2024 has been a stellar year for crime fiction, with fresh releases from chart-topping authors like Richard Osman and Michael Robotham, as well as sensational debuts from new authors. While it's hard to narrow down such an expansive genre, here are some of our 2024 crime fiction highlights, covering everything from cosy mysteries to outback noir!

🦘 Crime in the Australian landscape

The Ledge by Christian White

When human remains are discovered in the forests of regional Victoria, the police…

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Discover the new crime books our booksellers are excited about this month!

Leave the Girls Behind by Jacqueline Bublitz

Reviewed by Aurelia Orr from Readings Kids

The author of the award-winning debut Before You Knew My Name, Jacqueline Bublitz’s newest novel challenges the glamourisation, by the media and in pop culture, of male serial killers and redirects our attention to the lives of the girls and women taken by travesty.

Ruth is haunted by the disappearance and murder of…

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Discover the new crime books our booksellers are excited about this month!

The Ledge by Christian White

When human remains are discovered in the forests of regional Victoria, the police are baffled, the locals are shocked, and one group of old friends starts to panic. Their long-held secret is about to be uncovered.

It all began in 1999 when sixteen-year-old Aaron ran away from home, dragging his friends into an unforeseeable chain of events that no one escaped from unscathed…

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Monumenta by Lara Haworth

Olga Pavic’s house has been requisitioned. Her home will become a monument to a massacre. But Olga cannot ascertain which massacre. Three different architects visit, each with a proposal to construct a different monument, to memorialise a different horror. Olga can’t allow them to unearth the secrets held in this space, not until she reunites with her children for a final dinner. Her aspirational, distant daughter, Hilde, and her secretly queer son, Danilo, both reluctantly agree…

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The Australian Crime Writers Association (ACWA) has announced the winners of the 2024 Ned Kelly Awards. Here are the recipients for each category:

🏆 BEST CRIME FICTION

Darling Girls by Sally Hepworth

It's not just secrets buried at Wild Meadows. For as long as they can remember, Jessica, Norah and Alicia have been told how lucky they are. Rescued from family tragedies and raised by a loving foster mother on an idyllic farming estate, they were given an elusive second…

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Discover the crime books that have been read and reviewed by our excellent booksellers this month – all in one place!

The Death of Dora Black: A Petticoat Police Mystery by Lainie Anderson

Reviewed by Kate McIntosh, manager of Readings Emporium

In 1915, Australia’s first female police officers were appointed. In Adelaide, Kate Cocks became the first policewoman in the entire British empire to be paid the same as her male counterparts. Before this, women had worked for the…

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Proving just how strong the Australian literary scene is at the moment, we have a wonderful selection of ten debut fiction and crime fiction books this month to add to your 'to be read' pile. There are also a couple of excellent international fiction titles to throw into the mix!

🦘 Australian fiction

Translations by Jumaana Abdu

Amid a series of personal disasters, Aliyah and her daughter, Sakina, retreat to rural New South Wales to make a new life. Aliyah…

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Sisters in Crime Australia has announced the winners of the 2024 Davitt Awards for best crime books by Australian women.

The winning titles in each category in order of how they were presented, from last to first, are:

🔍 Best Adult Crime Novel

When One of Us Hurts by Monica Vuu

Port Brighton hates outsiders. It has its own ways of dealing with the evil, the foolish, the misled, and it holds tightly to them. But the seams start to…

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It's hard to believe we're already in August and publishers have finalised (mostly!) their lists for Summer 2024. It's difficult To eclipse what has already been a very strong year, but we think you'll agree from the preview below that there's much to look forward to in the coming months! Many of our favourite authors are releasing books and we hope to see you as they begin to grace our shelves and online collections.

📚 AUSTRALIAN FICTION

Juice by Tim…

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The shortlists for the 2024 Ned Kelly Awards have been announced, recognising the best Australian crime fiction and true crime writing from the past year.

Each year, the Australian Crime Writers Association recognises and celebrates the achievements and continuing strength of Australian authors. The Ned Kelly Awards for crime writing are among Australia’s oldest and most respected awards.

The judging panel commented that 2024 was the year of cosy crime, a sub-genre that has surged in popularity around the…

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