AUSSIE CRIME 2026: Recent Australian Based Crime Novels To Read This Australia Day!
Looking back over the past twelve months since last Australia Day, it has been another good year for crime fiction set in Australia.
Once again the overall quality of the books greatly impressed, especially given that some new favourite authors of mine, such as Dinuka McKenzie and Natalie Conyer, did not produce books in 2025, and the keenly awaited book from Kyle Perry still did not eventuate. I did not read every Australian crime novel released over the past twelve months or so, but I did read a fair swag, around 50, and was impressed by the breadth and variety of the books released. I was also privileged to be a judge for the Ned Kelly Awards for Best Crime Novel, which meant that I got to read some books by authors I had not tried before.
Of course, not every Australian crime book I read in 2025, and early this year, has been to my liking, but I have to say that overall the quality was very good and included some real stand-outs. Unfortunately there were also books that I did not get to for various reasons, including a couple of major releases that I had been keen to read.
The growth of rural crime or bush/outback noir has been a major trend in recent years, and it was again very evident in the books produced in 2025, with plenty of dusty outback tales or stories set in fringe rural areas. Of the twelve books listed below, four certainly fall into the category of real outback noir, while another three have a strong rural or small town, regional feel to them. In addition to these, there were also several other notable examples of outback noir, such as Chris Hammer’s Legacy, Jane Harper’s Last One Out, Fleur McDonald’s The Missing, and Michael Trant’s Blood And Gold, all of which are worthwhile checking out. The Blue Mountains also turned out to be a popular location this year with Bronwyn Rivers (The Reunion), Hayley Scrivenor (Girl Falling) and more recently The Final Chapter by January Gilchrist, among others, being set there.
Pleasingly there was also a good number of crime novels set in cities and dealing realistically with urban crime. Fiona Hardy’s Unbury The Dead and Tanya Scott’s Stillwater led the way here, but were also joined by Michelle Prak’s Barren Cape, David Whish-Wilson’s port-based O’Keefe and Gabriel Bergmoser’s High Rise, as well as several others.
As usual, there was a good mix of themes and concerns, including the rise of right-wing extremism, sovereign citizens, homelessness, sexual abuse, rural decay, climate change, institutional racism and prejudice. There were also the usual serial killers, jaded police detectives, cold cases becoming warmer, unreliable spouses and dangers in the outback. Additionally, there was a good selection of novels which successfully mixed crime and humour, to varying degrees, such as Jack Heath’s Kill Your Boss, Benjamin Stevenson’s Everyone In This Bank Is a Thief and Amanda Hampson’s The Deadly Dispute. As well, there was a large collection of domestic suspense and ‘family dramas with crime’ books. Also notable was Melaleuca by First Nations author Angie Faye Martin, which brought a welcomed rare Indigenous perspective to the Australian outback crime novel.
The local crime fiction community was again bolstered and supported by the presence of several successful Australian authors who set their novels overseas, such as Dervla McTiernan, Sulari Gentill, Candice Fox and Michael Robotham, whose The White Crow was excellent. All of whom helped to draw international attention to Australian crime writing.
Set out below in a rough order of preference are ten outstanding crime fiction books, with an Australian setting, which appeared in 2025. It is very much a personal selection of the books I enjoyed reading, and is not a definitive list of all the good locally set crime novels from 2025. A host of books by writers such as Peter Papathanasiou, James Bradley, Chris Hammer, Jane Harper, Joanna Jenkins, Shelley Burr, and many others, could have also easily found their way onto the list, and are certainly worth reading. I have also included at the end two recent books that really impressed me: Tim Ayliffe’s Dark Desert Road and Gabriel Bergmoser’s Audible production Backstory.
I have included links to my original spoiler-free reviews of the books, where I did one, for those who want to read more. And links to previous Australia Day lists are at the end of the article.
Finally, I acknowledge that Australia Day is nowadays a fraught occasion, but thought that it was still a good opportunity to celebrate and promote the quality of our local crime writers, many of whom tackle issues around diversity, displacement, culture, historical wrongs, and discrimination in their books.
My favourite Australian based crime novel of 2025, by a thin margin, was veteran Garry Disher’s Mischance Creek, (Text).
Disher never disappoints and his latest novel about struggling South Australian rural policeman Constable Paul (Hirsch) Hirschhausen was another top notch story. It was a finely crafted crime tale that excelled in its characterisations and the subtlety of its plotting. Disher takes a little while to put the various strands of his story in place, but once underway the various sub-plots moved along at a good pace, often heading in surprising directions, and including one genuine shock.
Disher was at the top of his game with Mischance Creek, with its subtle mix of social commentary, good detective work and a blood pounding final shoot-out. Excellent stuff.
Close behind Mischance Creek was Fiona Hardy’s Unbury The Dead, (Affirm Press).
