This locked-room mystery by Evelyn Clarke (V.E. Schwab and Cat Clarke) is a great read. It has all the elements—a remote castle on an island, no phones, mysterious deaths, a ticking clock, a storm brewing, and a group of writers competing to complete the unfinished manuscript of a famous author. We’ve seen it all before, right?
Not like this. Any resemblance to Christie and And Then There Were None stops there. This is a very clever plot with some very witty writing. But it’s not just the...
This month I took a mini retreat for a couple of days to work on the fourth draft of my new Bayswater novel, The Roaring Seas. Just to set the scene properly I found some whispering palms, white sand, and menacing seas and skies—just the perfect fit for Andie and Mac’s new adventure on the Great Barrier Reef.
I am now working on the fifth draft and have locked in my editor for mid-April. People often ask me what I can possibly find to change in the fifth draft—and, by the way, why do I have to...
Small-town murders, a psychiatrist with something to hide… and enough red herrings to open a fish shop.
This murder mystery from Joe Clifford is set against the backdrop of high school secrets that are gradually uncovered when Todd Norman returns to Covenant after being acquitted of murdering his wife, April, and sets out to rebuild the Lakehouse.
When a body turns up near the Lakehouse, Police Chief Sobczak is convinced of Norman’s guilt. Things become complicated with the involvement of...
Who isn’t fascinated by the world of the Ancient Egyptians? As a child, I pored over photos of mummies and pyramids in the Time-Life Books, captivated by the mystery surrounding them.
Wilbur Smith’s latest historical thriller, The House of Two Pharaohs, takes us into the world of secret spells, murder, political intrigue, and the race against time to save Taita, the eunuch we first met and fell in love with in The River God, and whose fortunes we’ve followed through subsequent novels.
In this...
This novel is part of Donna Leon’s long-running Brunetti crime series, set in Venice and published in 2019. I have to admit that the setting was, for me, one of the main attractions.
In this latest investigation, Brunetti is once again drawn into using police resources to help gather information—twice. His father-in-law asks him to investigate the young man his elderly friend Gonzalo is considering adopting in order to circumvent Italian inheritance laws. Not long after, his superior,...
Has AI already taken over the world? Everywhere you turn it’s there, making its presence felt and challenging our beliefs and comfort. In the Blink of an Eye, a police procedural with a difference, is one such example.
Kat Frank, the Warwickshire DCS, returns to work after the death of her husband and is paired with AI partner Lock to solve missing persons cases as part of a trial to use AI in the police force.
There are lots of moving pieces in this novel which keep it interesting: the cold...
And don’t forget it’s nearly 14 February—Valentine’s Day—a day to make Valentine’s wishes come true. If you’re dreaming of Venice, with a touch of romance wrapped in the magic of Carnevale, A Valentine’s Wish might be the perfect escape.
After finishing Steve Cavanagh’s psychological thriller, Two Kinds of Stranger, I was left with a question: what makes this book better than the other books I’ve recently read?
It wasn’t just the premise—the way Cavanagh plays to readers’ fears about the dangers of an online presence and how the information we share can be weaponised against us.
It wasn’t just the reappearance of well-loved characters: Eddie Flynn, the conman turned lawyer who fights injustice with the occasional con; his old...
Is there anything better than opening the package and seeing your book 'in the flesh' for the first time?
There’s that moment of hesitation, the box cutter poised over the tape. Will my cover look as good as I thought it would? Should I have gone with the other cover? Will others love it as much as I do?
I needn’t have worried. Francis from 100Covers came through for me once again. I love the cover—and so do the other people I’ve shared it with so far. Only a couple of weeks now until...
In a chaotic and confused world that at times feels out of control, it’s reassuring to know that there is something consistent—a place where the bad guys lose (and are often killed), where right overcomes wrong, and Reacher is still travelling light on a Greyhound bus with his toothbrush in his pocket and his moral compass showing the way to prevent bad things from happening to good people.
In Exit Strategy, Reacher gets a message from a stranger (Gilmour) not meant for him. His decision to...
Janet Evanovich’s latest crime release, The King’s Ransom, is the second in the Recovery Agent series. The main character, Gabriela Rose, is a recovery agent who wears Louboutin slingbacks, scales fences and shoots assault rifles with the best of them. Accompanying her on her latest adventure is ex-husband Rafer, with whom she has a love-hate relationship that has her, at different times wanting to sleep with him—or shoot him.
