Sorted on book title (not in series order)

#yeahnoir

A Straits Settlement, Brian Stoddart

The Le Fanu series from author Brian Stoddart is one of those extremely elegant combinations of mystery fiction and historical lesson that also provides entertainment for readers. There's even a bit of good old fashioned romance from the male point of view. In short, there's something for...Read more

The Student Body, Simon Wyatt

In case you hadn't noticed there's a number of debut novels recently out of New Zealand, often written by authors with a policing or related background, many of them telegraphing potential for interesting things to come. THE STUDENT BODY is Serious Fraud Office investigator Simon Wyatt's...Read more

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A Suitable Time for Vengeance, Edmund Bohan

THE LOST TAONGA and A SUITABLE TIME FOR VENGEANCE by Edmund Bohan were both entered in the 2018 Ngaio Marsh Awards, with THE LOST TAONGA making it onto the longlist. Both these books are from Bohan's Inspector O'Rorke series (six and seven respectively), historical crime fiction set in New...Read more

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Surrender, Donna Malane

The first book in the Diane Rowe series, SURRENDER is part of a two book series (MY BROTHER'S KEEPER is out now), set in Wellington, New Zealand, featuring a private investigator scenario that makes a huge amount of sense.

Diane Rowe is an ex-cop and now missing person's expert...Read more

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Surveillance, Riley Chance

Journalist Grace Marks needs a good story, but she has no idea how good a story she's unearthing when she starts out investigating a surge in suburban minor crime. I mean who would put that much organisation into a series of minor crimes. Maybe a security company CEO, a company that offers...Read more

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Tainted by Fire, Sidney Mazzi

The novella, TAINTED BY FIRE, from New Zealand based author Sidney Mazza, definitely telegraphs promise of things to come. There's an excellent idea at the heart of this work - an ordinary family man, living an ordinary sort of a life suddenly has everything tipped on its head, and he's in...Read more

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Take Down, Carol Tate

Flagged as the first book in the Kiwi Falls Series, TAKE DOWN is part crime, part thriller, big part violent erotica that comes with a trigger warning for abuse, torture and sexual assault.

From the blurb:

"Lily Cartwright has been trained to obey and protect her...Read more

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Talk to Me, Neil Coleman

An interesting idea that takes off from page one, involving a talk back radio host. Tongue in cheek in style, there's an unlikeable central character and a tell don't show style - mimicking that idea of talk back. The telling of the tale from a dialogue point of view starts out well, but...Read more

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The Tally Stick, Carl Nixon

In the middle of reading this novel an Antiques Roadshow episode popped up that included an old tally stick, bought in by an elderly gentleman who had kept it in a drawer for many years. Very useful and timely to be reminded that they were used as an aid to memory, often for financial or...Read more

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Tell Me A Lie, C.J. Carver

Dan Forrester and Lucy Davies return in the second novel in this series: TELL ME A LIE. It's hard to say that these novels must or must not be read in sequence, or if there's enough leeway for readers to start anywhere. There is a bit of back story in this second outing that should help...Read more

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Tell Me Lies, J.P. Pomare

It increasingly feels like the things you can be guaranteed of when starting a new book by J.P. Pomare are it's going to be a fast paced, high tension thriller; it's likely as not going to frighten the daylights out of you; and it's going to be littered with twists, turns, red herrings,...Read more

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Terror of the Innocent, Mike Boshier

Somebody called Jess Lowther has been demanding that I post reviews of a couple of Mike Boshier's books that were entered in the 2018 Ngaio Marsh Awards. These reviews have been queued up on the site for sometime now, and I've been resisting posting them as there's nothing much I can...Read more

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Tess, Kirsten McDougall

A psychological suspense novel with touches of paranormal, TESS is a beautifully balanced, chilling, claustrophobic and clever novel. 

Set in small town New Zealand, at the turn of the millennium, TESS is, as the blurb puts it "a gothic love story about the ties that bind and...Read more

The Therapy House, Julie Parsons

Kiwi-Irish author Julie Parsons book THE THERAPY HOUSE is an intricate pscyhological observation, interweaving current day crime with Irish history to great effect.

Exploring history and crime in terms of it's impact on survivors and/or families and on society in general, THE...Read more

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This Mortal Boy, Fiona Kidman

Every year the Ngaio Marsh Awards for New Zealand Crime Fiction include something that makes this reader marvel at the depth and quality of work coming out of that country. Dame Fiona Kidman came to THIS MORTAL BOY as (paraphrasing her own words) an accidental crime writer, but she has form...Read more

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To Kill A Conman, Kevin Berry

I've gotten a bit out of wack, but I think TO KILL A CONMAN is the third in the Quake City Investigations series (following on from SHOOTING MESSENGERS and THE POSSUM FUR PLOT). Either way it didn't matter, having read the first this one just flowed on, with central character PI Danny...Read more

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To The Sea, Nikki Crutchley

Iluka, perched above the Pacific Ocean, is a beautiful, isolated, place, home to Ana and her family. Her grandfather's sanctuary, somewhere more complicated for her mother and Ana. It is, however, a place where creativity abounds, and Ana's aunt runs an artists' retreat there, her...Read more

Toto Amongst the Murderers, Sally J Morgan

1973, from art school to shared housing in run-down Leeds, and Jude (aka Toto) is a chaotic, wild child, living a reckless, slightly crazy life, thoroughly enjoying her youth, blissfully unconnected with the news of random attacks on woman that keep showing up on the news.

What...Read more

Traces of Red, Paddy Richardson

There are a precious few Paddy Richardson books tucked within the stacks of unread novels around here - sort of like secreted Easter eggs, to be unearthed and devoured when required. Needing something that would be reliably good recently, TRACES OF RED was just the thing as Paddy Richardson...Read more

Trilemma, Jennifer Mortimer

Set in Wellington New Zealand, Jennifer Mortimer's book TRILEMMA brings her main character - Linnet Mere to a new city in search of lost family connections and love. 

Setting this character up with a completely new start gives Mortimer a chance to put her narrator at a loss on...Read more

A Trio of Sophies, Eileen Merriman

Brilliantly constructed for the upper age range of YA readers, A TRIO OF SOPHIES reads like a perfect tale for teenagers - female and male. Engaging and cleverly plotted, there's a depth to the characterisations and the manner in which some very current day issues are explored....Read more

Trust Me, I'm Dead - Sherryl Clark

Shortlisted for the 2018 CWA Debut Daggar, TRUST ME, I'M DEAD, is the first crime novel from New Zealand born, Australian resident writer Sherryl Clark, best known for her children's writing, although I understand there's now a sequel to this novel planned for this year. Any possible sequel...Read more

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Trust No One, Paul Cleave

For reasons that escape me, Paul Cleave doesn't seem to have the profile, or the world-wide awareness that he absolutely and utterly deserves. He's one of those authors that consistently turns out something different, something that is designed to challenge the reader, and always something...Read more

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Turning Point, Wayne Andrewartha

The opening salvo in a new detective series based around Jake Shaw, TURNING POINT is set in the US, written by a Kiwi author and published by a New Caledonian based company. Which unlikely series of events has come together to create a multi-threaded thriller styled novel with some very...Read more

Twister, Jane Woodham

Set in Dunedin, New Zealand, local writer Jane Woodham obviously loves the place that she lives in. Incorporating a lot of local landmarks, geographical elements and a strong sense of place, TWISTER is her debut novel featuring DSS Leo Judd and a series of investigations into everything...Read more

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