Tag: crime fiction

Two bodies. One long hot summer. A town that will never be the same.When Adam Lawson’s wrecked car is found a kilometre from Daisy Baker’s body, the whole town assumes it’s an open and shut case. But Jesse Redpath isn’t from Canticle Creek. Where she comes from, the truth often hides in plain sight, but only if you know where to look. When Jesse starts to ask awkward questions, she uncovers a town full of contradictions and a cast of characters with dark pasts, secrets to hide and even more to lose.

As the temperature soars, and the ground bakes, the wilderness surrounding Canticle Creek becomes a powderkeg waiting to explode. All it needs is one spark.

A twisty crime thriller set in small town Australia perfect for readers of The Dry and Scrublands.

Adrian Hyland is the award-winning author of Diamond Dove, Gunshot Road and Kinglake-350, which was shortlisted for the Prime Minister’s Literary Award for non-fiction in 2012. His books have been published internationally, including in Britain and the US, and translated into a variety of languages, including German, French, Swedish and Czech.

My thoughts: an excellent addition to the Outback noir genre, with murder and intrigue aplenty out in the bush.

Jesse Redpath is a copper from the hardscrabble Northern Territory, who thinks something isn’t quite right about an apparent murder in Canticle Creek, a small town over the border in Victoria. She knew the accused killer, himself dead in a car accident, and he just wasn’t the type.

So, accompanied by her artist father, and her suspicions, she heads off to investigate. Aided, and occasionally stymied, by the local police officers, she starts to take a closer look, but could be putting herself straight into the firing line.

There’s conspiracies and drug dealers lurking in the Creek, locals put in danger and several near attempts on her life, but Jesse is determined to solve Daisy and Adam’s deaths and put a stop to whatever is going on in Canticle Creek, ideally before a terrible wild fire hits.

Gripping and cracking crime drama here, with an interesting cast of characters and a great protagonist. I hope this is the start of a series of Jesse Redpath novels.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.

Rita, a small, tough Scottish make-up artist is on Madeira trying to find out who killed Kim-Jim, an American make-up supremo. Also anchored off the island is Dolly, the yacht of Johnson Johnson with whom she teams up. Rita’s fighting spirits are aroused despite her danger. She is not one for quitting, even when she learns she is caught up in an international drug-smuggling ring. But she also discovers that dealing with the maddeningly enigmatic Johnson Johnson is, by no stretch of the imagination, plain sailing.

Dorothy Dunnett (1923-2001) gained an international reputation as a writer of historical fiction. She moved genres and turned to crime writing with the acclaimed Dolly books, also known as the Johnson Johnson series. She was a trustee of the National Library of Scotland, and a board member of the Edinburgh International Book Festival. In 1992 she was awarded an OBE for her services to literature. A leading light in the Scottish arts world and a renaissance woman, Dunnett was also a professional portrait painter and exhibited at the Royal Scottish Academy on many occasions.

My thoughts: this was lots of fun, it’s a shame I hadn’t come across Dorothy Dunnett before (what a name for the crime genre!) as she’s a great writer. In this book we’re off to Madeira and then onto the Caribbean in the company of Rita Geddes, make up artist and now amateur sleuth.

She’s not entirely thrilled to be out of the UK, and certainly not in the company of artist (and spy) Johnson Johnson. But her friend Kim-Jim is dead, her other pal Ferdy is on hand and she wants justice, and to rehome the parrot she just inherited.

But there’s a whole conspiracy of drug smuggling, trans Atlantic proportions going on and a hurricane closing in. As Rita and her colleagues race to get ahead of the murderous smugglers on a boat called Dolly, will they be in danger too?

Tremendous fun and the first in a series of adventures featuring Johnson Johnson and Dolly, though sadly not Rita, who I loved.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.

SEAT 97: wrong place, wrong time: the mystery of a very public murder
A man who had it coming, or mistaken identity?
People are finding their seats for a soul concert when a shot rings out. David Barron crumples to the floor. Next to him, journalist Nick Colton and his wife, Greta, step in to help.
The assassin quickly escapes from the building. Realising this might be the scoop of his life, Nick rushes after him.
Although the man evades him – perhaps a good thing, seeing as he is holding a gun – Nick is determined to find the killer. Despite the misgivings of the police.
So who was David Barron and why was he shot? Why was he holding the lethal ticket for Seat 97?
Can you work out the mystery?
This is a totally gripping standalone crime mystery set in London that will keep you guessing.

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Author Bio – Tony Bassett, a former Fleet Street journalist, has had seven crime novels published so far.
This latest book, Seat 97, introduces Nick Colton, a journalist who is swept up into a murder investigation. It is a standalone novel which may possibly lead to a series. The book is published by London-based independent publishers The Book Folks, who specialise in crime fiction.
Tony is best known for his Midlands series of crime novels featuring DCI Gavin Roscoe and DS Sunita Roy (Murder On Oxford Lane, The Crossbow Stalker, Murder Of A Doctor and Out For Revenge, all published by the Book Folks).
He first developed a love of writing at the age of nine when he and a friend produced a magazine called the Globe at their junior school in Sevenoaks, Kent. When he reached his teenage years, growing up in Tunbridge Wells, his local vicar staged one of his plays, about Naboth’s Vineyard.
At Hull University, Tony was named student journalist of the year in 1971 in a competition run by Time-Life magazine and went onto become a national newspaper journalist, mainly working for the Sunday People in both its newsroom and investigations department.
His very first book to be published, the crime novel Smile Of The Stowaway, was released in December 2018. It concerns a Kent couple who harbour a stowaway and then battle to clear his name when he is charged with murder.
Then, in March 2020, the spy novel The Lazarus Charter, was released. It involves foreign agents operating in the UK. The book has kindly been endorsed by Marina Litvinenko, widow of the murdered Russian dissident Alexander Litvinenko, and by Stan and Caroline Sturgess, parents of the innocent mother-of-three poisoned with novichok in Salisbury in 2018.
Tony has five grown-up children. He is a Life Member of the National Union of Journalists. He lives in South-East London with his partner Lin.

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My thoughts: this was a really interesting, fast paced and clever crime read. When the man next to him at the Royal Albert Hall is shot dead, chaos erupts, but smart thinking journalist Nick gives chase to the gunman. He ever gets a snap of the getaway car.

The story of a lifetime, or so it seems, as Nick carries out his own investigation, despite the police disapproval. He seems to be able to get a lot more information out of people – even though he’s a journalist, his proximity to the victim seems to make people willing to open up. He gets a lot more than the police do.

A second murder muddies the waters, the victim was also at the fateful concert, but Nick carefully untangles that one too. The police come across as a little bit slow, Nick’s finding the clues and answers on his own, and their whole team aren’t getting anywhere as fast. Luckily he’s a nice guy and shares his findings.

I really enjoyed this book, and could see it easily becoming a series. Nick’s a great protagonist, and clearly has a nose for investigating knotty cases.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.