AustCrimeFiction - All Blogs

Living not that far out of the Mallee these days, I really get the references to the long, boring, god awful dry "spell" that's going on in these parts. Should be interesting to see where we go from here with this as it's funny, and quintessentially bush.

From the Blurb:

A smart, sassy self-appointed private investigator, Cass Tuplin is unforgettable and the town of Rusty Bore will never be the same...

I've been meaning to do this forever and somehow just never get around to... but there's so much really good Australian Crime Fiction and True Crime floating around at the moment, I think a monthly recap of what's been read / what's been reviewed won't hurt (might actually remind me what I've not posted yet!).

Second book in the Syd Fielding series, the first of which showed quite a bit of promise, so this should be interesting.

From the Blurb:

A spate of vicious, brutal murders around Australia has police puzzled, until Detective Syd Fielding, now head of a national drug prevention squad, finds the link that draws them together. The problem is, the link appears to be him.

Considerably lighter than my normal fare, I thought why not. Although I laughed out loud when I got to the acknowledgements, Margareta you're a bloody force of nature....

From the Blurb:

Funny, romantic, and action-packed, Rough Diamond introduces Australia's own Stephanie Plum – the unforgettable Erica Jewell.

True Crime, but not as you'd normally expect it to be formed, I suspect this will be a book that creates polarised views.

From the Blurb:

This is an Inspector Sejer book, originally published in 1995, translated into English last year. That makes it the very first Inspector Sejer book. Translated at last. Sigh.

From the Blurb:

Eva is walking by the river one afternoon when a body floats to the surface of the icy water. She tells her daughter to wait patiently while she calls the police, but when she reaches the phone box Eva dials another number altogether.

Next up is a book from ...  us :)

From the Blurb:

Where will Antonia’s search for truth lead and who will suffer?

When film and TV graduate, Antonia Carlyle sets out to make a documentary about eighties band, ‘The Tough Romantics’, she uncovers new facts surrounding the death of singer song-writer, Genevieve. This leads her to suspect that the man arrested for her murder was not the killer.

This is my first book by Matthew Klein - a thriller set in the world of IT companies that have overstretched (so far anyway).

From the Blurb:

Having enjoyed the first book THE WRONG MAN, was pleased to see a second featuring former Marine James Bishop who has gone from close protection work to something rather different.

From the Blurb:

Sometimes a man must take a step back to move forwards...

I'm starting to think that the world must be stacked high with fictional former Services personnel! In this case we've got an ex-Navy SEAL.

From the Blurb:

To be reviewed first at: http://newtownreviewofbooks.com/(link is external) the arrival of a new book from Robert Gott is a very happy occasion, although this isn't a William Power book.

From the Blurb:

Promised myself that I would go back to the very start of the Discworld series and work my way through, just because. It's a bittersweet experience, and it's bringing back some rather uncomfortable memories of giggling my way through many commuter journeys with a lot of space around me, despite the crowded train / tram.

From the Blurb:

In the beginning there was…a turtle.

In another classic example of idiocy on my part, I've gotten all out of wack with this series, and the first book, Last Rituals, was such an enjoyable introduction, I've decided to go back and get them all sorted out in order.

From the Blurb:

Technically well finished, but the review will be posted first over at the excellent http://newtownreviewofbooks.com/(link is external)

From the Blurb:

I've been looking forward to this since reading the first in the series - The Golden Scales.

From the Blurb:

It is the summer of 2001 and in Cairo's crowded streets the heat is rising...

The unsolved murders of young homeless boys are fanning the embers of religious hatred.As tensions mount, Makana - who fled his home in Sudan a decade ago - has a premonition that history may be about to repeat itself.

Ages ago I was really enjoying Jardine's Bob Skinner series then suddenly I realised I wasn't. I'm not sure if it's because Skinner was just too good for words (handsome, kind, good lover, perfect man, bleeagh), or because I started to smell a slight whiff of acolyte about all the women around him, or simply because all the books started to morph into one, that I threw the towel in. Which meant that when THE LONER arrived, I sort of dodged it for a while. Which suddenly struck me as a bit unfair as this book is not part of that series.

