Monthly Features

Forty-one crime books by Australian women are competing for Sisters in Crime's 8th Davitt Awards for the best crime novels and true crime books by Australian women published in book form in 2007.
 
Four Davitts will be presented this year - adult, young adult, true crime and readers' choice, as voted by Sisters in Crime's 500 members nationally. The awards are sponsored by the Victorian Police Museum.
 
The winners each receive a handsome trophy to be presented on Friday October 10, 7pm, Celtic Club Restaurant, corner La Trobe and Queen Sts, Melbourne by Victorian Police Chief Commissioner Christine Nixon. Ms Nixon will also talk about her life and times with Sisters in Crime national co-convenor, Dr Sue Turnbull.

Adult Novels

Gospel - Sydney Bauer (Pan MacMillan) **

The Fourteenth Day - Joyce Berendes (Zeus)

The Curse of the Golden Yo-Yo - Robin Bowles (The Five Mile Press) *

Redback - Lindy Cameron (Mira) *

Scarlet Stiletto - The First Cut - Lindy Cameron (editor) (Mira) *

Bye Bye Baby - Lauren Crow  (Harper Collins) *

Skin & Bone - Kathryn Fox (Pan MacMillan) **

To All Appearances Dead - Liz Filleul (Bettany Books)

Vodka Doesn't Freeze - Leah Giarratano  (Random House) *

The Calling - Jane Goodall (Hachette Livre) **

Killing the Rabbit - Alison Goodman (Random House / Bantam)

Trick or Treat - Kerry Greenwood (Allen & Unwin)

A Question of Death - Kerry Greenwood (Allen & Unwin)

The Secret of Lost Things - Sheridan Hay (Harper Collins / 4th Estate)

Frantic - Katherine Howell (Pan MacMillan) *

Orpheus Lost - Janette Turner Hospital (Harper Collins / 4th Estate) *

Eden - Dorothy Johnston (Wakefield Press) *

Cock of the Walk - Wendy Laing (Writers Exchange E-Publishing) **

Severance Package - Wendy Laing (Writers Exchange E-Publishing)

Shattered - Gabrielle Lord (Hachette Livre) **

Rockhound - Pat Noad (Zeus)

Blood of Dreams - Susan Parisi (Penguin / Viking) *

El Dorado - Dorothy Porter (Pan MacMillan / Picador) *

Cherry Pie - Leigh Redhead (Allen & Unwin) *

The Night Has A Thousand Eyes - Mandy Saye (Harper Collins)

An Easeful Death - Felicity Young (Fremantle Arts Centre Press) *

Young Adult Novels

What Willow Knew - June Colbert (Hachette Livre)

Crime Seen - Jenny Pausacker (Hachette Livre)

Willows for Weeping - Felicity Pulman (Random House)

The Maharajah's Ghost - Sophie Masson (Random House)

Love Notes - Margaret Clark (Random House)

True Crime

The End of Innocence:  The Remarkable True Story of One Woman's Fight for Justice (Hardie Grant Books)

Rough Justice:  Unanswered Questions from the Australian Courts - Robin Bowles (The Five Mile Press)

Meaner than Fiction - Lindy Cameron (The Five Mile Press)

Imprisoning Resistance:  Life and Death in an Australian Supermax (Federation Press)

Judas Kisses:  The Remarkable True Story of One Woman's Journey to Hell and Back - Donna Carson and Debbie Ritchie (Hardie Grant Books)

Done Like a Dinner - Jennifer Cooke and Sandra Harvey (Media 21 Publishing)

Killing Jodie:  How Australia's most elusive Murderer was Brought to Justice - Janet Fife-Yeomans (Penguin Books)

The Child Who Never Was:  Looking for Tegan Lane - Allison Langdon (Media 21 Publishing)

The Devil's Garden:  The Claremont Serial Killings - Debi Marshall (Random House)

The Making of Me - Tegan Wagner (Pan MacMillan)

* Read and reviewed here

** Here but unread as yet

Technorati Tags: Crime Fiction Events and Happenings Featuring What We're Talking About Australia

Starting off with THE most important thing at a Writers Festival (well okay - the coffee / the food / but then the most important thing) - the Writers.

Congratulations and thanks have to go the organisers for getting them to come, but to all the authors who showed up for the Inaugural Festival.  I hope, despite the smaller crowds, that they all understand how much their efforts are appreciated - firstly in writing all those books - but also in their generosity of spirit and time they spend at these festivals.

There were quite a few authors we saw sessions with - and some we missed but saw them wandering around the venue - and the best part of all was to watch the impromptue gatherings of discussions in the Book Room and around the venues - there seemed to be a lot of good natured talking going on over the weekend.

