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There is absolutely no such thing as absolutes.

Which probably means that sentence doesn't exist.  Or something.

But a while ago I decided I was totally over books that put you directly in the mind of a serial killer.

And then I get RANDOM by Craig Robertson and I'm not totally over being in the mind of all serial killers.

From the Blurb:

I've been looking for a copy of this short story anthology for such a long time, that I was really really pleased when I eventually found a copy of it in one of my favourite little bookshops in Bendigo.  Fans of Garry's work - both the Wyatt and Challis novels will probably find, as I did, that there are a few of these that ring bells in later full-blown novels.  There are also some that don't and there are some that have obviously been informed by events in Garry's own life.

From the Blurb:

Neil Cross rapidly hit my Must Be Read immediately list, and there's nothing whatsoever going on to indicate that he's going to drop from that (granted long) gathering anytime soon.

CAPTURED is due out "in late May" - it's another standalone story so you won't need to have read NATURAL HISTORY or BURIAL to pick this one up - but seriously - if you haven't read either of those two - you're missing out.

From the Blurb:

Golden Relic was originally released in 1997 as an online serialised novel.  At Clan Destine Press (disclaimer - I'm the person who did the "techy" stuff in turning the manuscript into an ebook), we decided a while ago that this book deserved another Internet outing.

In the words of the author "Well, what I did in 1997 makes me a pioneer of the World Wide Web.

    Yep, me, Lindy Cameron, Australian crime writer – an Internet Pioneer. And I deserve those capital letters, because I really did boldly go where none had gone before." 

This is the first novel from Colin McLaren, previously he has written a true crime book, INFILTRATION, about his time as one of Australia's most experienced taskforce detectives.

The story in ON THE RUN is going to ring some bells with anyone who has read INFILTRATION as there does appear to be a bit of synergy.  Which makes it just that slightly more tantalising, and ever so slightly worrying all at the same time :)

From the Blurb:

I've been looking forward to this book since I first saw the very stylish cover that was produced for Lindy's latest, and Ruth's first True Crime book.  Now that I've typed that I realise how odd that probably sounds.  This is, after all, a book about Australia's worst Female murderers.

It's an odd thing but I suspect people will be slightly more disturbed by the idea of female thrill killers, opportunistic killers or simply women who kill because they can.  Probably some daft idea in society about women's role and nature. 

From the Blurb:

The Ned Kelly nominations for 2010 have been released:

http://www.nedkellyawards.com/2010.html(link is external)

(Links to available reviews included).

Okay, so I'm officially embarrassed.

I knew I'd had this book for a while, but I didn't quite realise how long.

Nor have I got a single good reason for why it took me so long to pick it up, because I liked the first book "I SEE YOU".

Lazy review housekeeping is the only excuse I've got which is why I'm so embarrassed.

This is one of those true crime books that I've had here since it was published, and I've tried on a few occasions to pick it up - and the subject matter defeated me everytime.

Now I guess the question remains why on earth would you even want to read a book about such an horrific murderer.  The answer has to be that I read these things to try to get an understanding.  Sometimes it works, sometimes I'm still baffled.

From the Blurb:

This is the second book from Andy L Semple - and it's a mixture of global conspiracy, thriller, virus threat and a lot of dead bodies.  A lot of dead bodies!

From the Blurb:

In the increasingly turbulent atmosphere of international environmentalism, the once peaceful grass roots climate change group - The Eden Movement - has been covertly taken over by the mysterious figure known only to his legion of radical followers as Prime.

Opening Lines:

Not a Wallender novel, the latest book from Henning Mankell is set in Sweden and China.  The blurb includes a tantalising opening line:  "Revenge Can Take More than a Lifetime..."

From the Blurb:

One cold January day the police are called to a sleepy little hamlet in the north of Sweden where they find the victim of a savage murder lying in the snow.  As they begin their investigation they notice that the village seems eerily quiet and deserted.  Going from house to house, looking for witnesses, they uncover a crime unprecedented in Swedish history.

I've been a bit reticent about this book, not being a huge fan of cyber-thrillers, but I'm really pleased I picked up this book now.  Particularly with the current stories flying around about mining company computer systems being hacked - interesting to say the least.

