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Needless to say I'm doing a little posting catching up - but this is the latest Cliff Hardy novel, due out in January.  There are significantly worse ways to start off a reading year than a catch up with Cliff's ongoing life!

From the Blurb:

Still catching up, and obviously this isn't crime fiction but I just have to mention this book.  Wow.  A harrowing tale of what it means to be a refugee.  An uplifting example of what it means to be human. 

From the Blurb:

This year, for Christmas, I got a copy of David Thompson's Thai Street Food (much much much longed for book), a bad dose of the lurgy and some seriously good reading time!

So I'm catching up with what I've been reading and when the fuzz in my head has cleared, I will catch up with some reviews!

From the Blurb:

I was recently sent this book to review, so it's more than time that I read it!

From the Blurb:

University professor Alex Wearing has been murdered in his study, and the weapon is a valuable museum artefact.  His brother, James, is the key suspect in Inspector Fitzjohn's investigations.

Opening Lines:

Alex looked beyond the light thrown by the lamp on his desk, to the window and darkness outside.

The first book from the "J" pile is one that I've been meaning to pick up for quite some time now. 

From the Blurb:

There have been a strange succession of violent deaths at Helsinki tube stations.  The police are baffled:  nobody has seen anything and the tapes from CCTV show nothing.

Opening Lines:

Someone called out his name:  rapidly, over and over, as if they were thrashing him over the head with a twig.  'Mikko!  Mikko!'

I am still reading, even though this is such a frantically busy time of the year.  What I don't seem to get any time to do is post reviews though.  Apologies but I will do a big catch up once the festivities are over in these parts.

In the meantime - my book from the "I" pile.

From the Blurb:

The brand-new Eiffel Tower is the glory of the 1889 Universal Exposition.  But one sunny afternoon a woman collapses and dies on this great Paris landmark.  Can a bee-sting really be the cause of death?  Or is there a more sinister explanation?

A while ago I noticed a competition on Random House Australia's website to win a Sony EReader.  So I entered.  Bit of a reflex action I must admit, but I was so very very thrilled when I got an email recently that let me know I'd won a Sony Touch EReader.

The beautiful, shiny new EReader arrived yesterday and it really is a very nice thing.  Touch Screen, very clear reading screen - I'm looking forward to using it immensely.

Given I have no overdue "I" review books, I'm treating myself to a book that I've been eager to pick up for a few weeks now.  Not the least because himself read this recently and couldn't put it down - I can't remember the last time I've seen him in that situation with a book - didn't matter what he could have / should have been doing - he read this in record time.

From the Blurb:

I've put aside my last book for a day or so to catch up with BLOOD MEN for a Murder & Mayhem bookclub discussion.  Which is no trial.

Paul Cleave is one of my very favourite authors.  Goodness knows why because he seems to go out of his way to frighten me witless.  The last 2 of his books I read had me leaving the lights on all night.  I started this one last night and was awake half the night because I simply couldn't put it down. 

From the Blurb:

Look how grown up I'm being about this alphabetical challenge.  At least for this book - next up I'm going to blithely break my own rules.  In the meantime - the latest from one of my favourite series.

From the Blurb:

Keeping on the Alphabetical regime, and catching up with an overdue review book - The Third Rail by Michael Harvey is the book that stuck out in the H pile.

From the Blurb:

A woman is shot as she waits for her train to work.  An hour later, a second woman is gunned down as she rides an elevated train through the Loop.  Two hours after that, a church becomes the target of a chemical-weapons attack.  The city of Chicago is under siege.

Opening Lines:

Okay, back on track in the Alphabet Regime - this is the second of the Michelle Giuttari books I've read now - reviewing a A Florentine Death in 2008.  It'll be interesting to see if the author has got the blatant self-promotional portrayal balanced out this time.

From the Blurb:

Another break from my Alphabetical regime for a discussion book on the Murder and Mayhem list.  This is the 3rd Mark Lapslie (Lapslie is a DCI with synaesthesia).

From the Blurb:

You need to listen to this.  DCI Mark Lapslie receives an anonymous email bearing this strange subject line.  Opening the attachment, he hears a woman scream twenty-seven times before her final death rattle.

Opening Lines:

Okay, so my Alphabet Rule appears to be failing - but there's a reason I picked this book up.  Which won't make sense to anybody else much, but there's been this conversation, and somebody asked, and I knew I had but hadn't read, so I said I'd bring them with me, and thought, what the hey - I've got a night, I'll read the first one.  So I did.

