REVIEW Dragon's Back, A.C. Edwards Reviewed By Karen Chisholm Friday, May 3, 2024 Set in Hong Kong, DRAGON'S BACK is the first novel in the series introducing PI Galahad Jones. The series currently includes the second novel, DRAGON'S CLAW, and third, DRAGON'S EYE. Galahad Jones is a personally conflicted sort of a man, his business is struggling, he's got a gambling debt that would choke a horse, a big problem with people who want their money or else, and a nice line in female sidekicks, from his unimpressed office administrator to his apprentice Joey Loh - a woman who takes "sideki ..read more

REVIEW One Of Us Is Missing, B.M. Carroll Reviewed By Karen Chisholm Tuesday, April 30, 2024 In BM Carroll’s latest crime novel, one family’s celebration turns to disaster as a teenager disappears amid a crowd of concert-goers.  Full Review at Newtown Review of Books Book Source Declaration I received a copy of this book from the publisher or author. BOOK DETAILS BOOK INFORMATION Author B.M. Carroll ISBN 9781923022126 Year of Publication 2024 BLURB There's no such thing as safety in numbers ... Rachel and Rory Sullivan decide to celebrate making it through ..read more

REVIEW It Takes a Town ... to solve a Murder, Aoife Clifford Reviewed By Karen Chisholm Thursday, April 18, 2024 In Aoife Clifford’s third novel, the death of a local celebrity brings two old schoolmates together to answer some troubling questions.  Full Review at: Newtown Review of Books Book Source Declaration I received a copy of this book from the publisher or author. BOOK DETAILS BOOK INFORMATION Author Aoife Clifford ISBN 9781761152733 Year of Publication 2024 BLURB So many people had reason to hate her, but did anyone have reason to kill her? Everyon ..read more

REVIEW Sanctuary, Garry Disher Reviewed By Karen Chisholm Thursday, April 11, 2024 A new crime novel by Garry Disher is always exciting. In Sanctuary, he introduces a new protagonist: a female lone wolf. Full Review at Newtown Review of Books Book Source Declaration I received a copy of this book from the publisher or author. BOOK DETAILS BOOK INFORMATION Author Garry Disher ISBN 9781922790620 Year of Publication 2024 BLURB Grace is a thief- a good one. She was taught by experts and she's been practising since she was a kid. She specialises in small, h ..read more

REVIEW The Mystery Writer, Sulari Gentill Reviewed By Karen Chisholm Tuesday, March 26, 2024 In Sulari Gentill’s new novel, aspiring writer Theo and her brother Gus become embroiled in increasingly bizarre conspiracy theories.   Full Review at Newtown Review of Books BOOK DETAILS BOOK INFORMATION Author Sulari Gentill ISBN 9781761152238 Year of Publication 2024 BLURB She needs to write the ending ... before she meets hers. Theo has one dream – to become a bestselling author. Determined to make her mark in the literary world, she heads to the US on a whim ..read more

REVIEW The Beacon, P.A. Thomas Reviewed By Karen Chisholm Friday, March 22, 2024 A disgraced son of a powerful Australian media tycoon, the traumatised daughter of a small town newspaper editor, coincidentally owned by the aforementioned tycoon. One is sent to "learn the ropes of journalism" / ie been kicked down the line, the other is in town after something sent her legal career into free fall. Then the local newspaper editor dies in a seeming shark attack and things get messy. Byron Bay does have a reputation for being a laid back, holiday destination, pumped full of influencer t ..read more

REVIEW The Day That Never Comes, Caimh McDonnell Reviewed By Karen Chisholm Thursday, March 21, 2024 The second book in the Dublin Trilogy (which I'm is actually the 2nd published, but the 6th in the "trilogy", so between this and Adrian McKinty's trilogy which isn't, Ireland obviously does trilogies differently). Anyway, THE DAY THAT NEVER COMES, is also the name of a song by Metallica (or so I'm told), for whatever that's worth, but in the context of this book it's a line from a firey session in front of a crowd of really pissed off citizens of Dublin: "When is the day when those ..read more

REVIEW Deep in the Forest, Erina Reddan Reviewed By Karen Chisholm Wednesday, March 20, 2024 As is the way of the world, there have been quite a few crime fiction books recently that delve into the world of cults, the people that get caught in them, and those trying to get them out. DEEP IN THE FOREST is a slightly different twist on that. It's the story of a small town outcast, who via some coincidental work connections, and the fact that she lives very near the community known as the Sanctuary, finds herself pulled too far into their world. Charli Trenthan is an outsider in her ho ..read more

REVIEW Home Before Night, J.P. Pomare Reviewed By Karen Chisholm Monday, March 18, 2024 If you were a resident of Melbourne (or any larger city I suppose), the announcement of one of the many COVID lockdowns was a sudden jolt to the nervous system.  What JP Pomare has done, in HOME BEFORE NIGHT, is add an extra layer of complexity when Lou realises her son Samuel isn't going to make it home by the cut off time of 8pm, supposedly staying with his girlfriend instead. She's not handling that particularly well, having not been at all convinced by the girlfriend on initial meeting ..read more

REVIEW Halfway House, Helen FitzGerald Reviewed By Karen Chisholm Thursday, March 7, 2024 Helen FitzGerald is one of those authors who really knows how to write engaging and very offputting central characters that you care about, despite their obvious failings, flaws, and downright stupidity from time to time. As is the case in HALFWAY HOUSE where central character Lou O'Dowd is .. well ... quite something. Infuriating, annoying and quite beguiling, she's part ingénue, part ruthless user, and oddly extremely sympathetic and relatable. Maybe it's the wide eyed devil may care"edness ..read more