Book Reviews
Most of the reviews on this website are written by members of our Oundle Crime book group, and if you enjoy reading crime fiction and thrillers and want to know more about Oundle Crime, click here. Having said that, we love posting reviews of other literary genres, so if you’d like to write something about a book you’ve enjoyed, please send your review to us at join@friendsofoundlelibrary.org.uk
Our book reviews are rated from 1 to 5 Stars, where 5 Stars is outstanding. If you want to find out more about our scoring system, just scroll down to the bottom of this page. Below are our most recent reviews and if you click through to one you’ll be able to find our 6-month archive. Finally, if you decide to buy a book linked to our website, we may earn commission from Bookshop.org – an online retailer that supports independent bookshops.
17 January 2026
Clean Kill by Stephen Leather
The Dan ‘Spider’ Shepherd novels by British author Stephen Leather, are action thrillers, which are relentlessly exciting. This is Book 20 in the series and it matches up to the previous nineteen very well.
11 January 2026
Helle’s Hound by Oskar Jensen
Described as a “mix of classic crime fiction and Robert Galbraith”, this is the second outing for Torben Helle, Danish expat art historian and amateur sleuth. It’s a preposterous story but entertaining to read.
2 January 2026
Oundle Crime recommends
December’s reading theme was ‘Winter’, which could embrace anything from Scandi crime to a book that had a wintery-sounding title. And, of course, the book group could read anything else they fancied as well. Here are 7 books they enjoyed …
21 December 2025
Beautiful Ugly by Alice Feeney
Another completely gripping psychological thriller from Alice Feeney. A great story that’s twisty, unpredictable and guaranteed to tug at your emotions as you read.
13 December 2025
The Hallmarked Man by Robert Galbraith
The latest Cormoran Strike novel and it’s another humdinger! Multi-stranded plotting, believable characters and clever storytelling. We loved it.
7 December 2025
El Dorado Drive by Megan Abbott
More than a thriller or a detective story, this is a mesmerising tale of rich people who have fallen on hard times. Tense, dark and full of menace, it’s a terrific novel.
29 November 2025
Oundle Crime recommends …
… At their meeting in November, Oundle Crime picked ten crime fiction novels to recommend. Several are available to borrow from Oundle Library and/or BorrowBox, and four of them earned 5 Star ratings.
22 November 2025
Clown Town by Mick Herron
The latest instalment in the Slough House series. Beautifully written, and another really clever and twisty plot about duplicitous people. Our reviewer gave it 4+ Stars.
9 November 2025
The Darkland Tales
A series of six novellas (so far) by bestselling, contemporary Scottish authors who re-imagine stories from Scottish history, myth and legend.Our reviewer has read three of the six and says they’ll grab you by the throat…
2 November 2025
Oundle Crime recommends
Here are nine books that caught the eyes of our library’s book group. Several are new titles, others a bit older. But all of them were rated 3 Stars and above, so they may be worth investigating.
What’s in a Star?
Deciding why you like an author or have enjoyed a book is, of course, entirely subjective, and everyone who comes along to meetings of Oundle Crime has different tastes. So how do we try to get some consistency in our Star ratings? Well, after some discussion, we’ve come up with the following:
- 5 Stars: Outstanding and unforgettable. A book you can’t wait to tell others about.
- 4 Stars: A good book with an interesting, layered story. Will still remember after a month.
- 3 Stars: Not good or bad, just an average story and characters. You enjoyed reading it, but might not remember it after a month.
- 2 Stars: Poorly written, superficial and probably a bit of a yawn. Forgettable.
- 1 Star: Rubbish through and through. A book you wish you hadn’t read and don’t want to remember!
ADDRESS
Friends of Oundle Library
Glapthorn Road
Oundle
PE8 4JA
