AustCrimeFiction - All Blogs

Legal thrillers are a bit of a change of pace for me - it's not a sub-genre that I actively seek out, so I was interested to see what I would think of it when the book arrived. 

From the Blurb:

When a friend and colleague hurtles to his death outside his office window, corporate attorney Will Connelly is shaken.  But because he's just made partner, Will must set aside his grief and focus on his first task:  leading negotiations in the merger transaction for a new client, Jupiter Software, the world leader in encryption software.

This is a book I've had for a while now, and I could have sworn it was the book we were supposed to be reading for our next f2f meeting - but it's not.  Didn't matter.  Fantastic book.

From the Blurb:

Selection of stories from Germany's most prominent defence lawyers - more in a review to come.

From the Blurb:

Ferdinand von Schirach, one of Germany's most prominent defence lawyers, is also a master storyteller.  Every sentence in this book is washed through with his cool compassion.  His characters, in all their unpredictability, are wonderfully alive.  Their indelible experiences challenge us to question the nature of guilt and innocence, truth and reason, law and justice.

W in my catchup quest - so THE BORGIA RING by Michael White - the second of his books I've read - Equinox was a while ago now.

From the Blurb:

When builders dig up an ancient skeleton in the City of London, they have no idea of the poisonous legacy they have just unleashed.

Opening Lines:

Still working my way through the alphabet, so a book that has been here since earlier last year, from The Netherlands.

From the Blurb:

Leon's partner died in his bath, and although the police report said she took her own life... she didn't. When he meets Margot, overweight, lacking in confidence and recently separated, he sees an opportunity...

An ebook I've been dipping into on and off for a while now (one of my waiting room options), this is another story in the Burford Family Mysteries - classically set in the large Country Home of the 1930s.

From the Blurb:

Another terrific short story collection by NZ author Paul Thomas. 

From the Blurb:

The things we do for sex - lie, cheat, scheme, kill ....

Paul Thomas's blackly humorous stories explore the unpredictable and sometimes fatal consequences that can occur when sex rears its not-so-ugly head. 

Second in the Inspector Singh series, this book is set in Bali just after the Bali bombings, when Inspector Singh is called in to help with the terrorism investigation, but finds himself investigating a murder instead (which is much more in his line of expertise anyway).

From the Blurb:

Running behind again - but I read this book recently and really found it involving and extremely interesting - more asap.

From the Blurb:

This alphabetical catchup of review books is really flushing some gems of books that I just absolutely should have read before.  Van Der Vlugt's first book THE REUNION was a terrific book and this one is even better!

From the Blurb:

Lydia and Elisa, twin sisters identical in appearance, different in every other way.

Wexford is coming out of retirement!  You heard it first on the Sisters in Crime Australia site!

Stay tuned - we will be giving copies away soon so sign up to receive our newsletter.

BOOK BLURB:

'Don't forget,' Wexford said, 'I've lived in a world where the improbable happens all the time.'

However, the impossible has happened. Chief Inspector Reg Wexford has retired. He and his wife, Dora, now divide their time between Kingsmarkham and a coach house in Hampstead, belonging to their actress daughter, Sheila.

Another collection of short stories which is perfect for dipping into occasionally.  These are very much in the style of all of Alexander McCall Smith's writing, although here is a little extra - what seemed to me to be - morality tale built into this collection.

From the Blurb:

Welcome to the extraordinary world of Professor Dr Moritz-Maria von Igelfeld, an unnaturally tall and memorable character whose sublime insouciance is a blend of the ultivated pomposity of Frasier Crane and Inspector Clouseau's hapless gaucherie.

Bronwyn Mehan's blog 'Spineless Wonder' is featuring short crime fiction this week.  Jacqui Horwood, Sisters in Crime convenor and writer, is a contributor to the blog. 

Check it out at http://bit.ly/edKaa6(link is external)

Part 2 will be up in a couple of weeks.

Okay so there's another slight problem with ebooks.  When you're browsing the shelves for the next book you want to read.... remember to check the ereader list as well.  (Okay so it's not a problem with ebooks just with my faulty memory).  Because of this I'm late to the latest Katherine Howell book.  Which is profoundly annoying as these are tremendous books!  (And what am I going to get Katherine to sign the next time she's at a SinC event...)  Life's complicated.

From the Blurb:

Sisters in Crime congratulates author Honey Brown.  Her latest novel, The Good Daughter, has been longlisted in the Miles Franklin!  Good luck and way-to-go Honey!

