A husband and father is betrayed, a son chases a ghost through the decades, a Russian arms dealer wants his hands on a priceless ruby, a young woman disappears with the keys to the mystery, and a female insurgent fights for her life. The Past and the Present are on a collision course....Read more
A VIP Protection job goes wrong, the brutalised body of a young man is found in the jungle, a triad wants its $2.5 million back, a girl goes missing and a friend is murdered. Galahad Jones’ world is about to tilt.
When a simple VIP Protection job goes horribly...Read more
'Isn't it your job to stop people being murdered?'
1911, on a winter's night in arid New South Wales wool country, mounted trooper Augustus Hawkins discovers the bodies of three young people. They are scions of the richest family in the district, savagely murdered on a...Read more
Syd Fielding is on a fishing trip when he hears a horrifying scream ... What he doesn′t yet know is that a young man is being fed to a saltwater crocodile.
So begins MURDER AND REDEMPTION, an absorbing crime novel which follows in the traditions of Jon Cleary and Peter Temple....Read more
A woman wants her errant husband tracked, an undocumented Cambodian girl is found dead, the city’s two biggest criminal societies vie for power, a loan shark wants his money back, and a corrupt cop is pulling strings from the shadows. It’s just another day in Hong Kong.
Former...Read more
There's a new Wyatt on the way, and that means it's as good a time as any to do a little tidying up of the back catalogue.
Wyatt is a very careful man, because he has to be. Wyatt robs banks, lifts payrolls, gets girls, leaves girls, lives the life of a loner, trusts few,...Read more
I really shouldn't get all impressed by a new cover, but having no idea whatsoever of who Essie Davis is, I was really pleased to see her popup on the re-release of Kerry Greenwood's first Phryne Fisher book COCAINE BLUES. I think the casting people for the upcoming ABC TV series may just...Read more
Tabitha Darling is the daughter of a recently demised, much missed police superintendent and his wife, a recently moved to Queensland, much missed cook for the local police station. She's trying to run her own dessert destination café in the centre of Hobart, but no matter how hard she...Read more
The author of COLD DECEPTION has had many years experience in the Criminal Justice system, and that knowledge shines through in this debut crime fiction offering.
Julia Taylor's release from prison, her struggles to re-establish life and normality, and the way that she balances...Read more
Sulari Gentill’s award-winning historical crime series is written with verve and spirit, the fiction woven seamlessly into actual events of the time.
Review of Give the Devil His Due, and the entire Rowland Sinclair series at ...Read more
GUNSHINE STATE has been compared to Garry Disher's Wyatt series for a very good reason. The anti-hero characterisation here is as crisp and clear as you'd want, with Gary Chance the sort of loner survivor that has stepped straight from the pages of classic noir into the bright lights and...Read more
Partly a story around Iris Foster, partly a story around arson, BURN PATTERNS puts a complicated woman at the heart of a story about complicated offenders. Known as "The Fire Lady" Foster is a psychologist with a messy past that she's tried to put behind her. Until mid consultation with...Read more
Plan for the best, expect the worst, note the exit points.
Good bit of general life advice this, although at the time Wyatt is standing, motionless, waiting for any signs his entry into the house he's about to rob has been noticed. Perhaps not...Read more
Fans of Australian writing (not just crime fiction) if you've not caught up yet with Rowly Sinclair and his wanderings through 1930's Sydney and beyond, where on earth have you been?
A DECLINE IN PROPHETS is the second book in the Rowland Sinclair series from Sulari Gentill and...Read more
Right from the opening pages ONLY KILLERS AND THIEVES is brutal. Transporting readers to colonial Australia, this is a book that will should make you ponder how we got to be where we are. In the main this is a story about brutal people, doing unspeakable things - to Indigenous people,...Read more
Recently busted back down to the rank of Constable, Mick Goodenough is the newest cop in town. Once a detective always a detective though, and it’s impossible for the experienced investigator not to speak up when it appears that his new colleagues are ignoring the sinister signs of an...Read more
The first in a projected series named for crime reporter Reggie da Costa, THE DEATH MASK MURDERS is set in 1918 in Melbourne, where a wild storm comes out of nowhere, battering Brighton, forcing two strangers - would be artist, country girl, and companion Emma Hart (who was mildly injured...Read more
Given the juxtaposition of this review, and my recent one for THE STONING, I probably should mention that Aoife Clifford was the author I was discussing rural noir versus rural crime with. To my eye, Clifford is one of the great writers of rural crime in Australia at the moment, and she's...Read more
Grazier Mathew Dunbar led a quiet life, working on his farm, helping out with the local poultry club, meeting up with the few very close friends he had. An adopted child, he'd had a tricky relationship with his parents, his father dying not improving things between Dunbar and his mother,...Read more
If you’ve ever wondered what a crime novel written by Noel Coward might be like, Naked Ambition could provide some clues. Review at Newtown Review of BooksRead more
I was so looking forward to THE YEAR OF THE LOCUST, and yet, somehow, it's arrival in my ebook queue came as a hell of a surprise. So, needless to say, everything else got swept aside and I settled in for what I hoped would be some days of engaging espionage thriller reading.
...Read more
A psychological thriller with a hefty dose of more than willing suspension of disbelief, THE SAFE HOUSE is one of those bare knuckle roller-coaster rides of a reading experience that may lead to a loss of sleep and a strong desire to avoid anywhere in the bush during long hot summers....Read more
Martine Kropkowski’s debut crime fiction delves into the devastating consequences of the epidemic of violence against women. Full review at Newtown Review of...Read more
Having really enjoyed the first Jack Susko book, A DEADLY BUSINESS, it was music to my ears to find that the second book was on its way. THE BLACK RUSSIAN sees not just the return of Jack - but the return of all of Jack's problems - financial and personal.
In THE BLACK RUSSIAN...Read more
Not sure what's weirder, talking to fictional characters, or the feeling that you actually know those fictional characters... Either way, you have to think it's quite a feat for a writer to get you to the stage where you're more than happy to regard her characters as real people. MILES OFF...Read more
In Zero at the Bone, the second book in this series, Frank Swann has moved more sideways than on. Working as a PI, he finds himself dragged into the suicide of geologist Max Henderson, whose wife Jennifer enlists Swann’s services to find out the reasons for his death – there is no doubt...Read more
From the first book featuring Cato Kwong this has been a series to follow closely. A police procedural that's moved him from Coventry (aka the Stock Squad in remote WA) back to Perth and right into the middle of a shocking murder scene. Made worse by his old friendship with the dead family...Read more
Taking a central theme of "is there really such a thing as an innocent person?" and asking a combination of well known and emerging Crime Fiction Writers from Australia to address the question, has culminated in the creation of CRIME SCENES - a short story collection which works on a number...Read more
ONLY DAUGHTER has two perspectives. The first is that of Bec Winter who disappeared in 2003 and the second is that of her current day doppleganger, a "homeless by choice" young woman. The imposter settles quickly into Bec's life with loving parents, two younger brothers and friends who have...Read more
Emma Viskic explores difference, and its consequences, in this sequel to Resurrection Bay. Reviewed at Newtown Review of BooksRead more