AustCrimeFiction - All Blogs

I was really happy to come across an audio interview between Colin Cotterill - author of the Dr Siri series - and Lars Schafft from Krimi over on Crimespace(link is external).  It provides a lot of background to the books and Laotian life.

The best thing about getting up at a ridiculously early hour to get into the city is that at the end of it you get to spend some time in charming company.  The session with Peter Temple was very much a conversation with he and Clare Forster talking about a range of things including the vagaries of plotting on whiteboards, the difficulties in trying not to repeat yourself, and the difference in writing a novel like Shooting Star and In The Evil Day.  Peter Temple has a background as a journalist (which he calls an antidote to writing (I think he's partly joking / maybe totally joking - it's

Well .... this was one that came from out of the blue.  What a session.

Nigel Latta is a forensic psychologist in New Zealand - Into the Darklands is both a book and a TV series which it seems is coming to Australia.

He's a straight talker.  A very very straight talker.  He works with Sex Offenders and as the covering note to the session says - his professional practice involves treading carefully through a psychological minefield to reduce offending by helping his clients to confront the consequences of their crimes and ultimately themselves.

The second session we attended on Saturday was Crime and Verse - Dorothy Porter talking to Jason Steger.  Some of you may remember my stunned amazement at the joy of El Dorado - Dorothy's second crime based verse novel - at MWF last year.  I'm still quietly raving about that book to anybody who will stand still for more than 10 minutes - and, as an aside, I've got to say I'm rather chuffed that after this session himself has started reading the book.  SEE - I TOLD YOU IT WAS BLOODY GOOD!

This is the second in the Cornelia Finnigan series - a comic cozy series from local author Robin Bowles (more well known for her True Crime novels). 

The blurb:

Having recovered from her near fatal run-in with a novice nun, Cornelia is the lucky recipient of a stunning porcelain horse.  Funny that it looks just like the one the Triads appear to be murderously searching for...

Opening Line:

The Crime Writers Association in the UK announced that Blood from Stone has won the Duncan Lawrie Dagger for 2008 (the same award given to The Broken Shore last year)  So I was very happy to find it in my review pile and it jumped the queue needless to say.

From the Blurb:

Nobody really liked Marianne Shearer - but nobody murdered her either.  She did that all by herself, booking into a Kensington hotel for the sole purpose of checking out through a sixth-floor window.  But why would a stylish and highly successful criminal barrister do such a thing?

First line:

This is the first translated novel in a Turkish series - featuring a Transvestite protagonist - unnamed in this book.

The blurb:

Something's gone seriously wrong in Istanbul - a killer is on the loose, and transvestites are being murdered, the circumstances becoming increasingly bizarre with each death.  Our protaganist - fellow transvestite, nightclub owner and glamour puss extraordinaire - downs her lipstick and ups the ante in the search for the religious nut.

The opening line:

In a significant change of pace for me, I'm currently reading Soldier of Fortune by Edward Marston. 

The blurb: 

"The dashing Captain Daniel Rawson - spy, linguist, duellist, ladies' man and career soldier - can charm a woman as well as he can parry a sword.  And whether it is extracting information from the wife of a French general or leading his soldiers in a Forlorn Hope, Rawson proves himself invaluable to John Churchill, the Duke of Marlborough and the Confederate forces as they head towards the ferocious battle of Blenheim."

Opening line:

Quite an achievement for a TV show as normally anything that even mentions "footy" will drive me into a coma in a nanosecond, but the show was really engaging and luckily talked about a lot more than the dreaded "footy".  In fact Sunnie reminded me in an email last night that many of the issues raised were very very similar to those in The Broken Shore - not identical obviously, but similar.

Bright Air is the latest from well known writer Barry Maitland  It's a standalone - not part of the Brock and Kolla series. 

The synopsis:

Normally anything with "footy" in it would have me diving for cover, but I may manage to drag myself in front of the TV this Sunday for the screening of Valentine's Day - firstly because Rhys Muldoon's in it and secondly because the script is written by Peter Temple and, well, I love Peter Temple's sparse, funny, pointed writing style.  For more check out:

Valentine's Day on ABC 1

This is the second book from Leah - the first, Vodka Doesn't Freeze was a stunning debut to say the least!

