All the Reviews

The Build Up, Phillip Gwynne

Nailing my colours firmly to the aerial of the ute, I love a book that evokes a place and a people strongly.  THE BUILD UP is set in and around Darwin in Australia's Northern Territory.  A bit of a frontier town - they have a habit of referring to other states as "the shoe wearing states".  Darwin's always been just that bit different from the rest of Australia - it's tropical, it's closer to Asia than to most other Australian capital cities, and it used to be a town where cultures intermingled comfortably (probably still is - it's been a long time between visits).

Dusty' ... Read Review

Blood From Stone, Frances Fyfield

BLOOD FROM STONE was recently announced as the winner of the 2008 Duncan Lawrie Dagger, presented by the Crime Writers' Association in the UK.  Reading a prize-winning novel for review always presents a slightly different set of questions to answer - the obvious one being why did it win?  Frances Fyfield is the author of around 17 previous novels incidentally.

BLOOD FROM STONE is essentially the story of Marianne Shearer; successful criminal barrister and defence counsel; wealthy and supposedly extremely self-assured - Marianne is not a conventionally attractive woman, ... Read Review

The Prophet Murders, Mehmet Murat Somer

THE PROPHET MURDERS is the first of six 'Hop-Ciki-Yaya' thrillers translated into English - written by engineer, banker and now management consultant Mehmet Murat Somer.  The book introduces the reader to a central protagonist who is nothing, if not slightly unexpected.  Our unnamed hero/heroine is referred to as abla throughout the book which means big sister (thanks to the handy little glossary included at the back of the book).  He/she is a well-known identity in the transvestite sub-culture in Turkey. The reason for the dual references to this character is that he/she is ... Read Review

Open File, Peter Corris (review by sunniefromoz)

Cliff Hardy is cleaning out his office after losing his Private Investigator's licence. He comes across a folder with the paperwork for a missing person's case going back to 1988, Australia's Bi-centennial year.

OPEN FILE is a look back at how Cliff did his job twenty years ago. It is remarkable to note just how much technology has changed our lives in the twenty years since that landmark year in Australia's history. It was an era before the common use of mobile phones - when you could still find a public phone booth and put a coin in the slot. There was no internet to ... Read Review

Bright Air, Barry Maitland

Maitland has taken a break from his popular Brock and Kolla series with the release of BRIGHT AIR.  It opens with Josh, having recently returned to Sydney after working in London, still mourning the death of his girlfriend Luce, they had both been members of the University climbing club.  Luce had fallen to her death off the rugged coast of Lord Howe Island, her body never found, other members of the climbing team on the same trip had said she was climbing on her own and had simply disappeared.  Josh is not only mourning her loss, but feeling profoundly guilty because of what happened ... Read Review

Until It's Over, Nicci French

Husband and wife writing team Nicci Gerrard and Sean French have been churning out the psychological thrillers now for almost ten years since the release of THE MEMORY GAME.  Every year another is released and they all feature variations on a similar theme, that being of the urban girl in jeopardy.  UNTIL IT'S OVER lacks the density of some of the priors and is almost startlingly light in the mental conundrums we're used to seeing in novels by these authors.  The suspense, such as it is when it appears, doesn't gel with the casualness in which the characters go about their lives, as ... Read Review

The Fatal Flaw, Roger Maynard (review by sunniefromoz)

FATAL FLAW follows the investigation, the inquest and the trial which convicted New Zealander Glenn O'Neill.

Although the record shows that O'Neill was the killer, his conviction was based on an early confession which was later recanted by him.  The rest of the evidence was largely circumstantial and there were many unanswered questions which haven't completely closed the matter.

Norfolk Island is a somewhat hierarchical community, with descendents of the Bounty mutineers and Pitcairn Islander at the top.  it is also a community which is very protective of ... Read Review

Golden Serpent, Mark Abernethy

Espionage thrillers these days frequently put "the terrorists" in the old black hat role - the starring role the spies from the Soviet Union and the like used to occupy.  The Terrorists in these incarnations can come from anywhere - they could be Russian (mafia or not), they can frequently be Middle Eastern, or as in Golden Serpent, they are Asian.  One thing that doesn't really change that much is the nature of the threat - it tends to be huge, the weapons devastating, the results of their possible success vast and catastrophic.  And in GOLDEN SERPENT, as you'd want in a good ... Read Review

The Roar Of The Butterflies, Reginald Hill

The Joe Sixsmith series is much more light-hearted than Mr Hill's other, well known Dalziel and Pascoe series.  Partly because Joe is a gifted amateur Private Investigator and partly because of Joe's own personality.  He takes his responsibilities seriously, but he doesn't take himself all that seriously.  Of course his Aunt Mirabelle and his girlfriend Beryl are always standing by, ready to shoot down any signs of Joe getting ahead of himself.

He is somewhat surprised though to find himself confronted by a YFG (Young Fair God).  On a day when the heat is causing him to ... Read Review