All the Reviews

The Tokyo Zodiac Murders, Soji Shimada

Honkaku is a subgenre of Japanese Crime Fiction that came into being sometime in the early 1920's. The original definition was "a detective story that mainly focuses on the process of a criminal investigation and values the entertainment derived from pure logical reasoning". The term was coined to clearly differentiate Honkaku mystery fiction from other subgenres and it was used for both local and Western writers, although a distinct Japanese form became increasingly common in the 1950's.

Adding depth to long tradition, the author of THE TOKYO ZODIAC MURDERS, Soji Shimada ... Read Review

Leona: The Die is Cast, Jenny Rogneby

Any readers looking for something different - LEONA: THE DIE IS CAST could be just the ticket. There's so much here in the writing, and the styling that is very brave of this author.

Leona Lindberg is both a highly regarded investigator and an outsider. She has a personality disorder which makes her a tricky person to work with, and an even harder protagonist for a reader to establish a connection with. Her internal dialogue clearly shows she's aware of her limitations, that her interactions with others are flawed, and able to moderate that to some extent. Every now and ... Read Review

A Time to Run, J.M. Peace

There's a lot of crime fiction out there that is all about the investigator and the protagonist, but A TIME TO RUN tips that right on it's ear, setting up a scenario in which an investigator (cop) is the next victim of a mad, dangerous man who makes a sport out of hunting down the women he's abducted.

So, not a book for those readers that find that concept of the randomly selected victim and the barking mad, vicious killer too much. Particularly as this killer is appalling and very clever about it. It's not until a cop goes missing that a very dedicated policewoman sees ... Read Review

Double Madness, Caroline de Costa

The author of DOUBLE MADNESS, Caroline de Costa is a professor at the School of Medicine at James Cook University in Cairns, and the book is set amongst the medical profession, in Cairns. Writing obviously about a couple of worlds that she knows well, this debut novel combines a strong sense of the place, and the climate, with a well-delivered intricate plot.

The body of Odile Janvier is found deep in the rainforest outside Cairns by sheer chance when local doctor Tim Ingram and his wife take a very unlikely shortcut, a little known back track which is a dodgy proposition ... Read Review

Kingdom of the Strong, Tony Cavanaugh

KINGDOM OF THE STRONG is the fourth Darian Richards novel from screenwriter, producer and novelist Tony Cavanaugh. Readers of the past novels will be aware of the background of Richards. A high ranking cop in Victoria for many years, he has a darker side, with a history of ensuring justice for victims even if it means he steps into the role of avenging angel. Readers of the earlier books will also be aware of a tendency towards the barking mad, evil, utterly over the top, random serial killer. Which, frankly, made this reader struggle with them, no matter how compelling a character ... Read Review

Double Exposure, Kat Clay

The Crime Factory have developed a reputation for publishing wonderful examples of modern noir fiction set in different locations and times. DOUBLE EXPOSURE is, however, a very different animal indeed, combining a past time frame (1948) with a dark and very atmospheric sense of place, and a hefty dose of the paranormal. Which obviously isn't going to be for all readers, but for those that are interested in something different and very well done, then DOUBLE EXPOSURE is well worth reading time.

The Photographer, never named, is centre of all of the action in this taut ... Read Review

Before It Breaks, Dave Warner

Sometimes the world is very kind to a dedicated fan of Australian Crime fiction, particularly when two new books from authors that we've not heard from for a very long time arrive. Peter Doyle and Dave Warner each played their part, many years ago, in engaging an interest in our own stories and voices.

The release of BEFORE IT BREAKS caused excitement and slight trepidation. Slight trepidation because Warner's earlier Andrew "Lizard" Zirk series (Murder in the Groove, Murder in the Frame and Murder Off-Season) has always been a nostalgic ... Read Review

Black Widow, Carol Baxter

The second book from this author I've now read, I'm growing to increasingly like the manner in which she tells her true stories. Woven into a narrative that reads like a tall tale but true, BLACK WIDOW isn't a dry retelling of facts. Having said that, there appears to be sufficient research and veracity in the facts of the case to make it all the more shocking.

Louisa Collins was executed in Sydney, the first female "serial killer" in colonial Australian history. There is so much in this story that seems wrong. For a start there seems to be major question marks ... Read Review

Drowned Vanilla, Livia Day

Slightly girly, crazy comic crime fiction is not my normal cup of tea, and add a plethora of recipes and this reader should, by rights, be groaning and moaning and whinging. But not with The Culinary Crime / Café La Femme series of which DROWNED VANILLA is the second book. (As opposed to THE BLACKMAIL BLEND 1.5 which is a collection of short stories).

Pitched at a very particular market this isn't indepth, psychological analysis of crime and consequences. If anything more time and effort is devoted to the search for the perfect Ice-Cream recipe than is expended on the ... Read Review