Activity for the week ending 2nd February on AustCrime
Reviews Posted
The Berlin Traitor, AW Hammond
Added to the Piles
The Boy with the Narwhal Tooth, Christoffer Petersen
The Visitors, Jane Harrison
Read
Angels in the Moonlight, Caimh McDonnell
Demon Copperhead, Barbara Kingsolver (f2f Bookclub)
The Mystery Writer, Sulari Gentil
Currently Reading
It Takes a Town ... To Solve a Murder, Aoife Clifford
Next Up
After a very traumatic week with the severe illness of one dog, and the accidental death of another I'll be absent for a while.
For Detective Bunny McGarry, life is complicated, and it is about to get more so.
It’s 1999 and his hard won reputation amongst Dublin’s criminal fraternity, for being a massive pain the backside, is unfortunately shared by his bosses. His partner has a career-threatening gambling problem and, oh yeah, Bunny's finally been given a crack at the big time. He’s set the task of bringing down the most skilled and ruthless armed robbery gang in Irish history. So the last thing he needs in his life is yet another complication.
Her name is Simone. She is smart, funny, talented and, well, complicated. When her shocking past turns up to threaten her and Bunny’s chance at a future, things get very complicated indeed. If the choice is upholding the law or protecting those he loves, which way will the big fella turn?
Angels in the Moonlight is a standalone prequel to Caimh McDonnell’s critically acclaimed Dublin Trilogy, and it is complicated.
When a young Greenlandic boy is reported missing almost 12 months to the day he disappeared, newly trained Police Constable Petra Jensen travels to the far north of Greenland to find him.
The Boy with the Narwhal Tooth is the first in a new series of Greenland Missing Persons novellas set in the harsh, unpredictable Arctic, rich in tradition, myth and culture.
She needs to write the ending ... before she meets hers.
Theo has one dream – to become a bestselling author. Determined to make her mark in the literary world, she heads to the US on a whim to stay with her brother Gus and focus on her writing. But her plans take an unexpected turn when she befriends a famous author, Dan Murdoch, at a local bar – and then he turns up dead. Suddenly, Theo finds herself as the prime suspect.
As Theo grapples with the shocking turn of events, she realizes that Dan may not have been the person he seemed to be, and there is something sinister going on in the world of publishing. Desperate to clear her name and uncover the truth, Theo sets out on a quest to find out who killed Dan and why.
As she digs deeper, Theo uncovers a web of deceit, conspiracy, and hidden motives, with clues leading her to a shadowy online platform called The Shield. With her own life in danger, Theo must unravel the mystery before she becomes the next victim.
As a wise man once said, just because you're done with the past, doesn't mean the past is done with you.
Paul can't let an incident from his past go. When he finds out a rival detective agency played a key role in it, he drags MCM Investigations into a blood feud that they can't hope to win. Soon they're faced with the prospect of the company going out of business and Brigit going out of her damn mind.
When long-buried bodies are discovered in the Wicklow Mountains, Bunny's past starts closing in on him too. Who can he trust when he can't even trust himself? When he finds himself with nowhere left to run and nobody he can turn to, will the big fella make the ultimate sacrifice to protect the ones he loves?
When all that's left is the fall, the fall is everything.
And even the mighty fall.
Last Orders is the thrilling conclusion of the critically acclaimed Dublin Trilogy, which melds fast-paced action with a distinctly Irish acerbic wit. It's best enjoyed having read the other books in the series, particularly the prequel Angels in the Moonlight.
So many people had reason to hate her, but did anyone have reason to kill her?
Everyone dies famous in a country town, but glamorous Vanessa Walton was a shining star. A celebrity since a television commercial when she was a child, Vanessa is back on the front page for all the wrong reasons; after a terrible storm she has been found dead at the bottom of her stairs.
At first her death seems to be a simple accident, but anonymous letters are discovered that suggest otherwise – and when 16-year-old Jasmine Landridge claims it is murder, she suddenly disappears. As the police begin to investigate, secrets are exposed and friendships unravel.
What happens to a community when murders and abductions sit alongside petty workmates, teenage tribulations and longstanding friendships? It will take a town to solve this crime, but what will be broken in the effort to piece together the truth?
It seemed a simple request. ”Can you find my daughter who has run away?” But for professional gambler O’Malley, life isn’t that simple.
There is the murder of one of his poker partners, the attention of drug dealers, money launderers, the police, the gangs, and just to top it all off there is his intriguing girlfriend Claire, who just seems to be better at part-time sleuthing than he is.
No, nothing is simple for O’Malley.
A brilliantly written and intriguing debut crime novel, set in Auckland and featuring two lead characters with intelligence and empathy who just leave you wanting more to read.
After gunshots echo through the summer night on Mount Macedon, Detective Sergeant Zoe Mayer and her loyal service dog Harry race to the summit at first light. What they find looks like a grisly an alleged fraudster named Piers Johnson, and his lawyer Antony Peterson, both dead from bullet wounds, a gun lying nearby.
Something about the scene doesn't stack up. There are plenty of suspects, but no one seems to be telling the truth. Zoe's instincts are ignited, as the pressure to find and charge the culprit becomes intense. And that's when Peterson's teenage daughter Sarah is snatched off the street. The Good Dog is Zoe's toughest assignment yet, a murderous conspiracy of greed, deceit and violence. She knows that Harry may be her only chance to crack the case.
I suppose it would be fitting to explain that I am talking into a dictaphone and the lovely Helen will be typing out my story for you to read. She will have a certain amount of creative control—sorting out moments when I get a bit tongue-tied or slightly muddled—but I have told her to leave in as much as possible, so as not to miss any of the important bits. This is my account of the Cavengreen Hotel murder, best we get that bit in early on.
The peaceful setting of Cavengreen Hotel has been shattered by a shocking murder. Hector Harrow, the hotel's concierge, has been accused and is determined to clear his name. Hector enlists the aid of Helen, a retired publisher, to document the shocking crime that has unfolded, with the intention of publishing a truthful account.
Amid interruptions from a nosy journalist and the egotistical antics of the hotel's new owner, American Dave, Helen works tirelessly to keep Hector focused on finishing his book.
As suspicions fall on different guests and one makes a shocking confession, Hector must navigate a web of secrets to uncover the truth.
July, 1945. The war in Europe is finally over. But Auguste Duchene, who survived occupied Paris at great personal cost, cannot escape his past. He finds himself helping the Allies to pursue a Gestapo war criminal through the ravaged and dangerous streets of Berlin. Duchene soon learns, however, that, although one global conflict may have ended, another is beginning, and he is in a deadly race against the Russians as they hunt the same man. And, once again, at the heart of all he does, are his extraordinary wife Sabine and his beloved daughter Marienne.
With its vivid evocation of the post-war hardship and desperation of Germany’s capital, The Berlin Traitor pits a man of principle, who hates war and all it stands for, against relentless nationalism and self-interest. Tense, terrifying and compelling, full of twists and turns, this riveting page-turner is a worthy successor to The Paris Collaborator.