Karen

https://www.austcrimefiction.org/review/beacon-pa-thomas

There's potential here for the start of a very interesting new series - Jack Harris has all the makings of a very good investigative reporter, and Caitlin O'Shaughnessy would be a very able partner in pursuit.

When it comes to these books taxes and death are not the only inevitability's in life. There's also sheer and utter chaos and a lot of stuff going on.

https://www.austcrimefiction.org/review/day-never-comes-caimh-mcdonnell

... there have been quite a few crime fiction books recently that delve into the world of cults, the people that get caught in them, and those trying to get them out. DEEP IN THE FOREST is a slightly different twist on that.

https://www.austcrimefiction.org/review/deep-forest-erina-reddan

My Review of Home Before Night by J.P. Pomare has just been posted at:

https://www.austcrimefiction.org/review/home-night-jp-pomare

Above all else, Pomare knows how to write tension, misdirection, pace and threat.

Helen FitzGerald is one of those authors who really knows how to write engaging and very offputting central characters that you care about, despite their obvious failings, flaws, and downright stupidity from time to time.

https://www.austcrimefiction.org/review/halfway-house-helen-fitzgerald

Hugely engrossing, frequently funny, fast paced and extremely engaging, TOO FAR FROM ANTIBES was most definitely a standout read in 2023.


https://www.austcrimefiction.org/review/too-far-antibes-bede-scott

An interesting combination of a psychological thriller, with a couple of flawed, but engaging and very sympathetic central female characters, TO THE RIVER ticks many required boxes but does so in a unique form.

https://www.austcrimefiction.org/review/river-vikki-wakefield

Review just posted - Mila and the Bone Man, Lauren Roche.

https://www.austcrimefiction.org/review/mila-and-bone-man-lauren-roche

A very different sort of crime / coming of age novel exploring consequences and difference.

There's a quote on the blurb for this book which goes:

“Guy Ritchie meets Elmore Leonard – this is a fast-paced humorous crime thriller with splashes of dark and sinister”

Which is where I could leave this review because it sums it up perfectly.

But there's more at: https://www.austcrimefiction.org/review/better-class-criminal-cristian-kelly

RINGS ON WATER is the second novel in NZ author Madeleine Eskedahl's Matakana Series, set in and around the idyllic rural winemaking and tourist destination near Auckland. The series features local cop, Sergeant Bill Granger, and his Swedish wife Annika, their family, and their lifestyle in what should be a quiet, relaxed sort of a place. Except in Eskedahl's series where the location and life is cozy and laid back and the crimes are violent and confronting.

https://www.austcrimefiction.org/review/rings-water-madeleine-eskedahl

Book number five in the Fiji Island Mystery series featuring local rugby hero, now policeman Inspector Joe Horseman and his team, this time investigating the death of a fit young reality TV star who dies most unexpectedly on a small island off the coast of Fiji, in the middle of filming a wildly popular show which features, for the first time, a Fijian contestant.

Full Review at: https://www.austcrimefiction.org/review/death-camera-bm-allsopp

Read for our f2f bookclub, it certainly elicited an interesting, lively and at times quite loud discussion. Most of which I couldn't contribute much to because I just didn't get this book. At All.

https://www.austcrimefiction.org/review/review-demon-copperhead-barbara-kingsolver

If you're new to this series, read them all, you won't regret it. If you're champing at the bit for this latest instalment, it's due out today (30th January, 2024). As with all of them so far, this means the wait for the next outing has commenced.

https://www.austcrimefiction.org/review/good-dog-simon-rowell

https://newtownreviewofbooks.com.au/aw-hammond-the-berlin-traitor-reviewed-by-karen-chisholm/

It's often tricky to pull off [a] close in, self-involved voice, yet THE CONCIERGE does it with just enough doubt to make it very engaging, and dare I say, most unusual crime fiction undertaking.

https://www.austcrimefiction.org/review/concierge-abby-corson

https://www.austcrimefiction.org/review/slow-roll-simon-lendrum

https://www.austcrimefiction.org/review/slow-horses-mick-herron

https://www.austcrimefiction.org/book/her-blood-0

https://www.austcrimefiction.org/review/and-away-bob-mortimer

Latest review on AustCrime - Kill Your Husbands, Jack Heath:

https://www.austcrimefiction.org/review/kill-your-husbands-jack-heath

... come for the entertainment, stay for the cleverness of the concept and execution.

https://www.austcrimefiction.org/review/sao-paulo-noir-edited-tony-bellotto

https://www.austcrimefiction.org/review/marlow-murder-club-death-comes-marlow-robert-thorogood

https://www.austcrimefiction.org/review/marlow-murder-club-death-comes-marlow-robert-thorogood

https://www.austcrimefiction.org/review/outback-patricia-wolf

https://www.austcrimefiction.org/review/man-who-died-twice-bullet-missed-richard-osman