Right, so in April I was thinking back to 2006 and the commencement of AustCrime and then May I forgot to do a wrap up completely.
It's been busy in these parts. Unbelievably busy. So May / June together.
May
Every month this year is starting out with a revisit to the Discworld, so The Light Fantastic by Terry Pratchett it was.
From there, started off in Scandinavia with The Devil's Sanctuary, Marie Hermanson which started off with a bang and fizzled to a bit of a disappointment.
From there I went local - Dusty Dexter PI, Jan Richards, Sweet Damage, Rebecca James and No Safe Place, Jenny Spence - there's something in each of those books for all sorts of different readers from chic lit (Dusty), young adult (Sweet Damage) and traditional accidental detective (No Safe Place). Particular mention of Sweet Damage from that group.
Then what is so far pretty darn close to a couple of books of the year The Cuckoo's Calling, Robert Galbraith and Deadly Harvest, Michael Stanley. Both very different but highly recommended.
Then a surprise, albeit a difficult one to categorise in Sufficient Grace, Amy Espeseth and one that didn't work for me at all A Mother Without a Child, Gunilla Haglundh.
Then got very carried away and read a heap of our (Clan Destine Press(link is external))'s True Crime Short stories. Crime Shots – Cody's Law; Crime Shots – I Got the Shit Car, Lindy Cameron; Crime Shots – Kirste's Wine, John Allin; Crime Shots – The Mysterious Phillip Island Murder, Vikki Petraitis; Crime Shots – The Russell Street Bombing, Vikki Petratis; Crime Shots – Pandora's Box, Vikki Petratis - really interesting, ebook only short true crime snippets.
June
Then onto June and the Discword commencing book in Equal Rites by Terry Pratchett.
From there, more of the local writers with A Bitter Taste, Annie Hauxwell - highly recommended as a complex, confronting series, although I think you should read them in order.
Then just the sort of thing that I love, The Dinner, Herman Koch. Won't be for everybody but I thought it was fascinating.
Next up back to the locals with Hindsight, Melanie Casey and Blood Witness, Alex Hammond. Not much of a fan of paranormal but Hindsight would definitely appeal to those that are, and normally I struggle a bit with legal thrillers but Blood Witness was very promising.
Off to Denmark next with The Hanging by Lotte and Soren Hammer which I've got to finish writing up. Took me a while, but ended up enjoying this.
Back to the locals again with Heist, Robert Schofield and Dead Cat Bounce, Peter Cotton. The first is set in the goldfields of WA and is a chase, dark, funny fantastic book. The second has a much more dour central character who might prove a little underwhelming for some readers but hey - somebody's kidnapping politicians ... My review of Dead Cat Bounce is to be published at http://www.newtownreviewofbooks.com(link is external) sometime soonish.
Finally some true crime with Deadly Australian Women by Kay Saunders and the surprise package of the month Nigerians in Space, Deji Olukotun. Highly recommended if you want something very very different.