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Exit .45, Ben Sanders30/11/2023 - 4:08pmWhen Marshall Grade agrees to meet his former NYPD colleague Ray Vialoux, he does not expect Ray to end up dead on the floor of a New York restaurant. Full Review at: Newtown Review of BooksRead Review |
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Suburban True Crime, Emily Webb21/11/2023 - 1:16pmThe collection of cases covered by Emily Webb's SUBURBAN TRUE CRIME go back to the 1940's, through to more recent times, covering a wide range of different murders and disappearances that have occurred in Australian suburban locations. In the author acknowledgement at the front of the book she provides some context for this collection:
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The Drowning, Bryan Brown16/11/2023 - 12:18pmMy review of Bryan Brown's first full length crime novel - The Drowning has been posted at Newtown Review of Books: https://newtownreviewofbooks.com.au/bryan-brown-the-drowning-reviewed-by... "Actor and Australian icon Bryan Brown brings his laconic style to his first full-length crime novel."Read Review |
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Offline, Anne Holt15/11/2023 - 1:37pmI'm behind with this series, and heartily confused about the order in which to read them. But this fortuitous find in a neglected stack of purchased books, is blurbed as the "long-awaited sequel to 1222". Which I did really enjoy. It's also listed as the 9th Hanne Wilhelmsen novel, but I do remember at the time that I read 1222 (the 8th) it was the only one in translation I could get. Or something. OFFLINE is an interesting undertaking for a number of reasons. Written after the 2011 terrorist attacks in Norway, the car bomb in Oslo, then the shooting of 69, mostly young ... Read Review |
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Paper Cage, Tom Baragwanath24/10/2023 - 3:16pmA finalist in the Ngaio Awards for Best First Crime Novel, Paper Cage is the story of a divided community and a string of missing children. Full Review at Newtown Review of BooksRead Review |
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Curses and Cousins, Helen Vivienne Fletcher19/10/2023 - 3:41pmThe second in this YA / Kids series from New Zealand writer, Helen Vivienne Fletcher, CURSES AND COUSINS follows on pretty closely from the earlier book, FAMILIARS AND FOES. Closely enough that it would probably be a good idea for kids to read both books in order, just so they have a feel for Adeline, Coco and Hemi. Listing the characters in that order is on purpose - Adeline and Coco were a closely knit unit before Hemi and Adeline became partners in the first novel, expectant parents in this one. Coco, an assistance dog, has been with Adeline and through a lot of stuff ... Read Review |
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Flawed Hero, Chris Masters18/10/2023 - 11:27amA full, reasonably dispassionate scrutiny of the defamation trial bought by Ben Roberts-Smith as a result of the investigations that Chris Masters and fellow journalist Nick McKenzie did into rumours of war crimes committed by BRS. Needless to say, the case was sensational, and followed closely by many Australian's, but fair to say not as closely as those involved in what would be a complex undertaking. From the outside it often seemed like BRS had scored an own goal on many occasions, but on the inside it was not so clear, clouded as well by the potential outcome for the participants ... Read Review |
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The Doctor's Wife, Fiona Sussman17/10/2023 - 2:06pmFiona Sussman’s fifth novel pieces together a suspicious death, a fatal illness and erratic behaviour within a group of lifelong friends. Full review at: Newtown Review of BooksRead Review |
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The Promise, Damon Galgut09/10/2023 - 5:22pmAs one participant in yesterday's discussion put it - the story of a crumbling family, in a crumbling society, The Promise tells the tale, in particular, of three siblings, Anton, Astrid and Amor, their parents and extended family, against the backdrop of the ending of apartheid in South Africa. From a white farming family, the three sibling's story is told in a series of deaths and the ramifications of each of those on them, and a long-standing promise to the black maid and lifelong companion of them all - Salome. Starting with the death of their mother, and her deathbed ... Read Review |
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Qanon and On, Van Badham08/10/2023 - 2:59pmTo be short and precise, I found this book absolutely fascinating. Insightful, informative, and clear eyed. Mandatory reading for anyone trying to work out what the hell is going on in this world.Read Review |
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Remember Me, Charity Norman05/10/2023 - 5:11pmA dementia diagnosis reveals clues to a decades-old mystery in this new novel from the author of The Secrets of Strangers – Charity Norman’s third to be shortlisted for NZ’s Ngaio Marsh Awards. Full Review at: Newtown Review of BooksRead Review |