Not a book that you could say you were "looking forward to" - this is nonetheless a book I have been interested to read.  Derek Ernest Percy isn't really a well known name in Australia, yet he's been "at the Govenor's pleasure" in various jails in Victoria since 1969.  Despite a number of subsequent inquests, and much speculation - he remains a suspect in many notorious Australian child murders from around the same time - yet he has only ever been charged with one murder.  

From the Blurb:

Scott Wilson, Managing Editor of The Fringe Magazine has contacted Sisters in Crime offering us a free one-page advertisement in their publications.  Sisters in Crime will accept this kind offer with gratitude, giving us another avenue to let readers and writers know about the SheKilda 2011 Convention in October.

View The Fringe Magazine on:  http://thefringemagazine.blogspot.com(link is external) or purchase the PDF version.

The first of the catchup "T" books - The Darkest Room is a beautifully involving book - one of  those books that interestingly includes a "storytelling" thread - but is really a great storytelling book in its own right.

From the Blurb:

It is bitter mid-winter when Katrine and Joakim Westin move with their children into the old manor house at Eel Point on the Swedish island of Öland.

Opening Lines:

I don't think I'll be breaking any rules if I mention that Shamini will be coming to SheKilda in October - so I was keen to fix a HUGE gap in my reading and catchup with her books.  There are 3 out, with a 4th due very soon.  And I must admit I found this absolutely charming.  Certainly a little on the lighter side with a wonderful touch of humour and a tremendous new entrant in the slightly scruffy, unusual central protaganist stakes - if the first book is any indication this is going to be a very enjoyable series.  More in detail soonish.

From the Blurb:

Comedy, crime and passion with Dusty Dexter PI

Crime fiction, with sharks. A novice PI, a single-minded triathlete, an ex-cop with attitude. It's a fun, funky and frantic investigation featuring Dusty Dexter.

Sisters in Crime congratulates Jan Richards on having her first novel about the adventures of Dusty Dexter PI, serialised Monday to Friday, in nine APN newspapers from Rockhampton to Coffs Harbour, and on each of the paper's websites.

I must admit things have been very busy in these parts - what with the bloke having one of those "zero" days and the resulting "big weekend" that came along with that.  But reading has still been happening... slowly.

Sisters in Crime member Robin Bowles has tapped her way into fame (if not fortune)  by becoming Australia's True Crime Queen during the past 13 years and 12 books. Now she is going to be featured (in a by line) in a Channel 9 movie event based on her best-selling book, Blood Brother. In the book about the 1993 murder of the entire Gilham family by one of the sons, who pulled the wool over the eyes of investigators for 12 years, Robin tells the story of how a callous murderer was finally brought to justice.

Currently Reading would have been a bit more accurate if I'd have posted this last night when I picked up the book - but I've finished it now.  So more when I write up what turned out to be a book which kept me awake a bit longer than I should have been.

From the Blurb:

Death is stalking the southern South Island, and what roles does the visting Darling Brothers Circus have to play?

Opening Lines:

Spy-thriller from local author Mark Abernethy which is set in East Timor in the days leading up to the independence vote.  Very realistic (albeit fictional I hope!) scenario about a plan for mass genocide.  I really like Mark's books because they are pure spy thriller style but they have a very Australian voice, and they are set in places that mean something to us in our own recent history.

From the Blurb:

I've read Vanda Symon's books before but for some reason never got around to reviewing them.  But there's absolutely no chore in reading them again.  And probably once more if I can.  I really like DC Sam Shepherd - she's a great central character, - a tricky, mouthy, up front cop with attitude.  Plus there are some absolutely laugh out loud bits in these books (I'm particularly looking forward to the scene where Sam has to try to change a tyre on a ute all over again).  But more when I write the book up properly.

From the Blurb:

This is an e-short story / novella book that Ronald was kind enough to ask me to review - so I sat down the other day and started reading it.  It's pretty good I've got to say - but a more reasoned / detailed review to come later today to tomorrow once I've bashed my notes into something vaguely coherent.

Opening Lines:

It was spring and the sun was shining brightly in the sky.  Unfortunately I was stuck in my office repairing the walls and painting.  It was long overdue.

This is another one of those short story collections I've been dipping into for a while now.  From the Pulp Fiction collections edited by Otto Penzler this one is entitled "The Dames" and is introduced by Laura Lippman.

From the Blurb:

I think I've just discovered a little bit of a drawback to ebooks - no blurb on the back to repeat here :)

But Blood Atonement is a followup to the first Nigel Barnes book, The Blood Detective, which I really enjoyed.  The idea that the past - the genealogy connection - directly impacts the now isn't a new idea, but it's well explored in these books.