From the Blurb:

This isn't one of Kerry's crime novels, but rather a book set in Ancient Egypt.  Outside my normal reading experience, but very atmospheric, fascinating.

From the Blurb:

Eighteenth Dynasty Egypt is peaceful and prosperous under the dual rule of the Pharaohs Amenhotep III and IV, until the younger Pharaoh begins to dream new and terrifying dreams.

Opening Lines:

Mutnodjme

I read this book initially when it came out, but I need to reread it, which is absolutely no trial.  Even second time around the sense of menace and discomfort from page 1 just grabbed me.

From the Blurb:

Pressing on with the books by alphabetical order - Kathryn Fox's 5th book Death Mask from the Dr Anya Crichton series.

From the Blurb:

Forensic physician Dr Anya Crichton is presented with a patient who has returned from her honeymoon with multiple sexually transmitted infections.  Her husband has none of them.  She tearfully denies having had any other partners and Anya believes her.  Is is a medical phenomenon or has something more sinister taken place?

Opening Lines:

Every now and again a daft scheme plays out in your favour.  This is my second "E" book in this sweep, and it is an absolutely fantastic book to read.  (Yes I am well aware of how odd that sounds when the central theme is about a serial killer).  This isn't, however, one of those inside the head of the serial killer books - which we're all well over by now - but it's about the investigation side, and a glimpse into the life of a man who survived an attack years before.  So far it's wonderful, and the book that I can blame this week's disrupted sleep on.  It's proving very hard to put down.

I'm breaking my new regime here a little, but what's the point of making up your own rules if you can't blithely ignore them when the whim takes you.

Okay, it's not often that a book will keep himself awake but Adam really liked this - so I think I may have to sneak it into my to be read pile now as well.

But his review is on his blog for those interested.

I will stick with this catchup plan - I will even though I'm catching up with some books that are way outside my comfort zone.

From the Blurb:

What could make a successful, happily married man like Eliot Martagon take a gun and shoot himself?  What made Theo Benton, a young artist on the brink of fame, throw himself to his death?

Opening Lines:

This is one of those books that I've had sitting on MtTBR for a long time, so I was very pleased to finally get a chance to pick it up. 

From the Blurb:

Vuk has swapped identities so many times in order to survive that he can no longer see himself as anything other than a highly efficient killing machine.  His victims, however, hardly get to see him at all, and by then it's too late.  They're already dead.

Opening Lines:

Having just posted my top 10 (with wiggle room) on 4MA - I thought I'd repeat it here.  Mind you, it's a thankless task having to pick an arbitrary number out of all the great books I've been lucky enough to read this year....

Ahem.... system still working.  I'm so proud of myself at the moment, normally I can't remember the new "system" for more than 10 minutes - but so far I'm managing to catch up on some review books that perhaps I wouldn't normally get around to picking up.

From the Blurb:

Manhattan's electricity grid has been the victim of a horrific attack ... and more are planned.

Opening Lines:

Is discipline impressive or what!  Second "C" book as intended - this time one from the review pile.  Now all I have to do is catch up with posting reviews and I can have a momentary smirk until the wheels fall off and I'm behind on everything again.

From the Blurb:

Okay, so this is an odd subject, but at the recent SIsters in Crime Gathering (with Sulari Gentill, Angela Savage and Pam Newton), the subject of our mad mob of animals came up - and I mentioned limping ducks (we've got two now)... and I promised photos:

http://blogs.sakienvirotech.com/index.php/dirt/2010/10/25/limping-ducks-...

So far my alphabetical procession is still on track - and it's books like this one that make the idea work really.  Bit of a treat this.

From the Blurb:

Britain's best known gangster, Charlie Hook, wants to tell his life story and chooses crime reporter Laurie Lane as reluctant ghost.  But the next day Hook is dead, his blood and hair on the walls of his north London mansion.

Opening Lines:

Laurie recognised the voice at once, although the only two words he had ever heard him utter were 'not' and 'guilty'.

Congratulations to long-time Sisters in Crime member Maris Morton from Uki NSW who won the inaugural CAL Scribe Fiction Prize at the age of 70! She wins $12,000 but more importantly Scribe will publish her novel, A Darker Music. She was highly commended for her short story "Hawk's Hill" in the 2009 Scarlet Stiletto Awards. Well done Maris!