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Life, Keith Richards05/10/2023 - 12:35pmI've had this book in the queues for such a long time, one to dip in and out of at those moments when a bit of amusement was required, I thought. Until the day I wasn't dipping, and couldn't put it down. Told very much in his own voice (I think there was a ghostwriter involved / not sure), this is a rollicking roam through the life, times, trials, triumphs and tribulations of the (to my ears at least) greatest band ever. Full of very funny one-liners and some utterly brutal honesty about a life that's been lived to the edges always. There's plenty here for ... Read Review |
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Echo Lake, Joan Sauers26/09/2023 - 11:57amECHO LAKE is the debut thriller from screenwriter, producer and author Joan Sauers. Set in the sleepy, scenic vista of the Southern Highlands of New South Wales, Rose McHugh has just moved to the area, as a result of a tumultuous divorce. This is an area she loved to visit when younger, and the little, slightly wonky cottage she's bought is just the sort of picturesque scene that she can imagine living out her days in, her faithful canine by her side. The cover of this book has a few clues about the styling here - with one quote referring to it is a compulsive cosy, ... Read Review |
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Marshall's Law, Ben Sanders21/09/2023 - 3:56pmThe Marshall Grade series is American noir of the minimalist, dark kind, bought to you by New Zealander Ben Sanders. The first book AMERICAN BLOOD (reviewed at http://reviewingtheevidence.com/review.html?id=10540) introduced the central character of Marshall Grade. Grade is a classic lone wolf, vigilante machine, with no discernible soft spots and a past littered with dodgy characters. Hence his long list of enemies and a contract killer on his tail. Flushed out of hiding when somebody as close to being a ... Read Review |
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Poor People with Money, Dominic Hoey19/09/2023 - 5:16pmFast paced, heart-wrenching, darkly comic, Dominic Hoey’s new crime novel is dark and unrelenting. Full Review at Newtown Review of BooksRead Review |
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The Bodyguard, Leena Lehtolainen18/09/2023 - 3:59pmLeena Lehtolainen is a Finnish author, best known for her series featuring Policewoman Maria Kallio. THE BODYGUARD is the first in a new trilogy, featuring bodyguard Hilja Ilveskero. According to her website: "The underlying theme of the trilogy is a series of questions about identity and concealment. Who is each person really? What disguise is each person using? What does it mean to be family? What language does each person speak and understand, and what is each person’s secret language? Finnish is a good secret language—few people understand it — and Finland as a country ... Read Review |
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Keep Her Sweet, Helen Fitzgerald17/09/2023 - 3:08pmIt must take real writing skill to create a novel around 3.5 of the most unpleasant, conflicted, dysfunctional and frequently flat out awful people you'd ever read about, and make it as compelling and downright fascinating as KEEP HER SWEET. The premise is quite the undertaking. Parents Penny and Andeep Moloney-Singh (two of the most self-centred and delusional people you'd ever not want to meet), downsize to an inner city building in Ballarat with Penny wanting them to find themselves again, and turn their lives around (not sure Andeep was ever fully onboard with that ... Read Review |
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Lowbridge, Lucy Campbell14/09/2023 - 4:32pmIn 2018, Katherine Ashworth is struggling. The death of her daughter has precipitated a major falling apart, which she's self-medicating with sleeping pills and vodka. A move to the small town of her husband's childhood - Lowbridge - is the beginning of the fight for Katherine to regain a purpose to her life, and stop the self-destruction. That search for meaning, precipitated particularly by husband Jamie's threat to force her into rehab if she doesn't take immediate steps to straighten herself out, leads to a chance meeting at the local Historical Society, and her interest in the ... Read Review |
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The Decagon House Murders, Yukito Ayatsuji12/09/2023 - 2:22pmPublished in 1978, THE DECAGON HOUSE MURDERS is credited with launching the shinhonkaku movement, a return to Golden Age style plotting and clue provision for the reader to discover along the way. It's often described as a subgenre of the honkaku style - which can best be described as whodunit's rather than why or howdunits. The timeframe of the emergence of both of these styles is particularly interesting, with honkaku mostly considered to have been at its most prolific from the late 1880's to the mid 1950's and shinhonkaku styled novels prevalent from the late 1980s through to ... Read Review |
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Double Lives, Kate McCaffrey11/09/2023 - 6:14pmHarrowing and insightful, DOUBLE LIVES by Kate McCaffrey is a very topical exploration of issues around gender, identity, acceptance and truth. There is, for some readers, some confrontational and topical subject matter being addressed here, revolving as it does around the murder of transgender woman Casey Williams, her self-confessed killer (and love interest) Jonah Scott, and a radio station opting to use their story as the opening foray into an ongoing true crime serial. After a Perth Radio station decides to air some sort of serial programme that would win back their ... Read Review |