William Power has been "resting" for a long time now, so his re-emergence in THE SERPENT'S STING is a relief for all concerned. For those that haven't read the first three books in this series (GOOD MURDER, ...Read more
The 4th Theodore Tate novel, FIVE MINUTES ALONE sees author Paul Cleave continuing to pull together connections from many of his previous novels - this series and the Christchurch Carver books. Must admit some of these connections, and the continuation in these books fascinate this reader....Read more
The structure of trilogies must have some appeal for McKinty, not just because he has previous form. From the outside you can see that it could be quite a challenge to build a character's life and explore events in a proscribed number of books. And then it's over. For this reader it's a...Read more
ONLY THE DEAD is the third Sean Devereaux novel from NZ author Ben Sanders, but only the second I've read. Back in 2012, reading the second book, BY ANY MEANS, it was obvious then that Sanders is an author who likes to work with pace, and complexity. The plots in both these books are built...Read more
In 2006 THE CLEANER was released and the opportunity to review it provided this reader with a life-long obsession with Paul Cleave's books (and a sneaking suspicion he was trying to scare me half to death!)
In my review at that time...Read more
The 11th Inspector Sejer novel from Karin Fossum, specialising again in the why of a crime. Why in this instance is a series of very big questions. Why did a young toddler end up dead in a pond near his house? Why did nobody think that secure fencing would be necessary for any child that...Read more
A debut novel set in a small Australian town, The Dark Lake is a police procedural with a hefty dose of romantic tension. Reviewed at ...Read more
Readers of Adrian McKinty's Sean Duffy series (of which this is book 5), might be excused for wondering if he's more than a little fascinated by locked room scenarios. The use of that scenario in 2014's IN THE MORNING I'LL BE GONE is referred back to directly in RAIN DOGS. There's a larger...Read more
Part history lesson, part social exploration, the Sean Duffy series from Irish-Australian writer Adrian McKinty is required crime fiction reading. Reviewed at: ...Read more
GUN STREET GIRL is the fourth book to feature Irish cop Sean Duffy. The Duffy series, has been winning plaudits, praise and awards in all corners of the world and hugely deserved they have all been, which meant fans of both the writer and the earlier three books (...Read more
This has been a book that's been in the back of my mind as a "must read" for a long time. It combines that most fascinating (to me) of components of crime fiction - a mystery and an insight into life and the thinking of another culture - one that's totally different to my own. Whilst a...Read more
Taking up the the mantle of hard-boiled, gun obsessed, blood soaked American lone wolf characters, New Zealand author Ben Sanders has created his second book to fit into that world like a clenched fist in a black, leather glove.
...Read more
I AM PILGRIM is screenwriter Terry Hayes' debut novel, which I would not have picked without knowing the background up front. Obviously written with a keen visual sense, the novel doesn't read like a screen treatment or a movie script. This is a good old fashioned, seat of the pants, keep...Read more
Set in the early 1980's, I HEAR THE SIRENS IN THE STREET is the second book in a trilogy built around Sean Duffy, a Catholic cop working in the reality of Carrickfergus, Northern Ireland in the middle of The Troubles. This is when neighbourhoods and towns are divided by religion and loyalty...Read more
In 2008 we decided to move - away from the most fire-prone area on the immediate outskirts of Melbourne - to somewhere where we had more room to move, and co-incidentally where we would feel safer. The possibility of catastrophic fire events had weighed heavily on our minds - as the...Read more
GUNSHOT ROAD is the second Emily Tempest novel from Australian author Adrian Hyland. Set in the outback of Australia, GUNSHOT ROAD has one of those magnificently authentic Australian voices that you just know comes from an author who knows his place, and his characters very very well....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
BY ANY MEANS is the second book from NZ author Ben Sanders. Sanders is a fan of writers such as Michael Connelly and Lee Child, which I suspect you can probably tell from his style. Rapid fire, with an opening that will really make you sit up and take notice BY ANY MEANS has a number of...Read more
Are you allowed to do one word reviews?
In which case it's ... wow.
If we're not allowed could I just add terrific, twisty, tricky, tantalising, taut and maybe tremendous.
It's really embarrassing that sometimes it can take an age to get...Read more
Christchurch private investigator Theodore Tate is attending the exhumation of a man who died two years before. Suddenly bubbles appear on the surface of the small lake in the middle of the cemetery, and several bodies slowly rise to the surface.
When the exhumed coffin is...Read more
CEMETERY LAKE is the third book by Paul Cleave, THE CLEANER and THE KILLING HOUR being the first two. None of these books are connected, so you can pick them up in any order, although, being lucky enough to read them in order, you can see a certain style developing in the writing....Read more
DI Steele deserves her own fan club. It would have to be a club where swearing, drinking, smoking and fiddling with your bra strap were perfectly acceptable behaviours of course. You've also got a ready made slogan as fans of the wonderful Logan McRae series from Scottish author Stuart...Read more
Bitter Wash Road is the latest police procedural from Garry Disher. Introducing a new protagonist, and set in the isolated South Australian wheatbelt, this is a book that delves deep into corruption, influence and power. Full review at ...Read more
Marketed under the banner "incredible new literary thriller", CALL ME EVIE is the debut novel of New Zealand born, Melbourne based writer J.P. Pomare.
Opening in a manner guaranteed to make readers feel maximum discomfort, a young woman is in a bathroom, hacking at her long...Read more
It always amazes me, how Paul Cleave can start out with a scenario that somehow seems quite normal and "expected" and then make it all go very very good weird, and you don't even notice that it's happening until you finish the book, turn all the lights back on the in house and take a big...Read more
A FEW RIGHT THINKING MEN introduces Rowland Sinclair to fans of Australian historical crime fiction. Set in 1930's Sydney and Yass, A FEW RIGHT THINKING MEN takes a reader into a world where the affects of the Great Depression are being felt, and the tension between the Proto-Fascists and...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
Second in the Hal Challis series, Kittyhawk Down is an extremely busy book. Firstly there's the upper class sort of "gated" housing area, the farming area and the housing estates. There's a sinister South African living in one of those big gated houses. There's Monroe, the farmer, who is...Read more
When 10 year old Katie Blasko goes missing, Ellen Destry is in charge of the case. Katie's from one of the local Estates – a poor, run-down area full of dysfunctional families, violence and drugs. Nearly everybody on the investigation team is pretty sure that Katie's disappearance is yet...Read more
AMONGST THE DEAD is the third novel in Robert Gott's William Power series. William is an "aspirational" but failed Shakespearean actor, turned Private Investigator who finds himself in very unusual circumstances in the Top End of Australia during World War II in AMONGST THE DEAD....Read more