Opal

BOOK ADDED: Thu, 03/10/2024 - 11:59am by Karen

The book cover of Opal by Patricia Wolf includes the tagline 'A small town. A brutal murder. A killer among them.' and the notation 'A DS Walker Thriller' The image is looking down onto a small town with houses and fences, dry red all around, and a few dirt roads throughout. There's a build up of grey / black clouds overhead with the glow of red sun off to the left.

A small mining town. A brutal double murder. A killer among them.

DS Lucas Walker is off duty. He's supposed to be showing his little sister Grace the Australian outback, on her visit from Boston, but instead they're headed out...Read more

Find Us

BOOK ADDED: Tue, 24/09/2024 - 2:16pm by Karen

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There is a small yellow backpack – contents strewn around it, abandoned on a suburban footpath. There are the tracks of tyres coming to an end at a crippled stop sign.

Anyone walking past can feel the prickle on the back of their necks that tells them something happened a...Read more

Southern Aurora

BOOK ADDED: Thu, 19/09/2024 - 8:47pm by Karen

The book cover for Southern Aurora by Mark Brandi includes the tagline 'Bestselling author of Wimmera and the Rip' and the quotes 'Literary crime fiction at its best' Books+Publishing on Wimmera and 'Clarity amid the darkness ... a reminder of the novel's capacity to create empathy' Weekend Australian on The Rip The image is of a young boy in a singlet and jeans standing with his back to the viewer, and hands resting against his hips. He's looking out over dry brown grass towards a pale blue, cloudy sky. There is another tagline at the bottom 'small-town life is unforgiving when you're from the other side of the tracks'

The unforgettable new novel from the Dagger award-winning author of Wimmera. A novel that shows small-town life is unforgiving if you're from the other side of the tracks.

"We always listen out for the train when we're down in the cutting because sometimes...Read more

The Crag

BOOK ADDED: Thu, 19/09/2024 - 1:27pm by Karen

The book cover for The Crag by Claire Sutherland includes the tagline 'Sometimes the truth is just out of reach ...' and a quote 'I devoured this thrilling crime novel ... a gripping, vertigo-inducing read.' Hayley Scrivenor The image is of a female climber hanging from a horizontal rock crag out from the rock wall. She's high up above a lake and flat plain farming land. The sky is cloudy white and grey beyond her.

Will the mountain give up its secrets? While walking on an isolated track in the windswept Wimmera, rock-climber Skye discovers the body of a young woman. The body has injuries that suggest a rock-climbing accident, but it's been found more than 5km from the nearest cliffs at Mount Arapiles...Read more

The Chasm

BOOK ADDED: Tue, 17/09/2024 - 1:09pm by Karen

The book cover for The Chasm by Bronwyn Hall includes the tagline 'Every town needs a place to hide its secrets ...' and the quote 'Take a breath and strap in, because you won't put this down until the final page. A stunning debut.' Sarah Barrie, author of Unforgiven on [sic] Gone to Ground' The image is of a swinging footbridge over a heavily treed area, with a figure standing in the middle of the bridge wearing a jacket with the hood up and pants. They are facing away from the viewer, with their head turned slightly. The boards on the bridge are glowing slightly, and the title of the book is imposed over the middle in large red lettering.

Atmospheric, thrilling and twisty - a white-knuckled mystery set among Victoria's most rugged mountains from an exciting new voice in Australian noir. Perfect for fans of Wake and Exiles .

Every town needs somewhere to hide their secrets. Andy King knew she should never return...Read more

Kill Yours, Kill Mine

BOOK ADDED: Tue, 17/09/2024 - 1:00pm by Karen

The book cover for Kill Yours, Kill Mine by Katherine Kovacic includes the tagline 'Men Get Away with Murder all the time. Now it's our turn.' The image is black with an outline of a woman highlighted by reddish / pink lighting around the contours of her shoulder's, hand, face and hair. She has a finger held up to her lips in a classic "shoosh" pose. The title of the novel is in bright yellow lettering over the woman's image and there are little puffs of yellow what looks like smoke coming off some of the lettering.

Mia's grief counselling practice, The Pleiades, is named for the seven sisters from Greek mythology who were the companions of the Goddess of the Hunt—and who, in some stories, die of grief or are killed to be saved from attackers.

