Sorted on book title (not in series order)
Written for fans of cosy styled, more light-hearted mystery stories, THE AGATHA CHRISTIE BOOK CLUB will ring many bells in any readers who are also dedicated Agatha Christie readers. Set in Sydney, the ACBC is formed by Alicia Finlay when she finally has to throw in the towel on a more...Read more
Never let it be said that a hefty spot of irritation with all the "will they / won't they" marriage twaddle and the constant repetition of Agatha Raisin's personal appearance stops me from sticking with the audio of this series.
Goodness knows why, I suspect I've just got into...Read more
I'm dangerously close to od'ing on these as I'm starting to feel like I could quote the upcoming lines before they are uttered. Still these sorts of books are the ones I turn to when I'm doing something else that really requires concentration. They are more than a bit silly, weirdly...Read more
Nice combination of societies full of mildly potty types (pun intended) and a nicely dotty murder, once again we have Agatha off on the trail of a killer, getting herself threatened and nearly bumped off along the way, moping about after James, having fun with friend Bill Wong, and...Read more
I've spent a lot of time driving recently, and these really work as a background to the endless kilometres.
Having kind of liked the TV Agatha Raisin series, I thought trying one of these as an audiobook for one of the recent long drives would be worth a go. I personally prefer...Read more
Perhaps don't do what I'm doing and binge listen to these.
As much as I prefer something light, not necessarily requiring steely attention to catch the various nuances when I'm driving, I will admit there have been points where if I hear something about Agatha's middle age,...Read more
Off again on my and Agatha Raisin's travels - this time she's out in the countryside, meeting up with Sir Charles Fraith for the first time, getting involved in an investigation around a Rambling Society seemingly populated by militants, lesbians, lost souls, IRA sympathisers and a hefty-...Read more
The reader of this site may recall that I had a flurry of listening to Agatha Raisin audio books a while ago, when seemingly trapped in never-ending long driving days. They were fun, repetitive sure, a bit on the bitchy side occasionally, and it turns out nothing like the TV series made of...Read more
The opening salvo in what's to be an ongoing series, THE AGENCY introduces the character of Dan Calder. Calder has joined the police force in the UK - following in his father's footsteps. His father had a successful public life and career, although the truth of their home life was very...Read more
I listened to this via Audible, largely because I was rather intrigued by the idea of the author as the narrator. Which overall was an interesting way to listen to a book, although I will admit, it did take a while to get used to the very dead-pan presentation style.
The book...Read more
When Pamela, Lady Scawton discovers a stranger dead in the woods near the family home, Ashly House, it triggers a multi-generational, multi-timeline search for the truth. The stranger was carrying an odd stone in his pocket, along with a letter addressed to Pamela's dead husband. Pamela is...Read more
Allen & Unwin have re-released Barry Maitland's ALL MY ENEMIES, the third book in the Brock and Kolla series. Given that the book was originally published in around 1996 there were a few things intriguing me. Obviously, whether or not it would stand the test of time, but also, what...Read more
If there is one thing you'll come away from ALL OUR SECRETS with, it's the voice of Gracie Barrett ringing in your ears. It's an impressive portrayal.
There's something very worrying going on in the fictional town of Coongahoola, New South Wales. It's not just The Believers (or...Read more
I know, what on earth - bridge dwelling monsters, magical toasties, a caffeine-addicted dog, ducks, deadly brewers, superpowered DJs, raging florists, ALL OUT OF LEEDS (book 1) and TROUBLE BREWING IN HARROGATE (book 2), and this reader. Not a match made in heaven. But it's not always about...Read more
If you're looking for a disconcerting psychological thriller, with the lead up to the crime as the focus of the story, ALL SHE EVER WANTED could be the book for you.
Tina was a weak, bullied, vulnerable child. Deserted by the father she adored, belittled by a mother that blamed...Read more
Grant me a moment here, but Ed Loy is well and truly back and I'm more than a little bit happy about that! ALL THE DEAD VOICES is a really tense, investigative novel with a just a touch of the thriller about it. The action is swift, the tension carefully ramped up and the plot nicely...Read more
ALL THE HIDDEN TRUTHS is an examination of the circumstances that result in one young man choosing to take the lives of his peers. This is not a complicated novel to follow and the mounting of any soapboxes via the mouths of the characters is subtly done. ALL THE HIDDEN TRUTHS does not...Read more
By the time a series reaches book number nine, there are many elements that a reader can expect, and ALL THE TEARS IN CHINA delivers on them with aplomb. Rowly and his band of colleagues are as close as they always were; Milton is still quoting other people's poetry with Rowly providing the...Read more
Chris Whitaker's debut novel TALL OAKS garnered a lot of positive publicity and a CWA John Creasey New Blood Dagger award. Haven't had a chance to read the first novel yet, but when ALL THE WICKED GIRLS arrived it bounced to the top of the pile based on reputation and expectation alone. ...Read more
In 2013 Aoife Clifford was awarded an Australian Society of Author's mentorship to help bring this debut novel - ALL THESE PERFECT STRANGERS - to fruition. To be fair to those who have read it and are finding the idea that this is a debut novel hard to believe, she has form. Shortlisted for...Read more
There are a lot of thrillers these days using environmental issues as the potential threat to the world. It makes a lot of sense that screwing with the balance of nature has some interesting potential when it comes to the villain of the piece as it could be anybody, and the motive is nearly...Read more
When Miranda Jack is car-jacked on a motorway in Sydney it's just one more thing to go wrong in a life littered with bad times. As the story progresses and you find out how many hurdles Jack has jumped in her life you'd be forgiven for wondering why she keeps getting up in the morning. When...Read more
Taking up the the mantle of hard-boiled, gun obsessed, blood soaked American lone wolf characters, New Zealand author Ben Sanders has created his second book to fit into that world like a clenched fist in a black, leather glove.
...Read more
The blurb on the back of AMNESIA reads exactly like that of a really good thriller. A threat that unleashes something frightening in the world, and the battle to find the perpetrator.
Which seemed, by the end of the book, to be written for another AMNESIA, somewhere in a...Read more
I certainly hope that anybody coming to this series isn't expecting serious. I mean "Eva Destruction"... You should, however, be expecting all the thrills, spills, banter and high energy action that you'd get with any top notch thriller series of novels.
In this second full-...Read more
AMONGST THE DEAD is the third novel in Robert Gott's William Power series. William is an "aspirational" but failed Shakespearean actor, turned Private Investigator who finds himself in very unusual circumstances in the Top End of Australia during World War II in AMONGST THE DEAD....Read more
What a little gem AMPLIFY turned out to be. A debut novel from journalist Mark Hollands, introducing musical impresario Billy Lime and his world of sex, drugs and rock and roll.
So much potential for cliché so very nicely dodged here. The women are not all sex objects or...Read more
A year ago, Leo Stanhope was a crossroads. Leo has plenty of excellent reasons to keep a low profile and is keen to move on from the vivid memories of violence and horror that almost cost him his life. He may not be flush with funds but Leo is comforted by the fact that his life now has a...Read more
ANATOMY OF A SCANDAL is a read that is straddling two worlds. It does come across as somewhat like the experience of reading a BBCTV telemovie script, though the book lacks the heavier drama punch that could easily have been included. Kudos to the author for not going down this path of...Read more
This is a compilation of short stories that fans of crime fiction in general, and the local product in particular, will have on their must read lists.
Written from 1859 to 1933, this selection of 17 stories provide a fascinating insight into the social issues that were being...Read more