All the Reviews

Zulu, Caryl Férey

Unbelievably violent, amazingly confrontational, searingly honest and profoundly emotional, ZULU is one of those books that you may have to read through spread fingers, but it is almost impossible to put this book down until it screeches to an ending that will make you shudder.

This is noir, critical, brutal writing at it's absolute best. The "Zulu" of the title refers not so much to the tribe as a whole, but to Cape Town homicide captain Ali Neuman.  Heading up the investigation into the death of a young woman whose body is found with a crushed skull, Neuman accepts that ... Read Review

Operation Napoleon, Arnaldur Indridason

Reactions to an author taking a detour away from a much loved series, or style (or both for that matter) can vary.  Some readers love the chance to head into new territory, others find that departure too much of a step, and long to return to the familiarity of the series, the known characters or the styling.  And as with everything, for this reader, it all depends. 

OPERATION NAPOLEON is a thriller, set in Iceland, but based around the mystery of a plane that went down at the very end of World War II.   To take this that little bit further again from the Erlendur ... Read Review

The Ringmaster, Vanda Symon

THE RINGMASTER is the second in the Sam Shephard series from NZ author Vanda Symon.  Sam has moved to Dunedin, is in detective training when the body of a young university student is found in the Botanic Gardens.  In Sam's world it goes without saying that nothing is ever going to be straightforward, and once the possibility that this murder isn't a solitary event, the connection between murders all over the Southern South Island of New Zealand and a local travelling circus becomes a distinct possibility.

Which, as it does, leads to a sympathetic relationship with an ... Read Review

The Mammoth Book of International Crime, edited by Maxim Jakubowski

This is a fantastic collection of really good quality crime fiction from a wide range of backgrounds and perspectives.

The compilation is made up of 36 stories (too many to list here anyway) from a diverse range of writers and countries.  That's part of what's great about this collection - not just an opportunity to hear different voices and perspectives from a wide range of cultures, but to see how crime fiction is universal.  Add to that the fact that there really isn't a dud in the bunch, and I found this collection absolutely terrific and can't recommend it highly ... Read Review

Double Back, Mark Abernethy

I really really really hope that, in particular, local fans of spy and espionage thrillers are reading Mark Abernethy's terrific series.  Firstly because each of the stories is set in our own region, and secondly because Alan McQueen is such a quintessential Aussie bloke hero type.

Of course, just setting books in our region or taking current day events as a basis for your books doesn't qualify them as must reads.  What does that for DOUBLE BACK and the earlier books in the series is that they are extremely good layered high-action thrillers.  

Part of the ... Read Review

Dark Blood, Stuart MacBride

The problem with an author making it onto my "Pre-Order IMMEDIATELY list" is that once the book arrives I have that dreaded "do I read immediately or hoard" dilemma.  It's easier with some of my all time favourite authors - there's a few, well not to put too fine a point on it, aren't as young as they used to be.   Stuart MacBride, on the other hand, is a young man.  Last time I set eyes on him he looked to be in remarkably good health.  But still, you never know.  Publishers are queer folk and they may suddenly have a brain freeze, or worse still, Stuart may just get distracted by ... Read Review

Before I Go to Sleep, S.J. Watson

BEFORE I GO TO SLEEP is the story of a woman who wakes up every morning beside a stranger. She's completely forgotten the last 25+ years of her life.  A woman in her late 40's, she can remember her 20's but she only gets glimpses, erratic flashes of her life since then.  The man she wakes up beside every morning reminds her, yet again, that he is her husband Ben and that he will look after her.  The house has photos in strategic places, there are notes on the board in the kitchen to remind her what she needs to do.  What's particularly creepy about this scenario is that the reader is ... Read Review

The Priest, Gerard O'Donovan

Serial killer storylines.  We've all said it.  Over it.  One more serial killer storyline and I swear.....   So I'll adjust previous assertions and instead say I'm over SOME serial killer storylines.

THE PRIEST, the first crime novel from Irish author Gerard O'Donovan has a serial killer that actually doesn't kill all of his victims.  Instead they are horribly injured, disfigured, tortured and abused, but they don't all die.  And our serial attacker is one of those mad, bad, weird religious nutter types - the burns that he leaves his victim's with eventually reveal that ... Read Review

Like Clockwork, Margie Orford

Margie Orford lists, among many other activities, that she does Advocacy work for a Rape Crisis group in South Africa, so it's not very surprising LIKE CLOCKWORK looks very closely at the horrific consequences of rape and extreme violence against women.  Because of that there's nothing particularly easy about reading this book, but it definitely fulfils one of my major preferences in crime fiction - which is to inform the reader.  No matter how uncomfortable that information can sometimes be.

Dr Clare Hart is a police profiler who lives on Cape Town's Seapoint promenade, ... Read Review