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Rusted Off, Gabrielle Chan13/03/2019 - 1:53pmParticularly interesting to look back over RUSTED OFF, in light of the current rural Australian political landscape.Read Review |
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Painting in the Shadows, Katherine Kovacic13/03/2019 - 1:50pmKatherine Kovacic's Alex Clayton series (all two books of them so far...) could be used as a teaching tool for aspiring Australian crime novelists on achieving balance between personal backstory and plot, and how to craft a realistic strong female lead character, because they are both extremely good examples of that and much more. There's always been a bit of chatter about second novel syndrome and it's hard to ignore as there have been some amazing debuts followed up by something that's not as strong, confident or unsurprisingly as original, but PAINTING IN THE SHADOWS has none of ... Read Review |
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The Easter Make Believers, Finn Bell13/03/2019 - 1:37pmWhen Finn Bell entered his first two novels in the Ngaio Marsh Awards (PANCAKE MONEY and DEAD LEMONS - which won the 2017 Best First Novel), he cemented himself pretty firmly in favourite author stakes. Mostly because there was something very different about both of those novels, but both presented strong storylines; brilliant, flawed but balanced characterisations; strong dialogue and he plays more than fair with the reader who wants to guess along. So when THE EASTER MAKE BELIEVERS popped up on the 2018 list I was more than a bit pleased to revisit his work. Again Finn ... Read Review |
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A Suitable Time for Vengeance, Edmund Bohan13/03/2019 - 1:15pmTHE LOST TAONGA and A SUITABLE TIME FOR VENGEANCE by Edmund Bohan were both entered in the 2018 Ngaio Marsh Awards, with THE LOST TAONGA making it onto the longlist. Both these books are from Bohan's Inspector O'Rorke series (six and seven respectively), historical crime fiction set in New Zealand in the 1880's. Bohan's is known in his native land as an accomplished biographer and novelist, and singer, having published a range of historical non-fiction as well. Needless to say in both these novels, the historical aspects are delivered in a comprehensive manner, delivering ... Read Review |
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Six Degrees of Assassination, M.J. Arlidge13/03/2019 - 11:11amA radio play available on Audible, this was one of those "why not" picks from the list when I was looking for something to listen to a while ago. Told in a series of short episodes with lots of lead in music, lots of noise and drama, and a reasonably good cast in terms of being distinguishable in audio format, and believability in their parts. Of course Andrew Scott (who plays the main character - Alex Cartwright) does have a delivery style which is low key, almost velvety for want of a better description, which will work well for some listeners. I thought it made the ... Read Review |
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The Rookie's Guide to Espionage, Dave Sinclair12/03/2019 - 4:30pmSlapstick, silly, 1.5 (novella) in the series which is now up to book 3, I'm reviewing this out of order, although by a minor miracle I've been reading them in order. Lot's could be said about the fact that this is a fun series, featuring Australian Barista, MI6 Agent Eva Destruction as she keeps the world safe from the bad guys, and tries desperately to find a decent coffee. Instead of those lot's of things, let's go with - if you like high energy, wacky humour, silly action, kick-arse hero's then the Eva Destruction series should be on your radar: ... Read Review |
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Into The Night, Sarah Bailey09/03/2019 - 5:23pm‘I know. My truth radar is all over the place.’ Fleet smirks but he cuffs me gently on the shoulder. ‘Truth radar. We don’t have those in the big smoke, champ. We just assume everyone is lying. Statistically it’s more likely.’
Sarah Bailey’s award winning debut novel, The Dark Lake, is one of a number of crime novels set in rural Australia which have been published in the last few years. In her second novel, Into The Night, Bailey takes a giant leap and transplants her main character, Detective Sergeant Gemma ... Read Review |
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The Ruin, Dervla McTiernan09/03/2019 - 3:53pmIn the past six months I’ve been catching up with a number of authors and novels which I’ve let slip past in the last few years. Included amongst these authors is Dervla McTiernan who’s debut novel, The Rūin, was released last year. Set in Galway, Ireland it’s the story of two possible murders, one in the present day, the other twenty years in the past. Directly linking the two events are Detective Sergeant Cormac Reilly, who as a fresh Garda attended the latter scene, and is now stationed in Galway where the second possible murder takes place, and Maud and Jack Blake who were 15 and ... Read Review |
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Palm Beach Finland, Antti Tuomainen05/03/2019 - 12:24pmAfter finishing THE MAN WHO DIED in almost record time, PALM BEACH FINLAND was recommended in the highest possible terms, so the audio version of it was obtained and listened to with haste. Another one that should have come with a warning about driving and listening, because I don't know how I've managed to survive these books whilst dodging kangaroos and dust storms on the roads recently. Needless to say PALM BEACH FINLAND is funny and a bit mad (in a good way), but it's a different sort of funny/mad to THE MAN WHO DIED. The entire scenario here is dry as the ... Read Review |
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The Empty Coffin, Gary Moore01/03/2019 - 2:30pmThe blurb on this debut novel calls THE EMPTY COFFIN a high-octane thriller with cracking dialogue, sly humour and a sense of justice. There's also a hefty dose of real and paranormal combined in an interesting idea, with slightly creepy styling that feels like it comes from the Paul Cleave school of construction. Creepy and intriguing are the two words that stay with me when trying to define THE EMPTY COFFIN, although that was buried under an avalanche of general busy plot that seemed to be trying to tackle an awful lot of sub-threads in a very short time. This mean ... Read Review |