I will admit that this is not the first time that I've picked up this book (actually I think it's about my fifth attempt to read it).  I've had enormous trouble getting it to stay with me, probably because I ended up having to read the blurb to figure out what was going on.  The book has 2 main viewpoints, chapter about an older man and his niece.  They talk about themselves, their lives, and their families - in particular there's another niece - the younger sister who is missing.  Took me ages to get who was who straight - and that, and the incredibly slow pace had me completely bamboozled

Okay, so the new system is still working - I'm up to "B".  This is my choice from the B pile, and I've got a B review book lined up as well, but as this is one of the first debut books to win the CWA Gold Dagger for <cough> years (can't remember exactly how many but it's lots), I've been meaning to pick it up.  Sometimes a system is a very good thing.

http://www.thecwa.co.uk/daggers/2010/gold.html(link is external)

From the Blurb:

I've read some of Boris Akunin's Erast Fandorin novels before and didn't mind those, but I will confess that the "Red Rooster" is what got me interested in reviewing this, being a bit of a poultry fan :)

From the Blurb:

It's not often I get carried away and tidy up around here - but the book stacks had got a bit out of control and I was having trouble finding things... again.  So last weekend I got stuck into a little restacking / refiling.  One of the unexpected bonuses from this horrid activity was discovering a few little treasures hidden away.  Sanctum being the one that screamed read me the loudest.

From the Blurb:

This is a first crime novel, based on some elements of a true story out of Perth in the 1970s.  There's nothing like a debut novel from an Australian writer - it's always a huge pleasure to see that we've got new writers being supported by publishing houses!

From the Blurb:

I can't quite remember who mentioned this book - but I'd suspect Em from Murder & Mayhem was behind it (and if she wasn't then she's behind a whole heap of other mentions and recommendations that I can't resist! <vbeg>)  Debut novel, translated quickly after it's release - yahhhhhh (all that translating long-term series out of order is driving me mildly bats).

From the Blurb:

An Expert in Murder: Death Haunts the West End by Nicola Upson) - Faber and faber (2008), Paperback, 352 pages [Our New Books - LibraryThing)]

The Good Thief's Guide to Paris - Simon & Schuster UK, Paperback, 320 pages [Our New Books - LibraryThing]

I read and really liked The Good Thief's Guide to Amsterdam when it came out so wanted to try this second book in the series.  One of those sets of books for readers who would like to try crime fiction which isn't focused on murder.

THANKS FOR THE ENTRIES EVERYONE - we've got our 10 winners now :)  ebooks will be sent out asap with thanks for all the entries.

I'm so very thrilled to be able to announce a fantastic new giveaway of 10 ebook copies of the first Detective Jackson mystery, The Sex Club by fantastic author L.J. Sellers.  I've been watching many many positive reviews for this book show up on all the discussions lists since it was first published (including the explanation that if "Sex" isn't your thing - don't panic - it's not a book that you should shy away from!) 

It's must be hard living up to your own expectations when you're an author - so you have to wonder how on earth a blurb like "The most eagerly awaited thriller in the world?  It is written by an unknown Italian" could possibly help - an author or a reader's expectations.  We'll see.

From the Blurb:

Six severed arms are discovered buried in a forest clearing.  They are arranged in a mysterious circle, and appear to belong to missing girls between the ages of eight and thirteen.  But the rest of the bodies are nowhere to be found.

Punter's Luck: a John Punter racing Mystery by Peter Klein - New Holland (2007), Paperback [Our New Books - LibraryThing]

I've enjoyed a couple of books from this author - Punter's Luck is the first one and I just never quite managed to remember to pick up a copy for myself.  Until I saw it last week.  Another quest successfully concluded!

This is our October f2f bookclub book and boy oh boy am I looking forward to next Sunday's discussion - I should imagine that we're going to have some interesting views.

From the Blurb:

At a surburban barbecue, a man slaps a child who is not his own.

Opening Lines:

His eyes still shut, a dream dissolving and already impossible to recall, Hector's hand sluggishly reached across the bed.

Rumpole and the Reign of Terror by John Mortimer - Penguin Books Ltd (2007), Paperback, 192 pages [Our New Books - LibraryThing]

From the Dead by Mark Billingham - Little, Brown, Hardcover, 368 pages [Our New Books - LibraryThing]

This book was added to MtTBR simply because it was available and Billingham writes fantastic books.  Doesn't hurt that this is a Tom Thorne into the bargain, although, yet again, I'm reminded that this is a terrific series that I'm behind on.

