Sorted on book title (not in series order)

Crime Fiction

Pancake Money, Finn Bell

 Finn Bell made quite an impact on the 2017 Ngaio Marsh Awards with two shortlistings - his first novel DEAD LEMONS in Best First Novel, and PANCAKE MONEY in Best Crime Novel. Grouped together as The Far South Series, these aren't series books as such, so you can read them in...Read more

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Pandaemonium, Christopher Brookmyre

Fans of Christopher Brookmyre's dark, black-comedic writing are probably going to do what I did when this book arrived.  A bit of dignified happy dancing and a general clearing of the activity calendar to sit down for a jolly good read and, along the way, a lot of very undignified laughing...Read more

Panic

BRONTE NEEDS A PLACE TO LIE LOW.

She posted a drunken rant that went horrifically viral. Now – jobless, friendless and broke – she’s forced to volunteer as a carer on an isolated rural property. She won’t be paid for looking after dementia sufferer Nell, but at least she’ll...Read more

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The Paper Moon, Andrea Camilleri

Please don't ask me what the correct order of this series is, as I've got absolutely no idea. I've never found the need to worry about it as each book works on its own, and each book is one of those little pieces of joy that just make you feel good.

Part of it has got to be...Read more

Paradise, Patricia Wolf

Book Two in the DS Lucas Walker series sees him away from his family home in the dry, arid interior of Queensland, working on the Gold Coast. He's under investigation / threat of his job after the events in the first book, OUTBACK, and temporarily doing some training there. He's been lucky...Read more

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Parasite, Dorothy Cormack

Taking a look at the blurb will give you an indication of whether or not PARASITE is going to work for you. Unfortunately that style "eventuating events" and "charismatic charm" doesn't work for this reader. Combining that with the most offputting dialogue style used for Sasha's brother,...Read more

The Paris Enigma, Pablo De Santis

The Twelve Detectives are a famous group of crime solving individuals - spread throughout the world.  In the 1880's their exploits are well known - the magazine The Key to Crime regularly publishes the story of their investigations.  Sigmundo Salvatrio works in his father's shoe repair shop...Read more

The Paris Lawyer, Sylvie Granotier

It is always a pleasure to come across publishers who are bringing works from different cultures to the English-reading world, particularly when there is such a strong sense of place in the books I've been lucky enough to read from Le French Book (...Read more

Partners in Crime, Stuart MacBride

This is gathering together of two DI Steel short stories, one featuring DS Logan McRae (Stramash) and the other (DI Steel's Bad Heir Day) has her giving Constable Guthrie a day to remember.

DI Steel's Bad Heir Day is set around Christmas with her manically buying / wrapping...Read more

The Passenger, Chris Petit

THE PASSENGER starts out pretty dramatically with a frantic father who thinks his son might have been on the plane - blown up over a small town, all passengers on board dead.  When Collard learns that his son Nick may not have been on board after all, confusion gives way to confrontation as...Read more

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Passport to Crime, Janet Hutchings (editor)

This is exactly what I like about short story collections. This is particularly what I like as it's made up of a series of stories from authors all over the world.

Whilst there is no particular theme, the collection really gives you a feel for interpretations of crime fiction...Read more

The Patience of the Spider, Andrea Camilleri

One of the strangest things about reading THE PATIENCE OF THE SPIDER was the weird sort of feeling that I knew the story at the beginning.  And your reviewer is nothing but sharp - about 20 pages in the penny dropped - one of the recently screened TV-Movies on our local SBS TV was based on...Read more

Paving the New Road, Sulari Gentill

The reader of my reviews will know I've become a bit of a fan of the Rowland Sinclair series (which is quite surprising for somebody who normally prefers to lurk deep on the dark side), so PAVING THE NEW ROAD was a welcome arrival. Basing the story in 1933, sending Sinclair and his...Read more

Payback, Geoff Palmer

A vengeance styled thriller, set in Asia, PAYBACK tackles sex-trafficking and child abuse head on. Opening with the recounting of a young village girl being trucked off to the south of the country, along with many others, to be forced into a child sex ring. The resourcefulness this young...Read more

