AustCrimeFiction - All Blogs

Having just released the third book in the Alby Murdoch series - Dead & Kicking (I'll type up my review as soon as I've finished giggling!), Geoff has happily agreed to a bit of a chat about the book.  Which we're going to do backwards and forwards as I've got a few things I thought I'd like to ask him.

Sounds of trumpets / fanfares / mutterings from deep in the couch on Day Two of the Boxing Day test - and we managed a few moments to draw a winner.

Heartiest congratulations to:

Patricia P in Toronto, Canada

Your books will be winging their happy way to you, ready to bring a little Australian sun and fun to coldest Canada with my hope that you enjoy them as much as I did!

Thanks again to Geoff without whose kind support AustCrime couldn't have done this particular competition.

A new, Auckland-based journal/web zine is coming out towards the end of January.

Prima Storia aims to publish quality fiction, essays and interviews by emerging and established writers - including science fiction and crime writers - and, especially, novel work that defies categorization.

Please got to http://primastoria.com(link is external) for more information.

Longer pieces will be paid for in book tokens - but you are not going to make a killing.

In great news from P D Martin,The Murderers' Club is now available in the US and Canada in the mass market paperback format. Just in time for Christmas, and Fan Mail is now available here in the smaller 'mass market' format. 

(Perfect stocking stuffers to keep in mind for everyone!)

With another incredibly generous offer from one of our local crime writers, lucky participants can win a copy of Dave Franklin's latest book English Toss on Planet Andong.  Please follow the link below for entry details.

It's well worth a look at the Critics' Choice for 2008(link is external) from the SMH website particularly for Sue Turnbull's selections in Crime Fiction. 

Let's talk about the local books that I was lucky enough to read this year.

There have been some fabulous ones around - both as new releases, and I did some serious catching up on some books that have been lurking on Mt TBR for way too long.  There have been a few though, that really stuck in the memory.

Next book up is another historical - which I confess I would have never read in the past, and I've had quite a few as review books recently - many of them extremely good.

From the Blurb:

Constantinople, May 1453.  In the dying days of the Byzantine empire, as 7000 armed men prepare to defend the city against the might of the Ottoman Turks, Isaak Merochites and his family are entrusted with a purple velvet bundle.  Inside is a silver reliquary entrusted with a purple velvet bundle....

This book comes labelled as the first Arabic detective novel to be translated into English.  THE FINAL BET is set in Casablanca and the author, Abdelilah Hamdouchi, is one of the first writers of Arabic Language detective fiction.  He has written eight novels.

From the Blurb:

Radio National's Bookshow first announced, and a story has just been aired on ABC Radio's The World Today Show - Dorothy Porter died from breast cancer this morning.

A profound loss to the Australian literary community, and to the cause of poetry the world over, Dorothy was one of those women that, if you were lucky enough to hear her speak, made you profoundly jealous of anybody fortunate enough to have been a student of hers.

I started this book last night and I have got to say it's shaping up as a book that's going to keep me awake way past my regular bedtimes for a while.  Set in 1950's South Africa it's a thriller, but it's set in a social environment which I have little explored in my reading life.  I'm hoping that this is going to be one of my favourite sort of books - on the one hand simply a good read, on the other hand social commentary and exploration.

From the Blurb:

In 1950's South Africa, the colour of a killer's skin matters more than justice.

Grant McKenzie's new thriller SWITCH (Bantam Transworld UK) has just been released in Australia and is now on the shelves.

The Blurb of the Book:

"How far would you go to save the ones you love?

Would you commit murder?

Readers of this site are lucky (lucky lucky lucky), oh so lucky to be offered the chance to win a copy of the first two books in the comic Alby Murdoch series by local author Geoffrey McGeachin.  For more:

Win Copies of D-E-D Dead! and Sensitive New Age Spy

Entries are open to all geographical locations and you just never know, Geoff could possibly be prevailed upon to inscribe them with a personalised message.

This is an unusual (and from the first few pages I've read), rather funny memoir written by Judith Fordham.  The "About the Author" page is fascinating enough to start off with:

Thanks to Australian Online Bookshop,(link is external) I was finally able to track down a copy of this book, originally published by Spinifex Press in 2001.  It's described as a comic crime novel.

From the Blurb:

When the ghostly Fedora interrupts Julie Bernard's coffee in Brunswick Street, Julie's life is set to change.

Opening Lines:

I've had this book on the top of the stacks for what seems like a lifetime now, and as per usual, you start these things and leave yourself wondering what the hell you've been doing not picking it up the second it arrived through the door.