Die A Little by Megan Abbott - Pocket Books (2008), Paperback, 256 pages [Our New Books - LibraryThing]

The list of nominees for the 2010 Davitt Awards has now been released.  More wonderful reading to catch up on!

* Marks the ones I've had the good fortune to read so far.

ADULT FICTION

Allen & Unwin - Sharp Shooter by Marianne Delacourt *

Allen & Unwin - Forbidden Fruit by Kerry Greenwood *

Allen & Unwin - Red Dust by Fleur McDonald

Arcadia - Steel River by Antoinette Eklund

This book is was a winner in the NSW Premier's Literary Awards of 2010 and the Vogel Literary Award - so I was interested to read this.  Also the premise is interesting - the story of the Petrov defection - from their points of view.

From the Blurb:

Falling squarely into the "where have I been category", I've just picked up Cut & Run by Alix Bosco and am officially hooked.  Luckily the second book Slaughter Falls is around so I'm looking forward to it very much.

From the Blurb:

When a rugby star who began life on the streets is murdered in the arms of a beautiful celebrity, it seems to be an open-and-shut case of a drug deal gone wrong but Anna Markunas, legal researcher for the prime suspect's defence team, begins to uncover a far more sinister truth - one that could ultimately destroy her.

his is a standalone book from Val McDermid, set around events in an Oxford College - in the past, and the present.  Fascinating book.

From the Blurb:

When Charlie Flint is sent a mysterious package of press cuttings about a brutal murder, it instantly grabs her attention.  The murder occurred in the grounds of her old Oxford college - a groom battered to death just hours after his wedding.  As his bride and wedding guests sipped champagne, his alleged killers were slipping his bloodstained body into the river.

Opening Lines:

Loved the first book in this series - LENNOX - so picking up the second with a serious sense of anticipation.  Set in post WWII Glasgow this is a really fascinating glimpse into the underworld of Glasgow in the 1950's.

From the Blurb:

Glasgow in the 1950s - not somewhere you'd choose to be unless you were born to it.  Yet Lennox, a private investigator of Canadian descent, finds it oddly congenial.  Lennox is a man balanced between the law and those who break it - a dangerous place where only the toughest and most ruthless survive.

This is a very sobering short book that packs in a lot of information about murders by doctors.  Serial killers, genocide, overall an astounding series of cases, presented without sensationalism.

From the Blurb:

THE BURNING is Sue Walker's fourth book (THE REUNION, THE RECKONING and THE DEAD POOL are the first three).  I've been reading them since the first book and whilst this isn't a series as such, there's been an improvement in each of the books that I'm enjoying following.  Sort of a bit of a sneak up group of books these.

From the Blurb:

Silence by Jan Costin Wagner - Harvill Secker (2010), Paperback, 256 pages [Our New Books - LibraryThing]

I simply and absolutely loved the first book ICE MOON (to be honest I've no idea if it was a first book or simply the first translated - but love it I absolutely did!)

I realise this isn't really going to come as a surprise because my list of authors I simply cannot resist is actually, I'm starting to realise, ridiculously long.  Still Elena Forbes got me with her first book DIE WITH ME, and certainly didn't change my mind with the second OUR LADY OF PAIN, so the third book EVIL IN RETURN was a given as soon as it was available.

From the Blurb:

The Faraday and Winter series is very much a personal favourite, so picking up this book was a real pleasure.

From the Blurb:

Crushed cranial vault.  Visible extrusions of brain tissue through multiple scalp lacerations.

She tried to keep up, tried to focus on the fat grey threads of jelly that laced what remained of this man's head.  Memories, she told herself.  Intelligence.

The very stuff of what we are, of what we do.  Billions of nerve cells that should have warned him to take care when crossing the road.

Somebody recommended this author to me, and I'm really glad they did - it sounds fascinating, and is set in a place that I've not read a lot of fiction from.

From the Blurb:

One scalding afternoon the mutilated body of a young woman, half-naked beneath her burqa, is discovered on Jeddah beach; soon afterwards Miriam Walker, a strong-minded American struggling to make a life in one of the most repressive cities on earth, is left alone and afraid when her husband suddenly disappears.