Opening Lines:

http://www.internationalcrimeauthors.com/?cat=5307(link is external)

Margie Orford from South Africa is confirmed to attend our Convention in October.  Above is link to a regular column she writes giving you all a chance to get to know her better.  Books by Margie Orford are available through Benn's Bookshop, among others.

I often wonder what the Tourism authorities in some of the places that authors use as their settings think.  Mixed blessing or the old "any publicity is good publicity" thing.  There are times when I think I'd love to visit Christchurch New Zealand, and then there are times when I just don't think I'm young enough (and therefore spry enough) to dodge the bad things..... 

Steve Malley writes noir thrillers, he says suspense, and he says he does it well.  He certainly knows how to write an opening sequence to make you sit up and take notice.

Sisters in Crime author, Helene Young, eloquently describes her experience of Cyclone Yasi, in The Age on 5 February 2011.  See link below.

http://www.theage.com.au/environment/weather/gusts-roar-like-landing-aircraft-i-flinch-as-i-hear-them-slam-into-the-garage-20110204-1agy4.html

We're really happy to advise that Salvation is now available as an ebook.

On Vikki's site at:  http://www.vikkipetraitis.com/node/6573(link is external)

On Amazon at:  http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004MDLJVU(link is external)

and

You may find some older review popping up in feed streams and things over the next few days - excuse the housekeeping but I'm preparing for a major site upgrade and then's a bit of dust in the corners that needs to be shaken out.

I'm up to R in my personal challenge and I can't tell you how happy that makes me.  Because I get to pick up Three Seconds which I've been looking forward to:

From the Blurb:

Piet Hoffman is the best undercover operative in the Swedish police force, but only one other man is even aware of his existence. When a drug deal he is involved in goes very wrong, he is faced with the hardest mission of his life: to infiltrate Sweden’s most infamous maximum security prison.

I've been doing a bit of travelling by train and/or sitting around waiting in the last couple of days, and I'm officially hooked on ebooks.  Having a choice of 150 books in my handbag all the time is kind of exciting.

So a little bit of a catchup for the end of January - I read Operation Napoleon over the last weeked.

From the Blurb:

Another ebook from yesterday sitting around waiting for the car to be serviced.  I've a horrible feeling I've missed the second book in the series.  How sad.  I'll have to buy that now.

From the Blurb:

A grisly torture-murder, a haunting northern Sweden backdrop, and a dark drama of twisted sexuality collide memorably in Åsa Larsson’s masterpiece of suspense—a tale of menace, hope, longing, and darkness beyond imagining.

This book tempted for so many reasons.  It came with a media brief that talked about it as a mystery, but it's also sub-titled "A Ghost Story", which intrigued.  And on a less intellectual level it's the most beautifully presented little hardback with a wonderfully tactile dust cover and I simply couldn't resist it.

From the Blurb:

Another from the badly overdue piles, but part of the alphabetical challenge so it's proving a useful tool if not slightly silly.

From the Blurb:

A young woman walks home by herself, the tapping of her high heels the only sound.  At two o'clock in the morning, it's cold, the streets are deserted, and she thinks she's all alone.  Waiting fo rher, sleeping soundly in his bed, is her baby son.  When he wakes the next morning his mother still isn't back.  She's never coming back.  Because the streets weren't as deserted as she'd thought.

4MA(link is external) participants setup a number of challenges during the year - the one I'm joining in on at the moment is "Read Your Name - by Author" - which I'm not going to be able to pull off in a month - but will try to run over the year, with the twist that I'm trying to make sure that each entrant is an Australian or NZ author.  Needless to say it's times like this that I wish my father's surname had been a tad shorter.

From the Blurb:

A thriller from the review pile that ticks off another series that I've missed catching up with until now.  Should be interesting to see if this works as a standalone as this is the 5th Lachlan Fox book from James Phelan.

From the Blurb:

Investigative journalist and ex-navy operative Lachlan Fox is holidaying with friends in the French countryside.  He is ready for a break.  But when the extradition of an infamous criminal goes horribly wrong, and is somehow tied to the assassination of a Russian diplomat in Paris, Fox is forced back into action.

We're well into planning now for the SheKilda Convention to be held in Melbourne on 7th to the 9th October this year.

Now we realise that we're a long away away, but we're well worth the visit (just ask Oprah <vbeg>), and we are looking to see if there are any authors (or visitors!) out there who would be interested in combining their annual holiday with a few days at a Convention Hotel with a heap of Sisters in Crime.

I'm sort of stuck in the O + P piles at the moment, because I'm more than a little spoilt for choice.  This didn't exactly appeal at first glance - "Meet the Dublin Serial Killer they call The Priest" and the "oh my god not another bloody serial killer book" gag reaction set in.  Fight the reflex is all I'll say until I write up a full review.

