The Politics of Murder, Reece Pocock
"Part One
The Dump
Constable Mark Jenkins woke and gazed at the stars.
He sensed a presence and lifted his head.
Someone with large eyes was staring at him. Maybe he was dreaming. At first,
...Read more
Sorted on book title (not in series order)
#AusCrime
The Popeye Murder, Sandra Winter-Dewhirst
Feeling very much like an advertisement for gourmet South Australia with a slightly incongruous crime fiction element (wouldn't that turn potential visitors off...) THE POPEYE MURDER by Sandra Winter-Dewhirst is the first Rebecca Keith mystery. An extremely cozy series, based around the...Read more
The Port Fairy Murders, Robert Gott
The first book, THE HOLIDAY MURDERS marked a change in series, but not style, for author Robert Gott. Much of this author's crime fiction writing has concentrated on historical time periods, in particular around the second world war.
This reader was very impressed with the...Read more
The Portrait of Molly Dean, Katherine Kovacic
Living in an area that's got more than it's fair share of talented artists, there's something strangely appealing about crime fiction set in the art world. (I'm not implying anything about the people that live here, nor their likelihood of becoming victims and/or perpetrators). But it's a...Read more
The Precipice, Virginia Duigan
I suppose finding some sort of "pattern" in what you're reading, when you read a lot of books, is inevitable, but it always intrigues when I find that sort of co-incidence showing up. At the moment it's well-written unsympathetic, often off-putting characterisations. THE PRECIPICE has...Read more
Present Darkness, Malla Nunn
There has always been a strong instructive element in the Emmanuel Cooper series. Apartheid South Africa is a world that we know existed, even know some details about, but what it was like actually living in that regime, particularly when you're not definitely part of the elite? Well that's...Read more
The Price of Fame, RC Daniells
THE PRICE OF FAME is firstly RC Daniells' first crime fiction book (she writes fantasy under her fullname Rowena Cory Daniells), albeit with a hefty paranormal subtext. It wasn't a book that I was particularly clamouring to read, what with being mildly allergic to anything paranormal....Read more
Priest of Evil, The Purifier, Richard Osborn
No doubt about it, THE PURIFIER is part of a big, brave trilogy. Nothing at all wrong with these sorts of huge, conspiracy, world domination, evil threat, nuclear armageddon, master criminal types of scenarios. As long as the reader has the option of a bit of suspension of disbelief. Which...Read more
Prime Cut, Alan Carter
There's absolutely nothing like a quintessential Aussie bloke, a cop in purgatory, stuck in outback Western Australia, doing time on the Stock Squad for offending the powers that be. Alan Carter's debut novel PRIME CUT starts out with considerable promise, despite the slightly unrealistic...Read more
The Private Island, Ali Lowe
Not for a moment would this reviewer wish to suggest that this is a time in history when the murder of an obnoxious rich person, on a luxury island, busily engaged in being obnoxious and threatening to all and sundry is an enjoyable idea, but it did come across, in this novel, as...Read more
Private Prosecution, Lisa Ellery
If, like this reader, you're a bit twitchy about "legal" crime fiction, then PRIVATE PROSECUTION could be just the book for you. As the blurb puts it:
"This is a pacy, darkly comic whodunnit with a twist - Andrew knows who did it but the clock is ticking and he
...Read more
Problem Solved: True Stories from a Blind Private Eye, Andrew Chambers
Fans of crime fiction, raised on a diet of lone wolf PI's, limping the dark and rainy backstreets in pursuit of justice for the downtrodden, or retribution for wrongs that nobody else cares about, might find the tales in PROBLEM SOLVED a bit of a surprise. Most of the cases that PI Andrew...Read more
The Prodigal Son, Sulari Gentill
Anybody who knows about this series will be aware that this novella has been a gift from the author to fans, a little taste of the ongoing series, as a thank you, and a filler in a bit of a gap between novels. It has the added benefit of fleshing out the back-story of Rowland Sinclair and...Read more
Prohibited Zone, Alastair Sarre
PROHIBITED ZONE by Alastair Sarre was published by Wakefield Press in 2011 with the follow-up, ECSTASY LAKE, out early in 2016. If, like me, somehow you missed the first book then you really should rectify that as soon as possible. It is a stellar debut filled with great characters, a...Read more
