The Singapore School of Villainy, Shamini Flint

For those reading the Inspector Singh Investigates series in order, THE SINGAPORE SCHOOL OF VILLAINY is the third book. Given these are a series, is it necessary to read them in order? Whilst there's always something gained when reading books in the order that the author wrote them, this is...Read more

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Black Water Lilies, Michel Bussi

Michel Bussi is a renowned crime fiction writer and winner of many awards in his native France, BLACK WATER LILIES being the second of his books translated into English. It would appear from both of them (the first was ...Read more

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Flare Up, Felicity Young

If you take absolutely nothing else from author Felicity Young's Cam Fraser series, then it should serve as a reminder of how important volunteer fire services are in rural communities Australia-wide. Young's background in her local service provides a real-life understanding of the embedded...Read more

Born to Run, John M. Green

ave to be the short version of this review. The blurb on BORN TO RUN didn't bode well to be honest. Politics in thrillers, a bit of pushing the envelope with the chance of the first woman to win the White House. An Australian software whiz, a TV journalist digging for dirt, and terrorists...Read more

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Burn Patterns, Ron Elliott

Partly a story around Iris Foster, partly a story around arson, BURN PATTERNS puts a complicated woman at the heart of a story about complicated offenders. Known as "The Fire Lady" Foster is a psychologist with a messy past that she's tried to put behind her. Until mid consultation with...Read more

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An Isolated Incident, Emily Maguire

AN ISOLATED INCIDENT is one of those books I've been trying to read for a ridiculously long time now, so being able to finally get to it in the context of our f2f bookclub gathering was an added bonus.

This is such a fascinating book, one that worked particularly well for our...Read more

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Bring Me Back, B.A. Paris

As we’ve discovered with the two previous monster hits from this author (BEHIND CLOSED DOORS and THE BREAKDOWN ), Paris knows how to keep us in the seat and our eyes glued to the page.  BRING ME BACK sets its own pace of creeping suspicion, denial, a good re-think, then circling back to...Read more

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The Sunday Girl, Pip Drysdale

Anybody thinking the cover of this novel with it's bright pink girly styling, means it's going to be on the light and fluffy side, might want to invest in some brown paper, cover the thing, and read it anyway. THE SUNDAY GIRL is not fluffy, girly fiction, even if the opening salvo makes you...Read more

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Chain of Evidence, Garry Disher

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

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I Am Pilgrim, Terry Hayes

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

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The Killing Hour, Paul Cleave

THE KILLING HOUR is Cleave's second book - a totally new direction from THE CLEANER, his first book released (at least in Australia) last year.

And what a direction it takes.  Our "hero" Charlie doesn't know what he's done.  His clothes are covered in blood, there is a bump on...Read more

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Devil's Lair. Sarah Barrie

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

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Last Seen Leaving, Catherine Lea

The blurb for LAST SEEN LEAVING outlines a particularly interesting concept - high-flying, New York District Attorney, with a happy personal life is struck down by a viral eye infection which renders her blind. Now running a small, suburb based law practice, her ex-fiancée is reported...Read more

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A Stolen Woman, Catherine Lea

A STOLEN WOMAN is the third novel in the Elizabeth McClaine series, and I can't help thinking it would have been much better to have read the earlier novels first as there's some back story here that took some sorting out. In short, Elizabeth McClaine is the custodian of a wealthy...Read more

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Cassie Clark - Outlaw, Brian Falkner

Another Young Adult novel, this time with less messaging and more just flat out thrills and spills, CASSIE CLARK: OUTLAW features the daughter of the Speaker of the House, a senior congressman, who has disappeared, supposedly run off with a journalist. Cassie's recovering from a bike crash...Read more

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Seven Lies, Elizabeth Kay

The life-changing influence of platonic female relationships rarely gets covered in fiction, and for this alone Seven Lies deserves a tip of the hat.  It’s not a subject matter many writers have invested in and anyone who has ever been or spent time around a teenage girl would know that the...Read more

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The Ultimate Community, J. Meverington

Part of "The Community" series, which is made of up THE SECRET COMMUNITY, THE ETERNAL COMMUNITY (I may have the order of these slightly squiffy sorry) and THE ULTIMATE COMMUNITY. This one is the story of Alice Parker - who I believe is a character from the earlier novels. This is most...Read more

The Alexandrite, Dione Jones

When Pamela, Lady Scawton discovers a stranger dead in the woods near the family home, Ashly House, it triggers a multi-generational, multi-timeline search for the truth. The stranger was carrying an odd stone in his pocket, along with a letter addressed to Pamela's dead husband. Pamela is...Read more

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The Murder Club, Nikki Crutchley

Miller Hatcher made her debut as a character in NOTHING BAD HAPPENS HERE. In my review of that book I noted that she was "a flawed character, frequently almost pathetic, but there's enough in her back story, and the way her problems presented to make her understandable, if not completely...Read more

A Trio of Sophies, Eileen Merriman

Brilliantly constructed for the upper age range of YA readers, A TRIO OF SOPHIES reads like a perfect tale for teenagers - female and male. Engaging and cleverly plotted, there's a depth to the characterisations and the manner in which some very current day issues are explored....Read more

Canticle Creek, Adrian Hyland

It's been way. too. long. since the last Emily Tempest novel from Adrian Hyland was published. Been way too long since anything from Adrian Hyland was published, so I will admit to some serious stack reshuffling when CANTICLE CREEK arrived. Not a shred of disappointment about the decision...Read more

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Death at the Belvedere, Sue Williams

The fourth book in the Cass Tuplin mystery series, set in the dryland farming areas of Victoria, somewhere sort of north west of Bendigo (I think), in the fictional town of Rusty Bore, with a takeaway that always makes me think of Wycheproof. (There's nothing whatsoever in these books that...Read more

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Day's End, Garry Disher

The thing about a book by Garry Disher is that I know it's going to be good. But every single time I find myself marvelling at just how good.

Disher is a master at the art of the space - be it in the narrative, the place or the thing. He evokes a sense of place better than any...Read more

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Unsheltered, Clare Moleta

Up front, it was utterly impossible to avoid comparisons with McCarthy's THE ROAD right from the start of this novel, so I gave up trying not to. Dystopian in nature, thriller in intent, UNSHELTERED is yet another one of those novels that I suspect will spark widely different reactions, and...Read more

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A Deadly Game, Laraine Stephens

The third novel in the Reggie da Costa series, DEADLY GAME is set in 1920's Melbourne featuring the celebrated, well groomed crime reporter da Costa, and the brave, and very determined Ruby Rhodes.

da Costa has a habit of gathering beautiful woman in his life, with problems and...Read more

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