JP POMARE Call Me Evie. Reviewed by Ashley Kalagian Blunt
Who is Evie? JP Pomare’s taut debut thriller has already been shortlisted for crime writing awards. A man holds a young girl against her will. She bolts, reaching the front door of the house, but the man catches up and drags her back inside. He forcibly...
SIMON BECKETT The Scent of Death. Reviewed by Louise Mentor
Simon Beckett’s new thriller takes his Dr David Hunter series into sinister territory. Instantly immersive, this gripping new addition to the bestselling David Hunter series by Simon Beckett focuses on the discovery of a partially mummified body in the...
NGAIO MARSH and STELLA DUFFY Money in the Morgue: The new Inspector Alleyn mystery. Reviewed by Karen Chisholm
It’s 84 years since Dame Ngaio Marsh published the first Roderick Alleyn novel. Now he’s back, in a crime novel outlined by Marsh during the Second World War and completed by Stella Duffy in 2018. Dame Ngaio Marsh was a New Zealand crime writer and theatre...
LEE GOLDBERG Killer Thriller. Reviewed by Lou Mentor
This second book in Ian Ludlow action series by Lee Goldberg takes us deep into a global conspiracy, never skipping any opportunity for cheap kills, expensive thrills and slapstick laughs along the way. Following on from True Fiction, Ian Ludlow once again stars as...
DERVLA MCTIERNAN The Scholar. Reviewed by Karen Chisholm
This second novel in the DS Cormac O’Reilly series cements Irish-born, Australian-resident Dervla McTiernan as one of the up and coming stars of crime fiction in both countries. DS Cormac O’Reilly of the Garda was introduced to readers in the highly...
BRIAN STODDART A Greater God. Reviewed by Bernard Whimpress
Superintendent Chris Le Fanu is back in his familiar territory of 1920s Madras. In this fourth instalment of the police detective series that began in 2015, Brian Stoddart remains on top of his game. In Stoddart’s previous book, A Straits Settlement, Le Fanu had been...
DAVID WHISH-WILSON The Coves. Reviewed by Karen Chisholm
David Whish-Wilson is best known for his historical crime fiction set in Perth and surrounds, but The Coves takes us to 1849 San Francisco, gold fever and the Australian gangs who controlled the part of it known as Sydney-town. The Coves is partly the story of a...
CANDICE FOX Redemption Point. Reviewed by Karen Chisholm
This second book in the Ted Conkaffey series clearly demonstrates why Candice Fox has won two Ned Kelly Awards for crime writing. Following on from Crimson Lake, Redemption Point is dark, dry, funny, cleverly plotted and populated by wonderfully real, often...
GARRY DISHER Under the Cold Bright Lights. Reviewed by Karen Chisholm
Cold-case detectives are everywhere these days, but the latest creation from Garry Disher, Alan Auhl, is not as straightforward as some might expect. It makes sense that at some stage Garry Disher would mesh the traditional ethical ideals of many of his police...
Roundup of the shortlists for the 2018 Ned Kelly Awards. By Karen Chisholm
This year’s shortlists for the Australian Crime Writers Association Ned Kelly Awards celebrate the novels of well-established crime writers and talented newcomers. In July the ACWA released their longlists of entries, decided by individual panels of judges...
Round-up of the 2018 Ngaio Marsh Best Novel Award longlist. By Karen Chisholm
Two authors returning to crime writing after more than a decade are among an eclectic longlist for New Zealand’s 2018 Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Novel. After considering a total of 69 entries in the New Zealand crime fiction awards (the Ngaio Marsh Awards) across two...
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