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Tank Water, Michael Burge14/10/2021 - 5:24pmSmall towns, big secrets, inter-generational trauma, unquestioned deaths, fractured families, kids moving away and never returning, all the sorts of things that sound so very familiar to many of us who grew up in rural Australia from more recent history, back, unfortunately, for generations. James Brandt comes from one of those small towns, on the NSW / Queensland border, where the families that live in and around have been there for many generations. In his own case, grandparents, aunt, uncle and cousins, his parents and his own sibling all live on the same farm, in ... Read Review |
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Blood on Vines, Madeleine Eskedahl14/10/2021 - 3:43pmThe opening novel in The Matakana Series, New Zealand based, Swedish born author Madeleine Eskedahl has set this story in one of the true gems of NZ locations, one that obviously means a lot to her. Matakana is a picturesque small town, increasingly devoted to wine growing, farmers markets, roadside stalls, close enough to Auckland to be a tourist destination, but with more than enough people turning it into a lifestyle home location as well. Making the action in BLOOD ON VINES even more of a contrast between the idyllic location, and a series of violent murders, starting ... Read Review |
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The Devil's Work, Garry Linnell08/10/2021 - 2:13pmA while ago another much admired true crime writer mentioned the name Frederick Deeming to me, and kindly sent me a short synopsis about the man's background, and the theory that he could be the notorious Jack the Ripper. Prior to that time I confess to never having heard of him, or the crimes that were definitely committed by him, so when THE DEVIL'S WORK appeared on my horizons I was mightily intrigued. Styled as what I'm calling narrative true crime (facts intertwined with story telling), Garry Linnell has drawn out a story of the man, his movements, and his crimes, ... Read Review |
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Cave Diver, Jake Avila07/10/2021 - 3:28pmCAVE DIVER is an action-packed, seat of the pants styled thriller, with huge villains, big threats and a single flawed protagonist trying to save the day. It recently won a Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Prize, along with an Adventure Writers Competition Clive Cussler Grandmaster Award and is one of those books that readers of thrillers are going to love, or hate, depending mostly on whether the high-octane pace, and action packed pages do enough to distract you from some things that kind of feel a bit flat for this reader - a fan of big, wild ride thrillers normally. The ... Read Review |
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Cutters End, Margaret Hickey07/10/2021 - 12:54pmFirst off, let me break all the "rules" of reviewing and say from the outset that I really enjoyed CUTTERS END. Set in the South Australian outback town of Cutters End, this is a two timeline mystery, with the story harking back to the death of Michael Denby in the scrub off the Stuart Highway, 300km south of Cutters End on New Years Eve in 1989. Originally flagged as an accident, there's always been something not quite right about the investigation at the time, and the conclusions drawn. Not helped by the victim being a local hero - the man who saved a young girl and her ... Read Review |
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The Death Mask Murders, Laraine Stephens20/09/2021 - 2:41pmThe first in a projected series named for crime reporter Reggie da Costa, THE DEATH MASK MURDERS is set in 1918 in Melbourne, where a wild storm comes out of nowhere, battering Brighton, forcing two strangers - would be artist, country girl, and companion Emma Hart (who was mildly injured by a falling tree in the storm) and shell-shocked returned serviceman Max Rushforth (who rescues her) to take shelter in the cellar of a derelict mansion, where they discover three death masks, and the lair of a previously unidentified serial killer. Stepping back a bit from the summary ... Read Review |
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Phoenix Du Rose, K T Bowes09/09/2021 - 4:11pmBook 13 in the Hana Du Rose Mysteries series and boy oh boy do I wish I'd read at least one of the earlier novels as I really struggled to work out what and who and how and why coming in at this point. Young Adult series that moves around the extended Du Rose family as far as I could tell, Phoenix is a strong, fair minded, well-meaning young woman fleeing family conflict, by attending a summer camp full of promise. A very capable horsewoman she quickly becomes a mix of camp attendee and camp helper, particularly when it comes to some of the younger, less-horsey kids, but ... Read Review |
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The Long Game, Simon Rowell08/09/2021 - 4:25pmThe start of what one selfishly hopes is a long series, THE LONG GAME, introduces readers to Detective Sergeant Zoe Mayer. She's back at work after a traumatic incident, working with her old homicide partner Charlie, accompanied by her service dog, the gorgeous Harry, who helps her handle the flashbacks from her past, to say nothing of providing more than a few intuitive emotional clues in her current investigation. With barely a chance to dust off the desk, Zoe and Charlie are assigned to an odd death - a local surfer, good sort of a bloke - estranged from his wife, ... Read Review |
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The Orchard Murders, Robert Gott03/09/2021 - 2:10pmThe fourth book in Robert Gott’s ‘Murders’ series frees its cast from the constraints of the newly formed Homicide Squad and plunges them straight into a baffling case that threatens many of their number. Full review at Newtown Review of BooksRead Review |
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Catch Us The Foxes, Nicola West19/08/2021 - 1:35pmBefore starting out, this review is going to contain possible SPOILERS. I'm finding it almost impossible to talk about CATCH US THE FOXES without them.
