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Red Queen, H.M. (Honey) Brown21/02/2012 - 2:09pmApocalyptic scenarios are not my favourite thing. To be frank, a pandemic world-wide threat from a mutant viruses wasn't making me feel a desperate urge to read RED QUEEN. I've been shuffling other books over it in the priority queue for quite a while. But eventually, you've just got to stop sooking about these things and get on with reading. There was some confusion in my mind about exactly what "category" this novel falls into. It won an Aurealis award for Best Horror Novel, but I'd heard comments that indicated that the book, despite the apocalyptic setting, was ... Read Review |
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The Sinner, Petra Hammesfahr21/02/2012 - 10:56amAs you can tell from the blurb, THE SINNER is a whydunnit, as opposed to a whodunnit book, although that's way too simplistic a description. When Cora Bender stabs a man to death in front of family, friends, and a crowded park, nobody realises that she was originally planning to commit suicide. Bender is obviously not in a good place in her life, despite outward appearances. Rejected wholeheartedly by her husband immediately after the attack, it seems an open-and-shut case, which may only be mitigated by a plea of insanity. Except that Rudolf Grovian senses something behind Frau ... Read Review |
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Outrage, Arnaldur Indridason20/02/2012 - 1:41pmWhen an author switches viewpoint in a long-running, popular series there's always a risk that some readers will be disappointed. Personally I find it can be one of the more satisfying uses of an ensemble cast, as was the case in OUTRAGE. Icelandic author Arnaldur Indridason has switched the viewpoint away from his normal main character Erlendur, to one of the lesser characters in the earlier books - Detective Elinborg. Erlendur is around, more by way of reference than physically, as he appears to have headed off to the East Fjords, where he lived as a young boy. ... Read Review |
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The Bombmaker, Stephen Leather16/02/2012 - 1:16pmI suspect I should have read this in 1999. Ultimately a readable enough book, which, being a thriller required a willing suspension of disbelief. Whilst willing, the suspension bit got wider, higher and somewhat shakier as I went on. Partially I think the problem was one of believability of the main premise. I'm not Pollyanna, I'm well aware that everyone has a few things tucked away in the past that they'd rather their partner didn't find out about... but seriously ... the proverbial hits the oscillating device and she's still staying quiet? Had a bit of a problem swallowing ... Read Review |
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A Noble Killing, Barbara Nadel16/02/2012 - 12:55pmAnother series that I really should be doing a better job keeping up with as Barbara Nadel writes about Turkey in a way that's vivid, believable and extremely entertaining. A NOBLE KILLING is the 13th book in the Inspector Cetin Ikmen series, although it might be fairer to combine that with Inspector Mehmet Suleyman who seems to have raised his profile in this book. (Needless to say I'm behind, so I'm not sure if this is a phenomena in this book or something that's been ongoing). Not, I suspect, would Suleyman be that thrilled with his starring role here as most of the ... Read Review |
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Shadows of Sounds, Alex Gray14/02/2012 - 2:19pmI am all over the place with this series, and I don't think that's helping my enjoyment of these books one little bit. Nor, mind you, is the line blazoned all over the front cover 'Glasgow's Answer to Ian Rankin'.... sorry, but that's setting the bar just a tad on the high side isn't it....? So high that you can't help feeling that, as a reader, you're going to be looking for reasons to jiggle that bar. Mind you, from memory, there was something similar screaming from the front cover of the last book in the series I read - which also did not live up to the expectation set. ... Read Review |
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Calibre, Ken Bruen14/02/2012 - 1:57pmWhen your favourite authors start dying even the most reasonable reader should be forgiven for becoming a nervous, obsessed, idiot hoarder of books that can, after all, be re-read should the unthinkable eventuate. Despite an overwhelming desire to continue this hoarding behaviour, eventually the yearning for books like CALIBRE becomes too strong and, as a result, I'm no longer hoarding CALIBRE. (DISCLAIMER: I have no information whatsoever with regard to Mr Bruen's state of health... it's just that he's a favourite author and there's always the chance that any one of my favourite ... Read Review |
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The Devil's Garden, Debi Marshall13/02/2012 - 4:51pmTHE DEVIL'S GARDEN was a book I picked up because the case it covers - The Claremont Serial Killings - is unfortunately still unsolved, and because I've been reading a little about a number of cases in WA recently. It made me want to find out more about the nature of the investigation into the murders of two young women, and the disappearance of a third in 1996 and 1997. What I discovered from this book is an inkling into the tunnel vision of the police force which appears to be consistent with the attitude displayed in another case in the same state of Australia. ... Read Review |
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Crime Scene, Esther McKay13/02/2012 - 1:53pm"Day after day my life was consumed by killings, distress and gruesome sites, each one adding another piece to an ever-growing mosaic that seemed to be made up of bloodied disposable gloves, plastic bags and human waste. . ." I don't think there's any way that Esther McKay could describe her life as a forensic crime investigator in terms that would make it comfortable reading for anybody. Which means it's no surprise whatsoever that this book is confrontational, difficult and frequently disturbing, just as the job must have been. McKay has a way of telling ... Read Review |
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Tooth and Claw, Nigel McCrery10/02/2012 - 3:34pmDCI Mark Lapslie is one of those grumpy, rumpled detective characters, with a slight twist. He has synaesthesia - sounds instantly trigger taste sensations. Which makes participating in the world profoundly difficult. The condition is so out of control that he's had to move to an isolated cottage, communicating with his colleagues via technology, keeping the noise at bay so that he can at least function a little. His wife has left him, taking their children with her, he's lonely, fraught, struggling to cope with the condition and the restrictions it places on his life. ... Read Review |
