All the Reviews

DEATH OF AN AGENT is the fourth "kiwi spy story" featuring ex-detective / spycatcher Dan Delaney. Historical crime fiction, based on real-life events this is a series that's been getting better and better, with this outing pleasingly comical in some places, as well as a rip-roaring yarn into the bargain.

Set in 1965, Ru Patterson, NZ's leading broadcaster is organising a protest against US President Johnson's envoy - Henry Cabot Lodge - to pressure New Zealand to send troops, whilst around him, the anti-Vietnam war protests are expanding. When Patterson is found ... Read review

Wanting what others have fast becomes a fatal obsession in The Other Passenger.  Whether that be your job, your house, your bank balance or your relationships, perhaps there is always someone in your circle of friends and acquaintances who feels that for you in particular, it all came a bit too easy.

Unable to cope with the suffocating commute that is the London underground, Jamie has been instead working nine hours a day at a café not far from the Thames.  For a man in his late forties, it’s a bit of a step down from his previous corporate position, but as time goes on, ... Read review

I've said before how much I particularly love The Witches subset of the Discworld novels, and I think this is possibly my favourite of them all. Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg are particularly resourceful, difficult, funny, enterprising and very determined in their desire to sort out the mess at a big city opera house, when a shadowy Phantom figure is killing people and frightening the living daylights out of many others. They are aided in their quest by a famous opera singer who is well sick of foreign food for reasons that aren't known to many - except the enquiring mind of Nanny ... Read review

It is more than fitting that the final word from Peter Corris would be curated by his wife, and long-time editor, Jean Bedford. The chosen short stories are perfect examples of his work, and the 'ABC Of Crime Writing' is every bit as insightful, acerbic, funny and thought-provoking as you'd want it to be. The columns from Newtown Review of Books are the icing on the very satisfying cake that is SEE YOU AT THE TOXTETH.

Those of us who were lucky enough to be around when Corris first started writing the Cliff Hardy novels will remember many of the original collections from ... Read review

As the blurb puts it - could a rock-star's first big hit have predicted his death? First in what looks like it's going to be a series DEAD MAN SINGING introduces Detective Joni Johns and private investigator Frankie Buchanan who find themselves investigating the death of rock star Jim Munro. Johns because it's her job and Buchanan when he's hired by the members of Munro's band - We Own the Night. Only problem is that Johns is the person responsible for ending Buchanan's police career, so needless to say there's a bit of tension there.

Given the reference to the first big ... Read review

In the near future, a child is created using the DNA of three parents; mother Stacey, father Isaac, and a long deceased ancestor of mankind.  This child will not be able to hold a passport, live a normal life, or even be issued with a birth certificate.  She is Fauna.

Stacey and Isaac, a young Western Australian couple, prepare to embark upon the perilous journey into parenthood for the fourth time.  They have agreed to partner up with LifeBlood, a clinical research company that offers financial incentives for parents to create and nurture a genetically modified child.  ... Read review

The London life of a young actor can be one of flopped auditions, money scrounging, crummy rentals and the occasional spot of couch surfing. Emily Proudman has just lost her day job as well as her agent, so at this point is absolutely open to all opportunities that could save her from yet another begging phone call to her parents. The Safe Place is a reminder that when an offer appears  too good to be true, it requires closer scrutiny.

Bang in the nick of time Emily receives an enticing proposition from her former boss, the gorgeous multi-millionaire Scott Denny, that may ... Read review

Third novel in the super-cozy Hitchhiker series which features stay at home dad Oliver Atkinson, and his propensity to pick up ghostly hitchhikers with problems that they need solving. In this outing he finds himself dealing with a precious nine-year-old and an investigation into what happened to her friend back in 1978. Obviously this isn't a series that's designed to appeal to those of us with slightly darker tastes, but it's light-hearted, more than a bit tongue in cheek silly, and should be an entertaining read for anyone who leans towards the cozier side of the genre.Read review

I'm not going to pretend for a moment that I've the slightest idea what's going on with the Inspector Giovanni 'Rex' Matsuko series, of which The Reluctant Gunmen is book number 5 (and I've read a couple of the earlier ones as well).

I'm not even sure I can describe them, except to say it's sort of tongue in cheek, wacky, stream of consciousness stuff told in sort of first person, with shifting timelines and subject matter with no obvious or strong story arc (to my eye at least, but I could be missing something), that gets weirder and weirder in a sort of fun, not quite ... Read review