AustCrimeFiction - All Blogs

Because everything's always all over the place, I thought maybe if I started a note of what I'm reading, and what's next up in the piles I might (MIGHT) have a small chance of keeping track. Ha.

Just Finished

#auscrime: The Drowning by Bryan Brown - first full novel from this actor turned writer. Review asap.

History and humanity: 2023 Ngaio Marsh Awards finalists plunge readers into page-turning tales about who we are

From heart-wrenching tales of families torn apart by disappearance or deportation to examinations of historic crimes, swindles, and injustices to page-whirring novels about former cops and former convicts, the finalists for the 2023 Ngaio Marsh Awards offer a diverse array of storytelling excellence

Poker, poverty, and the power of storytelling: 2023 Ngaio Marsh Award longlist revealed

A poker-playing sleuth, a poet’s gritty take on life on Aotearoa’s poverty line, a rural mystery entwined with heart-wrenching exploration of dementia, and the long-awaited return of a master of neo-noir are among the diverse tales named today on the longlist for the 2023 Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Novel.

We took a couple of weeks off over Christmas / New Year and spent the time driving around in the new car (working out how to drive it / charge it / where the cup holders are - all that sort of stuff), and managed a couple of days of long meanders with the dogs when it wasn't hot enough to melt concrete. Also did some reading - some of which was catchup / some f2f bookclub and some, just because. All of them are marked as review to come as it'll take me a little while to tick off the general admin / email backlog / what was I doing before the break work stuff.

It's not going to take a genius to figure out I've not been "blogging" much here in recent times. Ran out of puff, nothing worth saying, thousands of reasons - mostly came down to couldn't be bothered to be honest. But a quick note to say yep, have deleted both twitter accounts @kcfromaustcrime and @auscrimefiction

Moved to Mastodon. Couldn't have made a better decision. Social Media as it's supposed to be done.

Fresh voices came to the fore at WORD Christchurch Spring Festival on Saturday afternoon as Becky Manawatu and RWR McDonald were named the winners of the 2020 Ngaio Marsh Awards.

Both winners were first-time novelists, and while their winning books were different in many ways, each was told in large part from the perspective of young children dealing with loss and violence in small-town New Zealand, each included a rich cast of diverse characters, and each expertly blended lighter moments with dark events in tense tales that could make readers gasp and laugh.

Two men.
One woman.
A blood feud.
The birth of the Italian mafia in Australia.

Join now and start reading the exclusive "Isolation Edition"

Just $9.90 for all 14 chapters – a saving of over 80% on RRP of the printed book

The Calabrian will be published in August but you can be one of the first to read this pulsating novel by signing up for our "isolation edition" You get access to a new chapter of the book each day. Waiting for the next instalment will only heighten your expectation and anticipation as the story develops.

As everyone has heard Michael Robotham's THE SECRETS SHE KEEPS is now a TV show on Channel 10 https://10play.com.au/the-secrets-she-keeps 

On Monday 2 March The Australian Publishers Association announced the 2020 ABIA longlist. The longlist introduces the titles, publishers and authors in the running for the 2020 ABIA. And what a list it is! Check it out below. 

MEDIA RELEASE

The debut literary crime novel by former ABC current affairs broadcaster Annette Marner, A New Name for the Colour Blue, is influenced by her decades of reporting on male violence towards women and girls. Set between Adelaide and the southern Flinders Ranges, it won the Adelaide Festival’s Unpublished Manuscript Award in 2018.

The girl is forbidden from making a sound, so the yellow bird sings

Media Release

The debut novel from Jennifer Rosner, The Yellow Bird Sings is a powerfully moving and utterly gripping tale that will be released on 25 February 2020.

On 11 February 2020, Jenny Quintana will release her second novel Our Dark Secret; an emotional and gripping tale of two girls, two deaths and two decades of silence.

Following the success of her debut novel, The Missing Girl, the anticipated second novel follows Elizabeth, a teenager in the late 1970s who was clever, overweight and the perfect victim for bullies.

A chance encounter with a mysterious girl in the summer of 1978 solidifies the collision of two fates when Rachel moved to town with her family at the start of the school year.

Reading slumps come and go, or at least they normally have done with me. Tiredness, distraction, busy times, lots of things can get in the road of a consistent and lifelong tendency to read anything and everything at any given opportunity, but in the last few months something really strange has happened in AustCrimeFiction central.

Totally lost interest.

