Book Reviews

Writing crime fiction is obviously more dangerous than it looks, based on the number of recent books about authors being caught up in murder and mayhem. Pleasant looking writing retreats seem to be particularly dangerous, with normally idyllic locations around the world being turned into scenes of carnage. From a… Read more: DEADLY AUTHORS AND MURDEROUS RETREATS: NEW 2026 CRIME FROM EVELYN CLARKE, ANTHONY HOROWITZ & VICTORIA BROWNLEE

We have already seen some very good UK crime releases so far this year and there are plenty more in the publishing pipeline, including new forthcoming books by Mike Ripley (Played To Death), Jane Casey (Everything She Didn’t Say) and Chris Brookmyre (Quite Ugly One Evening). My recent UK reading… Read more: UK CRIME 2026 WRAP-UP: NEW BOOKS by TOM BRADBY and E. A. JACKSON

Highly acclaimed Australian author Sarah Bailey is in good form with with her latest novel, Click (Allen & Unwin, 31 March 2026). Set on the eve of the COVID pandemic in Australia in early 2020, Click brings back journalist Oli Groves, and other characters, from my favourite Bailey book, The… Read more: CLICK by SARAH BAILEY

Plantation/slaver pulp was a popular, but unpleasant, sub-genre championed by many publishers in the 1970s. In the United Kingdom, New English Library (NEL) was a particularly enthusiastic promoter of plantation novels, or ‘slavesploitation’ as it is sometimes called, and between 1968 and 1981 published around 50 slaver novels. Many of… Read more: TRASHY TUESDAY: PLANTATION PULP BY ROBERT TRALINS

Sam Elliott’s debut crime novel, Haze (Macmillan, 24 February 2026), ticks all the familiar thematic boxes for outback noir. There are bushfires, a damaged police detective who has returned to her hometown under a cloud, edgy local residents, old secrets and a horrific new crime. There is also sinister off-the-grid… Read more: AUSSIE OUTBACK NOIR: HAZE by SAM ELLIOTT

Ava Glass made a strong debut back in 2022 with her spy novel Alias Emma about newly minted MI5 agent Emma Makepeace. Now, writing under the name of A. C. Glass, she is moving more into the romantic suspense field with The Hiding Season, (Penguin, 26 March 2026). The premise of The… Read more: SHORT REVIEW: THE HIDING SEASON by A. C. GLASS

This week in the Canberra Weekly I reviewed three new novels of suspense from Australian authors Fiona Hardy, Fiona Lowe and J. P. Pomare. Children’s author turned crime writer Fiona Hardy, made an impressive entry into the genre last year with Unbury The Dead, which featured two great central characters… Read more: CANBERRA WEEKLY 12 MARCH 2026: NEW AUSTRALIAN CRIME FICTION FROM FIONA HARDY, FIONA LOWE AND J. P. POMARE

Over two months into the new year and the new crime and thriller releases are beginning to flow through at an overwhelming rate. It is hard to keep up with them all, but it does mean that there is a good selection from across the crime fiction spectrum for readers… Read more: APRIL ACTION: NEW CRIME AND THRILLER TITLES THAT I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO READING IN APRIL 2026

This week in the Canberra Weekly I reviewed three enjoyable crime novels that tackle the serial killer thriller from very different perspectives! First up is Inside Man, (Harper Collins, 28 January 2026), by John McMahon. Inside Man is the second book in John’s Head Cases series and is a really enjoyable read… Read more: CANBERRA WEEKLY 26 FEBRUARY 2026: NEW CRIME FROM FERGUS CRAIG, JOHN McMAHON and KATE ALICE MARSHALL

Australian crime fiction has certainly started with a bang this year, with some strong new releases over the first two months, and plenty more scheduled for March and April 2026. Leading off the March books are enjoyable new crime novels by Natalie Conyer and J. P. Pomare, while Fiona Lowe… Read more: AUSTRALIAN CRIME FICTION MARCH 2026: NATALIE CONYER, J. P. POMARE & FIONA LOWE