From the Blurb:

I've really really really been looking forward to this second Jack Susko books - loved the first one (A Deadly Business).  Really like the slightly wise-cracking (with distinctly Australian tone), of a bookseller turned Accidental Detective, just trying to get by on a daily basis.

From the Blurb:

So I'm a fickle reader.  I always maintain that blurbs / comparisons / recommendations all that stuff on a cover don't mean a thing.  But this book arrived, and there was this "perfect read for fans of Child 44, Angels and Demons...." bit in the blurb.  Angels and Demons probably didn't have the affect that the publicist might have been looking for, but I definitely did love Child 44 - and I noticed at the end of the book there is the true timeline of events around the death of the Romanovs (hate fiction that plays too much with history - my brain explodes trying to rememb

This is such a wonderful series, I was more than happy to squeeze this book in amongst some of the more serious / dark books I've been reading recently.

From the Blurb:

Somebody in Laos is wooing and wedding country girls - and then killing them on honeymoon and binding their bodies to trees.  The horror of what this monster does to his victims leaves a bad taste in the mouths of Chief Coroner Dr Siri and his morgue team.  Not ones to stand around tutting, they vow immediate revenge.

Opening Lines:

I picked this book up at last year's Crime & Justice Festival and it's been a perfect book to dip into a read a little bit now and then.  Makes you realise that everything old is new again - the Gangland Wars of Melbourne are definitely not the first and couldn't possibly be the last.

From the Blurb:

GANGLAND AUSTRALIA details the exploits of an unforgettable cast of villains, crooks and mobsters who have made up the criminal and gangland scene in Australia.

There is absolutely nothing like a heavy dose of the lurgy to get you tucked up in bed catching up on some reading.  Luckily the latest book from Michael Robotham arrived just in time to join the pile (which I will catch up on mentioning asap).

Oh and there was Easter - I'm sure chocolate doesn't give you a lurgy though!

From the Blurb:

Ray Hegarty, a highly respected former detective, lies dead in his daughter Sienna's bedroom.  She is found covered in his blood.  Everything points to her guilt, but psychologist Joe O'Loughlin isn't convinced.

It's not often you get a review book and you're reading about the author's back story more than the book's synopsis - but Charles Maclean appears to have quite the backstory.

We're lucky enough to be able to give away 3 copies of Dave Franklin's new book - Girls Like Funny Boys (courtesy of Dave himself).

If you'd like to enter the draw - please drop me a line at kc at saki dot com dot au
(link sends e-mail)

I'll use the time honoured method of putting everyone's name on a bit of paper, chucking them up in the air and get the 3 dogs here to pluck a name out each. Odd undoubtedly - but effective.

Do you have one of those favourite authors, that you know is still writing, and you simply cannot resist their books when they arrived.

Louise Welsh is one of those for me and I was really really pleased to see NAMING THE BONES show up.

From the Blurb:

Knee-deep in the mud of an ancient burial ground, a winter storm raging around him, and at least one person intent on his death:  how did Murray Watson end up here?

Opening Lines:

Just finished this really so a full review to come, but this is the second book featuring synaesthesia suffering DCI Mark Lapslie, although if you missed the first book that shouldn't matter - there's a lot of information built into the narrative about Lapslie's background and condition.

From the Blurb:

Originally published in 1948 this is part of a beautifully packaged reprint of the entire Gervase Fen series from Vintage Books.  It's also one of my "read whatever I bloody want" treats.  (Not that reading review books / discussion books etc isn't a privilege, it's just sometimes you just want to read on a whim!)

From the Blurb:

Sometimes I look at Mt TBR and realise that it's more of a hoarders paradise than anything else.  And every year I promise myself that I will go back and read some of the books that are lurking there, that have been lurking there for a long long time.  And sometimes I actually do get around to that.  I really need to work out a way to read more books.  I mean I've given up housework and all those other unnecessary tasks - obviously something else has to go.

From the Blurb:

Okay, I'm lying again.  I'm actually listening to this on my MP3 player.  Which is extremely instructive as it would be fair to say my grasp of Spanish pronunciation isn't good.  My English pronunciation isn't good let's face it.