Unbury The Dead was a lively, slightly different tale that had a freshness about it that has been missing from a lot of recent Australian crime fiction. The story about two best mates, Teddy and Alice, who live on the fringes of society doing jobs of questionable legality was a tour de force. The book opens with Teddy searching the suburbs for a missing teenager, with her occasional sidekick Art, while Alice’s mission is to drive one of Australia’s richest men along Victoria’s east coast to his final resting place before anybody finds out he’s dead. Both jobs are dodgy, but when the two cases collide Teddy and Alice find themselves in great danger.
Unbury The Dead was an entertaining read that had a strong Melbourne feel to it, and its exploration of the uncertain grey area between semi-legitimate business and outright criminality was first rate. Top shelf crime.
Michael Brissenden’s Dust, (Affirm), was probably his best novel to date and brought a good contemporary political perspective to the outback crime novel.
The story about the investigation into the discovery of a body in the dusty remains of a dying lake quickly drew you in and kept you reading till the final revelation. The plotting was interesting and Brissenden ably complemented it with a good cast and some sharp political commentary. His portrayal of the groups caught on the fringes of Australian society, whether by misfortune or deliberate choice, was very good and his astute social observations gave substance to what was a gripping crime novel. It also had a good taut ending that stuck in the mind.
Link to original review: https://murdermayhemandlongdogs.com/downunder-crime-update-august-2025-reviews-and-previews/
Tanya Scott’s Stillwater, (Allen & Unwin), made a refreshing change from the myriad of rural Australian debuts we have seen over recent years. Set mainly in Melbourne and its fringes, it was a moving and gripping story that dealt with the criminal underbelly of Australian society.
The story revolved around Luke Harris, who after years away from his home town of Melbourne is back with a new name and looking for a fresh start. But Luke is a man with a past from a time when life was anything but peaceful and his skills ran to the dark side. A past not easily forgotten, or forgiven. When he crosses paths with the brutal criminal he worked for as a teenager Luke is dragged reluctantly back to his old life and finds himself forced to find his estranged father and the chunk of money that he has stolen.
This was a very strong debut with well developed characters, vivid descriptions and a strong moral core. It also had good tension and more than enough action to keep you engaged.
Link to original review: https://murdermayhemandlongdogs.com/downunder-crime-update-august-2025-reviews-and-previews/
Another really strong debut, which moved from urban Perth to the harsh outback, was Alex Dook’s Gunpower Creek (Echo).
Although partially set in the Australian outback, Gunpowder Creek had a strong gritty, urban feel to it. The story centred around the efforts of desperate Perth mother Emily as she tried to fulfill the demands of a nasty pair of kidnappers before her young adult son, Zach, paid the consequences of his actions. It was a wild ride of a story. From the opening suspenseful scene to the final bloody encounters, it moved along at a hectic pace as Emily tried to make the deadline while dealing with an unexpected pursuer, unhelpful locals, the police and the contents in the boot of her car. While back in Perth Zach’s situation steadily worsened.
Well-written with quirky characters and a good sense of desperation, it reminded me of Michelle Prak’s stellar The Rush from a few years back, which also had a good race against time plot. Probably one of the most exciting books I read in 2025.
Link to original review: https://murdermayhemandlongdogs.com/deadly-outback-gunpowder-creek-by-alex-dook/
Matthew Spencer’s Broke Road, (Allen & Unwin), has recently been nominated for an Edgar Award by the American Crime Writer’s Association in the category of Best Paperback Original. It is a great honour and worthy recognition of what is a very good book.
Broke Road is set in the outwardly picturesque Hunter Valley and is an engaging police detective novel featuring well-crafted characters and convincing police procedures. The plot moves at a steady pace, with twists and developments that keep you interested, and the central characters are not weighed down by too much angst or introspection over past cases and bubbling addictions. The descriptions of the semi-rural community are also sharp and effective, and highlight the tension between the old coal mining families and the new facade of glamour brought by the trendy wineries. Thoroughly entertaining.
Original review here: https://murdermayhemandlongdogs.com/new-australian-rural-crime-broke-road-by-matthew-spencer/
Jack Heath’s Kill Your Boss, (Allen & Unwin), took the classic murder mystery scenario of an unpopular victim and a limited number of suspects and gave it a fresh Australian make-over.
Detective Sergeant Kiara Lui was on hand when the unpopular head of library services in a small rural town plummeted to his death. Despite quickly securing the scene, she was unable to determine who pushed the librarian, if anyone. Her bosses are happy to count it as an accident, but Kiara is not so sure.
Skilfully alternating between the investigation and events prior to the librarian’s death, Kill Your Boss was a fast moving tale that smoothly glided its way through frequent unexpected turns and some surprisingly dark moments. The various characters were nicely limned, and relatable, and the rising tension was well mixed with dark humour and witty dialogue.
