Sorted on book title (not in series order)
The third novel in the Dan Calder series, the title FROZEN SUMMER is the nickname Calder's girlfriend has given to a cold case that he's slightly obsessed with - and not just because he's the only suspect....
Following on from THE AGENCY and THE SECOND GRAVE, this series is one...Read more
A highly charged crime-thriller - the first in an electrifying new series - by multi-award-winning prince of the twist, J.P. Pomare.
PI Vince Reid is visiting an old friend when he's offered a case he can't refuse: Why did a respected local woman open fire at a...Read more
Any new novel from J.P. Pomare needs to be approached with caution. You're going to have to make sure that you've cleared your calendar, stacked up the pre-made meals, and maybe set some alarms to remind you of the animal medication schedules and feeding rounds, because I can just about...Read more
Carter's first novel featuring Cato (obvious connection for the nickname) Kwong, PRIME CUT, had him exiled to the Stock Squad in the back blocks of regional WA, doing penance. GETTING WARMER has him back in Perth, just as things weather-wise and crime-wise start to heat up. Starting out...Read more
Mirror twins are identical twins, with some opposing physical features, so when they are facing each other they can appear as mirrored reflections. Birthmarks can be on opposite sides, cowlicks may run clockwise on one twin and counterclockwise on the other, and so on. In some extreme cases...Read more
When they said write what you know, Trish McCormack got the memo. Growing up at the Franz Josef Glacier in New Zealand, and having worked in various national parks in NZ, her settings are always gloriously depicted. In this case Mt Cook is the central location, with two timelines wind...Read more
The follow on from FOR REASONS OF THEIR OWN, GLASGOW SMILE is set (the title relates to something specific in the surroundings), in Melbourne, where the discovery of a woman's body stabbed and strangled late at night in the graffitied and dark tangled laneways of the innercity sets off a...Read more
If you're looking for something that's wild, ranty, full to brim with nobody (including the good, bad, and slightly deluded) winning at anything, then GLASS BARBIE could be just the ticket.
It's a roller coaster ride alongside wild man, crackhead, Karl Copley. He of the big...Read more
A take on a noir romp with stylised good cop / bad cop characters, humour is a huge part of GOOD COP BAD COP. Therein lies probably the biggest problem - find it funny and it's going to work really well. Find it somewhat forced and the misogyny and objectification comes across as a bit...Read more
The second fiction book from New Zealand writer, Gigi Fenster, A GOOD WINTER is a story of a group of women, after Lara moves to the city to be near her widowed, pregnant daughter. Sophie really starts to struggle after Michael is born, her grief compounded by post-natal depression. The...Read more
GRAVEYARD OF THE ATLANTIC is the second in the Mitchell Parker thriller series, so reading them backwards (as I am) is clearing up some unknowns, and creating a few more. Needless to say MASTERMIND, the first in the series is going to have to be read at some stage as now, if nothing else,...Read more
In THE GREAT DIVIDE, L.J.M. Owen has set what seems to be the first of an intended new series in the atmospheric location of a small Tasmanian town with plenty of past secrets just waiting to come back to haunt new and old residents alike.
Atmosphere is the word when it comes to...Read more
Book 4 and we're now probably at the point that A GREATER GOD will require some effort to catch up if you're new to the Chris Le Fanu series. Set in early 20th century India, around the tensions leading to Indian Independence from Britain, Chris Le Fanu is a member of the English police...Read more
THE GULF BETWEEN is a slow burner, suspense thriller of the deceptively laid back variety. From the opening chapter there's something hypnotically understated about the way that the story of Julia is woven. A combination family saga and personal journey, it's the discovery of a seriously...Read more
Sometimes you start reading a series book about a favourite character, and really start to wonder if the author is annoyed with them, subconsciously punishing them for being too popular, or just enjoying applying the thumb screws for a change. Whatever is going on, Alan Carter isn't making...Read more
The thing with Michael Botur's short story collection HELL OF A THING is that there is going to be something in here for all readers who like a bit of dark, unrelenting, beat you round the head and shoulders styled fiction.
There's sixteen stories in this collection, described...Read more
The second novel in the Professor Eustacia Rose series, HELL'S BELLS is out, about and well worth reading. For those that haven't met up with this character before, her first outing was in the book DEVIL'S BREATH. The same elements are being...Read more
From the book:
"Cyrus - is a millionaire recluse. Oh and a serial killer. His first victims are Gus and Susie Niedermeyer, a newly married couple who knew apartment hunting in New York would be hell, they just didn't think it would end their short lives.
Tye - is a...Read more
HEY YOU, PRETTY FACE is the opening book in a new series based around detective Jack Rutherford. Previously appearing in a supporting role in DARK SERVICE, NZ based author Linda Coles longer running DS Amanda Lacey series, this book sees Rutherford leading the search for a series of...Read more
Stella Duffy was absent from the crime writing scene for a long time until THE HIDDEN ROOM was released in 2017. The book then made the shortlist for the 2018 Ngaio Marsh Awards, because, in a nutshell, Duffy knows how to develop strong, realistic characters, and weave them into a plot that...Read more
HIP FLASK AND HANGING is the second in the Silvermoon Retirement Village Cozy series featuring the intrepid, impressive and slightly dodgy 97 year old Alice Atkinson, resident of the aforementioned retirement village and investigator. She of the many many ghosts from the past, although one...Read more
Combining history with mystery and a hefty dose of romance, A HISTORY OF CRIME was both a fascinating and slightly frustrating read.
The background to Frédérique Bonnell and her connections to France and New Zealand were unknown territory for this reader - as was the idea that...Read more
HOME TRUTHS is the second novel I've been lucky enough to read by author Charity Norman that uses characters and connections to drive home an important, and devastating message. In REMEMBER ME she explored the complications of family,...Read more
Given the blurb starts out with the line:
The unforgettable detective duo from 'The Doctor’s Wife' are back, and this time the stakes are even higher.
It's worth starting this review out mentioning that you don't need to have read...Read more
Comedic crime fiction has to be one of the hardest sub-genre's to pull off. Comedy is so subjective, and crime fiction often tackles tricky subject matter. Add to that a hefty supernatural component and HOT FLUSH is a book that's appealing to a specific sub-set of readers.
The...Read more
Maxine has been losing things lately. Her car in the shopping centre carpark. Important work files—and her job as a result. Her marbles? ‘Mild cognitive impairment’, according to the doctor. Time for a nursing home, according to her daughter, Rose.
Rose
...Read more
The third and final instalment in the Raymond Electromatic, I ONLY KILLED HIM ONCE sees robot detective, turned gun for hire, in the fight of his "life".
"Life" requires a bit of wiggle room here as Raymond Electromatic is a robotic detective / hitman with a 24 hour long memory...Read more
THE ICE SHROUD is a very promising debut fictional novel from New Zealand wildlife photographer and non-fiction writer Gordon Ell. Structured as a combination village mystery and closed room scenario, the locations in this novel are beautifully described, the plot is good, the dialogue...Read more
INSIDE DOPE by Paul Thomas won the inaugural Ned Kelly Award and I blinked and then struggled to get my hands on a copy. I managed to track down GUERILLA SEASON years ago, and then not so long ago at the end of a long quest I found a copy of INSIDE DOPE. But still the search went on. The...Read more
What is always surprising about cults is that they consistently manage to attract seemingly intelligent people who leave their ordered lives to join bizarre communities run by petty tyrants with delusions of grandeur. What is sadly not surprising is that at the centre of cults there are...Read more