JOHN BANVILLE Venetian Vespers. Reviewed by Naomi Manuell
Set in Venice in 1899, John Banville’s new novel blends crime and the gothic as it skewers literary pretension. From 2006 to around 2020, Irish novelist John Banville began publishing crime fiction under the pseudonym Benjamin Black. The Man Booker Prize winner (and...
SUZANNE DO The Golden Sister. Reviewed by Linda Godfrey
Set on the Australian coast, Suzanne Do’s first novel is both a murder mystery and a story of grief, family and connection. Lili Berry is in her twenties, and her world is a mess of anxiety, dysfunction and pain. Compounding all her day-to-day problems in the...
JILL JOHNSON Devil’s Breath. Reviewed by Karen Chisholm
Devil’s Breath is the first novel in a new crime series built around a neurodivergent professor of botanical toxicology, Eustacia Rose. Eustacia Rose is currently ‘separated’ from her position at a university, disgraced after an incident in her laboratory. She...
BM CARROLL One of Us is Missing. Reviewed by Karen Chisholm
In BM Carroll’s latest crime novel, one family’s celebration turns to disaster as a teenager disappears amid a crowd of concert-goers. The Sullivan family feels like a loving unit, perhaps because Rachel’s brush with breast cancer made them closer, more...
GARRY DISHER Sanctuary. Reviewed by Karen Chisholm
A new crime novel by Garry Disher is always exciting. In Sanctuary, he introduces a new protagonist: a female lone wolf. Meet Grace. She’s a very good thief, having been taught by experts and practising since she was a kid. Specialising in small, high-value...
SULARI GENTILL The Mystery Writer. Reviewed by Karen Chisholm
In Sulari Gentill’s new novel, aspiring writer Theo and her brother Gus become embroiled in increasingly bizarre conspiracy theories. The Mystery Writer is the latest book by the prolific and always intriguing Australian author Sulari Gentill. Set in the USA, as her...
TOM BARAGWANATH Paper Cage. Reviewed by Karen Chisholm
A finalist in the Ngaio Awards for Best First Crime Novel, Paper Cage is the story of a divided community and a string of missing children. There’s not much that happens in Masterton that Lo Henry doesn’t know about. One of two Pākehā sisters who married...
FIONA SUSSMAN The Doctor’s Wife. Reviewed by Karen Chisholm
Fiona Sussman’s fifth novel pieces together a suspicious death, a fatal illness and erratic behaviour within a group of lifelong friends. Carmen Andino, Tibbie Lamb and Tibbie’s husband Austin have been friends since school. Austin and Tibbie got together, and...
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...
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...
NICK HARKAWAY Titanium Noir. Reviewed by Robert Goodman
Nick Harkaway’s dystopian new novel features a classic noir detective. While it is always true to say genre is fluid, occasionally something magical can happen when crime fiction meets science fiction. This may be because the best crime fiction uses its tropes...
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