Sorted on book title (not in series order)

#AusCrime

An Isolated Incident, Emily Maguire

Wouldn't be too quick to classify this one as a psychological thriller as there is very little simmering tension in watching the lead character disintegrate a little day by day. The whole tone of the book is rather desultory, which fits in well with the remote country town setting where...Read more

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An Isolated Incident, Emily Maguire

AN ISOLATED INCIDENT is one of those books I've been trying to read for a ridiculously long time now, so being able to finally get to it in the context of our f2f bookclub gathering was an added bonus.

This is such a fascinating book, one that worked particularly well for our...Read more

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The Jack Irish Quinella, Peter Temple

THE JACK IRISH QUINELLA brings together the first two (of the present four) books in Peter Temple's Jack Irish Series. Both books were originally published in 1996 and 1999 respectively.

 

Jack calls himself a suburban solicitor, although these days he mostly...Read more

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Jinx, Hugh McGinlay

Set within the hipster world of inner Melbourne lane-ways, cafes and bright young things, JINX is the debut crime fiction novel from local musician and writer Hugh McGinlay. A light-hearted, comedic styled novel, JINX introduces ex-police investigator, now accidental amateur detective,...Read more

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Just Play Along, Megan Daymond

JUST PLAY ALONG is Megan Daymond's debut novel, and she's taken on quite confrontational subject matter. A double date that turns into a snuff film, with one of the girls fighting back and killing one of the attackers in the struggle to survive. From there things go from bad to worse as...Read more

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Keep Her Sweet, Helen Fitzgerald

It must take real writing skill to create a novel around 3.5 of the most unpleasant, conflicted, dysfunctional and frequently flat out awful people you'd ever read about, and make it as compelling and downright fascinating as KEEP HER SWEET. 

The premise is quite the...Read more

Kickback, Garry Disher

There's a new Wyatt on the way, and that means it's as good a time as any to do a little tidying up of the back catalogue.

Wyatt is a very careful man, because he has to be.  Wyatt robs banks, lifts payrolls, gets girls, leaves girls, lives the life of a loner, trusts few,...Read more

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The Kill Bill, Richard Evans

THE KILL BILL is the second book in the Referendum Series by ex-politician Richard Evans, and boy can you pick that this author knows all about the back-room machinations that go on in the political world.

In this case we're talking about those around changes to the...Read more

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Kill Shot, Garry Disher

Plan for the best, expect the worst, note the exit points.

Good bit of general life advice this, although at the time Wyatt is standing, motionless, waiting for any signs his entry into the house he's about to rob has been noticed. Perhaps not...Read more

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Kill Your Husbands, Jack Heath

Bit of background to commence - KILL YOUR HUSBANDS is billed as a follow up to KILL YOUR BROTHER, which I've not read / listened to yet. None of which seemed to matter a jot, although I understand there is some character crossover it's definitely didn't feel like I should have read these in...Read more

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Kill Zone, Harry Ledowsky

A thriller set in what's becoming the familiar territory of Iraq and Afghanistan, Pakistan's status as a nuclear nation plays into the action in KILL ZONE.

The idea of nuclear devices the size of briefcases going missing isn't a new one in thriller world, and to be frank I've...Read more

King of the Cross, Mark Dapin

Anybody with a passing interest in notorious Australian "identities" in the not so distant past isn't going to take too long to twig on whom Mendoza is based, and that same reader probably is going to be excused for any guesses about the writer who narrates this fictional book....Read more

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King of the Road, Nigel Bartlett

KING OF THE ROAD is Sydney based author Nigel Bartlett's debut novel. Gritty, complicated and fast-paced it takes the reader into the uncomfortable world of abduction of young boys and paedophile rings. From the moment that young Andrew disappears from David Kingsgrove's home there's a...Read more

Kingdom of the Strong, Tony Cavanaugh

KINGDOM OF THE STRONG is the fourth Darian Richards novel from screenwriter, producer and novelist Tony Cavanaugh. Readers of the past novels will be aware of the background of Richards. A high ranking cop in Victoria for many years, he has a darker side, with a history of ensuring justice...Read more

Kingdom of the Strong, Tony Cavanaugh

Author Tony Cavanaugh has had a long and illustrious career in film and tv and thus brings that excellent crafting of place and character to his crime novels.  All of his creations are wholly convincing and though sketched with typical Australian economy, they are entirely recognizable in...Read more

Kinglake-350, Adrian Hyland

In 2008 we decided to move - away from the most fire-prone area on the immediate outskirts of Melbourne - to somewhere where we had more room to move, and co-incidentally where we would feel safer.  The possibility of catastrophic fire events had weighed heavily on our minds - as the...Read more

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Kiss My Assassin, Dave Sinclair

I've only ever met one spy (... that I know of), and he wasn't anything like Charles Bishop. Never took on a powerful arms-dealing organisation (as far as I know), never got stabbed, shot at, beaten up, taken prisoner, made friends with a Russian spy, or slept with the enemy either (as far...Read more

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Kittyhawk Down, Garry Disher

Second in the Hal Challis series, Kittyhawk Down is an extremely busy book. Firstly there's the upper class sort of "gated" housing area, the farming area and the housing estates. There's a sinister South African living in one of those big gated houses. There's Monroe, the farmer, who is...Read more

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Know Me Now, C.J. Carver

Third in the Dan Forrester series, we're into classic thriller mode now with this series. Heaps of action, a fast moving, multi threaded plot, this one creates a partnership quickly between Forrester and ongoing series character Lucy Davies that works well. Again we have a couple of main...Read more

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The Koldun Code, Sophie Masson

The Koldun Code is Book 1 of the Trinity Trilogy, the second book being not far away if memory serves correct. Set in modern Russia, Sophie Masson has certainly involved a wonderful sense of place and culture in this book:

"They'd left a mild gray London spring

...Read more
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The Kolkata Conundrum, Kalyan Lahiri

The first in a new series of books set in India, THE KOLKATA CONUNDRUM is lyrical and amusing writing, steeped in a sense of place and culture that will leave readers craving more.

Young Orko Deb is the much doted on son of a mechanic father, not at all interested in stepping...Read more

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Kundela, Terry L Probert

It's great to see police procedurals set in rural Australia that don't assume that everything's sinister and vaguely barking mad, and that reflects some of the dry humour, and resilience of both the cops and the locals.

KUNDELA perhaps errs a little to much to that descriptive...Read more

The Labyrinth of Drowning, Alex Palmer

THE LABYRINTH OF DROWNING is Canberra based author Alex Palmer's third book featuring (now) ex-cop Paul Harrigan and his agent partner Grace Riordan.

The body of a sex-worker in Sydney bushland quickly becomes not just another case for Grace, as the violent injuries trigger...Read more

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The Latin Cushion, Rosanne Dingli

This is a novella that I picked up from Amazon based on some comments I'd seen about the author's writing style, which turned out to be right. This is a great little novella that introduces a murder, an investigator and his sidekick, fleshes out his background and gives me some personality...Read more

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