Sorted on book title (not in series order)
A mystery set in 1880's Idaho with a bordello madam Hennessy Reed at the centre of it, that has a lot going for it. I know....
Hennessey Reed is a bordello madam with a liking for laudanum, irish whiskey and the local marshal. Although they keep that last one on the quiet as...Read more
ONE LITTLE LIE is targeted at the upper age limit of YA readers, a suspense novel, that sees four friends, Melissa, Katrina, Belinda and Alison working the Christmas Holidays on Melissa's uncle's tomato farm on Waiheke Island, New Zealand. The girls are hoping for a classic university...Read more
ONE STEP TOO FAR is one of those books that make you think you need a new "category". One that emphasises the number of clues that were there, right under your nose, that you missed because you were too busy turning pages.
Right from the outset everything about Emily (soon to...Read more
The author is well known in his native Iceland for translations, books for children, and as a publisher, but ONE TRUE WORD is his first thriller, and it's guaranteed to divide readers.
The premise is, on the one hand, straight forward, in that after an increasing period of...Read more
In BM Carroll’s latest crime novel, one family’s celebration turns to disaster as a teenager disappears amid a crowd of concert-goers. Full Review at Newtown Review of BooksRead more
ONLY DAUGHTER has two perspectives. The first is that of Bec Winter who disappeared in 2003 and the second is that of her current day doppleganger, a "homeless by choice" young woman. The imposter settles quickly into Bec's life with loving parents, two younger brothers and friends who have...Read more
Debut author Anna Snoekstra has taken on one of the more difficult challenges in writing fiction - creating an engaging, morally ambiguous central character, who sometimes borders on unlikeable. ONE DAUGHTER shows that an intriguing scenario helps, as does pace and the provision for some...Read more
Right from the opening pages ONLY KILLERS AND THIEVES is brutal. Transporting readers to colonial Australia, this is a book that will should make you ponder how we got to be where we are. In the main this is a story about brutal people, doing unspeakable things - to Indigenous people,...Read more
The third book in the Ngaire Blakes series, THE ONLY SECRET LEFT TO KEEP finds Blakes back in the police force (see my review of the second book: ...Read more
The third in the DS Allie Shenton series, readers might be best served to have at least read one of the earlier books (this reviewer has read FOLLOW THE LEADER only and that helped make sense of a lot of the sub-plot elements).
Whilst the main plot of ONLY THE...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
I wondered where Peter Corris would take Cliff after the loss of his PI licence (which, it seems, he's unlikely to ever get back), but I didn't really expect it to be the 1970's. Once you're back in that old case with a few well chosen "commentaries" Corris places you firmly in the 1970's...Read more
Cliff Hardy is cleaning out his office after losing his Private Investigator's licence. He comes across a folder with the paperwork for a missing person's case going back to 1988, Australia's Bi-centennial year.
OPEN FILE is a look back at how Cliff did his job twenty years ago...Read more
Reactions to an author taking a detour away from a much loved series, or style (or both for that matter) can vary. Some readers love the chance to head into new territory, others find that departure too much of a step, and long to return to the familiarity of the series, the known...Read more
The fourth book in Robert Gott’s ‘Murders’ series frees its cast from the constraints of the newly formed Homicide Squad and plunges them straight into a baffling case that threatens many of their number. Full review at...Read more
Right up front - I fell over this series via the library, loving the first I read so much so, that I reserved the second available immediately and read it as soon as it arrived. I'm annoyed with myself now because they were published in 2023 and 2024 respectively and I can't see how there's...Read more
THE OTHER MOTHER and NEVER FORGET are two Michel Bussi novels that I'd somehow managed to miss reading, until I was reminded recently. Luckily the library had copies of both of them, so that gap, at least, has now been...Read more
Wanting what others have fast becomes a fatal obsession in The Other Passenger. Whether that be your job, your house, your bank balance or your relationships, perhaps there is always someone in your circle of friends and acquaintances who feels that for you in particular, it all came a bit...Read more
THE OTHER SISTER has some good structural bones in the scene setting and a little included social commentary (as in that we’re all critical posters online) and so the first half of this book flies by. Protagonist Gina has a lot going on in her life, as does her brother Ryan. The loss of...Read more
THE OTHER WIFE is the latest bittersweet entry in an excellent series that progressively takes a little bit more of your heart with each encounter. And these are crime novels, so that is truly a testament to the author’s mastery of characterization. Creating characters that we are fully...Read more
If you're a fan of fast paced, fun thrillers and haven't clued into the Jeff Bradley Thrillers from New Zealand based author Thomas Ryan yet then you are in for a treat.
Action packed, set in interesting places with excellent plots and a great central character in Former...Read more
If you are one of those readers who likes to get stuck in early into a novel’s backstory, right back to the early years of what may have pre-empted the enactment of a crime, this slow moving and meticulously detailed mystery will satisfy. Our Dark Secret is the story of a girl who...Read more
Crime Fiction themes do have a tendency to come in waves, but the past having a direct impact on somebody's present and future is a particularly rich field when tilled well, and Jenny Quintana has done that with considerable skill in OUR DARK SECRET.
Based around the character...Read more
OUR HOUSE takes a new slant on modern crime and it is that twitchingly horrifying to know that this sort of thing can actually happen. Your homeowner’s hackles will be well and truly up and ready to attack. OUR HOUSE melds a modern relationship drama with a suspense thriller plot that...Read more
OUR LADY OF PAIN is the second novel from English writer Elena Forbes - her first DIE WITH ME received a much deserved nomination for the Crime Writers' Association John Creasey New Blood Dagger award.
This book picks up with the...Read more
OUT OF EXILE is the second Tom Bishop book from local author Luke Preston.
Let's focus on that. The second book.
It follows on from DARK CITY BLUE, taking the dangerous, damaged and deeply conflicted ex-cop Tom Bishop back, ever so slightly, onto the side of the...Read more
Two Australian thriller writers have each set their latest novels amid the beauty and danger of Antarctica.
Antarctica is one of the planet’s last great wilderness areas – for some, a place ripe for plundering, for others, an area that must be protected. Ann...Read more
Set in Victoria in the early 1900s, OUT OF THE SILENCE has been republished by Momentum in digital format. This novel won the 2006 Ned Kelly for Best First Australian Crime Novel. Given that Wendy James has now written a number of other books, not only is this a chance to look back at an...Read more
"A brand new novel that continues the legacy of ‘Master of the Genre’ Desmond Bagley by the co-author of Domino Island."
Insurance investigator Bill Kemp made his first appearance in Domino Island - the story of that novel is best told...Read more
You have to give it to the publishing gods, once they find a location or concept that appeals to readers, they stick with it like sweaty thighs to a vinyl car seat. Outback Noir is something that's been ticking away in Australia for quite a while now, with settings from the red, dry...Read more