Promise, Tony Cavanaugh
I think it would be fair to say that PROMISE by Tony Cavanaugh has been talked up in these parts. Having read the book now, you can see many of the reasons for the general feeling of enthusiasm, although to be fair, the central storyline of this book is going to be problematic for some...Read more
The Promised Land, Barry Maitland
THE PROMISED LAND is the 13th Brock and Kolla police procedural from Barry Maitland. The first novel in the series, THE MARX SISTERS, was originally released in 1994, and here we are at the 13th outing, and Maitland is still writing as assured, elegant and entertaining a police procedural...Read more
The Promised Land, Barry Maitland
It has been a long time between drinks. Author Barry Maitland has always had a dab hand with the police procedural, and it is a relief to once again encounter the sensibilities and stoicism of his stellar creations David Brock and Kathy Kolla. Paired even in retirement, the two continue in...Read more
Punter's Turf, Peter Klein
Peter Klein has spent a lifetime in the horse racing industry, working for some of Australia's top trainers such as TJ Smith and Bart Cummings. He was once a strapper of champion galloper Kingston Town. It's therefore not all that surprising that he has set PUNTER'S TURF firmly in the...Read more
Purgatory, Robert M. Smith
Originally published in 2022, this is a series that slipped past me, but something drew my attention to the setting mostly, and after this last awful summer, reading about Mallee towns in the heat sounded like a fictional pursuit that might distract from the reality outside the door....Read more
Quick, Steve Worland
From the moment that Billy Hotchkiss hits Hell Corner on the opening lap of the Bathurst 1000 you can tell he's a man on a mission. That's likely to end up pear-shaped as everyone knows that "The Mountain" is an unforgiving beast. And sure enough, he throws the Commodore at Frosty...Read more
Quintus Huntley: Botany, Royce Leville
I was having a bit of a chat with a fellow lover of crime fiction (hi Gavin) on BlueSky who copied me in on an instagram post that outed the author of this novel as Campbell Jeffreys, a writer with a diverse background in literature, media and film, and the author of (amongst other things)...Read more
Quota, Jock Serong
It's not unknown for crime fiction followers to point out that it frequently explores the rights and wrongs of society and human behaviour. Because of that it's reasonable to expect that the settings, and central subject matter have unlimited scope, but I think this is the first book I can...Read more
The Raft, Alan Mills
THE RAFT was originally published in 2005 before the author's recent CITY OF ANIMALS.
Lydia and Martin Napier have gone through personal tragedy, their once perfect lives have been turned upside down and they are now struggling...Read more
Ranger, Chris Allen
In 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...Read more
The Raven's Eye, Barry Maitland
Barry Maitland’s Brock and Kolla series is back for its 12th outing with The Raven’s Eye, set on the canals and houseboats of the Thames. Full Review at...Read more
Red Dirt Talking, Jacqueline Wright
Somewhere in the back of my head, as I've read more and more books set in Australia, there's always been a little question. Which RED DIRT TALKING has answered. Why can't we have more books written from the Aboriginal perspective? And what better way to look at that perspective from the...Read more
Red Ice, James Phelan
Never having read any of James Phelan's Lachlan Fox series before, RED ICE had to be approached as a standalone, which probably made for a different experience than that of the dedicated fan.
Lachlan Fox is an ex-navy operative turned investigative journalist, and in this book...Read more
Red Queen, H.M. (Honey) Brown
There's an immediate dive into the here and now with the opening chapter, each of which is a self contained character study, and each chapter grouping is titled appropriately. Honey Brown touches gently on each chapter as if it were in preparation for a scene change in a film or play. ...Read more
Red Queen, H.M. (Honey) Brown
Apocalyptic 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...Read more
Redback, Lindy Cameron
Taking a big step away from her Kit O'Malley series, Lindy Cameron has created an excellent thriller. Pacey, peopled with strong female characters; good male characters; a complicated yet disconcertingly believable multi-threaded plot and a hefty dose of subtle humour, REDBACK is...Read more