Book Reviews

I recently read and enjoyed Andrew Garve’s crime novel Frame-Up, which inspired me to re-read his spy novel The Ascent Of D.13 (1969), the details of which had largely escaped my memory. I borrowed a copy of The Ascent Of D.13 off a friend, before finding a copy for myself… Read more: FORGOTTEN THRILLERS: ASCENT OF D.13 by ANDREW GARVE

Before the domination of the Australian paperback market by Horwitz, there were a range of smaller publishers that produced a regular supply of mysteries. One of these were Invincible Press which produced around 100 stapled digests with hard cardboard covers in their Invincible Mystery series between about 1944 to 1952… Read more: TRASHY TUESDAY: AUSTRALIAN PRE-PAPERBACK CRIME – INVINCIBLE PRESS MYSTERY BOOKS

This week in the Canberra Weekly I reviewed three enjoyable crime novels to get your 2026 criminal reading off to a good start. First up is a very good outback Australian noir thriller. Tim Ayliffe’s Dark Desert Road, (Echo), sets an early high standard for Australian crime fiction in 2026.… Read more: CANBERRA WEEKLY 15 JANUARY 2026: NEW CRIME BY GEOFF PARKES, TIM AYLIFFE and M. K. OLIVER

Each year George Easter from Deadly Pleasures Mystery Magazine does a mammoth job in collating the various best mystery, crime fiction and thriller lists from around the world and seeing what they tell us about the year’s best books. In 2025 he found 86 ‘best lists’. There is a strong American flavour… Read more: THE BEST OF THE BEST 2025 CRIME NOVELS

British crime fiction gets off to a strong start in 2026 with three very different, but engaging, crime novels by Nicci French, M. K. Oliver and Paul Finch. I have to admit to being pleasantly surprised and highly entertained by M. K. Oliver’s A Sociopath’s Guide To A Successful Marriage, (Hemlock… Read more: SOCIOPATHS, SERIAL KILLERS AND DEADLY REUNIONS: NEW 2026 BRITISH CRIME by NICCI FRENCH, M. K. OLIVER and PAUL FINCH

2026 has already gotten off to a good start with two enjoyable, early Downunder crime novels by Tim Ayliffe (Dark Desert Road) and Geoff Parkes (The First Law Of The Bush), and Eva Macrae’s gritty slice of Tartan Noir A Death In Glasgow (8 January 2026). I have also already enjoyed… Read more: CRIME NOVELS THAT I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO READING IN 2026

Australian crime fiction gets off to a strong start in 2026 with Tim Ayliffe’s outstanding Dark Desert Road, (Echo, 6 January 2026). Moving away from his series about journalist John Bailey, Ayliffe takes a different approach with Dark Desert Road, which introduces a new central character in the form of burnt-out police… Read more: NEW 2026 OUTBACK AUSTRALIAN CRIME: DARK DESERT ROAD by TIM AYLIFFE

With Christmas and New Year on the very near horizon, 2025 is virtually wrapped up, and my reading over the holiday period will be largely focused on the new releases for 2026 that I have received, an old classic and a couple of books I meant to get to earlier.… Read more: BOOKS AND DACHSHUNDS: HOLIDAY READING DECEMBER 2025

2025 is rapidly coming to a close and the books are beginning to pile up for 2026! I will be doing a post on my most anticipated titles for 2026 in the New Year, but here are six of the 2026 Australian and New Zealand crime releases that I have… Read more: BOOK HAUL – NEW 2026 AUSTRALIAN/NEW ZEALAND CRIME NOVELS

Paul Winterton wrote over forty thrillers and crime novels, mainly under the pseudonym of Andrew Garve, from the early 1950s through to the late 1970s. I can vaguely remember reading a long time ago some of his interesting international thrillers, such as A Hero For Leanda and The Ascent Of… Read more: FORGOTTEN CRIME: FRAME-UP by ANDREW GARVE (1964)