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The Scent of Murder, Felicity Young14/02/2014 - 5:33pmSomebody, years ago, in "one of those long and philosophical nights around the dinner table" made a comment about history always being written by the victor, and it's stayed with me ever since (even though it's not an original proposition). I'm always reminded of it when a new Dody McCleland book arrives. Although they are fictional books, they speak with a resonance and an authority which draws a vivid picture of the time of the suffragettes, using the point of view of the women, demonstrating the utter stupidity and nastiness of the restrictions placed on women, without turning ... Read Review |
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The End of Mr. Y, Scarlett Thomas10/02/2014 - 2:36pmThere's a slightly odd feeling about sitting down to read a book that if somebody asked you why you were reading it - the best explanation you could come up with was ... well ... "it sort of sounded slightly mad - and besides the central character wants to become part of a book.... ". You've got to be intrigued by that premise. THE END OF MR Y doesn't telegraph what sort of a book it is from the cover blurb - it sounds a bit like a mystery, it could be fantasy, there's even some elements that sound a bit like traditional science fiction. It's all of those things and a lot ... Read Review |
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Monkey Business, Kathryn Ledson08/02/2014 - 1:00pmRomance only appears to work for me when it includes a hefty dose of comedy. Having enjoyed the first book in this series - ROUGH DIAMOND - it felt like no trial to be back in the company of Erica Jewell. Probably because she's just ever so slightly bats (in a good way), brave (in a bats way) and free spirited (in the only possible way). For those that haven't read the first book, Jack Jones is the love / lust interest in these stories, although the relationship status is incredibly vague, to say nothing of the work status. Jewell works ... Read Review |
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A Vintage Death, Colin King02/02/2014 - 7:23pmWith tongue firmly in cheek, and only because I live in the Pyrenees wine district, yes, well why on earth WOULD somebody kill for a Heathcote shiraz??? (Kidding!) There's nothing better than books that are set in your own stomping grounds. Places that are very familiar, environments and industries that are close to the heart. I was really thrilled to win a copy of A VINTAGE DEATH from the good people at the very excellent Bendigo Writers' Festival, particularly as the author, Colin King is a Bendigo local, and Bendigo is one of my favourite places in this region. Not ... Read Review |
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Murder in Mississippi, John Safran02/02/2014 - 2:28pmIt was difficult to pick up MURDER IN MISSISSIPPI with many standard preconceptions. Safran's not somebody who immediately comes to mind when you think True Crime writing (investigative or explorative). He certainly comes to mind when you think a bit of good old-fashioned shit stirring with a very big stick. Which combined with the Deep South, white supremacists, a possible hidden homosexual link, and six months research still wasn't exactly scanning naturally. Getting into the book however, it's hard not to hear Safran's speaking voice, even for somebody like me whose TV watching is ... Read Review |
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Getting Warmer, Alan Carter02/02/2014 - 1:52pmCarter's first novel featuring Cato (obvious connection for the nickname) Kwong, PRIME CUT, had him exiled to the Stock Squad in the back blocks of regional WA, doing penance. GETTING WARMER has him back in Perth, just as things weather-wise and crime-wise start to heat up. Starting out with the rather bizarre search for the body of a teenage girl, the supposed perpetrator of that crime being one from the nastier end of the psycho range, it's hard to see how anyone's going to get all that fussed when he shows up dead on the floor of the jail kitchens. Except the two ... Read Review |
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On Cringila Hill, Noel Beddoe01/02/2014 - 1:13pmThe author of ON CRINGILA HILL has worked as a high school principal for twenty years, and been involved in Aboriginal eduation for most of his adult life, becoming the inaugural chairperson of the Aboriginal Education Reference Group. Which did seem to make this, his first crime novel, an intriguing prospect. Set in the past, in a community made up immigrants from a range of different backgrounds and religions, in a real location, part of Wollongong in NSW. Not an area I know a lot about, so I can't say whether it's accurately portrayed but it certainly felt realistic. ... Read Review |
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Origin, Greg McLean and Aaron Sterns23/01/2014 - 2:07pmI've never seen the movie WOLF CREEK and undoubtedly never will. The idea of extreme violence, cruelty and madness on the page is one thing, visually another completely different for this reader anyway. Had the books not been offered as review copies, it's doubtful I would ever have read either of them. They definitely aren't my preference, so it's only fair to say that ORIGIN was a struggle. The violence and deprivation are stark and very in your face. The book is a prequel to the movie, designed to introduce readers to the young boy that became the psychotic killer. So ... Read Review |
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Thirteen: An Anthology of Crime Stories, Mesdames of Mayhem16/01/2014 - 1:51pmFans of the lighter, softer side of crime fiction should take a look at the THIRTEEN from the MESDAMES OF MAYHEM. The book was suggested to me by a rather circuitous route (cousin of / who is a work colleague of / who mentioned it to...), which is the only reason I would have even tried it to be honest. But the writers in this anthology include a number of winners and finalists from Canada's Arthur Ellis awards, so it was interesting to compare against the local short story competition winners I've been reading recently. The majority of these stories are ... Read Review |
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Silent Kill, Peter Corris16/01/2014 - 1:09pmAfter coming to love the regular January Cliff Hardy fix it was a happy day when SILENT KILL arrived. Reading blurbs though can sometimes be problematic and so it was with this one, and the reference to a "rogue intelligence agent". Recently that seems to have been code for "no idea how to get my protagonist into, and subsequently, out of the mess I want them in the middle of". Corris is, however, not your standard writer and whilst there is a bit of sneaking around going on, in the main, this is a good old fashioned bit of biff, doesn't get the girl, solves the problem, Cliff Hardy ... Read Review |