This is the second book from Howell - an ex-paramedic herself, and they provide a very unique viewpoint of crime.  From the paramedic point of view and from a very engaging female cop.  Anyway more on that when I finish the book.

From the blurb:

Another book that's been in my mind as something to track down, has just lept into my hands demanding to be read.  To be honest I feel the need for something a little quirky - hopefully funny, so we'll see how we go.

From the Blurb:

Self-appointed private investigator Sam Chauvel finds himself back in the corporate world.

This is the second thriller from Mark Abernethy starring Australian spy Alan McQueen.  Alan made his debut in the book Golden Serpent, which was one of the best military sort of spy thriller's I'd read in a while, so I'm looking forward to this one.  Golden Serpent was a fabulous combination of action, humour, and even a bit of romance (although not of the soppy variety). 

From the Blurb of Second Strike:

From Text Publishing on 7th November 2008:

Peter Temple has been shortlisted for the Swedish Crime Writers Academy’s 2008 Martin Beck Award, for his multi-award-winning novel The Broken Shore(link is external).

This True Crime book by sisters Lindy Cameron and Fin J Ross starts off quoting some seriously sobering statistics:

"In the seventeen years to 2006 there have been 5226 homicide incidents in Australia, involving 5617 victims and 5743 
offenders.  Even for nearly two decades, that seems like way too much murder.  In the latest reporting period alone there were 283 homicide incidents in which 336 offenders were responsible for the deaths of 301 people."

From the Blurb:

Calling all short story writers, orators and lovers of words! 

The Newstead Short Story Tattoo is planned for May 2009 (15th, 16th, 17th). 

We need submissions from writers who wish to read their work, or storytellers / orators who wish to be a part of some live storytelling (around a big camp fire). 

This is the only event in Australia that celebrates the short story alone. 

Another excellent Scandinavian author - The Black Path is Åsa Larsson's third book (Sun Storm aka The Savage Altar, The Blood Split being the first two).  The books are set in the same region of Sweden that the author comes from - a small place deep in the north of Sweden (it's the northernmost city, situated in Lappland).

Another fantastic short story collection that I've been on the lookout for.  The title "Crosstown Traffic" gives you a bit of a hint on the concept - this is a collection of stories from well known writers at the time (and many who have endured) that blur the genre lines.  Whilst there is crime at the heart of each of these stories, the settings and often the style are very much cross-genre.

Worth it for each of the stories, and for the introduction which explains the concept and expands on the reactions of the writers.

From the Blurb:

I've been meaning to get to this book for a while, and I'm kicking myself it's taken so long to pick it up.  Set in London during WWII, it's a two threaded story built around two characters.  One a happily married (male) policeman going about his job, investigating suspicious activities in the middle of the bombing raids of WWII.  The other thread is set in the same location, and same time, but has an unhappily married female protagonist involved in the war effort, working in the intelligence side of the services.  It's really very enjoyable so far (leaving aside a couple of lingering worri

This series has lept into my favourites list with very little hesitation.  Book anticipation's not unknown around here but there is a select list that I will seriously contemplate a bit of a queue outside the bookstore on the publication date - Mr Hill's Dalziel & Pascoe series has always been high up there, as has Shane Maloney's series.  The Henning Mankell Kurt Wallender series is another that has tempted me to queue, and now the Arnauldur Indridason books have joined that list.  (Although these days "queue" is somewhat more hovering at an online bookstore's order page!)

This is the first book from an Australian author - Richard Young.  Set in a Hunter Valley winery, it seemed like a good book for me to start recently when I was in the Riverina.

From the Blurb:

A while ago I talked a friend of mine into buying this book at the wonderful Readers Feast in the city.  I'd heard a lot of whispers about the book, and as my friend's tastes have been veering a little to the darker side recently - I thought it might be worth a try.  I also wouldn't have minded reading it myself when she'd finished.

Am I feeling vaguely satisfied.    Yes

Do I have a slghtly silly grin on my face.  Yes

Am I drunk.  Not yet.

What I am is the happy new holder of a copy of the second Brad Chen novel - SMOKE AND MIRRORS by Kel Robertson.

Cue happy sigh and a bit of giggling.

Who is cooking dinner tonight around here.  Not me. 

I'll be in a corner reading. 

From the Blurb:

114 Pages.  Set in the USA.  Serial Killer book.  With vigilantes.  A victim who won't go easily.

According to the blurb from the author at the front of the book, ... "the publisher, Barrington Stoke said they'd never had a serial killer book before (as it's not easy to make one work without turning the thing into a doorstop-sized lump of paper) but would I have a go?"