Picked up a few books and discarded them. Went and sat in front of the sewing machine instead, or played an online game, or, something I NEVER EVER do, watched movies.

Cover reveal time, with the announcement from newly formed Corella Press (https://www.austlit.edu.au/corellapress) of their upcoming initial releases: BRIDGET'S LOCKET AND OTHER MYSTERIES by Waif Wander (aka Mary Fortune) and THE MILLWOOD MYSTERY by Jeannie Lockett.

These beautiful covers were created by Kathleen Jennings (https://www.kathleenjennings.com/) whose paper cut silhouettes are amazing.

Corella Press state on their website:

The Mentone Public Library are  showcasing local crime fiction author Alison Knight.

Time: 11am-1.30pm

Date: Saturday, 31 August 2019

Venue: Mentone Public Library

Address: Rear, 36 Florence Street, Mentone VIC 3194

Entry: Gold coin (for tea, coffee, biscuits)

Alison will be discussing her three crime novels:

1) Peter Stone
2) The Close
3) The Undiscovered Room and Other Stories

Young offenders, criminal histories:

Ngaio Marsh Award longlist revealed

An extraordinary literary tag-team is among several tales inspired by historic events to be named today on an eclectic longlist for the 2019 Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Novel.

There's a bunch of reviews in the unpublished queue here that have never been pushed live for a number of reasons - many of them boring admin problems, some of them because the book hasn't exactly been to this reviewers taste and, believe it or not, I don't always like posting negative reviews, especially if I've struggled to find a positive about the book. I'd hasten to add - these are in the minority / most of them are because I've been flat out and haven't had a chance to verify / check the review content.

Those books that you hear of one minute, read the next, and then see it has been snapped up by a film production company?

This is one of those.

For the last few months there's been a lot of hammering, sawing and scaffolding lying about the place as a whole new AustCrimeFiction release has been bullied and cajoled into place.

Along the way I've attempted to catch up with missing books / updated covers / new authors / new bios / new odds and ends but have undoubtedly missed something. If you happen to notice any updates that should have occurred then drop me a line via the Contact page and I'll attempt to catch up... again.

I'm actually half way through this extremely promising piece of writing.

From the Blurb:

Jessica James had the perfect life. She had a good job, supportive friends, and her husband Geoff and her son Jack both adored her. Everything changed the moment she found out she was having another child. 

Lots and lots of noise about this one.

From the Blurb:

For the past two weeks, seventeen-year-old Kate Bennet has lived against her will in an isolated cabin in a remote beach town--brought there by a mysterious man named Bill. Part captor, part benefactor, Bill calls her Evie and tells her he's hiding her to protect her. That she did something terrible one night back home in Melbourne--something so unspeakable that he had no choice but to take her away. The trouble is, Kate can't remember the night in question.

Australian independent booksellers, members of Leading Edge Books, are thrilled to announce their Shortlist for the Indie Book Awards 2019, for the best Australian books published in 2018!

Established in 2008, the Indie Book Awards recognise and celebrate this country’s incredible talent and the role independent booksellers play in supporting and nurturing Australian writing.

Who will win in each category in 2019?

Who will take out the overall ‘2019 Book of the Year’ Award?!

Without further ado, here is the Shortlist for the 2019 Indie Book Awards:

L. A. Larkin, acclaimed thriller author, will introduce Harry’s Quest, the new novel from A. B. Patterson

L. A. Larkin is an internationally acclaimed British-Australian thriller writer of several outstanding novels, including The Genesis Flaw, Thirst, and Devour. Her thrillers have drawn many excellent reviews and award nominations.

Given how long it took me to get the spelling of reminiscences right, I think I'm still in holiday mode. Or a lousy speller. We took a few weeks off over Christmas and New Year and actually took the time off - very little was done on computers, tablets and smartphones. We nearly melted in a couple of early season heatwaves that just reinforce the idea that we're all going to hell in an incinerator ... where was I oh yeah, 2018 Reading Reminiscences. There were some very good books around in 2018 and this is less recommendation and more a meander around in the ones I really enjoyed.

A nice comic styled novella just because.

From the Blurb:

A rookie spy. Europe on a knife edge. A distinct lack of coffee.

Eva Destruction is back in her first ever assignment. Straight out of the MI6 academy, Eva is on the trail of a supposedly dead fellow agent. It’s a nothing assignment given to a rookie, but when suicide bombers hit a NATO conference the mission is kicked into high gear. Eva chases a carnage of gunfire and explosions across Europe in search of the mysterious shadowy organization, ‘The Tempest’. 