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Call Me Evie, J.P. Pomare01/03/2019 - 2:19pmWith a growing awareness of her isolation and of how complete her removal has been from her old world of the ‘before’, Evie has few tools at hand with which to dig out the truth of what happened back in Australia. All she really knows is what Jim has selectively been telling her. It was something bad, it was something that they needed to jump on plane to get away from. As Evie’s patchy memory serves up greater pieces of her past with the passage of time, it is not reassuring to being to recall what was done by Evie, or to Evie. Now living in a remote New Zealand coastal town, Evie ... Read Review |
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The Silent Patient, Alex Michaelides28/02/2019 - 4:47pmAlicia and Gabriel were once that sparkling young couple who appeared to be dazzlingly in love with life and totally bedazzled by each other. The envy of all who knew them, the darlings of the art world to boot. Such charmed lives some couples seem to lead. It is often said that with romantic entanglements there is always one who loves more than the other; that it is a good thing to have a partner who is just that little bit more obsessed with you than you are with them. Or perhaps all of that focus on one person never actually results in happy endings for anyone. ... Read Review |
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Made in Scotland, Billy Connolly28/02/2019 - 4:32pmThere's something about Billy Connolly that's always made him a leading light in how to cope with the highs and lows of life. Whether it's pointed instruction on learning how to swear at those awful people who knock on your door flogging their brand of religion, through to assurances that nobody, anywhere needs to wear beige, Billy is older than us, he's lived a hell of a life and he's learnt a few things along the way. Thanks to Billy's advice, ever since hitting my 50's I've never let a loo stop go by, I've always been a fan of the correct clothes when it's cold (the ... Read Review |
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Rippling Red, Brigid George28/02/2019 - 4:23pmThe third novel in the Dusty Kent series, these books are built around investigative journalist Kent and her Irish assistant and IT expert Sean O’Kelly. IN RIPPLING RED they are in Darwin looking into the alleged suicide of Cody Bongiorno. Cody’s parents are convinced that their compassionate and kind teenager had been coerced into committing suicide, and they want Dusty to look into the verdict, something that she's more than willing to do especially given the strange death of Cody's close friend, school teacher Jerry Lucas. Dusty's from the wise-cracking, Australian ... Read Review |
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Country of the Blind (audio), Christopher Brookmyre28/02/2019 - 2:49pmBit spoiled for audio choice at the moment, having decided to really concentrate on back to favourite series. This is the second Jack Parlabane book from Scottish writer, and world class pointer out of the idiocy of some aspects of life, Christopher Brookmyre (I was particularly pleased to find Gordon Duncan also reading / listening to this as it is another of my all time favourite Brookmyre books). Gordon's advice re listening to the opening ... Read Review |
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Gone by Midnight, Candice Fox26/02/2019 - 3:14pmWhen Candice Fox opened up GONE BY MIDNIGHT with a missing child and a sick goose I wasn't sure if I could go on. I mean a missing child is one thing, but a sick, possibly life-threateningly ill goose felt like one blow too many. (Don't @ me - they are both fictional and I'm very fond of my geese...). If for any reason any of this is worrying any other readers then I would counsel trust this author, read on. Read on through the bullying stand over cops who arrive and take Ted Conkaffey into custody (arrest of choice with anything to do with kids it seems); through to his ... Read Review |
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Cardinal, Louise Milligan26/02/2019 - 12:33pmAnybody who knows me will probably be aware my family are from the Ballarat region, and I grew up outside the town during part of the worst of the excesses of the Catholic Church priests and bishops. We heard gossip, whether you were involved in the Catholic community or not. Very fortunately we weren't subjected to junior Catholic schools (one year only as a much older teenager at a secondary school run by the Loreto Nuns) or the church system probably because my father was educated at St Pats for a very short period before he left, never to discuss the place, loathing everything ... Read Review |
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The Amnesiac's Guide to Espionage, Dave Sinclair25/02/2019 - 4:34pmI certainly hope that anybody coming to this series isn't expecting serious. I mean "Eva Destruction"... You should, however, be expecting all the thrills, spills, banter and high energy action that you'd get with any top notch thriller series of novels. In this second full-sized outing (there's a 1.5 novella out as well - THE ROOKIE'S GUIDE TO ESPIONAGE) Eva Destruction, barista extraordinare, coffee shop owner and MI6 agent is up to her elbows in blokes ("on her side", "definitely not on her side", and "it's complicated"), gun battles and assassinations, all without the ... Read Review |
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The Mother-in-Law, Sally Hepworth25/02/2019 - 12:53pmLucy, like most women on the precipice of marriage, has spent some time considering not only what her new life might be like when she becomes a wife, but also how it might be to become someone’s daughter-in-law. In order to achieve her happy-ever-after with the lovely Oliver, Lucy must first win over the formidable Diana. Diana is one of those cool, calm and collected types who has the security of a long successful marriage and enjoys the high regard of her peers. Diana is assured in her opinions, confirmed in her altruistic endeavours, and to Lucy, determinedly ... Read Review |
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Back Door to Hell, Paul Gadsby24/02/2019 - 5:22pm“Walking back through the littered streets to his flat a few minutes later, the temperature dipping fast, Nate tried to stack his thoughts. To weigh up what he was doing, what he was potentially being pushed into. Jen was crazy, of course she was…” Fahrenheit Press is an independent crime fiction publisher based in the United Kingdom. Apart from traditional crime fiction they also publish hard-boiled noir and experimental crime fiction under the banner of Fahrenheit 13. Paul Gadsby’s Back Door To Hellis published by Fahrenheit 13 and the story of boy meets girl, boy is ... Read Review |