From the Blurb

They call him Sawbones:  a serial killer touring America, kidnapping young women.

The FBI are trying to catch him - but they're getting nowhere.

I really like a bit of a good old fashioned spy thriller every now again.  It probably says a lot about formative years reading Ludlum, Forsyth and the like, curled up on a couch hiding from my parents (who were somewhat more interested in the daily chores list on the wall than I was).  I found those early spy thrillers fascinating for a few reasons - for a start they hinted at a great menace in shadowy places in the world, places a long way away from a farm in country Australia.  But luckily whilst there was menace there were also the "good guys" happily fighting the menace.  Of course a f

Being in Victoria, the details of the murder of Jody Galante are a bit sketchy for me - I remember the case certainly, but the whys and wherefores of the whole thing isn't something that has stayed with me.  So I'm finding the book by Edmund Tadros - What the Mother Knew very interesting so far.  Edmund is the journalist who covered the story for The Sydney Morning Herald at the time that it happened.

Blurb from the Book:

This is most definitely a just for my own pleasure read - I love the Inspector Montalbano series.  I'm very partial to a rumpled and grumpy detective at the best of times, but add to that the lunacy of the station in which he works and the sublime food that he eats on a daily basis - and I feel like this is almost too decadent to read (not that that will stop me!)

From the blurb:

Red Centre, Dark Heart won the Ned Kelly for True Crime this year, and it is one of those books that I've been trying to get to read.  A series of chapters about notorious criminal events in Australia, it starts out with the escape and subsequent cannabilism of a group of convicts in Tasmania in 1822.  But more on each chapter in a subsequent review.

From the Blurb:

Ken Bruen's 2002 novel BLITZ is to be made into movie by Lionsgate U.K.  The rumour is that Jude Law might be playing the lead. 

(information courtesy of Declan Burke).  Full story at Declan's  Crime Doesn't Pay BLog

A 3 part tv series based on Val McDermid's book is currently being broadcast in the UK.

A PLACE OF EXECUTION is widely regarded as one of McDermid's best works and it will be interesting to see what televisions does with it.

Just when (or if) it will make it to Australian tv screens remains to be seen, but we keep our fingers crossed.

The Ninth Circle has been tempting me for a while now, and it's just clamoured itself to the top of the pile (that I was restacking anyway). 

From the Blurb:

A man comes round on the floor of a shabby flat in the middle of Budapest.  His head is glued to the floorboards with his own blood.  There's a fortune in cash on the kitchen table.  And he has no idea where, or who, he is.

M.J. Trow's written 12 (or so) books in the Peter 'Mad Max' Maxwell series.  Now before any Australian's get too excited, this isn't the sort of Mad Max that instantly comes to mind for us.  There's no desert, no strange vehicles (unless you count his bicycle), and there's definitely no similarity between the plots.  There is, however, quite a dry, laconic sense of humour that's actually quite catching after a while.  (Early on it does seem to be laid on a bit thick, but go with it - you get into the swing of it eventually).

From the Blurb:

LITTLE BROTHER - Cory Doctorow (Y/A)

I thought this might be a little light reading to get me back into the review book stack. 

From the blurb:

Like many English villages, the veneer of calm tranquility presented by Moulton Bank disguises a labyrinth of secrets, lies, intrigue and petty jealousies that stretch far back into the past and are soon to cast a tragic pall over the future.

Opening Line:

Anyone attending this one who can report in?  I'd be interested in what US author Mark Gimenez says on his panel/s - his Little,Brown publicist just e-mailed me to slot in for an interview (it'll only be via e-mail).  I quite liked THE ABDUCTION (book number two) but I've never had the chance to get around to book one which did rather well, THE COLOUR OF LAW.

THE PERK has recently been released.

http://www.brisbanewritersfestival.com.au/(link is external)

I've been hoarding the remaining J.R. Carroll books I've got and grabbing any I find for a while now.  There's not enough of them.  STINGRAY is one of the early ones - from 1994.

The blurb:

'You reckon you've seen every thing, but you never have, have you?  There's always something really stuffed up ahead.  Waiting for you...'.

The bodies of eight women are uncovered in the scrub at Kinglake.  For Kerry Byrne, head of the task force investigating the murders, it's a problem he doesn't need.

