Sorted on book title (not in series order)
Set in Melbourne, Jasper Wolf's debut crime fiction novel has a serial killer targeting policewomen who all have very similar physical characteristics. Told from two viewpoints - one following the investigation and one inside the mind of a barking mad murderer with a chilling sense of calm...Read more
I blamed Chris Allen for a lot of things whilst I was reading this book. Dog's were left hoping for games and walks. Not my fault. Cat's balefully batted toys on sticks with nobody holding onto the other end. Nothing to do with me. Pet pigs resorted to throwing their food bowls around in...Read more
Way back when AustCrimeFiction first lurched into life, it felt like keeping up with the local crime and thriller book output would be achievable. That's been one of the wider and deeper and more delusional pipe dreams of many. Which needless to say makes THE HUNTER the first Tony Park...Read more
Digging into the parental guilt that is heaped upon all new parents, HUSH LITTLE BABY is that needling little voice in your head telling you that you're not doing it right, and that someone else could probably do it better. Sally's character alternates between maternal confidence and...Read more
On the face of it, THE HYPNOTIST should be a book that's right up my alley, and yet, somehow it's taken quite a few attempts to get to the end of, and the feeling left has been one of vague confusion and a little disappointment.
Dr Erick Maria Bark was once a renowned...Read more
Less of a review - closer to a drool, HYPOTHERMIA is the latest in one of my all time favourite series of books from Icelandic author Arnauldur Indridason. If you've not read any of the earlier books, coming to HYPOTHERMIA from the start could still work, but part of what is really...Read more
I AM PILGRIM is screenwriter Terry Hayes' debut novel, which I would not have picked without knowing the background up front. Obviously written with a keen visual sense, the novel doesn't read like a screen treatment or a movie script. This is a good old fashioned, seat of the pants, keep...Read more
Second in the McGarry Stateside series which is a spinoff from the Dublin Trilogy series (which isn't a trilogy), and a side road from the MCM Investigations...Read more
Sean Duffy knows there's no such thing as a perfect crime. But a torso in a suitcase is pretty close.
Still, one tiny clue is all it takes, and there it is. A tattoo. So Duffy, fully fit and back at work after the severe trauma of his last case, is ready to follow the trail of...Read more
Set in the early 1980's, I HEAR THE SIRENS IN THE STREET is the second book in a trilogy built around Sean Duffy, a Catholic cop working in the reality of Carrickfergus, Northern Ireland in the middle of The Troubles. This is when neighbourhoods and towns are divided by religion and loyalty...Read more
The third and final instalment in the Raymond Electromatic, I ONLY KILLED HIM ONCE sees robot detective, turned gun for hire, in the fight of his "life".
"Life" requires a bit of wiggle room here as Raymond Electromatic is a robotic detective / hitman with a 24 hour long memory...Read more
I WILL FIND THE KEY is one of those random choices that a reader browsing the library's audio book selection late at night can make, with absolutely no idea what they are getting into, or even why the choice was made.
Set in Sweden, the story features a private investigator by...Read more
The first book in a series by Norwegian author Heine Bakkeid, I WILL MISS YOU TOMORROW was released in 2016 with at least 5 books in total in the series, the first two available in translation. The stories revolve around Thorkild Aske, a disgraced ex-policeman, he's fresh out of prison and...Read more
Whilst ICE COLD is the second book from German writer Andrea Maria Schenkel, it's the first book - THE MURDER FARM - that I have to start out mentioning. I still remember my reaction to that book - mesmerised, enthralled, vaguely stunned. Needless to say, trying not to set expectations...Read more
Somehow the format that worked so well in "The Murder Farm" doesn't seem to have quite the same impact in ICE COLD. Whether it's because of the story of that the novelty of the unusual format isn't as fresh, I'm not sure.
Perhaps it was the blurb on the book jacket which asked...Read more
Recently finished, ICE MOON by Jan Costin Wagner was an unexpected pleasure. It seems that Wagner has a bit of a reputation in his homeland of Germany for turning the "traditional" form of crime fiction on its head and if that's the case then he's done it again with ICE MOON.
...Read more
Billed, somewhat confusingly for me at least, as "the best selling thriller" from "Sweden's Agatha Christie", I was interested to read a quote from the author that said "When I write these stories, it is not the gory and macabre details that interest me; it is the psychology behind the...Read more
THE ICE SHROUD is a very promising debut fictional novel from New Zealand wildlife photographer and non-fiction writer Gordon Ell. Structured as a combination village mystery and closed room scenario, the locations in this novel are beautifully described, the plot is good, the dialogue...Read more
Dafydd Woodruff was a very young surgeon when he made a nearly fatal mistake on the operating table. Shaken to the core by this event, he takes a locum position in the northern Canada wilderness to recover from his guilt and reassess. He spends a year in Moose Creek - just enough time to...Read more
The second book in the Syd Fielding series, THE ICON MURDERS follows on closely from the opening salvo, MURDER AND REDEMPTION.
Syd Fielding is a WA based cop who, in the first book, got himself into a lot of hot water with a drugs investigation and the death of a childhood...Read more
The great thing about collections like IF I TELL YOU... I'LL HAVE TO KILL YOU is that it will appeal to readers and writers alike. Published by Allen & Unwin, edited by Michael Robotham, with a terrific Introduction by him into the bargain, this collection of writing from some of...Read more
Less a review, more a few comments on Les Allen's IF THAT'S WHAT IT TAKES, published in June 2022.
Set in 1982, New Zealand, the story revolves around an unlicensed private investigator who, whilst living under a false identity, forms an unlikely alliance with a small town...Read more
Jefe Javier Falcón is undoubtedly one of those slightly rumpled, thoughtful, urbane, complicated and delightful detectives that fans of crime fiction will love to spend time with. THE IGNORANCE OF BLOOD is the last book in this series, beginning with THE BLIND MAN OF SEVILLE, then THE...Read more
INSIDE DOPE by Paul Thomas won the inaugural Ned Kelly Award and I blinked and then struggled to get my hands on a copy. I managed to track down GUERILLA SEASON years ago, and then not so long ago at the end of a long quest I found a copy of INSIDE DOPE. But still the search went on. The...Read more
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 ...Read more
'Watch out Jo Nesbo!' is printed in a bright red circle on the front of I'M TRAVELLING ALONE. It seemed like a rather brave claim to be making before starting this book, and bordering on rash having now finished it.
The characterisations are reasonably good. There's a...Read more
Choosing the remote island of Lark to relocate to is a decision made by the Kendricks in the wake of enormous loss. Viola and her mother Deborah will never be the same again now it is only the two of them, and the safety offered by the tiny community of Lark seems heaven sent at just the...Read more
If you, like me, have been more than a bit concerned about regular reading habits with the retirement of Rebus, I'm happy to report that at least I'm no longer fearful. Well about the loss of a fictional companion anyway. Now I can spend long periods of time worrying about Ian Rankin's...Read more
So we are rolling along with all the old gang (though the lovely wee dog is relatively new); Rebus, heir apparent Siobhan Clarke, Malcolm Fox, Big “Ger” Cafferty etc. There’s a huge comfort in the familiarity of seeing the same people in each outing, though you do wonder how much longer...Read more
Detective Constable Angus MacVicar has just landed his dream job – transferred out of uniform and assigned to Oldcastle’s biggest ongoing murder Operation Telegram, hunting the 'Fortnight Killer'.
Every two weeks another couple is targeted. One victim is left at the scene, their...Read more