Sorted on book title (not in series order)
It's a such a simple idea when you think of it, take a standard noir setting, with added muscle cars, old cars, fast cars and gorgeous cars, and replace the male characters with female ones. It makes enormous sense to me, especially as I grew up in a country town where girls driving hotted...Read more
THE RINGMASTER is the second in the Sam Shephard series from NZ author Vanda Symon. Sam has moved to Dunedin, is in detective training when the body of a young university student is found in the Botanic Gardens. In Sam's world it goes without saying that nothing is ever going to be...Read more
RINGS ON WATER is the second novel in NZ author Madeleine Eskedahl's Matakana Series, set in and around the idyllic rural winemaking and tourist destination near Auckland. The series features local cop, Sergeant Bill Granger, and his Swedish wife Annika, their family, and their lifestyle in...Read more
I just love the Brad Chen series. I must do. RIP OFF actually took me into the world of high finance skull-duggery and I really didn't notice until I was well into the action. Quite an achievement.
Part of what really works with RIP OFF is the character of Brad himself. ...Read more
The third novel in the Dusty Kent series, these books are built around investigative journalist Kent and her Irish assistant and IT expert Sean O’Kelly. IN RIPPLING RED they are in Darwin looking into the alleged suicide of Cody Bongiorno. Cody’s parents are convinced that their...Read more
Kirsten Alexander’s second novel evokes 1970s Queensland as it explores the fallout of a tragedy.
In her acknowledgements at the end of Riptides, Kirsten Alexander touches on the difficulties she faced in writing about her home town:
...Read more
Australians who grew up during the era in which Riptides is set may recognize a heck of a lot of their own experiences; the long road trips on rubbish roads, the relentless heat, Bali (even as it was back then), perhaps even turning on the TV at Christmas time to news of the devastation...Read more
Third in the Cesare Aldo series from D.V. Bishop, RITUAL OF FIRE is set in a time of change for Aldo, his colleagues and his personal life. He's been sent to the Tuscan countryside, hunting thieves and fugitives whilst Florence battles a heatwave, drought and what turns out to be a series...Read more
We could perhaps say ‘plot twist’ or ‘pivot’ (you know, to be irritating like the cool kids) but either way you are getting a bit more bang for your buck than usual with THE RIVAL. It is very much like two novels found each other somewhere in the middle and decided to merge; one being a...Read more
"Mile after mile of bush. Gum trees standing straight and silent along the side of the road like ghosts sitting in judgement on the living: on him. It was amazing you could drive so far and see so few people. With each passing minute, the sun sunk lower, as if embarrassed by the...Read more
My pencilled list of things to expect from Italian Crime Fiction isn't particularly long or even all that surprising. A certain, shall we say obsession, with food; an eccentric, slightly grumpy, protagonist who spends a lot of time in his own head and seems to be quite happy there; and the...Read more
There is always the sense that author Alex Gray knows exactly what she is talking about; such is the impression of total authority and confidence in her words. THE RIVERMAN is the fourth book in this series showing a pleasing graduation of intensity and detailing of investigative procedure...Read more
The Joe Sixsmith series is much more light-hearted than Mr Hill's other, well known Dalziel and Pascoe series. Partly because Joe is a gifted amateur Private Investigator and partly because of Joe's own personality. He takes his responsibilities seriously, but he doesn't take himself all...Read more
Award winning police reporter Paul Anderson obviously spent a lot of time around the Victorian Armed Robbery Squad during some pivotal investigations in this state as there's much of the plot in THE ROBBERS which rings loud, persistent and very musical bells.
There is therefore...Read more
Personally, and not just because the idea of Lycra and clicking around in those weird riding shoes makes me shudder, the idea of being sent to the Siberia of the Mountain Bike Police certainly sounds like a rather extreme punishment. Especially as Tony 'Rocket" Laver is adamant that the...Read more
ROME BURNING is the second in the ROMANITAS trilogy, based in a Roman Empire that still exists today. This version of the Empire is a mix of the ancient traditions and stylings, alongside technology which bears some, limited, resemblance to current day. The Earth is divided into different...Read more
Hate it when a new book from a much loved series lingers too long on the reading pile simply because of competing priorities. No disrespect intended at all in how long it took me to get to this entry, and much pleasure when I finally did. Anyway they come, I'm quite a fan of the Pufferfish...Read more
A novella in length, RONNIE AND RITA punches far above it's weight. A poignant and clever combination of sadness and tension, manipulation and desire, right from the beginning there's no way of avoiding the sense of impending disaster.
Perhaps it is because Ronnie is such a...Read more
Slapstick, silly, 1.5 (novella) in the series which is now up to book 3, I'm reviewing this out of order, although by a minor miracle I've been reading them in order.
Lot's could be said about the fact that this is a fun series, featuring Australian Barista, MI6 Agent Eva...Read more
Kirsty Jagger’s debut novel is a confronting story about growing up in the worst of circumstances, and how violence and poverty can happen to anyone. Full Review at Newtown Review...Read more
There's something about the combination of a big threat thriller and fundamentalist based threats that makes me twitch badly. ROTTEN GODS is therefore a book that I stupidly put aside for a tad too long.
There is, however, something particularly compelling about the idea that a...Read more
Romantic caper, with just a smidgen of edge, ROUGH DIAMOND is the first book in a new Melbourne based series built around a typically untypical pair - Erica Jewell and Jack Jones.
Erica Jewell - recently separated from a husband who left her bank balance and her life in tatters...Read more
Simone Kirsch is a Stripper (exotic dancer) turned Private Investigator working the fringe of Melbourne constantly, it would seem, in and around the sex industry.
In RUBDOWN Simone and her new PI boss Tony are called in to look for the daughter of a well-known, respectable...Read more
Coming at an eco-thriller from the point of view of the activists, RUBY AND THE BLUE SKY is part thriller, part exploration of "celebrity" culture, and part do good chick lit novel. The idea at the core is that fame can be used in positive ways - in this case a pro-environment, anti...Read more
You’ve heard a fair bit of buzz about this novel? There’s an excellent reason for that! THE RUIN is a ripper of a read and remarkably polished for a debut novel. Additionally, it is impressive as series entries face a much harder task in engaging instantly the fickle minds of crime readers...Read more
Twenty years ago Cormac Reilly was a fresh faced, rookie cop, who thought he had been sent to a standard domestic problem. In a rundown old house that took forever to find, what he ended up discovering comes back to haunt him all these years later. Fifteen-year-old Maud Blake and her five-...Read more
In the past six months I’ve been catching up with a number of authors and novels which I’ve let slip past in the last few years. Included amongst these authors is Dervla McTiernan who’s debut novel, The Rūin, was released last year. Set in Galway, Ireland it’s the story of two possible...Read more
When Jock Serong's debut novel QUOTA was released it was the first crime fiction book I could recall using over-permit limit Abalone catches as a central theme. The incorporation of crime and cricket therefore shouldn't have come as that much of a surprise in his second novel, THE RULES OF...Read more
Mystery writer Peter Swanson has a knack for writing mystery novels which do exactly what they are supposed to do, which is to intrigue whilst entertaining. Rules for Perfect Murders is a bit of a love letter for crime fiction fans with all the right ingredients for an atmospheric session...Read more
Hilda is writing her memoir, so it's probably just as well that Rumpole doesn't know what she is doing locked away in the boxroom for hours on end. But Rumpole is very busy telling his own story of how he nearly lost his livelihood (aka the Timson family clan), and found himself involved...Read more