DV BISHOP The Darkest Sin. Reviewed by Karen Chisholm
Set in Florence in 1537, The Darkest Sin is the second novel featuring Cesare Aldo, an officer of the feared Otto di Guardia e Balia. This series currently includes The City of Vengeance and The Darkest Sin, with a third volume, Ritual of Fire, on the way. The first...
ANDREW NETTE Orphan Road. Reviewed by Michael Jongen
The third novel from pulp fiction aficionado Andrew Nette is a delightful, knowing nod to the genre. Following on from the enjoyable Gunshine State, Orphan Road again features Nette’s antihero Gary Chance, a survivor of military service in Afghanistan, in a new...
TASHA SYLVA The Guest Room. Reviewed by Ann Skea
In Tasha Sylva’s debut novel a young woman obsessively investigates her sister’s murder … and her houseguests. ‘33-year-old woman found dead in a London park’ The woman was Tess’s sister, Rosie, and in her grief Tess has become obsessed with finding...
MICHAEL TRANT No Trace. Reviewed by Michael Jongen
Is Michael Trant Australia’s Lee Child? No Trace delivers a heroic protagonist and a rush of adrenalin in the remote Pilbara. Michael Trant’s Wild Dogs (2022) was an action-packed thriller that introduced Gabe Ahern as Australia’s answer to Jack Reacher. Thankfully...
ROBERT GOTT Naked Ambition. Reviewed by Karen Chisholm
If you’ve ever wondered what a crime novel written by Noel Coward might be like, Naked Ambition could provide some clues. Fans of Robert Gott’s earlier William Power series, or his newspaper cartoon The Adventures of Naked Man, will not be all that...
JAMES MCKENZIE WATSON Denizen. Reviewed by Ben Ford Smith
James McKenzie Watson’s thriller-like debut brings coherence to a life breaking apart. James McKenzie Watson’s first novel Denizen is partly a thriller and partly a depiction of generational abuse and its consequences, drawing on the author’s upbringing in rural...
DENNIS LEHANE Small Mercies. Reviewed by Robert Goodman
Dennis Lehane returns to familiar territory in his latest novel, but Small Mercies is far from predictable. American writer Dennis Lehane burst onto the crime scene with his hard-hitting debut A Drink Before the War (1994), the first of his Kenzie and Gennaro novels....
SD HINTON The Brothers. Reviewed by Karen Chisholm
SD Hinton’s debut novel uses the structure of a thriller to explore myriad responses to trauma. Jake Harlow is a decorated Special Forces veteran, returned from a tour in Afghanistan that went horribly wrong for him. Captured by the Taliban, he was mentally and...
REBECCA MAKKAI I Have Some Questions for You. Reviewed by Robert Goodman
Rebecca Makkai’s fourth novel examines our obsession with true crime – and where that can lead. True crime and true crime podcasts are having a moment, not only in the real world but also in fiction. However, in fiction, writers can start to get behind the...
ASHLEY KALAGIAN BLUNT Dark Mode. Reviewed by Karen Chisholm
This fierce, unflinching thriller asks timely questions about threatening behaviour. Why don’t we recognise it? Stop it? Dark Mode is a novel, as the note at the beginning makes clear: While the characters and their precise circumstances are fictitious, the...
NIKKI MOTTRAM Crows Nest. Reviewed by Karen Chisholm
This latest offering of Australian rural noir contrasts urban and small-town sensibilities from the perspective of a child protection officer. Readers of Crows Nest will not be surprised to learn that author Nikki Mottram has an extensive background in child...
Recent Posts
DAVID PRICE The Shameful Isles. Reviewed by Braham Dabscheck6 November 2025David Price’s history of Western Australia’s lock hospitals and the [ … ]
BRIAN STODDART Playing the Game: How cricket made Barbados. Reviewed by Bernard Whimpress4 November 2025Brian Stoddart’s multi-faceted account of a small island’s cricket history is a [ … ]
ANDREW PIPPOS The Transformations. Reviewed by Linda Godfrey30 October 2025The second novel from Andrew Pippos draws inspiration from the epics of ancient [ … ]
JOHN BANVILLE Venetian Vespers. Reviewed by Naomi Manuell28 October 2025Set in Venice in 1899, John Banville’s new novel blends crime and the gothic as [ … ]