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Paydirt, Garry Disher

Wyatt is back in a new adventure set on the far side of morality. Introduced in Kickback, Garry Disher's fast-selling, widely praised crime novel, Wyatt reappears in the South Australian outback, intent on snatching a payroll. But Wyatt is not the only one eyeing the funds. The Outfit has...Read more

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Peace, Garry Disher

Rural noir being the big thing at the moment, it's sad that many seem to have forgotten that there have been superbly talented authors like Garry Disher telling beautifully crafted, intelligent, and informed stories of the urban fringe, and the rural regions for many years. PEACE is the...Read more

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Peepshow, Leigh Redhead

Simone Kirsh (aka Vivien Leigh) has an interesting job history - ex prawn trawler hand and working as a stripper for starters. Simone is determined to change things though, so even as she's still working in peepshows and as a stripper she's finished her Private Investigator's Course; has...Read more

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The Perfect Couple, Lexi Landsman

A drama told from four family member's viewpoints, Lexi Landsman's THE PERFECT COUPLE is an interesting title choice for a book that's about anything but the perfect couple. As the blurb explains, Sarah and Marco Moretti have travelled the world together as part of their joint work as...Read more

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Perfect Criminals, Jimmy Thomson

The world sure as hell needs something to laugh at, and it could use a lot more caper novels. Especially ones where things are manic, odd, downright daft on occasions and a bit of just good old fashioned silly fun. With car chases obviously. PERFECT CRIMINALS fits most of those requirements...Read more

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A Perfect Spy, John le Carré

Immersive, almost meditative listening, I started John le Carre's A PERFECT SPY in Audio version recently, and was amazed by it. Partly a spy thriller, but really it's a character study in two parts. Magnus Pym, a young boy growing up with a con-artist for a father, who has become a...Read more

The Perfect Suspect, Vincent Varjavandi

The author of THE PERFECT SUSPECT is a surgeon who, it would appear, has a strong interest in the welfare of children.  Readers of this novel could probably be excused if they assume that the character of Tom is based on the author himself, although obviously, you'd hope without the tragic...Read more

The Perfect Wife, JP Delaney

Upon awakening in what she first thinks is a hospital bed, Abbie’s immediate thoughts are of her husband and young child.  Abbie knows that there has been a terrible accident. The memories that Abbie brings forth though are not recent ones, as it has been five years since the car crash...Read more

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Phoenix Du Rose, K T Bowes

Book 13 in the Hana Du Rose Mysteries series and boy oh boy do I wish I'd read at least one of the earlier novels as I really struggled to work out what and who and how and why coming in at this point. Young Adult series that moves around the extended Du Rose family as far as I could tell,...Read more

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Pieces of a Lie, Rowena Holloway

This debut novel is set in small town South Australia, using many of the up and downsides of living in small communities as devices throughout the novel. Protagonist Mina Everton has lived in this town all her life, she knows everybody, and everyone knows her, and her family. Which made...Read more

Pietr the Latvian, Georges Simenon

PIETR THE LATVIAN commences the latest entire series audio quest, having now finished the much loved Discworld novels. I'm also aware I've got a few other series underway in this quest - mostly they've lapsed because I'm easily distracted, or because they've failed to hold interest. This...Read more

Pig's Head, David Owen

An old release - originally published in 1994, Pig's Head is the first in the 4 Pufferfish novels by David Owen and so far it's been the only one I've never been able to get my hands on. Imagine my sheer delight when Kill City in Swanston Street revealed 2 copies!

Detective...Read more

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Pink Tide, Jarad Henry

The Rubens McCauley series is one of those little gems of Australian crime fiction, of which PINK TIDE is the third book. We now find McCauley in a seachange respite from the rigours of inner city St Kilda, stationed in the small coastal town of Jutt Rock, admiring the scenery, chilling out...Read more

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Plaster Sinners, Colin Watson

Wandering around in Wormhole Books in Belgrave South last Saturday, you have no idea how pleased I was to find a copy of Plaster Sinners by Colin Watson. This is the last of his 13 Flaxborough novels that I've been looking for for such a long time.

Colin Watson is one of the...Read more

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