The 4th novel in the Reggie da Costa series, LIES AND DECEPTION is a nicely twisty tale of the just desserts served up to a serial conman and his accomplices by a determined crime reporter and his ... accomplices.
If you're new to this lovely series, set in the early 1920's in...Read more
THE FALL BETWEEN is the debut novel from Darcy Tindale, set in the Muswellbrook area, located in the NSW Upper Hunter Valley. The story features Detective Rebecca Giles, who, after some time in the police force, has returned to her home town in no small part because her father, an ex-cop...Read more
There's a really nice interpretation of classic golden age mystery styling at the heart of this lovely little novel set in the early white settlement period of rural, remote Western Australia.
Cleverly balanced between the personal story of Ana, the adopted daughter of the owners...Read more
When I read the first novel from Alexander Thorpe (DEATH LEAVES THE STATION) I hadn't quite twigged to the extent that future novels would be based around the itinerant friar figure - but it's now titled the "Itinerant Mendicant" series, and it really makes a lot of sense. He's a...Read more
Over at: The State Library of NSW, there's a delightful little short story, IN THE COMPANY OF RATS, by Sulari Gentill featuring a very young version of her redoubtable character Rowly Sinclair, who even at the tender age of 14 was...Read more
This is a tricky one to review. On the one hand I really like this character, and the series has covered some interesting aspects of policing. On the other hand they come with enormous info dumps, none more obvious than the aspects of how and what happens on surveillance jobs in MAN. MADE....Read more
We first came across this character in the TV Series, MRS SIDHU INVESTIGATES starring Meera Syal who is just perfect as the caterer, and amateur eponymous sleuth at the centre of a surprising number of food adjacent (but not necessarily caused by) deaths. (Seems they all stem from a radio...Read more
‘You and I are going to have a chat. If you hang up, this girl dies.’
Adam Turner works the mid-dawn shift at his local radio station. From 12am to 6am, it’s his job to fill the airtime with old songs, inane chatter, and the occasional talkback caller. It’s a long way from his...Read more
Technology based thrillers like GOING ZERO can, sometimes, make this reader wary. Very wary, as the "tech" is often so far off course it endangers teeth and the book's ability to stay in one piece. Not so in GOING ZERO - the tech here might be a tad ropey in places, but the application was...Read more
A short story that is officially flagged as 9.5 in the Vera Stanhope series, this is another one of those serendipitous pickups from the BorrowBox catalogue when I was looking for a short story to fill in a bit of time.
Set up as the precursor to THE RISING TIDE, it introduces...Read more
THE TEA LADIES by Amanda Hampson is one of those interesting sort of novels that tippy toes a line between its cosy(ish) setting and some considerably more ruthless plot lines with a deftness that made for a really enjoyable reading experience.
Set in Sydney in 1965 in the...Read more
My fault this one. I've been enjoying a few crime fiction novels on the cosier end of the spectrum recently, but this one, alas, was too far into that world for my taste. Perfectly good novel for fans of that overtly English, slightly dotty, eccentric small village style of novel. Just not...Read more
The second novel, spinning off from the excellent TV series, Halifax f.p., RESURRECTION is definitely an unusual crime fiction novel, which would work well as a starting point if you've not read the earlier book - TRANSGRESSION.
Unusual for a number of reasons, the first being...Read more
Book 5 in the Maigret series, and part of a now stalled attempt to go right back through them all via audio books. Stalled not because of this particular entry, which was a much more interesting read than a couple of the earlier books. Stalled mostly because of the weight of the queues...Read more
BLACK WIDOW is the 7th Jack Parlabane story, which I did read before WANT YOU GONE, but the review is going up out of order, just because (well actually I was working my way through a list from the bottom up so that's worked well....)
Anyway, this book is the story of surgeon...Read more
Well this is a disappointment. Not the book, but the fact that this another audio journey through a series that's gotten to the end. Jack Parlabane, book number 8, WANT YOU GONE. Here's hoping there are more on the way because I do so love this series (having read them all / now listened to...Read more
The biggest problem I'm finding with the audio versions of the Thursday Murder Club entrants, THE LAST DEVIL TO DIE being the latest, is that the blasted things fly past in the blink of an eye. Even at silly number of chapters they just simply disappear, leaving me wanting more too quickly...Read more
The Dublin Trilogy by Caimh McDonnell is now made up of 9 entries, two of which are novellas. Bear with me:
In Order of Publication:
A Man with One of Those Faces
The Day That Never Comes
Angels in the Moonlight
Last Orders
...Read more
THE QUARRY is now the second novel in a series featuring NSW ranger Cal Nyx. If you're new to these, it's a series that's going to be well worth following. There's no immediate requirement to read the earlier book first (THE BEAUTIFUL DEAD), although it will give you a slightly fuller...Read more
In 1911, Augustus (Gus) Hawkins is a mounted trooper in rural New South Wales. A veteran of the Boer war he's a complex man with a severe case of PTSD and a bad dose of long-standing longing for Flora Kirkbride, eldest of four children of a local "landed gentry" family. Until the night he...Read more
Devil’s Breath is the first novel in a new crime series built around a neurodivergent professor of botanical toxicology, Eustacia Rose. Full Review at Newtown Review of Books...Read more
THE WATER'S DEAD is the first novel featuring DI Nyree Bradshaw (BETTER LEFT DEAD is out in September), set in the upper north island region of New Zealand, with idyllic scenery, pockets of poverty, a strong, tight knit Māori community, and a lot of fractious relationships.
...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
In Aoife Clifford’s third novel, the death of a local celebrity brings two old schoolmates together to answer some troubling questions. Full Review at: Newtown Review of BooksRead more
A new crime novel by Garry Disher is always exciting. In Sanctuary, he introduces a new protagonist: a female lone wolf. Full Review at...Read more
In Sulari Gentill’s new novel, aspiring writer Theo and her brother Gus become embroiled in increasingly bizarre conspiracy theories. Full Review at Newtown Review of BooksRead more
A disgraced son of a powerful Australian media tycoon, the traumatised daughter of a small town newspaper editor, coincidentally owned by the aforementioned tycoon. One is sent to "learn the ropes of journalism" / ie been kicked down the line, the other is in town after something sent her...Read more
The second book in the Dublin Trilogy (which is probably the 2nd published, but the 6th in the "trilogy", so between this and Adrian McKinty's trilogy which isn't, Ireland obviously does trilogies differently). Anyway, THE DAY THAT NEVER COMES, is also the name of a song by Metallica (or so...Read more
Growing up in any rural community in the 1970's meant a LOT of talk about football. The boys that played were always the hero's, the girls that watched never mentioned, except if they were connected to the tuck shop at the ground in some way. Or cleaning the change rooms, and the toilets,...Read more
As is the way of the world, there have been quite a few crime fiction books recently that delve into the world of cults, the people that get caught in them, and those trying to get them out. DEEP IN THE FOREST is a slightly different twist on that. It's the story of a small town outcast,...Read more