Mia has been gathering broken women together for...Read more

Shadow City

BOOK ADDED: Mon, 16/09/2024 - 2:06pm by Karen

The book cover of Shadow City by Natalie Conyer includes, in a yellow "sticker" the quote 'Tense, gritty and insightful' Emma Viskic. The image is looking out from a dark space, probably under a bridge, towards a brightly lit night skyline with a couple of gulls flying across the sky. The title is at the top in white lettering, the author's name towards the bottom in yellow.

Sydney, The body of a young woman is found in Chinatown. She's been beaten, tortured - and tattooed with the image of a sun. Called to the scene, Sergeant Jackie Rose asks herself whether this was a drug murder, or something else. But before her investigation can get under...Read more

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Crime Fiction

Unblessed

BOOK ADDED: Tue, 10/09/2024 - 1:34pm by Karen

The book cover for Unblessed by Roger Simpson includes the taglines 'A thrilling journey into the dark places where genius, money and murder meet.' and 'A Jane Halifax novel'. The image is of a city skyline with only the tops of the buildings visible, there's fog or mist swirling below. The sky is dark orange and red.

Jane Halifax will need all her forensic experience to unlock the secrets of one of the world’s most formidable a Silicon Valley billionaire whose ex-business partner has just been murdered … A thrilling journey into the dark places where genius, money and murder meet....Read more

The Lonely Australian of the Asian Night

BOOK ADDED: Wed, 04/09/2024 - 2:51pm by Karen

Image of the cover for the short story The Lonely Australian of the Asian Night - a short story by Gregory Pakis. The image is of Asian styled temple buildings with elaborate rooflines, against a dusky, darkening sky. There's a palm tree to the left, and everything is very gloomy looking. There's a quote at the bottom "He was sick of his stinky boots."

Hookers and hawkers. 

Mosques and mosquitos.

Paul has had enough of Southeast Asia.

He's only here ‘cos it's cheap. 

And he's on the run from police after leaving Australia.

No, that place wasn't much better either. ...Read more

No One Will Know

BOOK ADDED: Fri, 30/08/2024 - 7:27pm by Karen

The book cover for No One Will Know (A Novel) by Rose Carlyle has the title down the page in large white lettering with the tagline's 'They're the Perfect Couple / They have the perfect plan / All they need is the perfect victim) interspersed. The background is predominately mauve in colouring with a small point jutting out into calm water, there's a woman standing on the point. There are two yachts moored on the water and a range of hills in the far background. At the bottom there's the line '#1 International Bestselling Author of The Girl in the Mirror'

They’re the perfect couple. They have the perfect plan. All they need is the perfect victim.

Julia and Christopher Hygate have the picture-perfect Gobs of money thanks to their lucrative shipping enterprise, an estate on a secluded island, and a baby on the way.

...Read more

Everywhere We Look

BOOK ADDED: Thu, 29/08/2024 - 7:53pm by Karen

The book cover for Every Where We Look by Martine Kropkowski is a view of still water through a tree. There's a young figure standing in the water at the bottom, where the water is reflecting a green sky above. There's a yellow glow in the distance, past a row of trees that is reflected in the rest of the water body.

Three friends travel to Marcoy, a regional town for a weekend away from family life. One year ago, a tragic incident splintered the group, and the women have seen little of each other since.

Melissa has slept much of the past twelve months away, and she hopes...Read more

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Newtown Review of Books

The Hitwoman's Guide to Reducing Household Debt

BOOK ADDED: Tue, 27/08/2024 - 3:11pm by Karen

The book cover for The Hitwoman's Guide to Reducing Household Debt by Mark Mupotsa-Russell is brightly coloured with blue / green, reddish pink, and red "stripes" across the book angled slightly upwards towards the right. The title is spread across these stripes with the bottom, reddish area being the largest. It contains a tagline 'There's no such thing as an ex-killer' which is printed beside the shape of a black door with the image of a woman holding a knife standing in it. There's a shadow out from there towards the right, and the author's name immediately above the shadow. There are two thin black legs visible to the left of the bottom of the doorway and a puddle leaking out from there.

I met my husband on the same day I committed my very last murder. There's a joke in there somewhere, about ending two men's lives.'

Olivia Hodges used to do horrible things - back when she worked for a Spanish crime syndicate - but she fled that life and moved home to Australia...Read more

The Hunted

BOOK ADDED: Thu, 22/08/2024 - 1:12pm by Karen

The book cover for the audio version of The Hunted by Gabriel Bergmoser includes the tagline 'Nowhere to run Nowhere to Hide'. The image is of a hot, firey red and yellow cloudy sky with nothing but an electricity line running through it and a few birds flying around.