Flagged as Twin Peaks meets The Dry, this is also described as a deliciously dark and twisted tale that unravels a small town. Voiced in the main by the central character - Marlowe 'Lo' Robertson, the novel starts out with her being introduced to a Sydney Opera House audience, about to speak about her best selling true crime book 'The Showgirl's Secret', the account of the tragic ... Read Review |
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Death in Cold Waters, Death at Cherry Tree Manor, Death at Valley View Cottage & Death in Lachmore Wood, Tannis Laidlaw18/08/2021 - 5:07pmBefore we get started here, a bit of housekeeping. Because the covers on the versions of the 4 books in the Madeleine Brooks series I received caused a bit of confusion on my part, the order is:
DEATH IN COLD WATERS Reading this series in order, Madeleine Brooks goes from being a married Senior Probation Officer with a pain in the rear boss, a teenage daughter, and an ungrateful husband who turns out to be a philandering bastard into the bargain; to a ... Read Review |
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Murder Ahoy!, Fiona Leitch17/08/2021 - 12:42pmFrom the cute, silly, chatty end of the cosy spectrum, what I saw were aspects of Nell Forrest and Tabitha Darling, crossed with Helen Hawthorne delivered with a hefty hat-tip to Murder, She Wrote. But I'm not a close follower of cosy crime, so that probably reflects more about my limited reading than any particular expertise. MURDER AHOY! is the second novel in the Bella Tyson series, following on from DEATH IN VENICE. The author, Fiona Leitch, has another comic cosy series - The Nosey Parker Mysteries for fans of that style of story-telling. The action is set in the ... Read Review |
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Dead and Gone, Sherryl Clark16/08/2021 - 7:51pmDEAD AND GONE is the 2nd in the Judi Westerholme series, following on from TRUST ME, I'M DEAD. There are some events in the earlier book that would be useful to know about before starting this one, although it's not absolutely vital - there should be enough context to keep you moving forward with what's a really good plot, peopled by very real characters. When I reviewed the first book I did say: "There's a good, clever, plot at the heart of everything, and pace is never sacrificed to personal or character development. There's menace aplenty and it's a real ... Read Review |
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The Tribute, John Byron15/08/2021 - 2:59pmThe media release that came with John Byron's debut thriller opens with the following:
If there was ever a time, and a crime book, that requires everyone to ... Read Review |
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The Mystery of the Missing Ministers, Gina Poekeleen12/08/2021 - 12:48pmTHE MYSTERY OF THE MISSING MINISTERS is the first in an intended series JUST PIE MYSTERIES by Gina Poekeleen (a pseudonym I believe). Straight out of the cosy manual, it's one of those arch, comically styled female investigator types of novel full of aside comments, and decidedly unflattering portraits of a couple of kidnapped politicians (you'd be tempted to nod in agreement here but I probably should say they're not all bad, or so I'm told). The plot is kind of cute, with the kidnappers using cryptic photos of Wellington landmarks as clues for our junior ... Read Review |
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Puzzle Me Dead, Kathy Childs11/08/2021 - 4:15pmPUZZLE ME DEAD is the story of Careen Tamley, a survivor of the Clown Killer. On her nineteenth birthday, she survived a terrifying assault by a still unidentified serial killer, eleven other girls were not so lucky. Each murder scene included a card, numbered two to twelve. Careen moved on as best she could, despite the killer constantly sending her creepy messages, despite never knowing who they are, or why she was picked. She's become a bit of a workaholic, obsessed with her own security, but still she's been receiving pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, making up the face of a clown, each ... Read Review |
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The Lewis Pass, Justin Warren10/08/2021 - 3:51pmTHE LEWIS PASS is the second book in the Dylan Harper series - the first being THE FORGOTTEN LANDS (I believe aka DEAD GROUND but that needs confirmation - they sound like the same book but it could be a rewrite). Anyway, it's an interesting little series, although it's probably one that would be best read from the start especially given the premise of this one hangs 100% on the happenings in the earlier book. As the blurb puts it: "On his last case, Dylan Harper strayed too close to a secret government operation and needed to be silenced. For three years, ... Read Review |
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The Forger and the Thief, Kirsten McKenzie10/08/2021 - 1:23pmTHE FORGER AND THE THIEF takes touches of the mystical (as you'd expect from this author) and builds them into an historical mystery thriller framework in a particularly successful, and extremely atmospheric novel about, in the main, emotional betrayal and lies, set in 1960's Florence. Told in a series of different character perspectives, chapter by chapter, there's plenty of momentum to the story in THE FORGER AND THE THIEF, and not just because an apocalyptic flood is threatening to reveal secrets that everyone wants to stay hidden. I particularly loved the ... Read Review |
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Bush Sick Land, Julian Barrett04/08/2021 - 2:14pmSet in 1960s small town New Zealand, BUSH SICK LAND is a story that sets itself so firmly in time and place that it's uncomfortable. A time when racism, homophobia and gender stereotypes were not just rife, they kind of felt like they are being celebrated. Back when radio and vinyl records ruled, when men worked, suppressed all their emotions, fixed stuff, got drunk and lashed out; women cooked, cleaned, dealt with a lot of externally imposed limitations and dodged a lot; and kids did as they were expected to do, and never questioned anything or anyone. Somewhere in the ... Read Review |
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The Boys and Men of Auckland's Mickey Rooney Gang, Robert Philip Bolton04/08/2021 - 2:07pmTHE BOYS AND MEN OF AUCKLAND'S MICKEY ROONEY GANG is an unusual undertaking for more reasons than just the title. The story, starting out in 1957, revolves around eight schoolboys, mildly rebellious, obsessed with sex, and anything edgy, they are all attracted to the one bad apple - the only real delinquent in the bunch - Mickey Rooney, whose own obsession is Hollywood fame. Told in a series of chapters from the different kids viewpoints, THE BOYS AND MEN takes the reader through those heady, fun, mildly dangerous days of childhood extremes. The gang itself doesn't last ... Read Review |