All the Reviews

“Tyler blinked long and slow, tried to get rid of the spots dancing across his eyes. He stared ahead at the Audi’s number plate, MH 100. A private plate on a top-of-the-range Audi, the posh house, the woman on the floor. A drawer full of iPhones and designer watches, a sawn-off shotgun under the bed. None of this was good.”

I think it was Billy Connolly, most likely during one of his numerous appearances on Parky, who I once heard use the phrase ‘shortbread tin view of Scotland’. In essence, the views of Scotland on shortbread tins were idealised ... Read review

Two books from the Hitchhiker series of cosy paranormal novels based around unwilling house-husband Oliver Atkinson and his adventures with the odd and quirky. Atkinson is a stay at home husband who doesn't seem to be all that happy with that situation. Although he is trying to write a book, and there's nothing worse than housework and family commitments when it comes to sucking time away from that. Especially if you include a resident "spirit" or two in your head.

In the first in the series, MURDER IN PAINT, Atkinson finds himself "sharing" with the spirit of dead Violet ... Read review

Set in the UK, GOOD GIRL, BAD GIRL presents us with two female victims of crime; one murdered, another who was subjected to terrible abuse as a child and is soon to be released from the British social welfare system. Robotham fans will be forgiven for thinking same same, but different. Yes, we have a new psychologist protagonist with Cyrus Haven being a physical (at least, so far) upgrade on the older model. Do we feel, after finishing GOOD GIRL, BAD GIRL, the same way about Cyrus as what we’ve felt up to now for Joe McLaughlin?  Not yet, but give it ... Read review

First in a series of novels based in Fiji, DEATH ON PARADISE ISLAND introduces Inspector Josefa Horseman and Sergeant Susila Singh of the Fiji Police Force, alongside a cast of supporting police characters, set elegantly within the local society and culture. 

Readers are introduced to Horseman as a local hero - not because of his policing credentials, he's more admired for his rugby playing, despite his career having been curtailed by a shattered knee. He's from a big family, who live with the traditions and rituals of their culture, ruled by his strong, independent, and ... Read review

“The best of Cliff Hardy, Australia’s legendary PI, with exclusive unpublished writing from Peter Corris on the art of crime fiction…”

You may consider yourself a well-read reader of crime fiction, even of Australian crime fiction (a slimmer yet more determined beast), but it is possible you came here to the Toxteth in order to be schooled by the ‘Godfather’ of Australian crime writing.  SEE YOU AT THE TOXTETH is a meticulously curated collection of Peter Corris short stories that snapshot the prolific career of a writer who wrote almost ninety ... Read review

I don't read horror books, nor do I watch horror movies. Even the good old Hammer Horror movies passed me by, so I'm not the best judge of these sorts of books, which makes talking about DOCTOR PERRY a tad compromised. Because of that, take this as the type of review which is all about my responses and nothing about the overall quality of the book as it sits besides other's of the same type.

I will admit that I never imagined a kindly, sympathetic doctor type as the main villain of a horror piece, but the idea that the worst of the horror is occurring in a nursing home, ... Read review

If you read the blurb for REVENGE IS A SELF INFLICTED WOUND then you'll get a very good taste for the style of writing in this novel, which I've dithered around a description of for ages now and cannot for the life of me decide. I'm caught somewhere between "stream of consciousness", tempted slightly by the blurb's use of "part literary musing", confused by the statement "the author's tone is a times a moral cry for a better society", and bemused by the "pages are awash with blood and sex".

It's complicated and I do suspect (hope) the author is having great fun with this ... Read review

Stella is the only child of Adam, a pastor, and Ulrika, a lawyer.  Stella is now of legal age and looks forward to soon taking an Asian holiday with her best friend since childhood, Amina.  The two teenagers have been through much together and of course, know a lot more about each other’s true selves than their parents do. It’s that degree of separation that Stella prides herself in maintaining, seeing as her parents are both so clueless that they buy her a scooter for her birthday when Stella had clearly stated that she wanted spending money for her trip.  There are many things that ... Read review

A combined review of DARK SERVICE, and ONE LAST HIT, the 4th and 5th books in the Detective Amanda Lacey series from NZ based author Linda Coles, set in the United Kingdom where Lacey and her investigative partner Jack Rutherford are confronted by a very odd scenario the first outing DARK SERVICE; and Lacey and another investigative partner, Duncan Riley, deal with a threat that comes much closer to home in the second ONE LAST HIT.

DARK SERVICE first then. This was my first encounter with Detective Amanda Lacey and DCI Jack Rutherford (who has his own series starting out ... Read review