Crime readers are notoriously prolific, always up-to-date on the latest Jack Reacher thriller or Harry Bosch investigation, waiting for the next fix, desperate to discover a new series to follow. Here some gems they may not have discovered.
CRIMSON LAKE by CANDICE FOX | $33
Crimson Lake boasts Fox’s signature style, edge and humour, and introduces former Sydney-based police detective Ted Conkaffey, who has fled to the steamy, croc-infested wetlands of Crimson Lake, where he partners with an accused and convicted murderer now operating as a private detective to investigate the disappearance of a local author.
WIMMERA BY MARK BRANDI | $30
Wimmera tracks the friendship of two boys from a defining moment in their childhood, when a mysterious newcomer arrives in the small Australian country town of Wimmera, through to the discovery of a body in the river twenty years later. Mark Brandi’s debut is a simply extraordinary literary crime novel, delivered with intelligence, power and heart.
BLUEBIRD, BLUEBIRD BY ATTICKA LOCKE | $30
Tense, powerful and considerably less crass than its contemporaries, Bluebird, Bluebird is a deftly plotted whodunit that examines contemporary black life in rural America. It begins with a double homicide in the small town of Lark, off Highway 59: the first victim, a black man from Chicago; the second, a local white woman.
SINCE WE FELL BY DENNIS LEHANE | $30
Rachel Childs, a former television journalist, lives as a virtual shut-in with a husband who seems too good to be true after the mental breakdown she experienced on-air as a result of coverage of the massive earthquake that shattered Haiti in 2010. But after a chance encounter one afternoon, everything changes, and Rachel realises she’s been involved in a massive conspiracy; a deception unlike anything she could’ve possibly imagined. Lehane’s latest is a propulsive physiological thriller that will satisfy fans of Gone Girl and The Girl on the Train, Since We Fell.
FORCE OF NATURE BY JANE HARPER | $33
In this superb follow-up to The Dry, five women head off into the bush on a corporate retreat, and only four come out the other side. The well-being of the missing bush walker, Alice Russell, is of particular interest to Federal Police agents Aaron Falk and Carmen Cooper: she’s the whistle-blower in their latest case. They head to the Giralang Ranges, determined to disentangle the mess of deceit, deception and suspicion formed between the remaining four women during their ill-fated hike. Force of Nature is further proof: Jane Harper knows all there is to know about detonating the gut-level shocks of a great thriller.
THE WORD IS MURDER BY ANTHONY HOROWITZ | $33
In The Word is Murder, a wealthy (and healthy!) woman calmly walks into an undertakers to arrange her own funeral. Hours later, she is strangled to death. With its unorthodox protagonist, clever plotting, brilliantly imperfect characters, and escalating sense of urgency and intrigue, this is an instant crime classic that will keep you reading as fast as you can.
THE MITFORD MURDERS BY JESSICA FELLOWES | $30
Fellowes uses the real-life murder of Florence Nightingale Shore as the foundation for her first mystery novel in this new series based on the life of the legendary literary Mitford sisters. This Golden Age mystery is rich in period detail and nostalgia, and a delight for readers of 'cosy crime.'
KILL THE FATHER by SANDRONE DAZIERI | $30
This first book in a series centres around a police detective working with a former child abductee, now eccentric consultant, to find a missing boy. Part psychological thriller, part police investigation, eminently readable.
AND FIRE CAME DOWN BY EMMA VISKIC | $30
Haunted by nightmares from the events of Resurrection Bay, his personal life a mess just as much as his professional one, Caleb Zelic is pulled back into the darkness when a young woman is killed in front of his eyes moments after pleading for his help in sign language. Determined to uncover her identity and discern the reason for her death, Caleb quickly discovers the trail leads straight back to his hometown. Viskic created a brilliant protagonist with the profoundly-deaf and irrepressibly obstinate Zelic.