Dodging the prologue again - the first chapter starts out:

"'Goddam it!"  Jill Jackson's toe caught the edge of a metal filing cabinet.  She hurled the half-packed archive box across the room, coloured manila folders and white sheets of paper trailing an arc through the air behind it.  'Ow, Shit.  OW!'  Clutching her bare foot, she hopped through the room, her face a warning."

The author of The Blood Detective - Dan Waddell is a journalist who has published ten non-fiction books, including Who Do You Think You Are? - tied in with the BBC TV series (which we've become quite firm fans of).

Dodging the prologue:

I tend not to read many books with historical settings, but this is a very different setting - 1867, Canada.  The story is set in a small settlement of, it seems, largely Scottish immigrants - at a time only about 20 years before my own Scottish ancestor arrived in Australia.  Should be interesting - I've read the first 40 or so pages so far, and it is really quite engaging.

"The last time I saw Laurent Jammer, he was in Scott's store with a dead wolf over his shoulder.  I had gone to get needles, and he had come in for the bounty."

I often maintain I'd read a grocery list written by Reginald Hill and I really am not joking.  I've been reading all of the reports about the latest Dalziel and Pascoe - A Cure for All Diseases and whilst I'm looking forward to it immensely I was also aware of a new Joe Sixsmith and I do like that series as well.  Given nobody much is talking about it, I thought I'd pick up The Roar of the Butterflies.

The opening line:

"Joe Sixsmith was adrift in space."

I confess I'm running a little late in recording my reading of this book as I've very nearly finished it - but on the better late then never principle, and as something a little extra than normal:

Opening Lines:

"I want you to steal something for me."

and page 123 - the first few sentences which by happy co-incidence is the start of chapter twenty:

THE BUILD UP  - Phillip Gwynne

Pan Macmillan - Scheduled for release  1 August, 2008

For Detective Dusty Buchanon, a female cop in the very male world of the Northern Territory Police Force, it always pays to expect the unexpected. When the body of a young Thai prostitute is found in a billabong near a camp of disaffected Vietnam Veterans, Dusty knows this is what she's been looking for – a spectacular case to get her back on top after the debacle of an infamous British backpacker murder trial that almost destroyed her career.

This is another from the Ned Nominees long list:

This is from Chapter 1 - skipping the prologue:

"There were seven of them.  Six Australian SAS and one Aussie spook on a line of Honda trail bikes slipping through the outback night."

Another of the long listed nominees for this year's Neds is Alex Palmer's second book - The Tattooed Man

"The dead sat at the table like those who are about to eat but never will.  Dinner plants set before them contained a meal left untouched.  Their rested mouths, their closed eyes, the unshifting weight of their bodies, had a finality beyond waking."

Just to prove sometimes I can make a plan and stick to it - after all I only worked out a plan for my next few books yesterday - it can't be that hard for me to stick to something for 24 hours can it... don't answer that.

After a couple of torrid books, I thought some light and "fluffy".  Well my sort of light and fluffy anyway - So the second Charlie Mortdecai book from Kyril Bonfiglioli (which I confess Stephen Fry's blurb of "You couldn't snuggle under the duvet with anything more direputable and delightful" had some impact on the choosing thereof):

"Yes, well, there it was.  That was that.  I'd had my life".

Have you ever hit a passage in a book that made you stop.  And go back and read it.  This has got to be one of "the" passages I've read lately (sure it's a pretty confrontational event, but the description is shatteringly good).  Context is that somebody has just put a gun in their mouth and pulled the trigger:

I am nothing if not fickle. 

I know on Sunday I listed books that I'd carefully selected to read this week - but last night and this morning, despite the dense pea souper fog and knowing that the last of Paul Cleave's books - The Killing Hour - scared me witless (yes I know - short trip), I've picked up Cemetery Lake next. 

Done Deal is the first book (obtainable online from Lulu(link is external)) by Melbourne author Tony Berry.

"The woman pulled a slim manila folder from a black leather briefcase.  She dropped it on to the cafe table with a bold flourish.  It was a deliberate, attention-seeking action, confronting and demanding.  Bromo Perkins lifted his head from his newspaper and glared at her."

Okay well more accurately I should say just finished - The Death Chamber by Sarah Rayne - I should have included a note about this book a week ago as I've been reading it for a while. 