Where does the adventure end . . .
and the nightmare begin?

Frank owns a service station on a little-used highway. His granddaughter, Allie, is sent to stay with him for the summer, but they don't talk a lot.

Simon is a...Read more

17 Years Later

BOOK ADDED: Wed, 14/08/2024 - 12:00am by Karen

The book cover for 17 Years Later by J.P. Pomare with the taglines 'Who really killed the Primrose family?' and 'Bestselling author of The Wrong Woman' The image is of a large, stately looking multi-storey house with elaborate verandahs, porches and decorations. There are large wrought iron gates slightly open in front with a figure walking away from the viewer between the gates and the entrance steps to the house. The colour scheme is greyed out, and there is a quote at the bottom 'A rare talent who continues to turn out crime masterpieces. Herald Sun'

Is the truth sometimes best left buried?

A crime masterpiece by bestselling author J. P. Pomare

The violent slaughter of the wealthy Primrose family while they slept shocked the nation of New Zealand and scarred the small idyllic rural town of...Read more

Waking the Tiger

BOOK ADDED: Sat, 10/08/2024 - 5:46pm by Karen

The image of the book cover for Waking the Tiger by Mark Wightman includes the tagline ' A Betancourt Mystery ' and the quote 'A wonderfully accomplished debut. ... Wightman is a writer we can expect great things of.' Abir Mukherjee The image has a red, textured background shot with gold, there is half the figure of an Asian woman standing on the right, her head tipped slightly down, looking towards the left. There is a large building at the bottom with a tall clock tower in the centre, and the title of the novel has a golden tiger standing in front of the T in Tiger.

Singapore, 1939

A young Japanese woman is found dead on the dockside, her throat slashed

Inspector Maximo Betancourt is working a new beat, one he didn’t ask for. Following the disappearance of his wife, his life and career have fallen...Read more

The Safe House

BOOK ADDED: Fri, 02/08/2024 - 3:44pm by Karen

The book cover for The Safe House by Cameron Ward has the tagline 'Seven strangers seeking refuge. But the danger's already inside ...' and a black circular "sticker" which has the quote 'Fast-paced, gripping and intense' T.M. Logan The image is of a large, very modern styled, multi-level house with huge windows lit brightly. It stands in the middle of a scrubby area up on a hill. Behind the house the sky is just like it would look if there was an incoming bushfire. Red and bright orange / yellow hot, with smoke and cloud swirling together.

SEVEN STRANGERS SEEKING REFUGE.
BUT DANGER IS EVERYWHERE THEY TURN...

When Jess accepts an offer to caretake a luxury property in the Australian outback, the isolated, all-inclusive solo trip is just what she needs.

But Jess isn't as alone as she thinks....Read more

The Caretaker

BOOK ADDED: Sun, 28/07/2024 - 1:05pm by Karen

The book cover for The Caretaker by Gabriel Bergmoser includes the taglines 'From the Bestselling Author of The Hunted' and 'She thinks she's safe. She thinks she's alone. She's wrong.' There's a quote at the bottom 'Straight-ahead, no holds barred brutal crime thrillers with an Australian feral tang' The Australian. The image is of the end of a ski lift (where the chairs go around to head back down a mountain) with a few chairs visible, and a wooden shed / control box beside it. Behind that is a view of sky, grey, cloudy, and the hint of hills far off in the distance.

An isolated, empty ski resort in the off-season. A woman who doesn't want to be found. A man who may not be who he appears to be. A game of cat and mouse - with deadly consequences. On the run from a controlling husband and his underworld associates in Melbourne, Charlotte has adopted a new...Read more

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Ngaio Marsh Entrant 2024

Ngaio Marsh Shortlist 2024

Blood & Ink

BOOK ADDED: Fri, 19/07/2024 - 7:07pm by Karen

The book cover of Blood & Ink by Brett Adams includes the tagline 'A heart-stopping new crime novel by' immediately above the author's name. The background is pale blue, with a pile of books that have the names on the spines including 'Frankenstein, Mary Shelley, Cold Blood Truman Capote & The Stranger Beside Me, Ann Rule'. On the top of the stack there's a white campervan and two small silhouettes of male characters - one pointing to the van.

Literature professor Jack Griffen has recently suffered a nervous breakdown. His wife has divorced him and she and their adult daughter have moved to the USA. Into the void steps exchange student Hieronymus Beck, claiming to be the professor’s greatest fan.

