CANBERRA WEEKLY 7 MAY 2026: NEW AUSTRALIAN CRIME FICTION by DERVLA McTIERNAN, NATALIE CONYER & SARAH BAILEY
This week in the Canberra Weekly I reviewed a trio of very good suspense thrillers by three of Australia’s best female crime writers, just in time for a late Mother’s day gift.
First up is Sarah Bailey’s evocative pre-COVID crime thriller, Click (Allen & Unwin).
In the Canberra Weekly I said:
“Acclaimed Australian author Sarah Bailey is in good form with her latest novel, Click. Set on the eve of the COVID pandemic in early 2020, Click brings back journalist Oli Groves from Sarah’s best book, The Housemate. Still reeling from some terrible personal news, Oli finds herself caught up in the media storm around the disappearance of several young women in Melbourne. While Oli tries to get the inside running on the news story, fledging police detective Penelope Kibbs is determined to stop more women from being killed.
An enjoyable, substantial crime novel with good characters and a strong sense of place.”
Click was an engaging read that entertained while tackling a lot of substantial issues. I did a longer review a few weeks ago: https://murdermayhemandlongdogs.com/click-by-sarah-bailey/
Natalie Conyer built on the considerable promise of her first two novels, with another engrossing tale in Finding The Bones, (Echo). Set in Sydney it followed Homicide Detective Jackie Rose, who we previously met in Shadow City, as she investigates a high profile case that threatened her family’s reputation.
In the Canberra Weekly I said:
“Mixing old and new crimes, Natalie Conyer’s Finding The Bones is a briskly paced police novel that entertains while bringing alive Sydney’s recent dark history.
Homicide Detective Jackie Rose is the daughter of legendary police detective Stanton Rose, who came to fame for cleaning up Kings Cross. Back when he was a young undercover police officer in the 1980s, he tangled with some of the Cross’s worst gangsters and had an affair with the controversial anti-developer Belle Fitzgerald. Now, forty years after Belle disappeared, her bones have been found and it is up to Jackie to find out who killed her, regardless of the consequences. Superior crime fiction.”
Finding The Bones was an outstanding novel that strongly cemented Natalie’s reputation as one of our best writers of police detective fiction.
I did a longer review here: https://murdermayhemandlongdogs.com/australian-crime-fiction-march-2026-natalie-conyer-j-p-pomare-fiona-lowe/
Dervla McTiernan’s Three Reasons For Revenge, (Harper Collins), was also an outstanding piece of suspense writing and probably her most exciting novel to date.
In the Canberra Weekly I said:
“Dervla McTiernan’s first Australian-based suspense thriller is a terrific read.
Melbourne detective Judith Lee has her own reasons for being drawn into a sexual assault complaint against a prominent psychologist. However, when she tries to follow it up, she finds that the complainant has disappeared. At the same time identical looking packages are delivered to three very different households and inside each are life shattering gifts. Then the first murder occurs. Desperately Judith tries to find the link between the alleged assault and the packages. With consummate skill, Dervla keeps the reader guessing all the way to the breathless climax. A great Mother’s Day gift.”
I was really impressed with Three Reasons For Revenge. It kept me keenly turning the pages till the end and showed a real mastery of the mechanics of good, twisty suspense writing.
I did a longer review a couple of weeks ago: https://murdermayhemandlongdogs.com/australian-crime-round-up-may-2026-new-books-by-dervla-mctiernan-dave-warner-rebecca-lim-and-holly-craig/
So three good suspense novels that showcase the breadth and depth of Australian crime writing. All of them are enjoyable reads and would make for good presents.