Second in the Rory James series from Bendigo based author Colin King.

From the Blurb:

When a Melbourne couple in witness protection are found assassinated in their bed, zoology student Josh Marshall recognises the address. He quickly realises he had inadvertently been an unseen witness to a bent cop divulging the couple's location to the hitman ... and he has the hard evidence to prove it.

VOX is one of those books that we've heard that is frightening for only being a couple of steps away from our current reality.  Modern life is a horror story.

Full review to come!

THE BLURB:

Silence can be deafening.

Jean McClellan spends her time in almost complete silence, limited to just one hundred words a day. Any more, and a thousand volts of electricity will course through her veins.

Now the new government is in power, everything has changed. But only if you’re a woman.

So much to unpack from the reading of this book.  Full review to come!

FROM THE BLURB

In 2009, in the NSW country town of Armidale, a mentally ill young man is shot dead by a police officer. Senior Constable Andrew Rich claims he ‘had no choice’ other than to shoot 24-year-old Elijah Holcombe — Elijah had run at him roaring with a knife, he tells police.

Second in the DCI Daley series - I've been listening to this one recently - really enjoying the slight touches of humour in this series.

From the Blurb:

This has been the most fascinating listening. So fascinating I did a ridiculous amount of unpicking of sewing seams over the weekend.

From the Blurb:

Because life isn't complicated enough - this is my in car listening at the moment. I will die if I keep laughing this much.

As you know I don't blog a lot of personal stuff, but it's probably time to mention that I'm no longer on the ACWA committee so not monitoring the social media accounts, not getting emails from the website etc.

I'm very behind with posting things - got some major website work under way so I'm behind, I'm disorganised and I'm very distracted at the moment. I finished this book night before last - coming out later in November from Echo Publishing, but more on that when the review is posted.

From the Blurb:

An atmospheric crime novel with a burning moral dilemma at its heart.

Started this one last night and what with the heat and never-ending dry it feels like home... ;)

From the Blurb:

For Cass Tuplin, proprietor of the Rusty Bore Takeaway (and definitely not an unlicensed private investigator), it’s weird enough that her neighbour Vern has somehow acquired a lady friend. But then he asks Cass to look into the case of the dead rats someone’s dumped on Joanne’s doorstep.

Started reading the third Georgie Harvey / John Franklin novel by Sandi Wallace last week ... this time set in the Dandenong Ranges, which was a bit of a blast from past - rain / storms / fog / trees down / cold. Vaguely remember how all of that worked.

From the Blurb:

How could police lose three children?

Three missing children.

A wild storm.

A long way from home.

Melbourne journalist Georgie Harvey is on hand when three children disappear from a police-run camp in the Dandenong Ranges.

Cato Kwong is back in the much anticipated fourth novel in the series, and I'm blissfully happy about that.

From the Blurb:

Back in pre-computer days when the History taught in our schools seemed to be fixated on Medieval England to the exclusion of everywhere and everything else (including Aboriginal history which has always pissed me off in the extreme), we, unsurprisingly given the myopic focus, never explored events surrounding either of the World Wars. Since then my forays into education in this sphere have been shamfully sporadic so I'm grateful for this novella and essay which is casting some light into this corner. 

From the Blurb:

From the shamefully overdue pile (turns out I have quite a few shameful piles...)

From the Blurb:

Cocaine. Construction. Corruption.

The unholy trinity of Sydney

Self-made property mogul Tina Leonard has already lost her business, her home and custody of her children because South East Banking Corporation left her bankrupt. Now it appears she is being framed for the murder of her banker Oliver Randall, a senior executive of the corporation. Her motive? Revenge for ruining her life and her business.

I remember very well when this triple murder occurred, so I'm hoping this book will cast some light into dark places.

From the Blurb:

'The slaughter was extravagant and bloody. And yet there were people in the small town of Wedderburn in Central Victoria who, while they did not exactly rejoice, quietly thought that Ian Jamieson had done them all a favour.'

Another from the was reading pile (I've been computer avoiding for a few days).

From the Blurb:

Four years ago, in the small town of Birravale, Eliza Daley was murdered. Within hours, her killer was caught. Wasn’t he?

