Category Archives: Crime

January 5, 2026 · 11:26 am

Legacy – Chris Hammer

Legacy – Chris Hammer

I was browsing our Audible library and came across this one. I enjoyed Scrublands and Silver.

Here’s the blurb …

The blast hits them, a shock wave … glass smashing … Somewhere a woman screams. A second explosion, and Martin looks towards the hall, what’s left of it, flames roaring and smoke pouring skywards.

Someone is targeting Martin Scarsden. They bomb his book launch and shoot up his hometown. 

Fleeing for his life, he learns that nowhere is safe, not even the outback. The killers are closing in and it’s all he can do to survive. 

But who wants to kill him and why? Can he discover their deadly motives and turn the tables? 

In a dramatic finale, he finds his fate linked to the disgraced ex-wife of a football icon, a fugitive wanted for a decades-old murder, and two nineteenth-century explorers from a legendary expedition. 

Martin Scarsden’s most perilous, challenging and intriguing assignment yet.

This is Australian noir, you know the genre, a small town in the outback, it’s hot and there is a murder in the past. There is also a little bit of spy stuff, deep fake pornography, secret treasure and lost explorers. It had different view points (Ecco and Martin) and the journal of a missing (a fugitive) young woman.

I enjoyed it the setting was beautifully described and the murderer was unexpected. I also liked the machinations around Martin – who wants him dead and discredited?

All in all a very satisfying and fun read.

A review

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December 28, 2025 · 11:49 am

Murder in the Cathedral – Kerry Greenwood

Murder in the Cathedral – Kerry Greenwood

I have always liked the Phryne Fisher mysteries, but I haven’t read one in a long time and I certainly haven’t read them all. I received this one in the family ‘book flood’ and I read it in a couple of days.

Here’s the blurb …

When Phryne Fisher is invited to Bendigo to witness the investiture of her old friend Lionel, who is being made a Bishop, her expectations of the solemn and dignified ceremony do not include a murder.

Phryne quickly involves herself with perspicacious local Constable Watson and eagle-eyed Detective Inspector Mick Kelly as they identify the murder victim – an overzealous deacon with a nose for trouble. 

Applying her quick wits and magnetic charm, Phryne and her expanding team of sleuths discover murky layers of church politics, social scandals and business scams and blackmail. Soon, various suspects begin to populate a long list, each with excellent motives to kill.

Meanwhile the clock is ticking … Will Phryne be able to bring to light the proof she needs before the murderer strikes again or disappears completely?

I love all of the historical references; the clothes, cars, architecture …The crime was intriguing as well – a deacon murdered during a service (no one noticed anything) and the murderer has vanished (how did he/she get out of the cathedral?). The Deacon had something of serious import to tell the Bishop, is that why he was murdered?

This is a cozy crime – like from the golden age of crime.

This will be the last Phryne Fisher mystery as Kerry Greenwood sadly died earlier this year.

A review.

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December 7, 2025 · 5:02 pm

The Impossible Fortune – Richard Osman

The Impossible Fortune – Richard Osman

I read the first and second of these (I was not so keen on the second one). As this one was a gift, I felt compelled to read it, and I am glad I did (it’s lots of fun).

Here’s the blurb …

Who’s got time to think about murder when there’s a wedding to plan?

It’s been a quiet year for the Thursday Murder Club. Joyce is busy with table plans and first dances. Elizabeth is grieving. Ron is dealing with family troubles, and Ibrahim is still providing therapy to his favourite criminal.

But when Elizabeth meets a wedding guest who’s in trouble, kidnap and death are hot on their heels once more. A villain wants access to an uncrackable code, and will stop at nothing to get it. Plunged back into action once more, can the gang solve the puzzle and a murder in time?

The book was witty, entertaining and generous. Joyce and Ibrahim are my favourite characters.

I know exactly how you feel Joyce

And then something a bit more serious

I do hope there will be more T.V. adaptations.

A review.

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November 22, 2025 · 4:56 pm

Down Cemetery Road – Mick Herron

Down Cemetery Road – Mick Herron

I have been making my way through Mick Herron’s Slow Horses series and when I saw the adaptation of this on Apple, I decided to give it a go.

Here’s the blurb …

CWA Gold Dagger winner Mick Herron’s debut novel introduces Sarah Tucker, whose search for a missing child unravels a murderous conspiracy.