From the Blurb:

I suspect it's something to do with spending large amounts of the weekend stuck on the tractor in the blazing heat, but I craved Scandinavian settings - so indulged a bit. First indulgence was the first book in the Hanne Wilhelmsen series by Anne Holt. Which was translated after a later one. So apart from a slght desire to find the people that make these decisions when translating series and giving them a very good glaring at, it was good to get to the start of the Hanne's story.

From the Blurb:

In the ongoing search for cold reading, and because it's the next thing that there seems to be a bit of buzz about...

From the Blurb:

In an idyllic neighbourhood of Copenhagen, a young woman, Susanne Hansson, is discovered in her apartment bound and gagged, the victim of an extraordinarily brutal rape attack. Detective Inspector Louise Rick soon learns that Susanne met the rapist on a popular online dating site, something Susanne shamefully tries to hide.

Second DT book I've noticed recently that's beautifully bound and presented ... wondering if this is becoming a bit of a trend.

From the Blurb:

Lucile Garrett is just thirteen when she meets Clint Palmer, a charismatic stranger who will forever change her life. The year is 1934, and as the windblown dust of the Great Depression rakes the Oklahoma plains, Palmer offers Lucile and her father, homeless and hungry, the irresistible promise of a better future.

The list of Edgar Nominees for 2013 at http://www.theedgars.com/nominees.html(link is external) includes a few pleasant surprises, not the least of which is the nomination of Malla Nunn's book BLESSED ARE THE DEAD (or SILENT VALLEY as we know it as) in the BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINAL CATEGORY.

I'm going to regret this, but CLOSE TO THE BONE just came out, and I couldn't resist it. Only it just came out, like this month came out. Which means it's a bloody long time until the next book in the series. Normally I hoard like a mad thing with this series, but now I'll have to go back and reread or something. Hope Mr MacBride is looking after himself.

From the Blurb:

The first body is chained to a stake: strangled, and stabbed, with a burning tyre around its neck. But is this a gangland execution or something much darker?

I'm lying again, as I read this over the weekend. Made being stuck on that treadmill most enjoyable.

From the Blurb:

No way this book was sitting around here for any longer than was absolutely necessary - immediately I'd finished the last one.

From the Blurb:

Detective Inspector Sean Duffy returns for the incendiary sequel to THE COLD COLD GROUND.

In a small indication of just how disorganised I've been recently, normally you simply do not get between me and a book by Louise Welsh. I'll fight you for them. So goodness knows what I've been doing, THE GIRL ON THE STAIRS came out in August last year. Mortified. Busy. Be back later.

From the Blurb:

I'd be lying if I didn't admit that part of what's been intriguing about this book is the title. Although chapter or two in and there's a whole lot more to it.

From the Blurb:

I seem to be spending a lot of time reading thrillers or darker, noir books this summer. I'm sure it's still a reaction to the lunacy of "the Festive Season". Either that or it's a rut, nah, not a rut surely. That requires some level of organisation and we all know...

From the Blurb:

A conspiracy that will end alternative energy research; an organisation killing to protect its interests – and a bomb that will change the face of terrorism...

Little bit of a stocking filler - two short stories - perfect for a quick read over a snack at the pub.

From the Blurb:

Available in ebook for the first time ever, this duo of classic Christmas crime short stories by Sunday Times number one bestseller, Val McDermid - A Traditional Christmas and A Wife in a Million - introduces DI Maggie Staniforth.

I remember reading a short outline of this story in a True Crime Anthology and was amazed, and very saddened.

From the Blurb:

Short, and thus far, sharp enough to scratch glass, this is a very interesting, dark little gem.

From the Blurb:

A beautiful young French girl walks into a bar, nervously lights a cigarette, and begs the bartender for help in finding her missing artist brother. In a moment of weakness, the bartender—a lone wolf named Caesar Stiles with a chip on his shoulder and a Sicilian family curse hanging over him—agrees. What follows is a stylish literary mystery set in Brooklyn on the dawn of gentrification.