Anyway - amongst the cast of luminaries there were:

On the Fiction Side:

Lenny Bartulin
Sydney Bauer
Marshall Browne
Lauren Crow
Sophie Cunningham
Garry Disher
Robert Gott
Kerry Greenwood
Shirley Hardy-Rix
Jarad Henry
Declan Hughes
Dorothy Johnston
Jennifer Kloester
Gabrielle Lord
Barry Maitland
P D Martin
Kevin Morgan
Dorothy Porter
Liz Porter
Leigh Redhead
Michael Robotham
Angela Savage
Jason Steger
Peter Temple

On the Justice Side:

Nigel Latta
Brendan Kilty SC
International PEN
Sarah Biddulph
Malcolm Fraser
David Manne
Pamela Curr
Professor Peter McPhee
Rod Quantock
Spencer Zifcak
Diane Sisely
Brian Walters
Susan Ryan
Arnold Zable
Tina Giannoukos
Lillian Holt
Helen MacDonald
Mary Dalmau
Tim Lindsey
Simon Clews
Barry Jones
Jude Bourgnignon
Phil Lynch
Henry Jolson
Victoria Marles
Rob Stary
Susan Long
Chloe Hooper

On the totally unexpected Side:

Lloyd Jones, Peter Finlay and Malcolm Hill - a theatrical performance of Ned Kelly's Jerilderie Letter

I think you can get a picture now of why we were so excited about this Festival!

Now if you're interested - to make it easier to track Crime & Justice blatherings - you'll find all the updates via  this link.

Technorati Tags: Crime Fiction Events and Happenings Featuring What We're Talking About Australia European Crime & Justice Festival

Not only is it not Sunday, it's rapidly becoming late Monday - but Sunday wasn't spent at our place (neither was Saturday for that matter) - we were at the Convent in Abbotsford attending two very full days of the Crime and Justice Festival.

And it was tremendous.

The inaugural festival, the numbers of attendees were undoubtedly on the smaller side for many of the sessions, which was a pity for lovers of Crime Fiction and for Justice issues as the sessions were universally fabulous.  Thought provoking, funny, interesting, charming, informative or just downright amusing - there are a lot worse ways to spend a very very cold July weekend than at the Convent.

There's a lot to be said about the Festival so I'll go with a series of posts about some of the elements over the next few days, but just a quick introduction - the Crime and Justice Festival is an initative of Mary, Simon and the team at Readers Feast - and they did a fabulous job at putting this together.  There was a good author group accumulated - who, as is the way at all Crime Fiction gatherings - all appeared to get on very well.  And the authors weren't afraid to interact a little with we readers - in fact that was one of the best things - meeting a few authors that we've previously had only electronic chats with - or admired from afar - or just plain found their books compelling or interesting or entertaining.

The Convent as a venue is an inspired location.  The former convent of the Good Shepherd, it has served (amongst other purposes) as a home for fallen women (and there we all were - we crime fiction writers and readers - in the auditorium, the library and a range of other locations throughout these amazing buildings.).  Now a fabulous and very vibrant community centre - I'd strongly suggest you wander over to their website and have a look around:  http://www.abbotsfordconvent.com.au/

The venue really was stunningly beautiful, and there is an onsite restaurant, and a very busy bakery / bar / coffee shop which is well patronised by non-Festival attendees as well. 

The concept behind the Festival is also interesting - the combination of Crime (fictional and non-fictional) and Justice provides such an interesting juxtaposition of subjects and possible sessions to attend.  We opted to concentrate on Crime Fiction this year - we wanted to make sure that we waved the flag in support of our fabulous local authors - and even then we missed way too many sessions because of the wide range available - but the possibilities of seeing some of the Justice based sessions was incredibly tempting and next year we're going to have to work out how to clone ourselves - or up the numbers of participants and send us all out on search and discovery missions - attending sessions and reporting back to the group.

For this year Helen came from Newcastle and Sunnie from Tasmania.  To the rest of the "Coven" - the 4MA / Murder and Mayhem gang - ladies we should be planning next year's attendance.  This was the closest thing to a Left Coast Crime style event I think we've seen in Australia and it was the best way to spend a weekend I can think of.

Just briefly - I managed to score quite a few signatures in books I have read or already owned.  I managed to buy a few books that I didn't already have, for authors who were at the Festival - to make sure that I now proudly own (even if I haven't yet actually read!  each and every book that each Crime Fiction author there has released).  

But more on the author sessions over the next few days.