"Georgina read the letter a second time - and then a third - because it was so extraordinary there was a strong possibility she had misunderstood it.  The heading was impressive.  In ornate lettering, it announced itself as being, 'The Caradoc Society for the pursuit of knowledge of psychic phenomena and the paranormal.  Founded 1917."

This book will be released tomorrow (2nd June), so starting to read today:

"The Crypt nightclub on Oxford Street was a crimson cube of blistered concrete and weeping gutters, diagonally across the road from the Supreme Court.  Its metal awning hung like a half-closed eyelid above the pavement, where at 10.59pm on New Year's Eve a queue of emaciated clubbers was already forming in the sheep race between the barristers and the wall."

Well Eurovision is over for another year - time to put away the Serbian cookbooks, dust off the Russian ones and start saving up for the caviar for next year's party.  Now I can get back to concentrating on some reading - well once the slight hangover has gone away at least.  I have actually been reading this book for a few days, just haven't had a chance to post anything on it yet.  I have got to say with each book I love Dr Siri more and more.  Sure the books have a healthy dose of woo woo, but Dr Siri is a Sharman in his native land and culture.  And Mr Geung is a very strong character i

For 20 years, Brian 'Frosty' Westlake has been the best mate, understudy, rigger and heir apparent to Australia's 'biggest export since wool', the TV naturalist Mick Lamington. Mick's worth a fortune, especially in the US, where the network and millions of viewers can't get enough of his laidback, larrikin joking around with the world's deadliest creatures.

Robin is a local author, well known for her many true crime books, but The Curse of the Golden Yo-Yo is her first crime non-fiction book - flagged as "A Cornelia Finnigan Mystery".  And it's really nice to see a dedication thanking the local Sisters in Crime chapter - they really are an impressive bunch of people that chapter.

At the front of this book it mentions that Judith Cutler has written over twenty novels, including two crime series set in the murkier depths of Birmingham.  There are also standalones set in the countryside.  Cold Pursuit has a really interesting central character - Chief Superintendent Fran Harman, about to retire, called back to duty when resourcing problems arise.  I can't think of another book I've read with an older female CS character, so it will be interesting.

"'Chief Superintendent Harman!  Ms Harman!'

A Greater Evil (Evil is Done in the US) is the 8th Trish Maguire book by Natasha Cooper. 

"The clay was dead between his fingers.  Cold and sticky as always, but unco-operative too. It smelled of decay.  He wasn't a fool:  he knew it was his mind and not the stuff itself that was the problem."

In the last few months the universe has been playing with my head. 

It all started with

Still Waters by Nigel McCrery.  An odd book no doubt about it, but rather engaging, some outlandish plot elements alongside some sobering all too realistic elements.

then came:

Still Waters by Camilla Noli.  Not my cup of tea at all.

but today arrived:

Stuart MacBride is one of my all time favourite authors.  I love his books, I read his blog.  I'm not so sure about his cabbage problem.  I like my husband's beard better!

Flesh House is the 4th book from him:

"No, you listen to me:  if my six year old son isn't back here in ten minutes I'm going to come round there and rip you a new arsehole, are we clear?"  Ian McLaughlin slapped a hand over the mouthpiece and shouted at his wife to turn that bloody racket down.  Then he went back to the idiot on the other end of the phone:  "Where the hell's Jamie?"

I'm really pleased to be reading this first book from a new to crime author.  So far it's very clever / funny.

Having read his first book way late (which I loved) I've now started on the second in a new series featuring local (to Melbourne) detective Rubens McCauley.

"To get what you want, you need to know what you want."  My mother first told me this when I was a young boy.  Think hard about what you want, she said, for knowing what you want is more difficult than actually getting it."

Crime Writers of Canada have announced the shortlist for the 2008 Arthur Ellis Awards for the best in Canadian crime writing and I guess you're wondering why we're announcing it on AustCrime - well Susan Parisi made the list.

What Burns Within is the first novel in a series of police procedurals set in Vancouver from Sandra Ruttan, Canadian Author, blogger of repute(link is external) and contributor to many of the lists and sites that I belong to.  Having been an avid reader of her posts, getting a copy of her book for review makes for interesting reading.  I'm about half way through at the moment, so more when I've finished the book.  It will be released in the North American market in May, but it is due to be available in Aust

This is the second book in a police procedural series set in Mongolia, which is unusual enough to start off with.

