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...
Tributes to Peter Corris
Peter Corris, the ‘Godfather of Australian crime fiction’, died in his sleep on 30 August 2018. His Godfather columns have been part of the Newtown Review of Books from the beginning, and we feel his loss keenly. Following are some tributes that were given at his...
ANNA GEORGE The Lone Child. Reviewed by Karen Chisholm
The Lone Child focusses on character development, imbued with sadness, longing, regret and loss. Following on from her stunning debut novel, What Came Before, Anna George has created another claustrophobic and compelling character study of somebody struggling with the...
EMMA VISKIC And Fire Came Down. Reviewed by Karen Chisholm
Emma Viskic explores difference, and its consequences, in this sequel to Resurrection Bay. Even before Viskic’s debut novel Resurrection Bay won the 2016 Ned Kelly Award for Best First Fiction and an unprecedented three Davitt Awards, readers were impatiently...
Crime Scene: MELINA MARCHETTA Tell the Truth, Shame the Devil. Reviewed by Ashley Kalagian Blunt
Tell the Truth, Shame the Devil engages many of today’s pressing political issues within a well-crafted crime fiction plot. Melina Marchetta’s seventh novel, a realist crime story aimed at adults, is a switch from her previous fantasy and Australian-based YA books....
Crime Scene: ANN TURNER Out of the Ice; LA LARKIN Devour. Reviewed by Karen Chisholm
Two Australian thriller writers have each set their latest novels amid the beauty and danger of Antarctica. Antarctica is one of the planet’s last great wilderness areas – for some, a place ripe for plundering, for others, an area that must be protected. Ann...
Crime Scene: ANNA WESTBROOK Dark Fires Shall Burn. Reviewed by Karen Chisholm
Inspired by the true events surrounding an unsolved murder, Dark Fires Shall Burn is set in Sydney’s Newtown in the aftermath of World War II. The title of Anna Westbrook’s debut novel is wonderful. Based around a stanza from the Australian poet Dorothy...
Crime Scene: MARTIN MCKENZIE-MURRAY A Murder Without Motive: The killing of Rebecca Ryle. Reviewed by Michael Jongen
A Murder Without Motive is an intriguing and compelling true crime with much to say about the Australian suburbs and the national psyche. Martin McKenzie-Murray, the Saturday Paper’s chief correspondent, has written a gripping true crime story about a murder that...
CATH FERLA giveaway
We have a copy of Cath Ferla’s debut crime novel Ghost Girls to give away. To win, simply email us at editors@newtownreviewofbooks.com.au by 6pm tonight (April 1st) with your name and address and ‘Cath Ferla’ in the subject line. As we cannot afford...
Crime Scene: CATH FERLA Ghost Girls. Reviewed by Karen Chisholm
Steeped in the smells and sounds of Sydney’s Chinatown, weighted by the sinister atmosphere of a private world of terrible crimes, Ghost Girls is a remarkable debut novel. The combination of plot, character and setting in Ghost Girls is perfectly balanced, and the...
Crime Scene: AOIFE CLIFFORD All These Perfect Strangers. Reviewed by Ruth Wykes
This taut, beautifully written Australian crime fiction debut takes a fresh approach. This is about three deaths. Actually more, if you go back far enough. I say deaths but perhaps all of them were murders. It’s a grey area. Murder, like beauty, is in the eye of the...
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