All the Updates

There are SO MANY tempting books around at the moment it's panic inducing in a happy, but equally challenging way - it would be so nice to be able to read / comment on everything but here we are.

Still juggling, still not getting enough books read. Not the worst problem, I've got, but apologies, as always to the authors and publishers wondering why I'm always so far behind!

#JustFinished

I think I'm reading too many books at once - so nothing in the just finished pile in the last week but quite a few in the currently reading which are nearly there.

Still juggling, still not getting enough books read. What a "dreadful" problem to have.

#JustFinished

The Bookshop Detectives: Tea & Cake & Death by Gareth Ward and Louise Ward (2026 Ngaio's)

The days are definitely shortening now which means the Spring Classics bike racing is in full swing, which means no sleep and a freaked out dog from all the ooing and jumping every time a rider gets into some risky trouble.

#JustFinished

Lucky Thing by Tom Baragwanath (2026 Ngaio's)

This update is bought to you in the aftermath of an Easter break where not enough reading got done. To be honest, not a lot of anything much got done, I started wading through a recently deceased relative's boxes of photos and disappeared down some very nostalgic byways.

This update is bought to you a day early because of the Easter Break which, this year, I hope will be focused on reading, in the spirit of the Norway Easter Crime Tradition. Fingers crossed the weather co-operates and nobody sets fire to anything for a change.  

#JustFinished

Three Reasons for Revenge by Dervla McTiernan 

#CurrentlyReading

What You Don't Know by Sandi Wallace 

The Strength of Old Shale by Kirsty Powell  (2026 Ngaio's)

Still managing to not read enough books. The silver lining of the current fuel price / shortage problems is for us that may mean less callouts to illegal / improperly extinguished fires and a bit of downtime over Easter for ourselves for a change.

#JustFinished

Black Velvet and Vengeance by Deborah Challinor 

Part life story, part inspirational memoir, BLOOM is life from Mary Fowler's point of view. And it's been quite the ride for such a young, talented woman....

I've reviewed this decidedly not crime fiction book over on my Hardcover account.

I hope that, because it's Friday the 13th, my current streak of looking vaguely like I'm catching up doesn't end in a screaming heap.

#JustFinished

Bang! by Taliyah Stone 

Took a break over the first week in March so I'll backdate this post but it's not going live until Tuesday the 10th. So the reader need not think they are losing their minds - it's me.

#JustFinished

Old Games by Fiona Hardy 

Dark Desert Road by Tim Ayliffe (where does the time go)

#CurrentlyReading

Old Games by Fiona Hardy 

#NextUp

Dark Desert Road by Tim Ayliffe (where does the time go)

The Vanishing Place by Zoe Rankin (2026 Ngaio's submission list & another that's been languishing)

AustCrime Update: end of February - Part 2

Second part of this newsletter - other regions recent arrivals / upcoming releases only. If the first part didn't arrive you can read it online here.

Recent Arrivals / Upcoming Releases (Other Places)

Some snow, some colder climes, some just flat out caught interest. 

AustCrime Update: end of February - Part 1

February 2026 and this is the second newsletter from me this month having sent out the Ngaio's submission list already. Rather than include that very long selection here, you can see it on the site or on Hardcover.app if that's more convenient. (I've moved all activity from Goodreads to Hardcover now).

A new idea I'm trying out - Friday Updates of the Reading Queue.

#CurrentlyReading

Redbelly Crossing by Candice Fox (pretty well unputdownable)

#NextUp

Old Games by Fiona Hardy (way way too overdue)

Newtown Review of Books recently posted their yearly reader's favourites from 2025, and I was particularly pleased to see Fiona Hardy's Unbury the Dead review in the list.

Which is the perfect excuse to remind everyone that the second book in the series - Old Games is due out late February. Add it to your Mt TBR piles.

In the last few days news of the death of Jean Bedford, after a long illness, has been announced. As a joint founder of Newtown Review of Books, many people will have read her work, or been assisted by her editing skills, over the life of that site, as well as during her time as a much admired author, teacher, lecturer and editor. A wonderful and illuminating tribute has now been posted:

Tributes to Jean Bedford

Starting out as I hopefully now mean to go on, a quick mention of my current read - Quintus Huntley: Botany by Royce Leville

When his sole poetry collection is found in the case of a gruesomely murdered violinist, the police think Huntley did it. But he's innocent, and the best way to prove it is to find the killer himself.

Eighth Status Report on the Project 'KEEP THE READING QUEUE UNDER CONTROL', with this month the subtitle of What Happens When You Can't Even Remember to do a Plan....

As always - the last fortnight entries and The Next Up Reading List in full.

2025 SHORTLIST FOR THE DANGER AWARDS REVEALED

MEDIA RELEASE