Discover the new crime books our booksellers are excited about this month!
Murder on North Terrace (A Petticoat Police Mystery, Book 2)
Lainie Anderson
Historian Lainie Anderson’s debut crime novel, The Death of Dora Black, not only spun readers back in time to Adelaide during the First World War, but also introduced the pioneering female police officer Kate Cocks. In her real life, as a Jujitsu practitioner, and a teetotaller, Cocks was also astute, and had plenty of empathy to boot. In novel form, Anderson is able to expand on her own knowledge of Cocks and bring this formidable woman to life in these whodunnits. Whodunnits, plural – because the second instalment is here.
As they were in the first book, Anderson’s descriptions of central Adelaide in 1916 are vivid. You can almost hear the hustle and bustle of people going about their day, and the clatter of the trams as they trundled throughout the city and into the suburbs. (Yes, Adelaide was full of them back then!)
Set some six months after the solving of the Dora Black case, this new book sees Kate and her equally capable offsider, Ethel, delving into a murder at the Art Gallery. The body is found at the base of a particularly controversial painting – controversial for the artist’s depiction of a naked woman and the derision it casts towards the UK establishment.
This time, Ethel’s family connections thrust her into the ‘point’ position of the investigation, while Kate is pulled into a dark plot involving the poster bloke for the war movement. It’s so refreshing having these women cast as the lead characters. Anderson does a terrific job keeping the plots propulsive and engaging, leaving you to absorb by osmosis the historical facts peppered throughout. These books are such fun, and perfect for anyone who loved Sulari Gentill’s Rowland Sinclair series, or Robert Gott’s William Power and Titus Lambert books.
Reviewed by Julia Jackson.
The Killing Stones
Ann Cleeves
When I sat down to read this book, it was a dark and stormy night outside – a very fitting match for the latest novel by Queen Cleeves!
Can you imagine that terrible crimes happen on an island, far from a major city, with only a small population? Would you believe that there in Orkney (not Shetland, this time), precious Neolithic stones bearing ancient inscriptions are being used as tools of destruction? And, to top it off, would you be shocked to learn that the first of these dastardly crimes is the murder of one of Detective Jimmy Perez’s oldest friends? (And did I mention this all takes place shortly before Christmas?!)
Ann Cleeves does this: she makes you truly fall for a rollicking tale set in the midst of a windswept environment and with time running out. There are academics, drama teachers, artists and, of course, good old pragmatic Jimmy and his partner, Willow, who are desperately trying to make sense of it all. (And did I mention that Willow is heavily pregnant?)
The pace picks up even further midway through the novel and, by that time totally confused about who might be dashing stones on people’s heads, I had no choice but to read through the night. She had me hooked, Queen Cleeves, with all her careful clues and missed meetings, carol services and cosy cafes – I was out in the cold with no idea where it would all end. I’m not sure how she does it, but here, yet again, is another superb novel that highlights humanity’s greed, ambition and, yes, kindness. (And did I mention this is at least the 45th novel by Ann Cleeves?)
I fell in love, a little bit, with Jimmy Perez back when I first encountered him in Raven Black. I’m glad his adventures are not over and I get to spend more time with him and all his reticence and sorrow. (And did I mention that the ending of this novel absolutely surprised me, but, of course, makes perfect sense?!)
Hail the Queen.
Reviewed by Chris Gordon.
Last One Out
Jane Harper
Jane Harper’s latest novel is a heartbreaker. There is no ruggedly handsome detective trying to make sense of his own frailties while solving a murder. Last One Out does something different to Harper’s previous works. The story concentrates on a family with a son, Sam, who disappeared five years prior to the book’s beginning. The novel’s focus remains on the mother, Ro, a doctor who fled her marriage and the community after the initial trauma. Yet she returns each year to the failing town to acknowledge her loss and to connect with the friends and family who remain.
And here lies the other tragic component of the novel: the entire story is set in Carralon Ridge – an isolated rural town that has run out of steam and has been purchased for mining. The residents who haven’t left are bitter – defeated, even – and certainly nostalgic for times that now do not exist. The men seem to cower from change, while the women support everyone, clean, and hide their pain. Harper does an excellent job of working into the narrative the relentless nature of the dust, the noise of the mining, and the heat. This is not a town for tourists. This is a town that screams resentment and frustration. And this time, Ro’s annual visit uncovers the past – and her son’s murderer.
