Populist political parties are increasing their influence across the world. It couldn’t happen in New Zealand, could it?
Journalist Grace Marks is investigating two unrelated stories – New Zealand’s alt-right, and the emergence of a new organisation, ProtectNZ. When she finds ‘...Read more
Seven friends.
One last weekend.
A mansion half in ruins.
No room for lies.
Someone is going to confess.
Because there should have been eight. . . .
They met when they were...Read more
Gabriel Bergmoser's one of those author's that is building a back catalogue of creepy, tense thrillers full of interesting psychological analysis and, frankly, disturbing scenarios. Which is exactly what you're given in THE CARETAKER.
Charlotte is on the run from a controlling...Read more
Unable to put down Catherine Chidgey's PET, I struggled to sleep last night as I thought long and hard about the "conventions" of society. If you're of a similar age to this reviewer, you'll have probably lived through the experience of the manic house clean, the wearing of "the good...Read more
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In the best traditions of the murder mystery genre, The Death of Father Ryan has all the twists and turns of a page turning whodunnit.
There is the usual gallery of engaging characters we have come to expect from this author. Be it the hasty Police investigator, the diligent...Read more
Beneath the sheen of its orderly streets and obedient populace, all is not well in the port city of Kobe. Business is as brisk as the Haru-ichiban spring breeze for Mami Suzuki, hotel clerk by day, private investigator by night.
Who's stealing from Japan's biggest pearl trader?...Read more
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Sarah’s life is about to be turned upside down. As the blossoming fashion designer’s best friend suddenly disappears, nobody is able or willing to provide any answers. Completely out of her depth she turns to the Neon Lights, an underground resistance group, but will the price for their...Read more
MAMI SUZUKI: PRIVATE EYE is a debut series of linked short stories by NZ born, Japan resident author, Simon Rowe. Mami Suzuki is a hotel clerk, and a part-time private investigator, running her slowly building sideline around the day job, and her mother and young daughter at home. Based in...Read more
Two eyes bore into him from across the room. They're not her eyes. They're the same colour and shape, but they're not her eyes.
'I see you.'
Silas didn't have a happy childhood. Aunt Bunny made sure of that. But out of money and almost...Read more
When Adam hears that his brother Theo is dead, fallen overboard from his fishing vessel and washed ashore on the Bounty Islands, he knows something isn't right. Adam joins forces with Theo's girlfriend, Emma, and what begins as a quest for answers quickly becomes a dive into an icy current...Read more
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After committing an impromptu murder, Paul Barker finds himself trapped in a London apartment house.
Paul meets residents, Mayar and Kim, both of whom have dangerous secrets of their own.
While Paul contrives to conceal the crime and make good his escape, the...Read more
It is 1951, and Jean-Luc Guéry has arrived in Indochina to investigate the murder of his brother, Olivier, whose body was found floating in a tributary of the Saigon River.Read more
BUNNY is written by S.E. Tolsen, a husband and wife writing team, who won Best Horror Novel of 2023 in the Australian Aurealis Awards, making it to the longlist for the 2024 Ngaio Marsh awards based on it's thriller categorisation.
A combination of a straight up thriller, with...Read more
Bridget Crawford is in a bind. The bank’s threatened to foreclose on her farm, her ex-husband’s returned to town, and someone’s stolen her cattle.
Veterinarian Hugh Jacobs is also in a bind. Tui Dancer, a horse in his care, has suddenly lost his winning form, his affair with...Read more
A compelling courtroom drama, Dice is an incredibly timely exploration of how sexual violence is viewed in our society.
Four teenage boys invent a sex game based on rolling dice and doing what the numbers say.
They are charged with multiple sexual offences against...Read more
WARNING: This book discusses sexual offences, and the related trial proceedings.
DICE is a debut novel from NZ author Claire Baylis. The subject matter is confronting, not just because it is seemingly based on a real life case, the styling is inventive, and the outcomes...Read more
Set in 1951, Indochina, TOO FAR FROM ANTIBES is the story of Jean-Luc Guéry and his quest to find the truth behind his brother Oliver's murder. An avid reader of detective fiction, Guéry has a very firm picture of how investigations should proceed, although the likelihood of him being able...Read more
When brilliant but emotionally-tortured New York journalist Bec Corelli learns her father has died mysteriously on vacation in India, she walks out on her job and heads to Delhi. Pharmaceutical CEO Ernst Reiniger, facing ruin over a failed drug, has hatched a chilling plan to save his 300-...Read more
Devil’s Breath is the first novel in a new crime series built around a neurodivergent professor of botanical toxicology, Eustacia Rose.
Eustacia Rose is currently ‘separated’ from her position at a university, disgraced after an...Read more
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Elias Dunn hates his life. At only 26, he’s the youngest Head of IT for Network 4 and appears to be doing okay. He’s not. He’s living at home with a bipolar mother who uses medication and alcohol to get by. Eli loses himself in fantasy and obsession, stalking targets and colleagues to cope...Read more
Five years ago, Mira Bunting founded a guerrilla gardening group: Birnam Wood. An undeclared, unregulated, sometimes-criminal, sometimes-philanthropic gathering of friends, this activist collective plants crops wherever no one will notice: on the sides of roads, in forgotten parks, and neglected backyards.Read more
The 5th novel in the Sam Shepherd series set in Dunedin, New Zealand, EXPECTANT is the latest work from Vanda Symon, the author Val McDermid refers to as "New Zealand's modern Queen of Crime" (fiction one hastens to add).
Sam Shepherd is an experienced, tough, up for anything...Read more
Being a 14 year old girl is never an easy undertaking, but living in a dying town, in a family beset with problems makes Miracle's life that bit more complicated.
She's known as Miracle because she was born in the middle of Australia's biggest-ever earthquake. The same quake...Read more
A seemingly foolproof plan to make some quick money turns into a race for their lives…
It’s the mid-nineties and methamphetamine casts its shadow over the Californian city of Santa Lucía. Nathan, happy running a small marijuana grow operation with his two best...Read more
Four friends.
One tragic death.
20 years of secrets and lies.
One wintery night, when they are young, Anna and her three friends Rudy, Seth, and Dougal are involved in an accident in...Read more
TWO HOURS TO VANISH
Ten people have been carefully selected to Beta test a ground-breaking piece of spyware. Pioneered by tech-wunderkind Cy Baxter, FUSION can track anyone wherever they are on earth. But does it work?
ONE CHANCE TO ESCAPE
Each participant is...Read more
Frank Winter is an ex-cop, a former hard-boiled Boston detective with a soft centre living in curmudgeonly retirement with his beloved dog, Dolly. But when his daughter's killer is released on parole, Frank's back, a man on a mission, and it's yesterday once more. But first, Frank's got a...Read more
Born in the middle of Australia’s biggest-ever earthquake, Miracle is fourteen when her world crumbles. Thanks to her dad’s new job at Compassionate Cremations — which falls under suspicion for Boorunga’s spate of sudden deaths — the entire town turns against their family. Miracle is...Read more
There's a quote on the blurb for this book which goes:
Guy Ritchie meets Elmore Leonard – this is a fast-paced humorous crime thriller with splashes of dark and sinister
Which is where I could leave this review because it sums it...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