Together they romp through a number of countries including Egypt...
This courtroom drama—the latest release in the Lincoln Lawyer series—has been worth the wait. This instalment follows Mickey Haller, who has transitioned from criminal law to civil law, and centres on an intriguing premise: Who is responsible if a teenager creates an AI companion who persuades him to kill his girlfriend—the perpetrator or the company that trained the artificial intelligence?
Haller prosecutes the case on behalf of the parents of both the victim and the killer, suing the AI...
LOGAN BOOKFEST
Had an amazing day at the Logan Bookfest, meeting and chatting with lots of readers. It was incredibly hot, so lucky I’ve had plenty of training living in North Queensland. Managed to also avoid the storms that hit Brisbane later in the day. Hope everyone else managed to get home safely.
VICTORIA POINT AUTHOR TALK EVENT
My next event is at the Victoria Point Library on Thursday 4 December at 10.00. While it’s a free event it’s necessary to...
This latest outback-noir crime novel by Jane Harper is a slow burn—right to the very end. It’s about loss—the loss of a son, a marriage, a home, a lifestyle, friends and community. As such, I think Last One Out will resonate with every reader who has suffered loss of any kind.
This is no fast-paced, clock-ticking thriller loaded with clues and red herrings to challenge the reader, but rather a quiet introspection by Ro Crowley as she returns to the small outback community of Carallon Ridge on...
This courtroom drama—the latest release in the Lincoln Lawyer series—has been worth the wait. This instalment follows Mickey Haller, who has transitioned from criminal law to civil law, and centres on an intriguing premise: Who is responsible if a teenager creates an AI companion who persuades him to kill his girlfriend—the perpetrator or the company that trained the artificial intelligence?
Haller prosecutes the case on behalf of the parents of both the victim and the killer, suing the AI...
My Three Wishes series of romance novellas and I had a great day chatting with readers at the Romance Readers Fair at the Carindale Library on Sunday. A big thank you to Carindale Library staff, to Leanne Lovegrove for organising such a great event, and to everyone who came along to say hello.
It was a fantastic day filled with author talks by Heather Reyburn (rural romance), Anna Campbell (Regency romance), and Elise Helliwell (time travel romance).
Next Saturday, I’ll be taking my novellas...
If this latest crime offering by Elizabeth George were a river it would be a long, winding outback river that has experienced a once-in-a-lifetime flood—breaking its banks and spreading slowly in all directions. In this instance, the once in a lifetime flood is the murder of Michael Lobb, owner of a tin and pewter workshop that’s become the subject of a mining company’s offer.
It’s a straightforward crime with a clear motive, yet it takes Detective Beatrice Hannaford the first half of the...
For readers of thrillers, The Last Word is a wild, tense, hold-your-breath ride from beginning to end. For writers, it’s a masterclass in the use of red herrings, misdirections, and unexpected twists and turns.
Honestly, by the time I reached the end—dizzy from the number of twists in the last few pages—I was still expecting another one to come out of nowhere and sucker punch me.
Amazing.
It has all the elements of a good thriller: Emma Carpenter, a lone woman running from a tragic past with...
Investigative journalist, Martin Scarsden, makes a return in Chris Hammer’s latest thriller, Legacy. The novel starts with a bang, sending Scarsden into hiding in the outback town of Port Paroo. There he discovers feuding families, a historical mystery, stolen paintings, reported treasure, an unsolved murder, and a missing woman alleged to have shot her fiancé.
Scarsden’s life on the run crosses paths with that of Ekatrerina Boland (Ecco), a ghostwriter commissioned to write the history of...
Trouble in Paradise is the second of the Jesse Stone novels to be adapted for television—starring Tom Selleck. Set in the fictional town of Paradise, Massachusetts, this is a fast-paced, heavy-hitting novel that follows Stone, the police chief, as he battles his drinking problem while trying to prevent a heist that threatens the wealthy residents of nearby Styles Island—all while juggling the three women in his life, including an ex-wife.
Challenging? Not for Selleck… uh, sorry, Stone. He’s a...