Book Reviews

Christmas is just around the corner and the big crime and thriller blockbusters are hitting the stores over the next week or two. I have done some short reviews of the four main ones. Leading out the major releases is the high profile collaboration between Harlan Coben and Reese Witherspoon, Gone… Read more: BLOCKBUSTERS FOR CHRISTMAS: NEW BOOKS BY LEE & ANDREW CHILD, HARLAN COBEN & REESE WITHERSPOON, PETER JAMES and MATTHEW REILLY

Michael Connelly’s latest ‘Lincoln Lawyer’ novel, The Proving Ground (Allen & Unwin, 21 October 2025), moves more into John Grisham territory with its David versus Corporate Goliath theme. Seeking a positive change, Mickey Haller has moved away from criminal cases into public litigation, and has filed a civil lawsuit against… Read more: COURTROOM THRILLER 2025: THE PROVING GROUND by MICHAEL CONNELLY

Three very different crime novels for your late October reading: a good cold case mystery, an interesting James Bond spin-off and a tough, gritty noir thriller by one of Australia’s best crime writers. Val McDermid’s popular cold case detective DCI Karen Pirie, makes a welcomed return in Silent Bones, (Little,… Read more: OCTOBER 2025 READING: NEW BOOKS BY VAL McDERMID, VASEEM KHAN and DAVID WHISH-WILSON

Over the past couple of weeks I have been catching up on some 2025 spy novels that I really should have read earlier! The latest ‘Slow Horses’ novel from spy maestro Mick Herron, Clown Town (9 September 2025), was probably the book I was most looking forward to reading this… Read more: NEW 2025 SPY FICTION (2): By MICK HERRON, JACK BEAUMONT and PAUL VIDICH

My recent trawling through bookstores and bookfairs has uncovered an interesting array of pulpy 1950s and 60s paperbacks from Australian publisher Horwitz. From war stories to faux American PI tales to Australian humour and James Bond spying clones, they reflects the some of the main revenue streams for the premier… Read more: TRASHY TUESDAY: AUSSIE PULP PAPERBACK BOOK HAUL – HORWITZ

With just over two months to Christmas, the annual flood of new thriller and crime books is picking up momentum, with some great titles scheduled for release in the next few weeks. I have looked over the forthcoming releases, and picked out ten of the most promising ones from across… Read more: FORECAST FRIDAY: THE BEST NEW RELEASES OCTOBER – DECEMBER 2025

This week in the Canberra Weekly I reviewed three very good outback Australia crime novels by Garry Disher, Michael Brissenden and Alex Dook. First up is Mischance Creek, (Text, 30 September 2025), by the master of outback crime, Garry Disher. This is the fifth novel in Disher’s highly acclaimed series about struggling South… Read more: CANBERRA WEEKLY 2 OCTOBER 2025: NEW OUTBACK CRIME BY GARRY DISHER, ALEX DOOK and MICHAEL BRISSENDEN

October brings new books by two of the doyens of Australian outback crime. Few, if any, do outback noir consistently as well as Garry Disher. The first book in his series about struggling South Australian rural policeman Constable Paul (Hirsch) Hirschhausen, Bitter Wash Road (2013), set the standard for top… Read more: OUTBACK NOIR 2025: MISCHANCE CREEK BY GARRY DISHER and LAST ONE OUT BY JANE HARPER

I was saddened to hear of the passing of Thomas Perry on 15 September 2025. He was one of my favourite American crime writers, and I had been following his books from his debut in 1982, The Butcher’s Boy, through to his latest novel, Pro Bono. I have greatly enjoyed… Read more: THE RECENT PASSING OF THOMAS PERRY: LOOKING BACK AT THE BUTCHER’S BOY AND FORWARD TO THE TREE OF LIGHT AND FLOWERS (2026)

It is nice to come back from 7 weeks of holidays to find a large pile of review books waiting for you! Although over 50 review books is probably a bit too much! Especially as I also have a growing pile of advanced Kindle titles and PDFs to read! Fortunately… Read more: 2025 HOLIDAY BOOK HAUL!