This week, Jeff Popple reviews three exciting crime novels by Australian authors. More of Jeff’s reviews can be found on his blog: murdermayhemandlongdogs.com
When It Rains by Dave Warner
Fremantle Press, $34.99
Assaults, murder, desert chases and crocodiles all feature in the latest novel by veteran author Dave Warner. When It Rains finds Broome detective Dan Clement trying to cope with a new younger love interest and a deluge of crime. When one of his team is beaten up, and a girl brutally assaulted, it seems like the same two suspects are behind both incidents, but the discovery of a woman’s hand tied to a post in crocodile-infested waters complicates matters. Soon, he is on the trail of a killer who is working their way through an intended list of victims. First class outback noir!
Shadow City by Natalie Conyer
Echo Publishing, $32.99
Moving seamlessly between Cape Town and Sydney, Natalie Conyer’s Shadow City is an outstanding piece of crime fiction. The discovery of the battered body of a young woman in Sydney’s Chinatown sets Homicide Detective Jackie Rose off on an investigation with international implications, until she is ordered to hand the case over to the AFP. Meanwhile disgraced Cape Town detective, Schalk Lourens, is sent to Australia to help find a missing girl who came here to study. Together Rosie and Lourens find themselves chasing a deadly gang of international crooks. Thought provoking and entertaining, Shadow City is a must read.
Prize Catch by Alan Carter
Fremantle Press, $34.99
Alan Carter is very skilled at mixing topical themes with good thriller plots, and his latest, Prize Catch, is another fine novel. Set in Tasmania, it combines recent revelations about war crimes in Afghanistan with corruption and the dirty secrets of big business salmon farming. When Roz Chen’s wife, Niamh, is killed in a hit-and-run incident on a lonely road, the grieving widow wonders if it really was an accident. Meanwhile, SAS veteran, and reluctant corporate enforcer Sam Willard forms an unlikely alliance with Roz, and both soon come under threat. This is a gripping, well written thriller that canvasses important current issues. Recommended.