 When a house explodes in a quiet Oxford suburb and a young girl disappears in the aftermath, Sarah Tucker—a young married woman, bored and unhappy with domestic life—becomes obsessed with finding her. Accustomed to dull chores in a childless household and hosting her husband’s wearisome business clients for dinner, Sarah suddenly finds herself questioning everything she thought she knew, as her investigation reveals that people long believed dead are still among the living, while the living are fast joining the dead. What begins in a peaceful neighborhood reaches its climax on a remote, unwelcoming Scottish island as the search puts Sarah in league with a man who finds himself being hunted down by murderous official forces.

I didn’t realise this was his debut novel – it is certainly very good, with all of his trademarks. Self-serving spooks, witty dialogue and no character is safe (there is no plot armour).

It’s twisty and turny and there was one very unexpected event (no spoilers). I am looking forward to watching the adaptation now.

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November 5, 2025 · 4:28 pm

Glass Houses (Gamache 13) – Louise Penny

Glass Houses – Louise Penny

I do like a Gamache story (I think there is 20 of them!).

Here’s the blurb for this one…

When a mysterious figure appears in Three Pines one cold November day, Armand Gamache and the rest of the villagers are at first curious. Then wary. Through rain and sleet, the figure stands unmoving, staring ahead.

From the moment the creature’s shadow falls over the village, Gamache, now Chief Superintendent of the Sûreté du Quebec, suspects it has deep roots and a dark purpose. Yet he does nothing. What can he do? Only watch and wait. And hope his mounting fears are not realized.

But when the figure vanishes overnight and a body is discovered, it falls to Gamache to discover if a debt has been paid or levied.

Months later, on a steamy July day, as the trial for the accused begins in Montréal, Chief Superintendent Gamache continues to struggle with actions he set in motion that bitter November from which there is no going back. More than the accused is on trial. Gamache’s own conscience is standing in judgment.

In her latest utterly gripping book, number-one New York Times bestselling author Louise Penny shatters the conventions of the crime novel to explore what Gandhi called the court of conscience. A court that supersedes all others.

This story is told over two time-frames. When the murder occurred (around Halloween) and when the murderer went on trial (July the following year). There are sneaky things afoot – a hidden door, perjury, feigned incompetence and a few red herrings as well.

Like all of the Gamache novels, it is beautifully written and we learn a bit about Cobradors (here is an article about them), although our Cobrador is more of a conscience than a debt collector.

A review

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October 12, 2025 · 12:33 pm

Clouds of Witnesses – Dorothy L Sayers

Clouds of Witnesses – Dorothy L Sayers

I enjoyed the first Peter Wimsey story, so when I was looking for something easy to listen to (after Villette), I chose this one. I am very keen to get to Gaudy Night, but that is book number 10.

Here’s the blurb …

Rustic old Riddlesdale Lodge was a Wimsey family retreat filled with country pleasures and the thrill of the hunt — until the game turned up human and quite dead. He lay among the chrysanthemums, wore slippers and a dinner jacket and was Lord Peter’s brother-in-law-to-be. His accused murderer was Wimsey’s own brother, and if murder set all in the family wasn’t enough to boggle the unflappable Lord Wimsey, perhaps a few twists of fate would be — a mysterious vanishing midnight letter from Egypt…a grieving fiancee with suitcase in hand…and a bullet destined for one very special Wimsey.

I love everything about these novels. The settings, the language, the way of life, the characters – Lord Peter, Bunter and Inspector Parker (clearly in love with Lady Mary). I like how the crimes are solved. But it’s not just a cozy mystery they have some emotional heft to them.

A review.

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August 17, 2025 · 11:53 am

Whose Body – Dorothy L Sayers

Whose Body – Dorothy L Sayers

After reading Square Haunting, I was keen to read Dorothy L Sayers. This is the first of the Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries. I listened to this one, narrated by Robert Bathurst.

Here’s the blurb …

It was the body of a tall stout man. On his dead face, a handsome pair of gold pince-nez mocked death with grotesque elegance.

The body wore nothing else.

Lord Peter Wimsey knew immediately what the corpse was supposed to be. His problem was to find out whose body had found its way into Mr Alfred Thipp’s Battersea bathroom.

I loved it, and the crime was fiendish. All of the characters are brilliant – Lord Wimsey, his valet Bunter, fellow detective Mr Parker, and his mother the Dowager Duchess. I imagine all of these characters will reappear in future novels.

The setting is very 1920s London, with Lord Peter needing to dress appropriately for every social event, everyone is ‘jolly decent’ – even the murderer! These are well-written and lots of fun. I shall definitely be reading more. I am quite keen to get to Gaudy Night and Harriet Vane, but I shall read them in order.

A review.