But everything changes...Read more

Dark Arena

BOOK ADDED: Thu, 11/07/2024 - 3:51pm by Karen

The book cover for Dark Arena by Jack Beaumont includes the quote 'Dark Arena is as real and as deeply disturbing as a world I once knew' Ant Middleton, former UK Special Forces and the tagline 'The Frenchman Returns'. The image is of a man standing in a classic stance, holding a gun in his hands, one knee slightly bent, he's in shadow. In the background there's a snowy piece of ground with a few stubby trees and an elaborate building beyond, with minarets on the roof.

The Frenchman returns in Dark Arena, a super-charged espionage thriller from Jack Beaumont. When an agent of the Directorate-General for External Security (DGSE) is brutally murdered in front of his family, the "Company" swings into action, determined to track down the killers. Meanwhile,...Read more

With Winter Comes Darkness

BOOK ADDED: Wed, 10/07/2024 - 3:22pm by Karen

The book cover of With Winter Comes Darkness by Robbi Neal includes the tagline 'A terrible accident, a brutal murder, the truth will out ...' The image is a foggy scene in brown tones, with a car, headlights on, heading from the right towards a small brown building that looks to have a light on. There are bare tree branches visible around the edges and behind the house, and the ground under the car is red brown in colour.

A terrible accident burns down a family's life on the same day a murder is committed. From the ashes of these acts comes revelation, darkness, and the truth. Psychological suspense and profound family drama meet in this heartrending and original Australian novel.

1975, Ballarat...Read more

Broken Bay

BOOK ADDED: Tue, 09/07/2024 - 3:15pm by Karen

Image of the book cover for Broken Bay by Margaret Hickey includes the taglines 'Where truth is dead in the water' and 'Author of Cutters End and Stone Town' The image is of a sinkhole filled with deep blue water, it has high surrounding vertical edges, sitting in the middle of dry paddocks with a small row of trees beside it. Off into the distance there's a small hill and the sky above is dark blue and cloudy.

Old loyalties and decades-long feuds rise to the surface in this stunning crime novel, set in a spectacular Australian landscape known for its jagged cliffs and hidden caves.

Detective Sergeant Mark Ariti has taken a few days’ holiday in Broken Bay at precisely the wrong time....Read more

Lies and Deception

BOOK ADDED: Tue, 02/07/2024 - 12:16pm by Karen

The image of the book cover for Lies and Deception by Laraine Stephens includes the tagline ' a reggie da costa mystery '. The image is a wide red textured background with a tarot card in the centre - its got the title the Ten of Swords. There are ten gold and black and white swords sticking out of the back of a figure lying face down.

Lies + Deception = Murder

Melbourne 1925. Jasper Fitzalan Howard is found stabbed to death in his room at The Hotel Windsor. In a bizarre twist, he is clutching a tarot card, the Ten of Swords, in his right hand. Initially, the police identify him as a...Read more

The Fall Between

BOOK ADDED: Thu, 27/06/2024 - 7:30pm by Karen

The image of the book cover for The Fall Between by Darcy Tindale includes the tagline ' Not every secret can be swept away', and the quotes 'Rural noir at its very best.' Candice Fox and 'Stunning! A thrilling debut.' Margaret Hicky The image is of a gravel road winding it's way down the left of a post and wire fence on the edge of a brown paddock with grass blowing in a breeze. There's a windmill and water trough on the right, and hills in the distance.

On a hot November morning, the first body lies in a cattle trough . . . It will be another two hours before rigor mortis sets in. Until then, the slim fingers will float below the water’s surface, gently bobbing, beckoning Detective Giles to come and find her.

Detective Rebecca...Read more

Death Leaves the Station

BOOK ADDED: Wed, 26/06/2024 - 5:22pm by Karen

The image of the book cover for Death Leaves the Station by Alexander Thorpe is a textured layout with the left hand side being the textured outline of a woman's white face and black hair, her hair curling around onto her check, forming the shape of joined hands with a string of beads hanging from them. There's the outline of a male body sitting to the left of the book title which runs down the black side of her hair / face. The background to the rest of the cover is green, yellow and muted colours with the images of flowers and leaves on it. Where the white of her face swings down to the bottom of the image, there's a horse and cart with a single figure driving it

A nameless friar turns up at Halfwell Station at the same time that Ana, the adopted daughter of the station owners, discovers a body in the desert during her midnight walk. But when Ana returns to look for it, the body is gone.