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The Winter of the Lions, Jan Costin Wagner10/02/2012 - 2:27pmI cannot believe, firstly that I've left the last two books in this series unread for so long, and secondly I'd be daft enough to read the third, THE WINTER OF THE LIONS out of order. Not that it made a lot of difference to the experience. It's hard to use the word enjoyable when you're referring to any of the books by Jan Costin Wagner as they are so steeped in grief and brooding, although, there was just a glimmer that Kimmo Joentaa might be ready to move on a little. Even though the death of his wife is still the defining thing in his life, he is forced to look outside himself, ... Read Review |
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Ice Cold, Andrea Maria Schenkel09/02/2012 - 1:02pmWhilst ICE COLD is the second book from German writer Andrea Maria Schenkel, it's the first book - THE MURDER FARM - that I have to start out mentioning. I still remember my reaction to that book - mesmerised, enthralled, vaguely stunned. Needless to say, trying not to set expectations for ICE COLD was a tricky undertaking. Set in 1930's Munich, ICE COLD is the progression of a rapist serial killer. Various viewpoints are told chapter by chapter, each voice eerily intimate, and personal, distinguished by a change in font to give the reader a visual queue, as well as a ... Read Review |
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Silent Fear, Katherine Howell08/02/2012 - 1:18pmIt's odd, the things that can occur to you when you're reading books. In the case of SILENT FEAR I just could not stop thinking how glad I was to be a reader and not a writer. Honestly, how do these people come up with such consistently good characters and excellent plots? Howell makes her life that little bit more difficult by always bringing in a Paramedic thread, mostly with new characters each book, weaving what happens to them on the job into the plot of an excellent crime fiction / police procedural book. Even allowing for a background as a paramedic, I've no idea how she ... Read Review |
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Death and the Spanish Lady, Carolyn Morwood06/02/2012 - 2:34pmDEATH AND THE SPANISH LADY is the first book from Carolyn Morwood for quite a while, and that, if for no other reason was enough to create some interest in these parts. Set in the period immediately following World War 1, in Melbourne, during the Spanish 'Flu epidemic of 1919, the book introduces Sister Eleanor Jones. Returned from nursing soldiers overseas, she has volunteered to work in the temporary hospital that is set up within the Melbourne Exhibition Buildings to treat the huge number of patients who succumb to the epidemic. Given the number of people dying from ... Read Review |
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Truth Dare Kill, Gordon Ferris06/02/2012 - 1:46pm1945 - World War 2 is over, and TRUTH DARE KILL is another book set in a post-war period that I've read recently. Set in London, this is the story of Danny McRae, an ex-policeman who has returned from the war after being captured by the Germans, incurring a severe head injury in the process. As a result he suffers amnesia and blackouts, which has to make working as a private investigator a lot more complicated than it needs to be. Approached by a woman who wants the possible death of her married lover investigated, McRae takes the job. Partially because he needs the ... Read Review |
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The Sleeping Dragon, Miyuki Miyabe03/02/2012 - 3:17pmOn the cover of THE SLEEPING DRAGON, Miyuki Miyabe is noted as Japan's Number 1 bestselling Mystery Writer, known for her ability to write strong suspense novels. Which made this particular book an interesting prospect, even allowing for the inclusion of an ESP sub-thread which isn't often something I'm particularly comfortable with. But I am very comfortable with something that has a strong sense of place, and a strong sense of the culture that it comes from. Even allowing for the novel being translated, there remained something quintessentially Japanese about this ... Read Review |
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Shadow Show, Pat Flower02/02/2012 - 2:16pmRe-reading any of Pat Flower's excellent books is always a very bittersweet experience. Reading SHADOW SHOW even more so, as my edition was published after Flower died, from the effects of pentobarbitone poisoning, taken intentionally, in September 1977. Patricia Mary Bryson Flower was born in February 1914 in Kent, England. Her family came to New South Wales in 1928, where she lived firstly at Kyogle and then in Sydney. In the 1940's, whilst working as a secretary for the New Theatre League, she wrote sketches and plays in her spare time. Whilst she was ... Read Review |
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Wink Murder, Ali Knight01/02/2012 - 2:29pmWINK MURDER is the debut book from ex-journalist and sub-editor Ali Knight. Given that the book is set within the cut-throat and odd world of tabloid television, perhaps her background has informed the way that the world of the media (albeit she worked in print) works. There was so much about the run down and the early part of this book that didn't appeal, I wasn't at all sure I'd be able to get to the end of it. The high-flying husband returning late at night, drunk, covered in blood, muttering. The stay at home mother with the part-time, lesser job in her husband's ... Read Review |
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Miles Off Course, Sulari Gentill30/01/2012 - 5:12pmNot sure what's weirder, talking to fictional characters, or the feeling that you actually know those fictional characters... Either way, you have to think it's quite a feat for a writer to get you to the stage where you're more than happy to regard her characters as real people. MILES OFF COURSE is now the third book from Sulari Gentill featuring Rowland Sinclair and his band of supporters - Edna, Milton and Clyde and that feeling of connection, of reality and authenticity continues ... in spades. The connection is probably helped by the way that Gentill sets her ... Read Review |
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Cocaine Blues, Kerry Greenwood30/01/2012 - 1:54pmI really shouldn't get all impressed by a new cover, but having no idea whatsoever of who Essie Davis is, I was really pleased to see her popup on the re-release of Kerry Greenwood's first Phryne Fisher book COCAINE BLUES. I think the casting people for the upcoming ABC TV series may just have done a very good job! Re-releasing the books is an excellent idea, not just because of the TV tie in, but also because it gives old fans, as well as a new audience a chance to catch up with the opening onslaught of what is now up to 18 or something books, from which 13 episodes are ... Read Review |