Original review here: https://murdermayhemandlongdogs.com/downunder-crime-update-november-2025-reviews-news-and-previews/
Fans of tough, hardboiled, uncompromising crime fiction were well served by David Whish-Wilson’s O’Keefe, (Fremantle Press).
Suspenseful and evocative, Whish-Wilson’s tale about an ‘off-the-books’ undercover police operative sent in to infiltrate a massive drug operation at Fremantle port was a tense read from the opening pages, and gave an unvarnished view of the state of large scale crime in Australia. Peopled with gritty, unrepentant crooks and a central character with more than his share of demons, O’Keefe was tough crime writing at its very best.
Link to original review: https://murdermayhemandlongdogs.com/october-2025-reading-new-books-by-val-mcdermid-vaseem-khan-and-david-whish-wilson/
Michelle Prak’s Barren Cape, (Simon & Schuster), tackled the worsening housing crisis in Australia in a credible and suspenseful manner.
Deftly using a trio of female viewpoints, Barren Cape started slowly, but built to a tense and unexpected ending as a desperate decision to sneak into the abandoned coastal resort and use it as a temporary place to stay goes awry and results in death. An original and enjoyable thriller that made good use of the current housing problems, as well as pursuing other themes around poverty, mental health and misogyny.
A substantial and interesting novel.
Original review here: https://murdermayhemandlongdogs.com/downunder-crime-update-march-2025-news-reviews-and-previews/
Melaleuca (HQ) by First Nations author Angie Faye Martin brought a welcomed new perspective to the Australian outback crime novel. Set in a small Queensland country town it followed the efforts of Indigenous policewoman Renee Taylor as she investigated the murder of a woman found down by the local creek. A crime which strangely seems to be connected to the disappearance of two young aboriginal women thirty years before.
Melaleuca was an evocative and moving crime novel that dealt with major themes around racism and poverty, while also delivering the suspense and surprises expected of a crime novel. A fresh and provocative mystery, with well developed characters, that also left you with plenty to reflect on, especially on Australia Day.
Full review here: https://murdermayhemandlongdogs.com/downunder-crime-update-june-2025-news-reviews-and-previews/
Tim Ayliffe’s Dark Desert Road, (Simon & Schuster), is an early 2026 release that combines a tough and gripping storyline with some really sharp, and timely, observations on the rise of far-right, religious extremism in Australia and overseas.
I thought that Dark Desert Road sets a high bar for Australian crime writing in 2026, that few other books will be able to meet. It is a great crime thriller and a good Australia Day read.
Original review here: https://murdermayhemandlongdogs.com/new-2026-outback-australian-crime-dark-desert-road-by-tim-ayliffe/
Finally, I also recently finished Backstory by Gabriel Bergmoser.
Backstory is an impressive Audible production that uses nine narrators, including Brooke Satchwell and Michael Caton, to tell its story.
Its basic premise revolves around memory and truth:
“Five friends, one university creative writing course, one weekend away to celebrate. Nobody expected it to end in disaster.
Ten years ago, promising young writer Keith Brooks fell to his death during a weekend getaway with his university friends. The official story? A tragic accident. But when disgraced journalist Phoebe Black stumbles upon conflicting accounts from Keith’s surviving friends, she uncovers a web of lies that suggests something far more nefarious happened on that fateful night.
As she delves deeper into the past, Phoebe uncovers a group of once-close friends torn apart by jealousy, lies and ambition. With each revelation, the lines between truth and fiction blur, and the consequences of that night reach far beyond Keith’s death. Phoebe must confront her own past and the nature of truth itself as she races against time to catch a killer.
Whose version of events is accurate? And how far will these people go to hide their dark secrets?”
There is a lot that could be said about Backstory. The short hand version, however, is that: it is very good. It is quite different from Bergmoser’s earlier crime writing and really shows the depth of his talent. The story is interesting and is brought to life by the various narrators and Bergmoser’s use of different telling medium, including emails, transcripts, and realistic recorded interviews etc. In addition to the crime story there are interesting reflections on authors, crime writing in Australia and the general local writing scene. There are also some fascinating insights into the writing process. The production values are outstanding and it all comes together very well. I am not sure that it would work as well in book form. There is a bit of repetition with the retelling of the same events from different perspectives, which the different narrators help to smooth over and keep interesting, but might be dull in a book. Pace wise it is also a little slow, which is less noticeable in this format. However, as an audiobook experience it is first rate and it kept me keenly listening to the end.
So plenty of enjoyable Australian reading. What was your favourite Australian crime novel of the past year?
The good news is that there is still a lot of impressive Australian crime writing to come in 2026, which is shaping up to be another big year with a virtual flood of new books by some of our best writers, including Michael Robotham, Dervla McTiernan, Ashley Kalagian Blunt, Natalie Conyer and Fiona Hardy to name a few.
Here is a link to my column from Australia Day 2025: https://murdermayhemandlongdogs.com/aussie-crime-2025-recent-australian-crime-novels-to-read-this-australia-day/