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The Sting: The Undercover Operation That Caught Daniel Morcombe’s Killer, Kate Kyriacou05/05/2016 - 1:50pmIt's nearly impossible to "review" a book like THE STING simply because the subject matter is so horrific. The delivery, styling or methods chosen to explain the events pale into insignificance alongside the reader's desire to look away, whilst simultaneously wanting to track down some people in the justice and political systems and demand a few answers. Why it is that somebody like this killer was given such light sentences over earlier child rapes, beatings and maimings is the one question that you cannot come away from this book without. How it was that he, and his ... Read Review |
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Jinx, Hugh McGinlay03/05/2016 - 2:52pmSet within the hipster world of inner Melbourne lane-ways, cafes and bright young things, JINX is the debut crime fiction novel from local musician and writer Hugh McGinlay. A light-hearted, comedic styled novel, JINX introduces ex-police investigator, now accidental amateur detective, raconteur and milliner Catherine Kint and the world that she occupies in what seems to be intended as the first book in a series. On the escapist side of crime fiction - there's something nicely engaging about Kint, what with the complicated background, the inner-city lifestyle, the hats ... Read Review |
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Murder in Mt Martha, Janice Simpson03/05/2016 - 2:26pmMURDER IN MT MARTHA is a fictional story, inspired by an unsolved 1953 real-life murder in the Mornington Peninsula suburb of Mt Martha. Author Janice Simpson combines the real facts with a range of unconnected contemporary elements to weave a potential solution and create her fictional version of "what if...". Sixty years after the murder of 14 year old Beverly Middleton, Nick Szabo is working on his thesis about defectors from the Hungarian water polo team during the 1956 Melbourne Olympics. During interviews with retiree Arthur Boyle, and a bit of a coincidence his ... Read Review |
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Blockbuster! Fergus Hume and The Mystery of a Hansom Cab, Lucy Sussex28/04/2016 - 1:10pmThe Mystery of a Hansom Cab, written in the mid 1880s, was a world-wide publishing phenomenon. The story of its publication deserves a book like Blockbuster!. Reviewed at Newtown Review of Books.Read Review |
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Who's Afraid?, Maria Lewis27/04/2016 - 4:30pmHeroine Tommi is going through a period of earth shattering change, all the while trying to keep it from affecting her work and relationships. So, of course, it is near impossible. Tommi's lead in all this is her Guardian, Lorcan (gorgeous, just like Tommi herself, of course) who has himself a big fat secret that he doesn't want to reveal too soon to his new, and first, student. Teaching Tommi to kick supernatural butt is easier than he thought it would be, and before you know it, the power and skills of the pupil begin to eclipse that of the teacher. Tommi needs to call upon all ... Read Review |
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Unholy Trinity, Denis Ryan and Peter Hoysted27/04/2016 - 3:39pmAs a result of testimony to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse hearings in relation to the Ballarat area a heap of questions were unavoidable. As a person who grew up there at exactly the time that some of the worst offenders were at the heights of their protected lifestyles, the number one question is and will always be, how did they cover it up? How on earth did so many crimes occur with nobody seeming to do anything about it? As a result of those questions I went looking for some books / stories to try to understand, and Unholy Trinity was one ... Read Review |
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The Chimera Vector, Nathan M. Farrugia27/04/2016 - 3:35pmThe combination of science fiction and thriller works particularly well in THE CHIMERA VECTOR - an action packed, roller-coaster of a ride from local writer Nathan M. Farrugia. Although action packed doesn't quite do justice to the level of no prisoner's taken, hard fought action and thrills and spills in this novel, combined with a set of really good, strong characters. The combination of the science fiction style elements with the covert ops thriller styling works seamlessly, creating real tension, threat and people to connect with. For this reader, who ... Read Review |
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The Jaded Kiwi, Nick Spill27/04/2016 - 2:23pmA gynaecologist, a physicist, a violinist and an actress all walk into a pub and help a Maori leader evade the police. With no apologies to anyone for the pun because really, that's part of what THE JADED KIWI is all about. An absolutely madcap plot, peopled with a cast of seeming thousands and a lot of crazy behaviour. Heaps of pace where it mattered really helps what's not so much a complicated plot, as a complex execution, scamper along. Many of the rapidly expanding character set are wonderfully engaging, if not slightly over the top. Whether it's the gynaecologist ... Read Review |
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Ranger, Chris Allen22/04/2016 - 11:59amIn a particularly poignant touch, all round good guy and saver of the world Alex Morgan shows an unsurprising side in RANGER with his care and concern for a returned vet who needs help. This novella sees Morgan returning from rescue duties, to be immediately redirected to the US where returned vet and friend, John Nash has asked for his help. Without hesitating Morgan dives into the task without the normal INTREPID backing, and in the full understanding that his old army buddy might be struggling, but he will have a compelling story to tell. It's ... Read Review |
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Dead Joker, Anne Holt21/04/2016 - 6:58pmThank goodness the earlier books in this series are now available, because understanding Hanne Wilhelmsen requires back story. Especially now as it's hard to avoid a sneaking suspicion that there's just a little bit of her in Saga Norén. Maybe only a little, but still bells are ringing. A classic slow burning Scandinavian thriller with some balance between the personal and the professional, there is a lot of back story in DEAD JOKER. Which fans of this series may appreciate, whilst some readers might find it just creates a lot of pages. Personally, this reader loved the ... Read Review |
