The Tribute, John Byron

The media release that came with John Byron's debut thriller opens with the following:

"Meticulously researched, hugely ambitious and superbly crafted THE TRIBUTE is the most original thriller of 2021 and heralds John Byron as a formidable new player in

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The Great Divide, L.J.M. Owen

In THE GREAT DIVIDE, L.J.M. Owen has set what seems to be the first of an intended new series in the atmospheric location of a small Tasmanian town with plenty of past secrets just waiting to come back to haunt new and old residents alike.

Atmosphere is the word when it comes to...Read more

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The Invisible, Peter Papathanasiou

The second George Manolis novel sees him flying from Australia to Greece on an extended holiday after a turbulent time. Recently divorced, mourning the death of his much loved father, Manolis returns to the place of his father's birth - the Prespes region which straddles the borders of...Read more

Murder in Williamstown, Kerry Greenwood

In the previous book in the long and much loved Phryne Fisher series, DEATH IN DAYLESFORD, author Kerry Greenwood felt it was time for the younger members of the Fisher household to do some investigating of their own. Not surprisingly Ruth, Jane and young Tinker turned out to quite the dab...Read more

Chasing the Dragon, Mark Wightman

The second DI Maximo Betancourt novel, set in 1940's Singapore, CHASING THE DRAGON continues his story in close follow on from the earlier novel - WAKING THE TIGER. This novel could work as a standalone, but as with anything where the focus is on a main character, it's probably best to read...Read more

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The Chilling, Riley James

This was one of those fortuitous picks from the library (I know I should be attending to the visible from space TBR here, but something about this book appealed when I heard a whisper about it, and sometimes giving into a little bit of temptation is... good for morale). Anyway, I saw this...Read more

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Humidity, Dan Kaufman

The opening line of HUMIDITY made me laugh:

Word gets 'round when you're a nude model in a small country town.

That would most definitely get around our nearby small country town, even though it could never be said that we have the...Read more

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Twisted River

It’s not only the guilty who have something to hide.

 When charity worker Cate and website designer Rory, a married couple in their thirties, return from their European holiday, they make a nightmare discovery. Their credit cards...Read more

Body Count, PD Martin

From the book cover: "When a young woman's mutilated body is found in DC, Australian FBI profiler Sophie Anderson knows she's got real problems. She's 'seen' the victim before, raped and murdered in her dreams - and she knows this is just the beginning. With her fellow agents, Sophie delves...Read more

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D-E-D Dead!, Geoff McGeachin

James Bond would have nothing on our Alby these days (and can we all just spare a moments thought for a character name like Alby Murdoch and wonder idly whatever happened to..... remember those Alby Mangel specials?), but I digress.  Mind you, Alby's not opposed to the odd digression as...Read more

As Darkness Falls, Bronwyn Parry

A difficult setting, and a difficult task for the debut novelist.  Bronwyn Parry does a fine job with bringing a small Australian bush town to life and this is the great strength of the read.  You can taste the dust in the air and truly really picture everyone talking out the sides of their...Read more

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Fan Mail, PD Martin (review by sunniefromoz)

FAN MAIL is P. D. Martin’s third in the Sophie Anderson series and her strongest to date.  Martin follows Sophie and Detective Sorrell as they conduct the investigation.  So many detective novels are linear; we start at point A, go to point B and end at point C. Not so FAN MAIL.  It twists...Read more

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Where Have You Been?, Wendy James

What would you do if your teenage sister just simply disappeared when you were a little girl.  And then reappeared at about the same time as your mother's estate was to be distributed?

WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN? by Wendy James explores what Susan and Ed Middleton do when Susan's long...Read more

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Compulsively Murdering Mao, Bill Green

A little book I've had salted away for quite some time, it took the sad death of Bill Green to get me to stop dipping into and out of it, and sit down and read it.  Having finished it, the quote from Mungo McCallum on the back sums up the political component: 

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All My Enemies, Barry Maitland

Allen & Unwin have re-released Barry Maitland's ALL MY ENEMIES, the third book in the Brock and Kolla series. Given that the book was originally published in around 1996 there were a few things intriguing me. Obviously, whether or not it would stand the test of time, but also, what...Read more

A Vintage Death, Colin King

With tongue firmly in cheek, and only because I live in the Pyrenees wine district, yes, well why on earth WOULD somebody kill for a Heathcote shiraz??? (Kidding!)

There's nothing better than books that are set in your own stomping grounds. Places that are very familiar,...Read more

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Deadly Obsession, Karen M. Davies

The second Lexie Rogers book from ex-cop Karen M Davis, it's interesting to note that we've now got a couple of female ex-cops from similar areas writing police procedural style books, although to this reader's eye, completely different sensibilities.

Given that this is the...Read more

Already Dead, Jaye Ford

When Miranda Jack is car-jacked on a motorway in Sydney it's just one more thing to go wrong in a life littered with bad times. As the story progresses and you find out how many hurdles Jack has jumped in her life you'd be forgiven for wondering why she keeps getting up in the morning. When...Read more

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The Big Score, Peter Corris

There are probably more, but immediate reactions on getting a book of short stories, is that there are precious few Crime Fiction short story collections by Australian authors around (I'm probably about to be proven totally wrong!). But there's something very engaging about a good...Read more

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A Donation of Murder, Felicity Young

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

Scrublands, Chris Hammer

Australian Rural Crime has arrived, there are novels showing up everywhere claiming this as their sub-genre, and SCRUBLANDS is the one that everyone is talking about. Film rights have been sold, everyone's reading it, most are raving about the book.

So having a contrary opinion...Read more

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Missing Pieces, Caroline de Costa

The second in the Cass Diamond series MISSING PIECES is set in far North Queensland, with Cass Diamond investigating connected cold case disappearances. In 1992, toddler Yasmin Munoz went missing from a picnic spot near Cairns. In 2012 local businessman and former mayor Andrew Todd dies,...Read more

A Decline in Prophets, Sulari Gentill

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

Into The Night, Sarah Bailey

‘I know. My truth radar is all over the place.’

Fleet smirks but he cuffs me gently on the shoulder. ‘Truth radar. We don’t have those in the big smoke, champ. We just assume everyone is lying. Statistically it’s more likely.’

 

 

Sarah...Read more

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