So reads the opening titles of Jack Quick’s new true-crime documentary. A skilled producer, Jack knows that the bigger the conspiracy, the higher the ratings - and he claims Curtis Wade was convicted on flimsy evidence and shoddy police work. Millions of viewers agree.

This is the latest in the rural noir pile, and 50 or so pages in feels like a very good entry indeed.

From the Blurb:

Perhaps if Sweetapple hadn’t stopped to help the idiots who had just near run him off the road in their ute, things may have gone entirely differently.

Backcountry mystery outshone big city crime at WORD Christchurch Festival on Saturday evening as Alan Carter and Jennifer Lane were named the winners of the 2018 Ngaio Marsh Awards.

Post the #neddies it is sometimes hard to get back in the reading groove, so I'm starting with something rather different from what I'd normally contemplate going near. So far the plan is working...

From the Blurb:

The Girl on the Train meets Before I Go to Sleep with a dash of Bridget Jones in this chilling tale of love gone horribly wrong …

From the just finished pile.

From the Blurb:

An outsider detective. The vigilante killer with a message. A cold case they both want solved.

From Amazon Bestseller S.D. Rowell comes a heart-pounding crime mystery that will keep you thinking until the final page… 

In 1942 Peter Corris was born in Stawell Victoria. 122ks away, I arrived in a similar part of the world sometime later. In 1980 I was newly arrived in Melbourne, and by absolute happenstance, a crime fiction fan, living around the corner from Murder Inc in Auburn Road, Hawthorn. My delight at that stage was the discovery of a ready source of John Wainwright's books. And then Malcolm, the lovely and profoundly knowledgeable gentleman who ran Murder Inc, asked me if I'd like to try something local for a change. The Dying Trade was my first Cliff Hardy novel.

So on the weekend we (as in the ACWA Committee(link is external) - Rochelle Jackson, Robert Goodman, David Whish-Wilson, Louisa (LA) Larkin, Andrea Thompson, Jacqui Horwood, Deb Crabtree, Georgina Heydon, Meg Vann and I) did a thing.

Big change of pace, but I'm actually reading something written by someone who is not from our neck of the woods!

From the Blurb:

Murder wasn't the hard part. It was just the start of the game.

Joshua Kane has been preparing for this moment his whole life. He's done it before. But this is the big one.

This is the murder trial of the century. And Kane has killed to get the best seat in the house.

But there's someone on his tail. Someone who suspects that the killer isn't the man on trial.

From the heaving great pile of reading matter that I'm very behind with.

From the Blurb:

When Andy and Mel’s double date turns into a snuff film, Andy fights back, killing one of her attackers, leading to an unwanted aftermath of attention and threats. 

Detective Daniel Connor links the attack to the recent discovery of six female bodies found buried in bushland on Sydney’s Northern Beaches – three double homicides now thought to be part of an organised snuff-film ring. 

I've been wanting to read this interesting analysis for sometime now so yesterday sat down and did so.

From the Blurb:

Alison Hoddinott writes about the history of crime fiction set in Oxford, from the early decades of the 20th century to the present. Her emphasis is on novels written by women and the ways in which their fiction deals with both the mystery and its solution and with the situation of women within the university and in the wider community.

You've probably noticed that there are a few of us posting here, and recently it's turning into a bit of a three way tussle who gets in first with a review (okay 2 way, it's rarely me :) ) so given that predictabilty - my turn to read this now.

From the Blurb:

There's a LOT of buzz going around about this one.

From the Blurb:

In an isolated country town brought to its knees by endless drought, a charismatic and dedicated young priest calmly opens fire on his congregation, killing five parishioners before being shot dead himself. 

My round up of the 2018 Ned Kelly Awards shortlist is now at Newtown Review of Books

Slight (okay extreme) change of pace.

From the Blurb:

Rebecca wondered if she was looking at an elaborate hoax. She wasn't.

Along with a dozen other journalists and food-industry celebrities, she had just witnessed the unveiling of the baked head of one of Adelaide's most celebrated chefs. The head of Leong Chew sat on a pewter platter. The cloche had just been removed, revealing Leong Chew, clearly not at his best.

One that I finished over the weekend - review to come asap.

From the Blurb:

A fugitive in the present. A runaway in the past.

Eliza Carmody returns home to the country to work on the biggest law case of her career. The only problem is this time she’s on the ‘wrong side’ – defending a large corporation against a bushfire class action by her hometown of Kinsale.