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The Blackmail Blend, Livia Day20/04/2016 - 5:01pmThere is so much to like about the Café La Femme series (of which THE BLACKMAIL BLEND is #1.5), that a novella drizzled into the middle of existing novels, A TRIFLE DEAD and DROWNED VANILLA is a lovely treat - dare one suggest the icing on the cake? It seems that there is a third book in the series KEEP CALM & KILL THE CHEF on it's way now as well. For those that haven't come across these books before they are funny, clever and charming cosies with recipes, vintage clothes, spendidly elaborate friends, cafe society and a hefty dose of romance, love, lust and murder, ... Read Review |
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Cambodia Noir, Nick Seeley18/04/2016 - 1:53pmCAMBODIA NOIR will appeal to readers who like anything from wild west adventure novels, through to classic noir styled lone wolf investigations, set in a country with a difficult recent past, and a fraught present. Because it is a combination of all of those elements, and then some. Dark and violent, with explicit drug taking and sex, author Nick Seeley has written a book that makes no attempt at all to cushion the blows that his characters, and his readers encounter whilst reading. It's a tough, no apologies tale set in a society that's broken. So broken that life is ... Read Review |
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Taken at Night, Christa A. Ludlow15/04/2016 - 3:06pmIt is particularly gratifying to see a recent increase in historical crime fiction with capable and independent female central characters, with good working relationships with the men who support them. Not only does this give authors the opportunity to expand on the period in which they are setting their books, it's also providing an increasing glimpse into the ridiculous limitations and restrictions placed on women in the past. In TAKEN AT NIGHT, author Christa A. Ludlow has a central protagonist who is working as a photographer in 1900's Sydney. A difficult time to ... Read Review |
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Comfort Zone, Lindsay Tanner07/04/2016 - 1:17pmCOMFORT ZONE is the debut novel from Ex Federal Minister for Finance and long-time Labor true believer Lindsay Tanner. Given his background it's not surprising that he's turned his hand to crime writing with an emphasis on societal ills. In COMFORT ZONE his area of special interest is racism. The sort of casual, life-long racism that seems to come from somewhere very lazy / convenient for many. In this case it's middle-aged, sad, pathetic cabbie Jack who embodies that casual rejection of anybody different based on a few simple truths as he sees them. The message is ... Read Review |
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Ghost Girls, Cath Ferla31/03/2016 - 2:28pmSteeped in the smells and sounds of Sydney’s Chinatown, weighted by the sinister atmosphere of a private world of terrible crimes,Ghost Girls is a remarkable debut novel. The combination of plot, character and setting in Ghost Girls is perfectly balanced, and the delivery is pitched elegantly to provide insight into the depths of the depravity of the crimes, without making even the most sensitive reader turn away: ... Read Review |
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Ash Island, Barry Maitland22/03/2016 - 5:52pmThe second in the Harry Belltree trilogy, events in ASH ISLAND follow closely on from CRUCIFIXION CREEK. Short-listed for the 2015 Ned Kelly Awards CRUCIFIXION CREEK set up a different character for Maitland to work with in Australian, Indigenous Detective Harry Belltree. There is still, however, that use of a defining geographical location as is always the case in any of Maitland's novels - in this case much of the action centres around Newcastle's Ash Island. Considerably more action orientated, Belltree is also very different from Maitland's other police characters ( ... Read Review |
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Six Four, Hideo Yokoyama21/03/2016 - 3:37pmSIX FOUR is one of those books that demands considerable commitment from readers. At a whopping 656 pages, it's a considerable weight to be holding onto for a long period of time, which you will be, as it's a very detailed, dense and potentially frustrating read. A form of police procedural crime novel, set within the confines of a police station and a stalled investigation, SIX FOUR, is, in the beginning, a study in police / media relationships. The central protagonist, Mikami, a career police officer now seconded to the media office, has a brief to improve co-operation ... Read Review |
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A Murder Without Motive, Martin McKenzie-Murray17/03/2016 - 2:11pmTrue Crime writing seems, to this outside observer, to be a minefield of complications. Personal connections to a real crime event, either of the victim, the perpetrator, or community can create a situation that authors must carefully negotiate. Because of this it does seem that true crime structure either takes a particularly fact based / no conclusions drawn approach, or steps into a very personal viewpoint. Martin McKenzie-Murray grew up in the same neighbourhood as Rebecca Ryle, his brother knew the man found guilty of her murder, and even though the author didn't personally know ... Read Review |
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Signs of Murder, Jean Bedford16/03/2016 - 3:11pmBack in the late 1980's and early 1990's something happened in Australian Crime Fiction, or at least in this reader's awareness. A lot of local authors started to gain some traction in book shops, many of whom were women. Jean Bedford was one of these authors, originally releasing her Anna Southwood series in the early 90's. These books have now been re-released in ebook format, something this reader is particularly grateful for as it provides the opportunity of re-reading (especially for those of us who have the paperbacks somewhere but haven't been able to lay hands on them for too ... Read Review |
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All These Perfect Strangers, Aoife Clifford11/03/2016 - 2:40pmIn 2013 Aoife Clifford was awarded an Australian Society of Author's mentorship to help bring this debut novel - ALL THESE PERFECT STRANGERS - to fruition. To be fair to those who have read it and are finding the idea that this is a debut novel hard to believe, she has form. Shortlisted for the UK Crime Writers Association Debut Dagger, Clifford won the Ned Kelly / S.D. Harvey Short Story Award and a Sisters in Crime Scarlet Stiletto. What she has now produced is an assured, clever and profoundly disconcerting psychological thriller. In the manner of all good slow burner ... Read Review |