DOWNUNDER CRIME ROUND-UP DECEMBER 2024: IAIN RYAN, RILEY JAMES, NATALIE CONYER AND FIN J. ROSS

2024 is quickly coming to an end, but there is still a trickle of new Australian crime releases to enjoy before Christmas.

Iain Ryan’s 2023 book The Strip, was a tough, gritty crime novel set on the 1980s Gold Coast that raised the bar for urban noir in Australia.

Now he has followed it up with the equally good The Dream, (Ultimo Press, 3 December 2024).

Set slightly after the events in The Strip, The Dream features some of the same characters and a new bunch of corrupt cops, sleazy businessmen and outright crooks.

Structurally is it similar in its approach to The Strip, with Ryan focusing on three far from perfect characters whose lives become entwined in a web of corruption, greed and possible redemption.

Detective Bruno Karras, haunted by past secrets, receives mysterious photos of a bloodstained house that lead him into a dangerous investigation. Meanwhile Amy Owens, a reluctant investigator entangled with the underworld, does some dirty jobs for the female owner of a string of brothels and finds herself digging into the very dark dealings of a wealthy businessman. While Mike Nichols, a backroom player and ministerial adviser with big dreams, finds himself caught in the crossfire.

As the glittering façade of the Gold Coast begins to crumble during the lead up to the 1982 Commonwealth Games, Bruno, Amy and Mike uncover a sinister plot that threatens to consume them all. In a world where power and deception reign supreme, they must confront their own demons while navigating a labyrinth of danger and betrayal.

This is another fast moving tale by Ryan that readily evokes the best police novels of James Elroy. The plot unfolds with clockwork precision, and there are plenty of shocks along the way to the bloody climax. The milieu of early 1980s Queensland is convincingly evoked, especially the flood of corruption and unregulated policing that was overwhelming the state in those years. At times it seems exaggerated, until you remember the findings of the Fitzgerald Inquiry.

Ryan steadily evolves and develops his characters, without ever whitewashing them, and the book smoothly moves to a memorable and bloody climax.

Aussie noir does not get much better than this. Highly recommended.

The Dream is released in Australia on 3 December 2024. Release dates for overseas is not yet clear.

We have already had one very good novel from Sydney writer Natalie Conyer so far this year, Shadow City, and now we have an entertaining collection of short stories to accompany it.

The Book Club & Other Stories, (Clan Destine Press, 1 November 2024), features seventeen stories that Natalie wrote over the years for the Sisters In Crime annual Scarlett Stiletto short story competition. Some of them featured in the competition’s awards, but all are quite enjoyable.

The stories transverse a variety of styles and locations, from Victorian London to present day Sydney to rural England to a near future world of AI robots. Apart from the opening eponymous story, I thought that they were all quite good. Natalie has a nice easy flowing style, and mixed within the clues and twists are vivid descriptions and some astute reflections. There are also good flashes of humour and the sort of surprising final twists that you expect from a mystery. Natalie also has a pleasing turn of phase, at one point describing a blandly designed upmarket Sydney home as being “strictly pre-minimalism Mosman.”

My favourites were the witty New Start, which is comprised solely of emails, a clever Victorian seance story and the poignant Australia Day. In all, a very good collection that would make for a great Christmas present for the mystery reader in your family.

The Book Club & Other Stories was released in Australia and the United Kingdom on 1 November 2024.

Fin J. Ross’s collection of short stories, Tuesday Jocks And Other Stories (Clan Destine Press,
1 November 2024), has the same pedigree as Natalie Conyer’s book, comprising Fin’s entries in the Scarlett Stiletto short story competition.

As with Natalie’s collection, Fin’s stories range widely from a Victorian London assassination plot, to a post-apocalyptic mystery in Antarctica, to murder and treason on a distant planet. Most are set, however, on readily recognised Australian streets and towns. Some missed the mark for me, but the majority were very good.

I particularly liked the first story about a female police detective identifying a killer based on the victim’s missing underwear, the charming Sherlock Holmes pastiche Murgatroyd To The Rescue, and Fin’s pointed tale about violence against women, Gone Fishing. Also quite good is the tale about a linguistic expert solving the murder of her mentor.

Good fun!

Tuesday Jocks And Other Stories was released in Australia and the United Kingdom on 1 November 2024.

I finally got around to reading Riley James’ The Chilling, which came out in Australia in September 2024.

Set in Antarctica, The Chilling is a vividly realised thriller that makes very good use of the exoticness and drama of its setting.

Keen to flee the wreckage of her marriage, Australian scientist Kit Bitterfeld accepts a coveted winter research position at Macpherson Station in Antarctica. On the way there, Kit and her fellow researchers field a distress call from a nearby ship, the Snow Petrel. By the time they reach the vessel it is on fire and the crew has vanished. A lone survivor is found unconscious, nearly frozen, and suffering from amnesia.

They bring the survivor, identified as geophysicist Nick Coltheart, with them to Macpherson. He gradually begins to recover, but Kit is not convinced that his amnesia is real and suspects that he is hiding something. As Kit’s suspicions about Coltheart grow, and the winter darkness begins to settle in, other strange happenings make her more certain that something very wrong and dangerous is happening at the base. Meanwhile the other survivors of the Snow Petrel make their way wearily towards them.

Ice thrillers seem to be on the rise at the moment, and The Chilling provides a fresh take on the genre. The setting is chillingly conveyed, and James is very good at evoking the isolation and hardship of the Macpherson Station, as well as the beauty of the Antarctic. Kit’s mounting desperation is also convincingly portrayed and the secondary storyline about the other survivors of the Snow Petrel adds some extra suspense.

Some aspects of the plot did not quite ring true to me, and it was too easy to guess what was happening at the base. The romantic sub-plot also seemed a little forced. At the same time, the story certainly held my attention and the ending was gripping and surprising. Overall, a very good debut that marks Riley James as an author to look out for.

The Chilling was released in Australia on 3 September 2024. Release dates for overseas is not yet clear.