"They are out on the steppe, miles from home.  Miles from anywhere.

It is late afternoon, early spring.  The immense sky is clear, just a few wisps of cloud against the rich blue.  Everything - even the snow tipped mountains that surround them - is dwarfed by comparison."

It's been a busy long weekend around here so I've been a bit remiss in keeping up - I've nearly finished this book.

"It's eleven o'clock in the morning, late September, and outside it's raining so hard that cows are floating down rivers and birds are resting on their bloated bodies."

Having finished Still Waters by Camilla Noli last night I'm off for a palate freshner in this collection of Short Stories by Peter Corris.  A great little collection in which Cliff takes the punches, doles out the retribution, untangles divorce affairs, tracks down tree poisoners and finds the killer of a local Glebe identity.  Eleven stories in all - mid morning beers, crooked cops, and Sydney.  Excellent so far.

The Fourth Man by K. O. Dahl(link is external) - Faber and Faber (2008), Paperback, 320 pages
tags: Crime, MtTBR [Our New Books - LibraryThing(link is external)]

The Price of Darkness is the 8th in Graham Hurley's DI Joe Faraday series.

Adam's been reading again and he just finished this book (which impressed him).  This full review is on his own blog:

http://blogs.sakienvirotech.com/random

According to the attached press release Simone van der Vlugt is a major bestseller of psychological thrillers in her native Holland where The Reunion has sold over 200,000 copies.  Her three novels have sold over one million copies combined.

"I stand at the entrance to the beach, my hands in the pocket of my jacket, and look out to sea.  It's 6 May and way too cold for this time of year.  Apart from a solitary beachcomber, the beach is deserted.  The sea is the colour of lead.  Snarling and foaming, it swallows up more and more sand."

I've been wading around in the heavy side for a few books this month, so when this new book headed my way recently I thought it seemed like a perfect Autumn afternoon read - and it's funny.  Heavy handed with the main joke maybe, but funny nonetheless.

I think I'm going to like this book.  I started it last night and 100 pages longer was mildly annoyed I couldn't stay awake for another 100.

Another one of those books that have been sitting here, patiently waiting for me to catch up - this is by NZ born author Stella Duffy.

"I would sit in your mother's kitchen and watch the sun come up.  The kitchen is blue.  I remember when your dad painted it.  He is dead now.  They both are.  You killed them.  Like you killed me.  Like you killed everyone in your past.  You do not know your mother and you do not know your father and you do not know me.  Because that would mean them all knowing who you were.  But I remember."

Flagged as 'The Mother of All Conspiracy Theories" by The Times - The Passenger by Chris Petit is the next up on Mt TBR.

One of the bonuses of no power is that you can get some serious reading done.  Doesn't mean you can write up any reviews so I'll have to catch up with a couple of those soon.

I love Cliff Hardy.  I really like these books as well - they are probably the closest we have to current day "Pulp" style books - quick, short little vignettes that tell the tale and entertain hugely.  Open File is one of two new Cliff Hardy's I've got to read at the moment (spoilt rotten I am).  Dodging the prologue that fills in why Cliff is re-visiting a case from the late 1980's.

It has to be said.  I'm over the "over the top" villain.

This thought has been meandering around in my brain for the last few months.  Triggered undoubtedly by the range of books I've been reading recently. 

Personally I find nothing particularly sinister or clever or enlightening in the idea that, in order to be a perpetrator of a crime, that person must be overtly "evil", glaringly sinister, lurking around in dark alleys and behind trees, slathering, mumbling, muttering, barking mad, horrible, scary beyond all belief, "weird".

Well the TV show might be banned, but in Victoria you can buy the book without any problems at all.  I'm not at all sure what that says about the average juror or what it could be implying about book readers, but that's probably a discussion for another day.

"The bloodiest underworld war in the history of Australian crime began with both a bang and a whimper in a tiny park in the western suburb of Gladstone Park, near Melbourne Airport."

This is out now - a book that a lot of people have been talking about.

"Soviet Union
Ukraine
Village of Chervoy

25 January 1933

Since Maria had decided to die her cat would have to fend for itself.  She'd already cared for it far beyond the point where keeping a pet made any sense.  Rats and mice had long since been trapped and eaten by the villagers.  Domestic animals had disappeared shortly after that."