Opening Line:

Ted's around somewhere - not quite in a box but possibly hiding behind one, so no photo this time around, but after this weekend I really needed to pick up something that would be entertaining ... and fun ... and involving ... and fun .... and I think I did rather well with my selection (okay so I'm nearly finished) Fat, Fifty & F***ed by Geoffrey McGeachin.  This is actually Geoff's first novel - from pre Alby days, although there are a few elements that ring a bell from the Alby books.  Don't care - it's a hoot.  It's funny.  More in the upcoming review:

This is a true crime book, so mucking around with Ted is probably not that appropriate.  It's based around the child sex abuse scandal that broke on Pitcairn Island in 2000.

The blurb of the book describes it best:

"Pitcairn Island, remote and wild, home to descendents of the Bounty, a South Pacific Shangri-La, shrouded in myth ....

But also, as the world would discover, a place of sinister secrets.

Well, house packing is underway.  We have found one place that we're really interested in - so we're off for another look tomorrow,  Starting the packing has a twofold benefit - for a start it's going to take forever to pack this place up plus it means we clear some room in the house as this is a big week for the 4MA / AustCrime Fiction "girls" (aka "The Coven" as himself nicknamed us a few years ago - which stuck). 

Hell's Fire is the 4th book in this Manchester based series.  Killing Beasts was selected as a Best Crime book for 2005 by Shots Magazineand his second novel Pecking Order was selected as a best British crime novel by Deadly Pleasures Magazine.

From the blurb:

The deliberate torching of a church creates outrage across Manchester.  And when a charred corpse and satanic symbols are found in the smoking ruins, DI Jon Spicer and the city's Major Incident Team are called in.

First line:

According to the promotional material that came with this book The Secret Friend is the 5th thriller from Boston based author Chris Mooney.

The blurb:

Two dead girls in the water.  Two tiny statues of the Virgin Mary concealed in their clothing.  One CSI on the hunt for their killer.

Opening Line:

"Darby McCormick had finished hanging the last of the bloody clothing inside the drying chamber when she heard her name called over the loudspeakers.  Leland Pratt, the lab director, wanted to see her inside his office immediately."

Yes, dear reader, after all that threatening to, and moving the book backwards and forwards, and starting and stopping, I'm reading The Final Murder by Anne Holt.  I hate it when I have to wait this long for something as you never know whether the anticipation will ruin the actual reading experience - or if the book doesn't live up to the possible potential.  Of course, none of that applies in the case of The Final Murder, which is, so far, absolutely tremendous.

The blurb:

The shortlist for the inaugural Prime Minister's Literary Awards has been announced and there are 14 in total, fiction and non-fiction.

The awards are one of Australia's richest, with the winner of each category receiving $100,000.

Mr Rudd's decision is expected to be announced next month, as he will make the final decision, after advise from a six-member judging panel.

Unless you've been ignoring my ramblings, you may not be aware of how blown away I was by El Dorado.  I doubt it's a book I will forget in a long long time - luckily.  I also haven't put it away on the shelves - it sits where I can pick it up occasionally and re-read a little bit.  It's a stunningly good book.  And himself recently read it - after Dorothy's session at the Crime & Justice Festival, he started reading the book in between sessions, and promptly finished it in the following days.  His 

I like these books in a sneakingly, almost guilty way.  They are just pure entertainment - sort of James Bond crossed with a healthy dose of Austin Powers done Clive Cussler style.  They are fast paced, totally over the top, too good to be true, pure and utter escapism, silly, funny, slightly daft and not a bad way to fill in a few hours.  Mind you, this is the smaller size paperback and it's 558 pages so you'd think you were in for a lifetime's commitment, but they are very quick to read.  I do know I've read the next book in the series - Pirate (they go Hawke, Assassin, Pirate in order) a

Before anyone groans and ducks for cover - we all know that Top 10 lists depends on what second of the day that you pick your Top 10, but Catherine Sampson's list in The Guardian(link is external) highlights some books that deserve mention - Top 10 or not!

Last night I started reading The Build Up which is a crime novel from Phillip Gwynne, whose previous books have included Deadly, Unna and Nukkin Ya. 

It features Detective Dusty Buchanon - a female cop in the very male world of the Northern Territory Police Force.

From the blurb:

I think, dear reader, that it might be time I promised to stop explaining I'm running late in posting this - if you'll just take it as a given that I should have done everything a few days ago.  Mostly, this time, because I've nearly finished this book.  A debut novel which is "blurbed" as 'Ice-cold suspense from Sweden's new Agatha Christie'.  Now I'm not 100% sure what that means - but I doubt it will do the book a whole lot of service.  Okay, it's a little bit of a closed community because it's snowing and it's a small town, but it's not really.  It's certainly not a "no sex please, we'r