and look of the medieval world has knowing echoes of Umberto Eco’s The Name of the Rose. Eco would also have admired the playfulness of the book’s shape… And Agatha Christie would recognise the cleverness of the reveal.

Harvey’s imagination, and her empathy for medieval Oakham, make this a convincing tale... [The Western Wind] beguile[s] the reader with numerous twists and turns.

Samantha Harvey ingeniously builds a marvelously convincing medieval world out of modern language.

The Western Wind is an unexpected but triumphant foray into historical fiction… it is both an unconventional murder mystery and an unforgettable re-creation of 15th-century rural life.

[The Western Wind is] worth returning to... it's terrific. It's formally interesting, it's got a heart, it's well put together, it's great.

This is the novel of recent years that I have most frequently pressed on people; it is magnificent… It’s a cunning mystery – who is responsible for the death of the village’s benefactor? – and a profound exploration of faith, guilt and social cohesion. What elevates it is the quality of Harvey’s attention to the minuscule kinks and reflexes of human behaviour.

Ragnar Jónasson writes with a chilling, poetic beauty - a must-read addition to the growing canon of Iceland Noir

His clues are traditional and beautifully finessed - and he keeps you turning the pages

Distinctive blend of Nordic noir and golden age detective fiction...atmospheric...economical and evocative prose

Seductive ... an old-fashioned murder mystery with a strong central character and the fascinating background of a small Icelandic town cut off by snow. Ragnar does claustrophobia beautifully

The ending hits the reader like a kick in the stomach

Jonasson's books have breathed new life into Nordic noir ...all the skilful plotting of an old-fashioned whodunit although it feels bitingly contemporary in setting and tone

The threads lie in various places, the plot is well woven and the pieces in the puzzle come together well in the end. The structure is good, the main characters are believable, the story flows well, everyone is a suspect á la Agatha Christie and the solution unveils the mystery and leads the readers to the truth. But not all the truth, as some things are better left hidden

Hulda Hermannsdottir is a welcome addition to the selection of Icelandic crime fiction protagonists . . . It is almost impossible to put the book down until the last word has been read

Out of all of Ragnar's books, this is the one I like the most . . . The book of his which reminds me most of Agatha Christie

A very good book, gripping and interesting, with all the threads carefully managed. Hopefully the author will publish as many books as possible with lead character Hulda

Praise for Ragnar Jónasson

No country associated with the label Nordic noir is as bleak, cold, snowy and empty as Iceland. And no crime writer portrays those elements as evocatively and scarily as Ragnar Jonasson

A classic crime story seen through a uniquely Icelandic lens... first rate and highly recommended

A modern take on Agatha Christie-­-style mystery, as twisty as any slalom . . .

Ragnar Jónasson writes with a chilling, poetic beauty - a must-read addition to the growing canon of Iceland Noir

Distinctive blend of Nordic noir and golden age detective fiction...atmospheric...economical and evocative prose

Seductive ... an old-fashioned murder mystery with a strong central character and the fascinating background of a small Icelandic town cut off by snow. Ragnar does claustrophobia beautifully

The ending hits the reader like a kick in the stomach

Jonasson's books have breathed new life into Nordic noir ...all the skilful plotting of an old-fashioned whodunit although it feels bitingly contemporary in setting and tone

Hulda Hermannsdottir is a welcome addition to the selection of Icelandic crime fiction protagonists . . . It is almost impossible to put the book down until the last word has been read

Out of all of Ragnar's books, this is the one I like the most . . . The book of his which reminds me most of Agatha Christie

The threads lie in various places, the plot is well woven and the pieces in the puzzle come together well in the end. The structure is good, the main characters are believable, the story flows well, everyone is a suspect á la Agatha Christie and the solution unveils the mystery and leads the readers to the truth. But not all the truth, as some things are better left hidden

A very good book, gripping and interesting, with all the threads carefully managed. Hopefully the author will publish as many books as possible with lead character Hulda