Crime

A Disappearance in Fiji by Nilima Rao

Reviewed by Elke Power

Nilima Rao’s debut novel arrives with a glowing endorsement from the prolific and adored Alexander McCall Smith of No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency fame, who describes A Disappearance in Fiji as ‘an utterly charming novel’ and Rao as ‘an author…

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Broken Bay by Margaret Hickey

Reviewed by Kate McIntosh

South Australia’s Limestone Coast is covered in natural wonders, from dormant volcanoes to ancient caves, stunning lakes and, most remarkably, sinkholes. These are not your average sinkholes, either. (Google them, they really are something else.) Many of them open into…

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Small Mercies by Dennis Lehane

Reviewed by Pierre Sutcliffe

Desegregation of the Boston Public Schools is mandated by the Massachusetts State Legislature and takes effect on Thursday morning, 12 September, 1974. The buses that transport Black students to South Boston High School are accompanied by police escort into scenes…

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The Other Side of Her by BM Carroll

Reviewed by Kate McIntosh

Ryan and Mia are an ordinary, everyday, couple living in regional NSW with their son, Elliot. Mia is going back to work after years out of the workforce. Caring for her child has been a full-time job as she and…

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The Fall Between by Darcy Tindale

Reviewed by Margaret Snowdon

A policeman’s daughter, now a detective in the force herself, returns to the Hunter Valley where she was born. We discover that she wants to keep an eye on her aging father – a man who has been cruelly struck…

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Death of a Bookseller by Alice Slater

Reviewed by Lian Hingee

If you’ve picked up Death of a Bookseller hoping for a cosy crime read featuring a bespectacled protagonist with a penchant for cardigans, you will be sadly disappointed. If, however, you’ve picked up Death of a Bookseller expecting a slow-burning…

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A Death in Denmark by Amulya Malladi

Reviewed by Julia Jackson

Over the years, we’ve been introduced to some great writers, detectives, and private investigators. A Death in Denmark is the first book of Amulya Malladi’s that I’ve read, though she has already authored several titles. It features the private investigator…

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The Tea Ladies by Amanda Hampson

Reviewed by Lian Hingee

It’s 1965. The western world is gripped by anti-communism; Jean Shrimpton has scandalised society by wearing a minidress to the Melbourne Cup; and in Sydney’s Surry Hills garment district, a professional tea lady named Hazel Bates has just discovered a…

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Standing in the Shadows (DCI Banks, Book 28) by Peter Robinson

Reviewed by Julia Jackson

If you haven’t been reading Peter Robinson’s Inspector Banks series, you should have been, but I wouldn’t worry. Robinson was one of those brilliant authors whose prolific output didn’t require readers to have religiously read every book. Of course, there…

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City of Dreams by Don Winslow

Reviewed by Pierre Sutcliffe

City of Dreams is the second novel of a planned trilogy that began with City on Fire. The first book must be discussed because if you have not read it, you need to rush out now and get hold…

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