From the Blurb:

His name is The Priest.

His weapon is a Crucifix.

His victims don't have a prayer.

Opening Lines:

This is a true crime book about the murder of a young woman on Phillip Island - that has been blamed on the wife of the victim's lover, although the wife disappeared on that night - believed to have committed suicide off the San Remo Bridge.  Although there is enough in the story to make you wonder. 

From the Blurb:

This is another one of those short story collections that I've had tucked away in a location where short stories are often called for.  Otto Penzler has edited a number of these Pulp Fiction collections now and I've been working my way through some of them.

From the Blurb:

I really like having collections of short stories on hand - I try to keep one in the car, and salted around various other locations so that I have something to dip into if I'm short of time, or in the middle of other things.  This is an older collection that I only recently found.

From the Blurb:

Seriously good title isn't it.  And it's got one of those opening sequences which just grab you. 

From the Blurb:

Incident:  A young man dies falling from a tall building

Place:  Stockholm

Date:  22 November

Time:  Between 19.56 and 20.01

Temperature:  Below zero

Verdict:  Suicide

Or is it?

Opening Lines:

It was Charlie, age thirteen, who saved the life of Vindel, age fifty-five.  At least that's how VIndel described it at the preliminary police hearing.

From the pile of books that I should have read ages ago....

From the Blurb:

When a beautiful young woman is found murdered on Cape Town's Seapoint promenade, police profiler Dr Clare Hart is drawn into the web of a brutal serial killer.  As more bodies are discovered, Clare is forced to revisit memories of the horrific rape of her twin sister and the gang ties that bind the city's crime rings.  Are the murders really linked to human trafficking, or is the killer just playing sick games with her?

Opening Lines:

Having caught up a bit, I am actually currently reading this for real.  And the snow and cold is proving just the thing as summer is finally heating up around here.  This is one of my favourite series so it's great to be catching up with it (courtesy of the N pile in my challenge).

From the Blurb:

One freezing night in Oslo, Christmas shoppers gather to listen to a Salvation Army street concert.  An explosion cuts through the music, and a man in uniform falls to the ground, shot in the head at point blank range.

Opening Lines:

Nearly finished with the catchup, but this was a book I'd been saving for a discussion on Murder & Mayhem, which I promptly missed because of illness.  But reading the book was no trial at all!

From the Blurb:

The death of a young heroin dealer causes no great concern for NYPD Detective Frank Parrish - Danny Lange is just another casualty of the drug war.  But when Danny's teenage sister winds up dead, questions are raised that have no clear answers.

Opening Lines:

Monday, September 1, 2008

Finally caught up with this book - I was lucky enough to receive a copy of this ebook and I've been wanting to get to it for a while. 

From the Blurb:

A dead girl, a ticking bomb, a Bible study that is not what it appears to be, and a detective who won't give up.

Opening Lines:

'You can put your clothes back on, then we'll talk some more.'

Still playing catchup - still lurgied alas.  But the upside of time spent holed up with illness is if you're still able to read.  And I have got some reading done in December and thus far in January I can tell you.

And this is a real bonus - a review book, from the "L" pile and one of my all time favourite authors.

From the Blurb:

Anders lost his six-year-old daughter on the island of Damarö.  He turned his back and she was gone:  vanished from the winter ice, as if by magic.

Another from the overdue "L" pile - this is a first thriller from Australian writer L.A. Larkin.  Heard about this book from the indominable Carmel Shute of Sisters in Crime fame.

From the Blurb:

Human experiments in Zimbabwe.  An Australian farmer's death.  A Sydney CEO's suicide.  Only one woman sees the connection.  Serena Swift is a ballsy advertising director with a guilty conscience who takes on the world's most powerful biotech company - Gene-Asis.

Opening Lines:

Combination of a comfort read and something from the "M" pile - bit of a winner all round really :)

From the Blurb:

Justice isn't blind - it's just a little short-sighted and weak around the knees ...

His wig may be yellowing and his gown might be in tatters, but Rumpole will not give up the good fight - not while there's injustice to battle.

Opening Lines:

Ooooo look - an "M" book and one I so so very much want to read.  Happy dancing!

From the Blurb:

Richard Knox has served his time, so why shouldn't he be allowed to live wherever he wants?  Yes, he was convicted of a brutal abduction and rape, but he's seen the error of his ways.  Found God.  Wants to leave his dark past in Newcastle and make a new start.

Or so he says.

Opening Lines:

Run.  Don't stop.  Keep moving ....