Anybody who knows me will be aware that I'm mathematically challenged. Besides, I hate giving numbers of stars as reviews and Top 5's or 10's or whatever numbers give me heartburn, so instead, I wanted to just re-mention some of the books that made my reading 2012. I was rather pleased to have hit the 120 that I set myself as a goal on Goodreads (in fact if I was up to date with reviews) I reckon that number will end up much closer to 140, which is not a bad effort given that it was a hellishly busy year all round. But enough waffle.

Given it's already nearly hot enough to melt tin out there, and there's a hellish weekend to come, I figured reading around livestock checking and drought obsessing. Really really sick of this bloody drought stuff I can tell you.

From the Blurb:

Having the world 2nd book in the series to review,  I thought the first would be a better place to start.

From the blurb:

The ancient city of Cairo is a feverish tangle of the old and the new, of the superrich and the desperately poor, with inequality and corruption everywhere. It's a place where grudges and long-buried secrets can fester, and where people can disappear in the blink of an eye.

Shhh - this doesn't come out until 1st January, but really, a new Cliff Hardy novel in the house and I'm not going to read it. In "please myself month" - don't be daft....

From the Blurb:

This wasn't Hardy's usual brief--uncover the mysteries of a nineteenth-century shipwreck--but he could do with an easy case and the retainer was generous.

Being December, I've decided that this is read what you damn well please month. Which will obviously include a heap of review books as there are some rippers lined up, but it's also going to include some happy place stuff. And yes, know it's strange, but Brookmyre at full rant is a very very happy place.

From the Blurb:

Bullets. Bombs. Depravity. Bad hair.

Any Ken Bruen news is very very good news in these parts, so I was very pleased to hear that Mysterious Press are bringing back Ken Bruen's The White Trilogy in print and electronic format. They are also taking a deeper look at Irish Noir in the following video featuring Ken Bruen, who explains why Ireland is the home to some of the world's most important crime writers.

Best Irish Crime of 2012: - Kirkus Reviews(link is external) chose debut novelist Anthony Quinn's Disappeared as one of 2012's best crime novels

A richly woven story about Ireland¹s violent past colliding with its peaceful present, Quinn¹s novel was praised for its lyrical prose, well-drawn characters, exciting plot, and historical enrichment.

Sounds like another one for the Must Be Read pile :)

Another in the "please myself" pile of reading - I've been wanting to get to this for ages now.

From the Blurb:

I did enjoy the first book in this series - Defender of the Faith, or Defender: Intrepid 1 as it's now known, so this is no trial at all, although I'm a bit late starting it, having overdosed ever so slightly on thrillers last month :)

From the Blurb:

His orders are simple: ‘The safety catch is off. Return that girl to her family and drag those bastards back to justice. Dead or alive. It makes no difference to me.’

My next up book should be a thriller (Hunter by Chris Allen) but I've read a few of those recently so sort of felt a bit of a head clearer might be an idea. So what better a) to clear your head and b) to hide from the seasonal insanity that seems to foist itself on you at this time of the year than a good dose of grumpy.

From the Blurb:

A long time ago Margaret Yorke's books where on my immediate purchase list, and then somehow, somewhere I lost track of where I was up to. I was very saddened to hear of her recent death, but reminded of the core role her books had on my path into just about 100% crime fiction reading. So I went and unearthed one.

From the Blurb:

Sydney novelist Josephine Pennicott has won the Sisters in Crime 2012 Scarlet Stiletto Award.

The award ceremony began with the Special Guest presenters Kerry Greenwood & Marion Boyce the creator of Phryne Fisher, and the costume designer for Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries talking about the fabulous costumes featured in the ABC TV series.

Another one of those "nearly finished" as opposed to simply currently reading, and I am so kicking myself for taking so long to get to this book. It's as sharp as a tack when it comes to language, dark, funny, pointed like a very sharp pointy sticky thing, and thus far, bloody brilliant.

