All the Reviews

Being a bit of a fan of short story collections, I've was really pleased that to see published some of the Scarlet Stiletto winning stories from the past. In this collection, SCARLET STILETTO: SHORT STORIES 2013, the winners from the 20th Anniversary of the awards are released together.

The categories are pretty wide for these awards - The Scarlet Stiletto Award itself (and here we have the first, second and third prize winners), The Best New Talent Award, Great Film Idea, Best Investigative, Cross Genre, Funniest, Young Writers', Malice Domestic and The Body in the Library ... Read review

WRONGFUL DEATH is the ninth book in the Anna Travis series from Lynda La Plante. Which therefore requires a confession. I started to struggle with this series around book 4 (DEADLY INTENT), and never managed to finish book 5 (SILENT SCREAM) or book 6 (BLIND FURY). So on the upside, I did manage to finish WRONGFUL DEATH. On the downside it was a disappointment.

Whilst the central premise, the re-investigation of the death of Josh Reynolds was an interesting idea, the cast of characters flat out didn't work for me. Can't remember the last time I've encountered so many ... Read review

Christopher Brookmyre is appointment purchasing in these parts, but even allowing for that obsession, I do really like the way this Jasmine Sharp series is shaping up. WHEN THE DEVIL DRIVES is the second book now, and whilst it would be better to read them both in sequence, you could get away with just picking up this one, especially if you're aware there's a story behind Jasmine becoming a Private Investigator.

There is a cast of central characters, built around Sharp, featuring hardman Fallan and DS MacLeod. Since Sharp took over running her Uncle Jim's detective agency ... Read review

No idea whatsoever how or why, but WHERE THE DEVIL CAN'T GO by Anya Lipska wafted into my somewhat dodgy attention span recently, and I started reading it immediately. As in read the sample, bought the ebook and read it as soon as it downloaded.

Sometimes the universe is very kind and benevolent place, because this is an excellent debut book. Set within the Polish community in England, I think I've since heard somewhere that this is the first novel of this sort out of that environment.

The story is set deep within that Polish community, many of whom are in ... Read review

ILL-GOTTEN GAINS is the second Nell Forest Mystery by Ilsa Evans set in the imagined country town of Majic (somewhere out near Bendigo if I remember from the first book :) )

When reviewing the earlier book, NEFARIOUS DOINGS recently, I commented on the style of accidental female PI series that these books fall into and what a good example of that genre they are. Whilst the first book was, in itself, a fun example of that style, ILL-GOTTEN GAINS adds a much stronger plot to other strong elements.

Part of what ... Read review

Translated from the original German TRETJAK is the story of a fixer, hired by the rich, to sort out life's problems - big and small.

Gabriel Tretjak is an unusual central character. His back story is woven into the narrative, revealing the reasons why he's a tricky character to warm to. Not done as a bid for sympathy however, there's something very matter-of-fact about Tretjak, and his background, his dysfunctional family, and his ruthless single-mindedness. Which makes the idea that he could perhaps be guilty of the murder of a famous brain surgeon feasible. The idea ... Read review

Phryne Fisher returns in her 20th mystery, and one gets the distinct impression that the singer in Ms Greenwood has had issues with choir conductors in the past. But that's not the only thing that really stood out in MURDER AND MENDELSSOHN.

Fans will, as always, find Miss Fisher in full flight, gorgeously costumed and decisive. A woman of means who uses those means to resolve the wrongs of the world. All of the expected elements are here - the cars, the household of supporting characters, the slightly bemused police in her wake. There's also a love interest, in the person ... Read review

I love fiction that's set in remote communities, that's obviously written with great affection and experience of those communities - albeit with an outsider's viewpoint. It's obvious that this author has a close connection with, and affection for TI and it's people and the way that the community functions.

Starting out as an interesting police procedural, with a tropical pace and feel to it, Thea's first case is the murder of a white woman, married to a local man. This lands her immediately in the intricacies of the local community. Complicated familial influences and ... Read review

SIGN OF THE CROSS is the second Spike Sanguinetti novel, in a series that really does need to be read in order. Not that it's any trial to have to do so, as this is shaping up to be a standout.

It's not just the brutality of the murder, there's a fundamental sombreness about these books which works. The first book, THE SHADOW OF THE ROCK, was also set partly outside Gibraltar in Morocco, yet somehow that idea of a Shadow being cast carries through both stories. Sanguinetti is troubled in this book. By the brutal death of a loved aunt and uncle, the increasing frailty of ... Read review