Harper has written a wonderful literary exposé of a disappearing town. The metaphors she uses are damning of the environmental damage caused by mining. She perfectly captures the limbo in which the dispirited locals are trapped, along with the social fractures and fear the uncertainty causes. This is a universal story of decline. Readers of Harper’s previous crime novels – and this is another – will delight in her steady pace and astute character observations. I found this novel painfully affecting: our rural past is swept up in the dust with more than one victim.
Available from 14 October.
Reviewed by Chris Gordon.
The Long Shoe
Bob Mortimer
In his third novel, The Long Shoe, we return to UK comedian Bob Mortimer’s curious and comically touching imagination.
Matt thinks everything in his life is going perfectly well, until he is suddenly fired from his job and his girlfriend, Harriet, fails to return home, ghosting him. As suddenly as his life has been tipped upside down, he is unexpectedly approached by a real estate agent offering him an apartment at the luxurious Satsuma Heights, along with a new job. Matt, desperate to do anything to get Harriet’s attention again, takes the deal, knowing it’s always been her dream to live in Satsuma Heights. Little does he know, Harriet has actually been kidnapped and is being held hostage, unaware of where she is, who has taken her, or what they want from her. With the oblivious Matt as her only chance of rescue, will Harriet make it out alive?
Beyond the mysteries of how Matt can sort out his life and how Harriet might survive a kidnapping, Mortimer’s novel is unexpectedly lonely and introspective. The Long Shoe tackles the dangers of co-dependency, as Matt grows increasingly unhinged in Harriet’s absence and is forced to reckon with being by himself for the first time. Harriet, dwelling on her relationship during her solitude, is also left to question how satisfied she was in her life and to catalogue not only the different ways she misses Matt, but also the many annoying things she doesn’t miss anymore.
In this bizarre upending of their ordinary lives, Matt and Harriet must survive against those who wish them harm, but also tackle the parts of themselves that are hurting them and their relationship. However, as we can expect from Mortimer, this book balances these difficult themes with a lighthearted, humorous ease that is both fitting and uplifting, making it the ultimate cosy crime caper from a well-loved talent.
Available from 14 October.
Reviewed by Aurelia Orr.
Also recommeneded are:
Mischance Creek
Garry Disher
Hirsch is checking firearms. The regular police audit – all weapons secured, ammo stored separately, no unauthorised person with keys to the gun safe. He's checking people, too. The drought is hitting hard in the mid-north, and Hirsch is responsible for the welfare of his scattered flock of battlers, bluebloods, loners and miscreants.
He isn't usually called on for emergency roadside assistance. But with all the other services fully stretched, it's Hirsch who has to grind his way out beyond the Mischance Creek ruins to where some clueless tourist has run into a ditch. As it turns out, though, Annika Nordrum isn't exactly a tourist. She's searching for the body of her mother, who went missing seven years ago. And the only sense in which she's clueless is the lack of information unearthed by the cops who phoned in the original investigation.
Hirsch owes it to Annika to help, doesn't he? Not to mention that tackling a cold case beats the hell out of gun audits and admin…
Legacy
Chris Hammer
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, Martin 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.
The Impossible Fortune (The Thursday Murder Club, Book 5)
Richard Osman
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 fears for their life, the thrill of the chase is ignited once again. A villain wants access to an uncrackable code and will stop at nothing to get it. Plunged back into their most explosive investigation yet, can the gang solve the puzzle and a murder in time?
Everyone In This Bank Is a Thief
Benjamin Stevenson
Ten suspects. Ten heists. A puzzle only Ernest Cunningham can solve.
I've spent the last few years solving murders. But a bank heist is a new one, even for me. I've never been a hostage before.
The doors are chained shut. No one in or out. Which means that when someone in the bank is murdered, hostages become suspects.
Turns out, more than one person planned to rob the bank today. You can steal more from a bank than just money. Who is stealing what? And are they willing to kill for it?
