All the Reviews

Every now and then it does a dedicated crime reader's heart good to read something that proves that there's nothing better than not taking yourself too seriously.  And if there's ever a fictional character that can't afford to take himself too seriously it is crime reporter Laurie Lane.  His wife has walked out on him (he did eventually twig she wasn't there), his daughter's remained at home, somewhat indulgent but equally pointed in her opinions of her father.  At the newspaper he's being investigated for fiddling his expenses, but there's a distinct smell about that.  Especially as ... Read review

If the idea of a serial killer novel titled THE MERRY MISOGYNIST has you slightly confused, then I can only guess that perhaps you've never read a Dr Siri book before.  If you're a fan of quirky, without cute or cosy, humour without slapstick and the most marvellous sense of place that you're likely to encounter, then I can only suggest that you rectify that as soon as possible.

THE MERRY MISOGYNIST is the sixth Dr Siri mystery, all set in Communist Laos.  Dr Siri is a most reluctant national Coroner, although he is supported by a most willing morgue team of colleagues ... Read review

THROUGH BLACK SPRUCE isn't the first book it's taken me quite a long time to read, it's not even the one that took the longest to read, but it did take many attempts before I was able to get any traction.  This attempt I read the blurb first-up and did a little Google hunting - something I normally try not to do.  But this time I really needed it to find out what on earth was going on.  Then it dawned on me why I was having so much trouble getting into the book.

THROUGH BLACK SPRUCE is a family story, told from two main points of view.  Annie is the sister of the missing ... Read review

Love a quest and tracking down copies of these short story collections seems to have become one of my major quests.  A lot of these go back to the days of Mean Streets Magazine, and there have always been a few that elluded me.  Very happy dancing when I finally spied a copy in Kill City during a recent trip to Melbourne.

As per the blurb this is a cross genre set of stories, many of which take the reader off in most unexpected directions.  Crime morphing into Western, Science Fiction, Fairy Tales and Fantasy shouldn't really be all that surprising if you think about it ... Read review

Dr Siri Paiboun has got to be one of the all time great fictional characters.  Irascible, kind, determined, a bit of a push-over, loving, stern, gentle, pushy, pig-headed, he's just so magnificently real.  I know I say this a lot, but if you've never read any of Colin Cotterill's fantastic series based in Laos, built around the elderly and reluctant, one and only coroner in Laos, then get thee to a bookshop / library with all haste.

In the 7th book - LOVE SONGS FROM A SHALLOW GRAVE - Dr Siri and his ever-present companions of Nurse Dtui, Mr Geung and his new wife Madame ... Read review

We used to wonder what was in the water in Scotland and Ireland, there was such good crime fiction coming out of those locations.  It's rapidly getting to the stage where we have to add New Zealand to the list.  Now I think I've already warned people to stand by for some enthusiastic reviews - well this is one of them!

CUT & RUN is the first Anna Markunas book from Alix Bosco (pseudonym), luckily there's already a second book out and let's hope there's a lot more to come.

Bosco has pulled off a very stylish balancing acts in CUT & RUN with a blend of ... Read review

As the blurb says, Canberra, 1951, the Cold War at its height.  In Australia it all became very high profile with the defection of a Soviet spy and the drama around the Soviet's attempt to repatriate his wife to the USSR immediately.  Whilst it's a true story, the "Petrov Affair" probably isn't that well known outside Australia - but it was quite an event here.  DOCUMENT Z takes the true story as its basis, and fictionalises the viewpoint of the husband and wife - Evdokia and Vladimir Petrov.  

The voices of these two are compelling, albeit very contained, almost dry - ... Read review

Reading THE KILLING OF CAROLINE BYRNE you can't help but teeter between relief that the justice system may sometimes grind slowly to a just conclusion, but it does at least get there; and a strong feeling of dismay that a killer got so close to getting away with murder, maybe because of who he knew, perhaps more chillingly, because of lack of resources.

Either way this is a very interesting book about a very sad case.  It took many many years for justice to be done for Caroline Byrne and her family.  From the discovery of her body it seemed that there was something very ... Read review

Good crime fiction, for me anyway, frequently goes hand in hand with a spotlight on social issues.  If it incorporates a good, strong sense of place and great characters that you can really feel something about, then even better.

THE HALF-CHILD is Melbourne author Angela Savage's second Jayne Keeney book.  This book is set in Thailand, but the focus this time is on the beachside resort of Pattaya, a strange combination of tourist resort, family friendly locations, sleazy bars and strip-joints.  Jayne finds herself in Pattaya as she is hired to investigate the case of a ... Read review