Book Reviews

My recent trawling through bookstores and bookfairs has uncovered an interesting array of pulpy Australian paperbacks and digests. From medical romance to westerns to war stories to faux American PI tales, my recent haul illustrates the range of Australian paperback publishing in the 1950s and 1960s Horwitz was arguably the… Read more: TRASHY TUESDAY: AUSSIE PULP PAPERBACK BOOK HAUL

Reunions are dangerous events in crime fiction, as these two new books by Bronwyn Rivers and Kate Alice Marshall clearly show. Old friends, dark secrets, a remote location and a past and present timeline, Bronwyn Rivers’ debut suspense novel, The Reunion (Constable, 11 February 2025), makes good use of some… Read more: NEW 2025 SUSPENSE FICTION: THE REUNION by BRONWYN RIVERS and A KILLING COLD by KATE ALICE MARSHALL

George Easter has just sent out the latest issue of his Deadly Pleasures Mystery Magazine (No. 106) and it is bumper issue featuring the best reads of 2024 and the most anticipated crime novels of 2025, as well as the usual reviews and interesting articles. The magazine is now up to 106… Read more: DEADLY PLEASURES MYSTERY MAGAZINE – NEW ISSUE FEBRUARY 2025!

The criminal reading year is well underway, with some very good 2025 books by Ronni Salt, Cara Hunter, Geoff Parkes and Ashley Kalagian Blunt already out and being enjoyed. March is always a big release month, and this year is no different with some outstanding crime and thriller titles coming… Read more: MARCH MAYHEM: EXCITING NEW RELEASES FOR MARCH 2025

There has been a dazzling array of good debut crime fiction coming out of New Zealand over the past couple of years. Michael Bennett, Gavin Strawhan, Gareth and Louise Ward, and Rose Carlyle, have all produced very impressive first novels and now we have Melbourne based Geoff Parkes to add… Read more: KIWI NOIR – WHEN THE DEEP DARK BUSH SWALLOWS YOU WHOLE By GEOFF PARKES

Nowadays John Gardner is probably best known for his James Bond continuation novels, Icebreaker, Licensed Renewed etc, but he also created some other outstanding series across the spectrum of crime and thriller fiction. From his original spoofy Boysie Oakes books to his three novels about Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s fictional villain,… Read more: FORGOTTEN THRILLERS: THE HERBIE KRUGER SPY NOVELS BY JOHN GARDNER

When it came to book titles and covers, Australian pulp fiction publishers of the 1950s and 60s were firm believers in the old adage that blondes have more fun, and therefore more sales. Blonde was a frequently found word in the titles of books by Carter Brown, Marc Brody and… Read more: TRASHY TUESDAY: BLONDES, MOVIE STARS AND DOLLS – MORE LARRY KENT COVERS

2025 has gotten off to strong start for Australian crime fiction with a steady stream of books, most of which have been of very good quality. I have finished reading seven 2025 titles by Australian crime writers so far, and have been impressed by the breadth of the themes and… Read more: DOWNUNDER CRIME UPDATE, FEBRUARY 2025: REVIEWS AND PREVIEWS

These two very different British crime novels both offer some dazzling twists and unexpected conclusions. Cara Hunter’s last novel, Murder In The Family, was a masterful mystery told totally through emails, text messages, newspaper reports and podcast transcripts etc. It was not the first novel to use such devices, but… Read more: BRITISH CRIME FICTION 2025: NEW BOOKS BY CARA HUNTER AND ALICE FEENEY

Looking back over the past twelve months since last Australia Day, it has been another good year for Australian crime fiction. Once again the overall quality of the books greatly impressed, especially given that some outstanding newer authors, such as Michelle Prak and Shelley Burr, did not produce books in… Read more: AUSSIE CRIME 2025: Recent Australian Crime Novels To Read This Australia Day!