Well there is absolutely no point in pretending I was a dispassionate observer when WYATT wandered across the threshold earlier this week.  To be honest if the book I was reading hadn't been absolutely tremendous I doubt I'd have been able to restrain myself from putting it aside in favour of this one.  Needless to say from the time that Garry Disher mentioned this book was on the way at last year's Crime & Justice festival I have been keenly anticipating its arrival.  Staying up late last night to get stuck into the book was no hardship at all.  Not being able to sit down and pick it u

I like Dave Franklin's stream of conscious rant novels.  Highly entertaining.

And then he writes GIRLS LIKE FUNNY BOYS and it's not a rant novel. 

In great news from the Sisters in Crime Convenors - Val McDermid is to present the 10th Davitt Awards - 7pm Saturday August 28, Celtic Club Melbourne. Put it in your diary now. Bookings will open in June.

I think I will need a Master Class in not being a blithering idiot in the presence of such an influential and important author!

I'm finding this book quite interesting, Underbelly 3 connections or whatever else aside, mostly because it comes out of New South Wales, and the time of the Wood Royal Commission into Police Corruption etc to which, at the time, I paid scant if any attention whatsoever (who many times do you find yourself reading a book about something from your teenage / young adult years thinking... where was I when this all happened... oh that's right.  Partying.  Hard).

From the Blurb:

THE GIGOLO MURDER is the third Hop-Çiki-Yaya series of books from Turkish author Mehmet Murat Somer.  For anybody who has missed the earlier books this is a series about an unnamed (in the books) computer expert, night-club owning, transvestite.  Not just hilarous, these books give a delicious glimpse into another world.

From the Blurb:

Weekend Masterclass: Getting your book published requires more than great writing – you also need to know how the publishing world works and how to attract a suitable publisher with a convincing book proposal. Discover how to research your book’s potential market; sell yourself as well as your writing; where editors, appraisers and agents fit in; and what you need to know about contracts and copyright. This masterclass is suitable for those who have started drafting a proposal for their book project and want to refine it through workshopping and tutor feedback.

If you're a fan of ripper opening's to books then SKIN AND BONE could be just the thing for you.  Certainly got me sitting up straight and paying attention.

From the Blurb:

On a cold January morning a nightmare awaits in a small Sussex village.  A deranged young man goes on the rampage, shooting everyone in his path before taking his own life.  It is a senseless, tragic event, but sadly not an unfamiliar one.  At least, that's what everyone thinks.

Opening Lines:

The Book Trailer for The Devil's Tears is now out:

A new book, about a place which is simultaneously very dear to many many Australian's, whilst also being a source of regret and guilt, The Devil's Tears was really intriguing when it first arrived.  And it's one of those books that is keeping me awake nights.  For two reasons - the subject matter built around the struggle in East Timor is extremely confrontational and Horne doesn't pull many punches.  The second reason is that the book is really really hard to put down.

From the Blurb:

Some days life just doesn't get much better than this - a new book from a favourite author, and after one night's reading - a really good book :)

From the Blurb:

The past haunts the present...

Nineteen years ago teenager Georgie Daniels stumbled across the body of her classmate, Tim Pieters, hidden amongst bushes.  His family was devastated and the killer never found.

Opening Lines:

TAKE OUT is the third DS Stevie Hooper book by WA based author Felicity Young, the blurb on the back from Carmel Shure, co-convenor of the Sisters in Crime Australia is "Another skin-tight DSS Stevie Hooper investigation".  And Carmel's a lady who knows her crime fiction.

From the Blurb:

You take my girls and I take you:  Skin for Skin

A deserted house.  The remains of an unfinished meal.  An unexpected find.  And a routine police investigation going nowhere.

Opening Lines:

The Book Trailer for Cold Justice has now been released:

Like I would be able to resist this one for long. 

From the Blurb:

Football has come to the ancient city of Ankh-Morpork - not the old-fashioned grubby pushing and shoving, but the new, fast football with pointy hats for goalposts and balls that go gloing when you drop them.  And now the wizards of Unseen University must win a football match without using magic, so they're in the mood for trying everything else.

