Are you a lover of crime writing, but feel a disconnect when reading thrillers set half a world away in little-known places like New York or London?
Perhaps you’re longing for a nuanced story that has a truely Australian feel. One that can only be delivered by a woman author with the outback running through her veins. Or Snowy River-dust in her eye (is that a thing?). Ok, maybe she just knows where to get a really good coffee.
Let’s be honest – we all want to giggle at references to Big W when we should be focusing on whodunnit.
Australian writers are awesome. Australian women writers are even better. Why? Because I’ve just curated 3 of their books here for you, and can sense their wizardry and hard work through the paperback spines.
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Happy Reading, Friends!
“It’s an author’s job to create a new world in the pages of a book. But when lines start to blur and reality begins to fade, getting lost in a story can be dangerous—especially if you can’t find your way back.
Madeleine d’Leon doesn’t know where Edward came from. He is simply a character in her next book. But as she writes, he becomes all she can think about. His charm, his dark hair, his pen scratching out his latest literary novel.
Edward McGinnity can’t get Madeleine out of his mind—softly smiling, infectiously enthusiastic, and perfectly damaged. She will be the ideal heroine for his next book.
But who is the author and who is the creation? And as the lines start to blur, who is affected when a killer finally takes flesh?
“After She Wrote Him” is a piece of meta-fiction with a wildly inventive twist on the murder mystery genre that takes readers on a journey filled with passion, obsession, and the emptiness left behind when the real world starts to fall away.”
This was a fun read, and a great introduction to a new-to-me Australian author – who I’m keen to read more from.
What a trip though! As far as I could make out, this is the story of a writer writing about a writer (Madeleine), who is writing about a writer (Edward) who is writing about a writer (Madeleine). Right? I may have added one too many writers.
The story reads really well, however the concept had me jotting down notes early on, in the attempt to try and keep who’s who in the zoo flowing correctly in my head. Reader, I failed. However, I think that *might* have been the point.
This is a clever take on both the crime genre itself, and the wizards who write it. Are the characters real? Who knows? Is the main character being gaslit by her husband? Is she even a ‘main character’? Is she going crazy? Am I?
An enjoyable concept and mystery. Pick it up – or don’t, I can’t tell if it’s even a real book at this point.
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“A loving husband lost to devastating summer floods. A teenage girl injured during a robbery. Two seemingly unconnected cases that will push a detective to the brink.
An atmospheric, compelling new voice in Australian crime fiction.
In Northern New South Wales, heavily pregnant and a week away from maternity leave, Detective Sergeant Kate Miles is exhausted and counting down the days. But a violent hold-up at a local fast-food restaurant with unsettling connections to her own past, means that her final days will be anything but straightforward.
When a second case is dumped on her lap, the closed case of man drowned in recent summer floods, what begins as a simple informal review quickly grows into something more complicated. Kate can either write the report that’s expected of her or investigate the case the way she wants to.
As secrets and betrayals pile up, and the needs of her own family intervene, how far is Kate prepared to push to discover the truth?”
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“Exiles, the third and final book in the Aaron Falk series, follows on from Jane’s international bestsellers ‘The Dry” and ‘Force of Nature‘.
At a busy festival site on a warm spring night, a baby lies alone in her pram, her mother vanishing into the crowds.
A year on, Kim Gillespie’s absence casts a long shadow as her friends and loved ones gather deep in the heart of South Australian wine country to welcome a new addition to the family.
Joining the celebrations is federal investigator Aaron Falk. But as he soaks up life in the lush valley, he begins to suspect this tight-knit group may be more fractured than it seems. Between Falk’s closest friend, a missing mother and a woman he’s drawn to, dark questions linger as long-ago truths begin to emerge.”
I’ve previously read and enjoyed the first two books in the Aaron Falk series, though it’s been a while in between reads. I did feel like there might have been a few connections that I’d forgotten about, or characters that I should have had a bit more backstory on.
This is a slow burn, with 2 mysteries at the centre. Both wrapped up nicely, however I would have liked a bit more meat in the middle of the story to balance out the burst of action at the end.
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