On significantly more mundane issues, my next up reading pile may as well have tumbled into a heap last week as I think I managed to leap two books over the carefully arranged "planned" reading.  I did finish (and review) The Prophet Murders by Mehmet Murat Somer, but the rest of the plan went nowhere.  Blood from Stone by Frances Fyfield won a CWA Dagger and I couldn't resist the urge to read it - review to be finished tomorrow, but I can see why it won - terrific book.  Then I had to read The Mystery of the Missing Masterpiece by local author Robin Bowles, because I promised faithfully I would - so it jumped other worthy contenders in the pile who remain nonetheless worthy contenders for some attention.  I'm starting to pine for The Final Murder by Anne Holt and I am still determined to get to  Skin and Bone by Kathryn Fox and Shattered by Gabrielle Lord, and I still have cravings for  The Ice Princess by Camilla Lackberg.  The Ninth Circle by Alex Bell hasn't lost its allure and there is Assassin by Ted Bell (I loved his last book and I just have this uncontrollable soft spot for over the top thrillers!).  Let's face it - the pile of what I should be reading and the pile of what I could be reading isn't getting any smaller and I'm not getting any better at that planned reading thing.

Technorati Tags: Crime Fiction Featuring Australia Crime & Justice Festival

Late today - we've been out looking at country blocks, which basically meant driving for hours - had a very nice little gluten free cake and some coffee at a place in Alexandra and then we headed for Mansfield via Strathbogie.  The sight of Mt Buller with it's coating of snow rising above us as we headed up that long straight road was really stunning - such a beautful sight. 

Still onto more pertainent matters - on Friday night we headed into the City for a Sisters in Crime event.  This time it was a short tour of the Victoria Police museum and a talk on the History of Fingerprints.  Now it was utterly and totally fascinating - the only annoying thing is that time constraints meant we didn't get right to the end of all the details that Sergeant Terry obviously had to impart.  Still, worth every minute and I hope we get to go back and hear the "technical" side.  There's nothing better in the world than a talk by somebody that obviously loves what they do.

Anyway - around the corner for a lovely Chinese meal with some absolutely lovely people (nice to finally put a face to some names - including Jacqui!)   A short tour via the ice cream shop and we were on our way home.  I'm guessing Lindy and Helen found their car as she's "kindly" sending me photographs of the night......

Nothing much to say on the actual crime fiction front tonight I must admit - but I will recommend that you all take a look at Sunnie's points on doorstopper books - particularly as I'm currently contemplating a bit of a doorstopper for movement to the coming up pile.

This week I read and thoroughly enjoyed Bright Air by Barry Maitland and last night I finished Soldier of Fortune by Edward Marston - which I'll write up a review on tomorrow with a bit of luck.  I've nearly finished The Prophet Murders by Mehmet Murat Somer as well, so The Final Murder by Anne Holt is creeping closer to the top of the pile, as is Skin and Bone by Kathryn Fox and Shattered by Gabrielle Lord, although to be honest I'm getting increasingly tempted by a new to me book / author -  The Ice Princess by Camilla Lackberg and I may not be able to resist for much longer.  The other one that's been shunted on to the next up stack is The Ninth Circle by Alex Bell which just sounds suitably and temptingly odd.

Technorati Tags: Crime Fiction Featuring

I know, I know it's not Sunday.  But I had one of those joyous Sunday's when I didn't even want to turn on a computer, let alone have to.

Granted I did spend a bit of the day cleaning up a bit so I can get everybody into the house for Melbourne Writers Festival but the rest of the time was spent blissfully doing not a lot of anything.

Except plotting - we've finally agreed that the time has come to move.  So we're plotting.  Thank god we're able to go - out of the increasingly suburban appallingness  that's taking over this area, and out further into the rural world, where the people are real and genuine and there are real things to deal with in life.

Needless to say I'm getting a hankering for rural based crime fiction - anybody got any suggestions?

On the reading front - I'll post separately but I've started Barry Maitland's Bright Air (how are we going to do that with Teddy is the big question).  It's not a Brock Kolla novel - it's a standalone and it's great.  The only slightly jarring thing is the way he keeps having Australians thanking somebody for "giving them dinner" - that's a very British saying to my mind ("making them dinner" is the way me and mine would put it).

Other than that - I'll write up a full review of Leah Giarratano's VOODOO DOLL asap, but get to a bookstore immediately.  Wow.  Her first book was very challenging, very raw, very confronting, but this one takes the central character forward - she's changed a little, but not so much that it's unbelievable, but the central part of the story of this book and the telling of that story is assured, it's just tremendous.  (Did I mention WOW)

The immediate reading stack has been restacked again - and Bright Air by Barry Maitland did do a little bit of a jump over other worthy contenders.  (I keep saying I'm fickle).  The Final Murder by Anne Holt is one I promised myself I'll get to still, and The Prophet Murders by Mehmet Murat Somer is currently my handbag / car book.  Skin and Bone by Kathryn Fox is still lurking as is Shattered by Gabrielle Lord and I've also "promoted" The Ice Princess by Camilla Lackberg and Soldier of Fortune by Edward Marston.

Technorati Tags: Crime Fiction Featuring