Death Leaves the Station brings the cosy...Read more

Death Holds the Key

BOOK ADDED: Wed, 26/06/2024 - 3:33pm by Karen

The image of the book cover for Death Holds the Key by Alexander Thorpe is a textured layout with the left hand side being the textured black outline of a man holding a book, a rosary with cross dangling from the same hand. On the right, against a slightly off white background is the outline of an image of a man in a hat, the texture over that image is made up of vines and leaves. At the bottom, over the top of the textured black there's an outline of a handgun, textured in the same way as the man in the hat. The title has a keyhole in place of the O in Holds, and is all in white, except for the KEY, which has the same texture again as the gun / hatted man.

When loathed landholder Fred O' Donnell is found dead in a locked room with a bullet in his chest, rookie Detective Hartley must seek help from a mysterious wanderer to solve the case. And it' s one where everyone, including his family, has a motive and a secret to keep.Featuring the...Read more

The Company of Rats

BOOK ADDED: Fri, 21/06/2024 - 1:24pm by Karen

The image of the book cover for The Company of Rats by Sulari Gentill is an image of an elaborately dressed gentleman in front of a large house, with a very fancy 1940's style car behind him. There are rats around and on parts of the house, and text at the bottom headed Proclamation Plague

A short story prequel in the Rowland Sinclair series available on the State Library of NSW website.Read more

The Tea Ladies

BOOK ADDED: Fri, 07/06/2024 - 3:04pm by Karen

The book cover for The Tea Ladies by Amanda Hampson includes the tagline 'They keep everyone's secrets ... until there's a murder'. The image is a white background with a blue green / teal border. To the right there's a dressmaker's dummy with a brightly patterned shift dress on it. In the centre there's a burnt edged bullet hole with the text of the book showing through it.

They keep everyone's secrets, until there's a murder...

Sydney, 1965: After a chance encounter with a stranger, tea ladies Hazel, Betty and Irene become accidental sleuths, stumbling into a world of ruthless crooks and racketeers in search of a young woman believed to be in...Read more

Resurrection

BOOK ADDED: Thu, 06/06/2024 - 3:43pm by Karen

The book cover for Resurrection by Roger Simpson includes the tagline 'Who Do You Trust When You Can't Trust Yourself'. The image is of a woman, back to the viewer walking towards a male figure shrouded in a hoodie, hands in his pockets. It's foggy with the hint of streetlights turning the fog around him vaguely purple in colour, off to his left are the blue tones of a brightly lit forecourt. There's a note at the bottom 'A Jane Halifax Novel'

Jane Halifax is back in a twisted story of betrayal, where the formidable forensic psychiatrist will discover that the only person you can trust is yourself. A near-fatal car accident left Jane Halifax in a coma, and when she wakes, she has no idea who she is …

Initially...Read more

Bone Lands

BOOK ADDED: Wed, 08/05/2024 - 5:30pm by Karen

The image of the book cover for Bone Lands by Pip Fioretti includes the tagline ' A One-Man Police Station. Three Murders. A Past That Will Not Stay Buried'. The image is stark, with bones lying on dry red dirt at the bottom, dry grass above, with a rider on a horse in the centre distance. There's a single scrubby tree and a square brick building to the right. Overhead the sky is dirty yellow and red, heading to dark grey at the top.

'Isn't it your job to stop people being murdered?'

1911, on a winter's night in arid New South Wales wool country, mounted trooper Augustus Hawkins discovers the bodies of three young people. They are scions of the richest family in the district, savagely murdered on a...Read more

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Crime Fiction

#AusCrime

Dragon's Eye

BOOK ADDED: Fri, 03/05/2024 - 5:20pm by Karen

The image of the book cover for Dragon's Claw by A.C. Edwards includes the tagline ' A Galahad Jones Thriller'. The image is of the image of a young girl with long hair, she's looking towards the right, back to the viewer, in heavy shadow with trees and light sky in the background. Superimposed over her is the shot of a man walking away from the viewer, he's heading into bright sunlight, on a city laneway surrounded by buildings.

A husband and father is betrayed, a son chases a ghost through the decades, a Russian arms dealer wants his hands on a priceless ruby, a young woman disappears with the keys to the mystery, and a female insurgent fights for her life. The Past and the Present are on a collision course....Read more

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Crime Fiction

#AusCrime

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