All the Reviews

The book of the TV show, ELEMENTARY: THE GHOST LINE is based around the characters of Sherlock Holmes and his sidekick Joan Watson. Set in New York, and having never seen the show, it seems that likely that the TV show is a reworking of the recent English reboot of Sherlock. Which probably raises the biggest question in my mind... Why?

Anyway, back to the book, which is undeniably engagingly written. Catching a lot of the colour and movement from the rebooted Sherlock (the one I've actually seen with Benedict Cumberbatch in it), there's high energy and high risk in this ... Read review

Brief commentary, rather than a full review.

Read for our f2f bookclub, every book by Jo Nesbø reminds you to read the rest of the series.

It's partially the way that the balance between atmosphere, plot and character is maintained so elegantly. It's partially the way that Harry Hole might be an archetypal loner, but he's not with out a sense of humour, and profound confusion. It's also to do with the manner in which the plots are so cleverly constructed, even if we are dealing with yet another serial killer. 

Needless to say everything adds up ... Read review

The novella THE MISTAKE is short, sharp, packed with a punch crime fiction set in Iceland, written by ex-pat New Zealander Grant Nicol. Set in Reykjavik, there's a lot that's laid on the line, as you'd expect in something constrained by length. There's been a brutal murder and the clear suspect is on the scene. A troubled man, prone to blackouts, discovers a body in his own yard and it looks like it's done and dusted. Especially when the suspect, Gunnar Atli, has secrets to hide. On the other side of the equation is a cop who is determined to prove beyond reasonable doubt, and a ... Read review

In The Legend of Winstone Blackhat, Tanya Moir takes the reader, in a sustained and authentic way, into the world-view of an abused 12 year old. She writes powerfully about a boy, Winstone, (named after a NZ concreting company) who comes from a neglectful and damaging home life. The novel segues effortlessly between Winstone's day to day existence as a run away in the hills of Central Otago and his cowboy fantasy of a journey of revenge across the plains of the American West.

Moir's evocation of the physical landscape is vivid and tactile – a place where the very ... Read review

Life growing up in the United Kingdom wasn't a bed of roses for Vinnie Whitney-Ross, what with gangland family connections, childhood friend problems and general law and disorder. Whitney-Ross found himself in the role of sort of reluctant hard-man, but the chance to escape to New Zealand and a life of Wine and Chocolate with his chocolatier wife feels like a chance for him to start again, make good, and live happily ever after.

When BLOOD, WINE & CHOCOLATE starts out in the United Kingdom, in Vinnie's early life, there is a strong sense of the nastiness of life in ... Read review

Built around the worlds of art fraud, forensic accounting, law and the European Mafia DEATH OF A FRIEND is the debut novel of Australian author Desmond L Kelly.

There's an interesting concept at the centre of this book - two men, friends since their schooldays, different backgrounds, different career choices but stayed in touch. When one of them is killed, the friend left behind feels desperate guilt. The reason he is feeling guilty is his own doubts over his best friends integrity, and the opening chapter in particular, at the funeral of Catlin, is very evocative of the ... Read review

An open homage to the noir stylings of Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler, with a decidedly Australian sense of humour, HARRY'S WORLD is the story of PI Harry Kenmare, told in a series of episodes.

For this reader some aspects of the humour in this book really worked, and others were less successful. If you're already struggling with the stereotypical female portrayals and the tacky sexual urges of Harry, by the time Club Mammary makes an appearance it could be possible, like this reader, that you start to notice a tendency to be somewhat distracted by external things ... Read review

Ultra-gritty describes the 1930's Stockholm that Harry Kvist occupies, as well as Kvist himself. To say nothing of the people that he mixes with. It's a beautifully evoked  world of dark and despair, littered with violent sexual encounters, drinking, and oddly, an unexpected love affair of sorts. 

Told from his point of view Kvist is nothing if not brutally honest about himself, his situation, even the way he looks. And as an ex-boxer he's well suited to his now role of debt-collector, and general intimidating presence. It's the role of debt collector that sees him become ... Read review

THE LONG WEEKEND is the debut, self-published crime fiction novel from Victorian based author Terry R. Barca. Set in inner Melbourne, using the beautiful Windsor Hotel as a backdrop for most of the action, it features recently retired / newly married Sam and his wife Scarlett on a relaxing long weekend. It's not long before their idyllic time is interrupted by a high profile murder which takes place not that far from where they are.

A quick review of the blurb to this book will give potential readers a very good feeling for the style of the novel overall. What shines ... Read review