Sorted on book title (not in series order)
This book is quite different from Patricia Carlon's usual psychological mysteries, and it is far from her best work. Originally published in 1970, this book shows its age, not just in style but in the plot. The plot had potential, but is let down by boring characters and what I believe was...Read more
When I read the first novel from Alexander Thorpe (DEATH LEAVES THE STATION) I hadn't quite twigged to the extent that future novels would be based around the itinerant friar figure - but it's now titled the "Itinerant Mendicant" series, and it really makes a lot of sense. He's a...Read more
First released in Australia in November 2020, DEATH IN DAYLESFORD is the 21st Phryne Fisher book, set in Victoria's Spa Country - between Daylesford and Hepburn Springs, in an area that's all too real, with some fictional places built into this story, as is the tendency with this very...Read more
DEATH IN THE LADIES' GODDESS CLUB is set in post World War I Sydney, in the 1930's at a time of great social and political upheaval in Australia's past. Women are just starting to fight back against the constraints society has placed on their lives and behaviour, and the bohemian lifestyle...Read more
Mignon Warner was born in Adelaide, South Australia and in 1982 when Death In Time was published, she was living in London.
Death in Time is set within the confines of a Welsh resort hotel, during a Magician's Conference. Cynthia Playford dies, falling from a cable car...Read more
As I was reading this novel, I was finishing the autobiography THIS MUCH IS TRUE by Miriam Margolyes in audio form and I was struck by the coincidence of some of the things that she says most powerfully and pointedly, about dehumanisation, the utter and abject cruelty of "Empire" and the...Read more
There's a really nice interpretation of classic golden age mystery styling at the heart of this lovely little novel set in the early white settlement period of rural, remote Western Australia.
Cleverly balanced between the personal story of Ana, the adopted daughter of the owners...Read more
The first in a projected series named for crime reporter Reggie da Costa, THE DEATH MASK MURDERS is set in 1918 in Melbourne, where a wild storm comes out of nowhere, battering Brighton, forcing two strangers - would be artist, country girl, and companion Emma Hart (who was mildly injured...Read more
The fifth Dr Anya Crichton book from Kathryn Fox, DEATH MASK combines Anya's forensic physician role with an exploration of professional sport and sexual misconduct. Sexual misconduct is too mild a description really - this book explores the very murky world of mob-behaviour, gang rape,...Read more
DEATH AND THE RUNNING PATTERER is the book that won Penguin's last Most Wanted Crime Writing competition, and there's a comment in the acknowledgements that explain a little about the development of the book:
"I owe a debt to Robert Sessions, Penguin Australia's Publishing...Read more
DEATH 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...Read more
A DECENT RANSOM is a story of a kidnapping gone right (according to the tag on the book). More than that it's a story about a bit of a misfit that somehow ends up okay, despite all the odds being stacked against him.
The storyline is pretty simple to start off with - two young...Read more
Fans of Australian writing (not just crime fiction) if you've not caught up yet with Rowly Sinclair and his wanderings through 1930's Sydney and beyond, where on earth have you been?
A DECLINE IN PROPHETS is the second book in the Rowland Sinclair series from Sulari Gentill and...Read more
DEEP NIGHT is the second Leah Kolbe book from USA-born, Australian resident author Caroline Petit. Set in 1940's Hong Kong, Leah finally agrees to marry her lover English ex-pat Jonathon. Unfortunately the date of their wedding - Christmas 1941 - finds her exiled to Macau and Jonathon in...Read more
Cliff's back - Lazarus with a quadruple bypass no less. He's resigned to never getting his licence back and his agency is now in the hands of his daughter Megan and her PI boyfriend. He still misses Lily, and he's still driving "a" trusty Falcon, and he's no longer so pressed for money...Read more
If, like me, you grew up on a diet of Len Deighton, Robert Ludlum and John Le Carre novels, there is a chance you're a bit of a fan of fast paced, military, espionage style novels. DEFENDER OF THE FAITH is a recent entry in the what is rapidly becoming a large pool of choice for Australian...Read more
Deserving Death is the seventh novel in the Ella Marconi series from ex-paramedic Australian author, Katherine Howell. This is a series that just keeps getting better and better. It’s not just solid plotting and good characters that make this novel...Read more
It's been a bit of a wait for the arrival of what seems to be the first crime fiction novel, DETECTIVE WORK from Australian author John Dale. Well enough worth the wait to wonder why it's taken so long, and to certainly hope that it's the beginning of a new series.
There's...Read more
Another book from the local books pile that I've been catching up on lately - The Devil's Jump is from the same author that wrote GET RICH QUICK (which won the Ned Kelly for Best First Crime Novel in 1997) and AMAZE YOUR FRIENDS (which won the Ned Kelly for Best Crime Novel in 1999)....Read more
Callie Jones has never had any reason to mistrust her husband Dale, until the day that derails her entire life. How could Callie have been so wrong about the man she had chosen to spend the rest of her life with?
Fleeing from the eyes of the press after Dale’s violent death,...Read more
Bit of housekeeping first because I got myself a little confused early on here. DEVIL'S LAIR is a standalone novel from prolific Australian author Sarah Barrie, sharing some location similarities with an earlier novel - BLOODTREE RIVER. Sarah's past books seem to lean towards the romance...Read more
THE DEVIL'S TEARS is the debut thriller from ex Army Officer Steven Horne, as well as the first fictional book I've read set in Timor-Leste. There's an excellent Author's Note at the end of the book that gives a potted history of the struggle in East Timor for those not so familiar with...Read more
A while ago another much admired true crime writer mentioned the name Frederick Deeming to me, and kindly sent me a short synopsis about the man's background, and the theory that he could be the notorious Jack the Ripper. Prior to that time I confess to never having heard of him, or the...Read more
LA Larkin’s Devour features investigative journalist Olivia Wolfe’s world of big stories, hair’s-breadth escapes from danger and fearless reporting on the worst of human excesses. ...Read more
Emily Tempest, drawn back to Central Australia and to the place she grew up, Moonlight Downs, instantly feels at peace with the Warlpuju people. Here are her best friend Hazel and Hazel's father Lincoln Flinders, a much respected tribal elder. The Warlpuju have always been her mob and...Read more
Back when we were all a quite a bit younger Carolyn Morwood had a couple of books out featuring Melbourne based, female, professional cricketer Marlo Shaw (AN UNCERTAIN DEATH and A SIMPLE DEATH). She followed that up more recently with the Eleanor Jones series, set around the time of World...Read more
It's always interesting to see a favoured author head off in another direction, and THE DIGGERS REST HOTEL is a big directional switch for Geoffrey McGeachin. Moving away from the madcap all-Australian James Bond of the Alby Murdoch books, we are introduced to a new character, a new...Read more
In the author's notes at the back of A DISAPPEARANCE IN FIJI, Nilima Rao provides background to the thinking behind this novel, including the structure of the Indian indentured servitude program, established by the British overseen, Indian government, coming into its own when slavery was...Read more
A DISSECTION OF MURDER is the first in a series of books from Western Australian author Felicity Young. Set in London at the turn of the twentieth Century, featuring Dr Dody McCleland, the first female autopsy surgeon, the action in this book takes place in the midst of the Suffragette...Read more
A DONATION OF MURDER is book number five in this excellent historical series from WA based author Felicity Young. Built around the central characters of Forensic surgeon Dody McCleland and her love interest Chief Inspector Matthew Pike, there are some important historical aspects to these...Read more