Bitter Lemon, Rage and David's Revenge

I tend to think of Bitter Lemon Press as a ‘new’ publisher, but in fact they have now been around for a few years, and they have certainly made an impact in the increasingly popular field of translated crime.

Looking at their current catalogue, I was struck by the variety of the writers they have introduced to UK publication. Two of my favourites (but very different from each other) are the late Friedrich Glauser, creator of a quietly determined cop called Studer, and the quirky and interesting Dutch writer Saskia Noort.

As for other names on the list, Leonardo Padura, Tonino Benacquista (who contributed a story to one of my anthologies for the Crime Writers' Association, I.D.) and Gianrico Carofiglio are also authors who have attracted a good deal of interest in this country.

I’ve just received review copies of the latest offerings from BLP. Rage by Sergio Bizzo is soon to be filmed by the director of Pan’s Labyrinth, while David’s Revenge by Hans Werner Kettenbach looks especially interesting. I’ve been interested in revenge stories ever since those long ago days when I first came across The Count of Monte Cristo, and Kettenbach’s book will be excellent if it matches the promise of its blurb.