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Pink Tide, Jarad Henry16/01/2014 - 11:54amThe Rubens McCauley series is one of those little gems of Australian crime fiction, of which PINK TIDE is the third book. We now find McCauley in a seachange respite from the rigours of inner city St Kilda, stationed in the small coastal town of Jutt Rock, admiring the scenery, chilling out, even thinking about taking up surfing. Until the bashing of his nephew and the death of a local hero. About then everything starts to go badly pear-shaped. McCauley's stress related ailment management, his marriage, the family, the town and the community. Scratch the ... Read Review |
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A Song for the Dying, Stuart MacBride15/01/2014 - 10:18pmSaid it before, should say it again. Will read anything Stuart MacBride publishes... eventually. And yes I know they are extremely violent, dark, with a warped sense of humour and slightly mad edge. What, therefore, is not to love. A SONG FOR THE DYING isn't, however, a Logan McRae novel but don't let that make you lose hope. There's an equally good cast of misfits, mad buggers, scrappers and fighters here. Which is just as well as it's not easy for an ex-cop like Ash Henderson to survive a spell inside. Especially as even there, arch-enemy, gang boss and evil bitch Maeve ... Read Review |
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Solo, William Boyd05/01/2014 - 2:39pmAs the first of the restarted Bond franchise novels that I've tackled I wasn't really sure what to expect. Especially as we've been doing a rewind of all of the movies recently so there's a certain perception of Bond jammed in my brain that's obviously going to take precedence over and above memories of the original books / writing. At the start of the book this was definitely not Bond as I thought him. There's something oddly thoughtful, considered and reflective in the early chapters that really threw me. Badly. Obviously too many movies where, I have to admit, things ... Read Review |
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Scarlet Stiletto Short Stories: 201318/12/2013 - 4:29pmBeing a bit of a fan of short story collections, I've was really pleased that to see published some of the Scarlet Stiletto winning stories from the past. In this collection, SCARLET STILETTO: SHORT STORIES 2013, the winners from the 20th Anniversary of the awards are released together. The categories are pretty wide for these awards - The Scarlet Stiletto Award itself (and here we have the first, second and third prize winners), The Best New Talent Award, Great Film Idea, Best Investigative, Cross Genre, Funniest, Young Writers', Malice Domestic and The Body in the Library ... Read Review |
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The Blasphemer, John Ling18/12/2013 - 3:11pmUp front, the only complaint I've got about THE BLASPHEMER is that the ending came way too quickly. From the opening scenes, when an armed fanatic breaks into the house of, we discover, Abraham Khan and his wife, things just keep moving fast. Much like the cavalcade required to move Khan from one safe location to another. Much like the speed at which security operator Maya Raines has to move to keep the principal (Khan) safe. Set in New Zealand, there's never a moment when anything "really... in New Zealand..." enters your mind. The threat from extremists, the use of ... Read Review |
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Wrongful Death, Lynda La Plante18/12/2013 - 2:32pmWRONGFUL DEATH is the ninth book in the Anna Travis series from Lynda La Plante. Which therefore requires a confession. I started to struggle with this series around book 4 (DEADLY INTENT), and never managed to finish book 5 (SILENT SCREAM) or book 6 (BLIND FURY). So on the upside, I did manage to finish WRONGFUL DEATH. On the downside it was a disappointment. Whilst the central premise, the re-investigation of the death of Josh Reynolds was an interesting idea, the cast of characters flat out didn't work for me. Can't remember the last time I've encountered so many ... Read Review |
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The Riddle of the Sands, Erskine Childers18/12/2013 - 2:31pmFirst published in 1903 THE RIDDLE OF THE SANDS, is an early espionage novels that I remember reading ... way back. The re-release as part of the Penguin Green Classics series, provided an excellent opportunity to revisit it. Interesting to look back now with adult eyes and to discover that it was, at the time, considered to be a prime example of British anti-German paranoia. Until a few years later. I think I've also read somewhere that Childers may have also had in mind a bit of rev up for British naval strategists. Narrated by the uber-British Carruthers, this is the ... Read Review |
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When the Devil Drives, Chris Brookmyre18/12/2013 - 1:19pmChristopher Brookmyre is appointment purchasing in these parts, but even allowing for that obsession, I do really like the way this Jasmine Sharp series is shaping up. WHEN THE DEVIL DRIVES is the second book now, and whilst it would be better to read them both in sequence, you could get away with just picking up this one, especially if you're aware there's a story behind Jasmine becoming a Private Investigator. There is a cast of central characters, built around Sharp, featuring hardman Fallan and DS MacLeod. Since Sharp took over running her Uncle Jim's detective agency ... Read Review |
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Christmas is Murder, Val McDermid16/12/2013 - 1:52pmDiscovered this little grab of two short stories whilst wandering around the KOBO site recently (love love love my Android Tablet and the way I can have multiple bookshops at my fingertips), but I saw this and thought I've not read any early Val McDermid stories for a long time, so why not. The best thing about this is that idea of going back to the starting out of a character and a series. I don't think, by any stretch of the imagination, that you could suggest these are the most indepth, intricate and complicated plots that you've ever read in crime fiction, but they ... Read Review |
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Where the Devil Can't Go, Anya Lipska13/12/2013 - 1:32pmNo idea whatsoever how or why, but WHERE THE DEVIL CAN'T GO by Anya Lipska wafted into my somewhat dodgy attention span recently, and I started reading it immediately. As in read the sample, bought the ebook and read it as soon as it downloaded. Sometimes the universe is very kind and benevolent place, because this is an excellent debut book. Set within the Polish community in England, I think I've since heard somewhere that this is the first novel of this sort out of that environment. The story is set deep within that Polish community, many of whom are in ... Read Review |