Opening Lines:

It was midnight in Ankh-Morpork's Royal Art Museum.*

You'd think that multiple 40C or thereabouts days in a row would mean reading time.  The problem is staying conscious during that sort of heat (all you want to do is nap).  Then there are the frequent outside trips to house down poultry houses and yards, and check on Alpacas, sniff the air and check the horizons for fire.  Still - this is one of the books that I'm reading at the moment, and let's just say that the opening chapter is not for the squeamish.

From the Blurb:

I read one of this author's considerably more cosier offerings - Death in the Truffle Wood last year, this is a book I should have read a couple of weeks ago for a Murder & Mayhem discussion but I got distracted by the latest from Peter Corris.  So I'm madly trying to catch up.

From the Blurb:

I have read a few books recently that I've not had time to mention - but as the latest Cliff Hardy officially hits the stores tomorrow - Torn Apart is a book worth mentioning.  It's been really interesting to come back to Cliff's stories after a bit of a break in the middle of the series, where I thought it all got a bit same old same old.  The last few books, however, have been really tremendous.  Perhaps now that Cliff has lost his licence, is independently wealthy, his attitude has changed a little as well - he's always been a bit of a maverick, a lone wolf type.  But now there's an extr

As part of the end of year on 4MA, everyone posts their top tens for the year (and the books that didn't work for them), so I thought I'd quickly duplicate the list of just the local books that I really enjoyed this year:

We're really pleased to announce that the winners have been drawn for our The Cry of the Marwing competition and copies of the book will be sent off to our lucky winners asap.  Congratulations go to:

Patrick Murphy, NY, USA

Kerri-Anne Sullivan, TX, USA

Shirley Gallagher, PA, USA

Allen & Unwin have been incredibly generous giving us 3 copies of The Cry of the Marwing to give away.

No geographical restrictions on this one - but more details (and how you enter the draw) at:

http://www.austcrimefiction.org/feedback/The+Cry+of+the+Marwing

The 6th book released, Hypothermia is the latest in this police procedural series from Iceland featuring police detective Erlendur.

From the Blurb:

I may be very behind with writing reviews at the moment, but there's nothing at all like the dreaded lurgy to get you way ahead with reading.  This is the first book from E.V. Seymour (the next book - The Mephisto Threat was released in July 2009).

From the Blurb:

After acting on false intelligence, officer Paul Tallis shoots a suspected terrorist in a Birmingham shopping centre.  Suspended from his job, his career is over.

FORBIDDEN FRUIT is the 5th book in the Corrina Chapman series, and, because I do this - the first one I've ever read :)

From the Blurb:

This book has been lurking on Mt TBR for a while, and was exactly the thing as a fun, quick filler read for the early days of December, where it's actually RAINING here (YEAH)

From the Blurb:

He's tall, he's dark and, like the shark, he looks for trouble.

Or so he wishes.  For with Queen Elizabeth newly established on her throne the now elderly secret agent is reaching the end of his scandalous career.  Despite his fast-approaching retirement, however, queer events leave Box unable to resist investigating one last case.

This is the 4th book in the Ed Loy series - a book I've been very much looking forward to.

From the Blurb:

Ed Loy has made some changes.  He has moved into a flat in Dublin's city centre, leaving the family home behind.  Maybe now he can break free from the ghosts of his past.

But when a fifteen-year-old murder case is re-opened, Loy is hired by the victim's daughter to investigate the suspects ignored by the first investigation; a rich property developer, an ex-IRA man and Loy's least favourite sociopath, George Halligan.

Not a crime novel, this is an book about life, love, loss, redemption, reparation and restoration.  Thought-provoking, sad, reflective, fascinating.

From the Blurb:

Once a successful surgeon, Frederick Welin now lives in self-imposed exile on an island in the Swedish archipelago.  Nearly twelve years have passed since he was disgraced for attempting to cover up a tragic mishap on the operating table.  One morning in the depths of winter, he sees a hunched figure struggling towards him across the ice.  His past is about to catch up with him.

Seems the much anticipated sequel to Behind the Night Bazaar has a name....  Down by Pattaya Bay.

Haven't noticed a release date yet....