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August 14, 2025 · 2:02 pm

The Nature of the Beast (Gamache #11) – Louise Penny

The Nature of the Beast – Louise Penny

I love these books.

Here’s the blurb …

Hardly a day goes by when nine year old Laurent Lepage doesn’t cry wolf. From alien invasions, to walking trees, to winged beasts in the woods, to dinosaurs spotted in the village of Three Pines, his tales are so extraordinary no one can possibly believe him. Including Armand and Reine-Marie Gamache, who now live in the little Quebec village.

But when the boy disappears, the villagers are faced with the possibility that one of his tall tales might have been true.

And so begins a frantic search for the boy and the truth. What they uncover deep in the forest sets off a sequence of events that leads to murder, leads to an old crime, leads to an old betrayal. Leads right to the door of an old poet.

And now it is now, writes Ruth Zardo. And the dark thing is here.

A monster once visited Three Pines. And put down deep roots. And now, Ruth knows, it is back.

Armand Gamache, the former head of homicide for the Sûreté du Québec, must face the possibility that, in not believing the boy, he himself played a terrible part in what happens next.

As usual this is beautifully written. There are lots of literary and biblical references. Plus some hints about what Gamache might do next (I started with number 12, so I know where he goes next). There is evil at the heart of this one, multiple deaths, a serial killer, spies and a reckoning for Ruth.

A review.

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July 31, 2025 · 3:03 pm

Joe Country – Mick Herron

Joe Country – Mick Herron

I have been slowly making my way through the Slough House series – this is number 6.

Here’s the blurb …

‘We’re spies,’ said Lamb. ‘All kinds of outlandish shit goes on.’

Like the ringing of a dead man’s phone, or an unwelcome guest at a funeral . . .

In Slough House memories are stirring, all of them bad. Catherine Standish is buying booze again, Louisa Guy is raking over the ashes of lost love, and new recruit Lech Wicinski, whose sins make him outcast even among the slow horses, is determined to discover who destroyed his career, even if he tears his life apart in the process.

Meanwhile, in Regent’s Park, Diana Taverner’s tenure as First Desk is running into difficulties. If she’s going to make the Service fit for purpose, she might have to make deals with a familiar old devil . . .

And with winter taking its grip Jackson Lamb would sooner be left brooding in peace, but even he can’t ignore the dried blood on his carpets. So when the man responsible breaks cover at last, Lamb sends the slow horses out to even the score.

This time, they’re heading into joe country.

And they’re not all coming home.

I love the way Mick Herron writes – the way he describes sunlight like a person.

There is a high body count in this one and some of my favourite characters didn’t make it out alive. But that has always been the case, don’t get too attached.

It is terrifying to think that the secret service might actually be like this.

A review

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July 22, 2025 · 3:08 pm

The Long Way Home (Gamache #10) – Louise Penny

The Long Way Home – Louise Penny

I love these Gamache novels. This one was more about finding a missing person (but don’t worry there was still a very well planned murder).

Here’s the blurb …

Happily retired in the village of Three Pines, Armand Gamache, former Chief Inspector of Homicide with the Sûreté du Québec, has found a peace he’d only imagined possible. On warm summer mornings he sits on a bench holding a small book, The Balm in Gilead, in his large hands. “There is a balm in Gilead,” his neighbor Clara Morrow reads from the dust jacket, “to make the wounded whole.”

While Gamache doesn’t talk about his wounds and his balm, Clara tells him about hers. Peter, her artist husband, has failed to come home. Failed to show up as promised on the first anniversary of their separation. She wants Gamache’s help to find him. Having finally found sanctuary, Gamache feels a near revulsion at the thought of leaving Three Pines. “There’s power enough in Heaven,” he finishes the quote as he contemplates the quiet village, “to cure a sin-sick soul.” And then he gets up. And joins her.

Together with his former second-in-command, Jean-Guy Beauvoir, and Myrna Landers, they journey deeper and deeper into Québec. And deeper and deeper into the soul of Peter Morrow. A man so desperate to recapture his fame as an artist, he would sell that soul. And may have. The journey takes them further and further from Three Pines, to the very mouth of the great St. Lawrence River. To an area so desolate, so damned, the first mariners called it “the land God gave to Cain.” And there they discover the terrible damage done by a sin-sick soul.

This one ventures out of Three Pines to the wilderness of Québec – there are small planes, rollicking boats (there is a bit of humour in the rooms they are assigned on the boat), art discussions – is there a 10th muse?, and is Ruth in love?

There is kindness, friendship, love and the occasional awful person.

A review.

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