From The Blurb:

‘Imelda Sheridan was dead, which was tough cookies on Imelda, but then every silver lining has its cloud. My job was to find out who and why, at 12 cent per word for the right facts in the right order … which is how it all started out, anyway.’

Finally getting to this on the ebook queue, because I'm away from home for a few days and I have my lovely shiny tablet with me instead of the suitcase full of books I'd normally haul...

From the Blurb:

If there’s one thing worse than a crooked cop on your heels then it’s a whole unit of them.

John Gapper is chief business columnist and an associated editor of the Financial Times. He is also the author of All That Glitters, a book about the collapse of Barings Bank. I'm baffled (well okay, bored witless) by high finance. Should be interesting....

From the Blurb:

The first book by Dugdall, The Woman Before Me, that I read was a very interesting journey into a world that the author obviously knows a lot about. In my review I noted:

Having a bit of a thriller splurge at the moment...

From the Blurb:

Three years ago Bishop was the leader of a elite close protection team assigned to safeguard a millionaire and his daughter. After being attacked, Bishop regained consciousness to find seven bodies strewn throughout the millionaire's Long Island mansion – including those of his two charges – and a mountain of evidence guaranteed to send him down for the murders.

But to find out who set him up and why, Bishop needs to be free. And now the time has come for him to make his move ...

Never made any secret of my liking for short story collections, and the darker the better - which makes my dipping in and out of this little gem of a collection somewhat of a treat. Although I do think I should be smoking a cigarette, drinking straight scotch and sat somewhere dark and vaguely sinister...

From the Blurb:

About the only sort of housework that gets done on a semi-regular basis around here is the restacking and reorganising (and a tiny bit of dusting) of the book shelves, mostly in a vain attempt to claw back a little more space. Needless to say it's also not a bad idea as every now again you come across a book that you should have read... a long time ago. How embarrassment.

From the Blurb:

Be careful where you go and very careful who you cross, for sometimes the sun shines on even the darkest souls.

Meet the Silver Dagger ... and hell on earth.

It's been a while since the movies of this series were playing on SBS but I can still see the actor that plays Inspector Montalbano - he did such a tremendous job of bringing the grumpy, food loving, complicated character to life. Another series that I'm very behind with but I do love the chance to dip into the books when I can.

From the Blurb:

A special long weekend, so a few catchups with old favourites.

From the Blurb:

A cabbie’s been beaten up, there’s a drunk and disorderly in the interview room and a possible child abuser is on his way in. Just a pretty normal Christmas Holiday for Resnick and his team. Then Dana Matheison calls to report her flat mate, Nancy, missing. Pretty soon the police have proof that Nancy was kidnapped, and then — as the New Year celebrations wind down — the first tape arrives and Resnick knows they’re dealing with a dangerous psychopath.

Another review book that has been in the queue for way too long.

From the Blurb:

2003. Invalided out of the SAS Chet Freeman makes his living in high-end security, on a temporary contract for an American corporation called the Grosvenor Group. He catches a young woman, a peace campaigner, eavesdropping on a meeting the Group is holding with the British Prime Minister. The Group's interests include arms manufacture, and what Chet and the young woman overhear seems to imply that it is bribing the Prime Minister to take his country into an illegal war.

I really like these sorts of challenges because you're basically going up against yourself. You set a number of books that you reckon you can read in year and then the widget on your Goodreads account keeps track of how many books you've read and how far ahead / behind you are in terms of percentage.

Last year I set 150 books for the entire year which I thought I'd reach without too much trouble. Needless to say I over-reached just a tad, so this year I modified my expectations just a tiny bit and set it to 120.

The second book I've been lucky enough to read from http://http://lefrenchbook.com/(link is external), this is a legal thriller.

From the Blurb:

Been quiet around here lately. Well on the surface anyway. Underneath there's been some bloody serious paddling going on.

Anyway, this is a book I've been looking forward to, and not looking forward to. It's quite amazing how you can really feel the end of a favourite book series.

From the Blurb: