Resurrection Bay


Emma Viskic - 2015
    When a childhood friend is murdered, a sense of guilt and a determination to prove his own innocence sends Caleb on a hunt for the killer. But he can’t do it alone. Caleb and his troubled friend Frankie, an ex-cop, start with one clue: Scott, the last word the murder victim texted to Caleb. But Scott is always one step ahead.This gripping, original and fast-paced crime thriller is set between a big city and a small coastal town, Resurrection Bay, where Caleb is forced to confront painful memories. Caleb is a memorable protagonist who refuses to let his deafness limit his opportunities, or his participation in the investigation. But does his persistence border on stubbornness? And at what cost? As he delves deeper into the investigation Caleb uncovers unwelcome truths about his murdered friend – and himself.

The Bluffs


Kyle Perry - 2020
    It is a land of rugged wilderness, of ice and snow and blistering heat … They say extinct tigers still roam there. They say other things roam, too.When a school group of teenage girls go missing in the remote wilderness of Tasmania’s Great Western Tiers, the people of Limestone Creek are immediately on alert. Not long ago, six young girls went missing in the area of those dangerous bluffs, and the legends of ‘the Hungry Man’ still haunt locals to this day. Now, authorities can determine that the teacher, Eliza Ellis, was knocked unconscious, so someone on the mountain was up to foul play. Jordan Murphy, father of missing student Jasmine and the town’s local dealer, instantly becomes prime suspect, but Detective Con Badenhorst knows that in a town this size – with corrupt cops, small-town politics, and a teenage YouTube sensation – anyone could be hiding something, and bluffing comes second nature.When a body is found, mauled, at the bottom of a cliff, suspicion turns to a wild animal – but that can’t explain why she, like all victims past and present, was discovered barefoot, with her shoes found nearby, laces neatly tied. What happened up there on the bluffs? Somebody knows… unless the local legends are true…

White Gold


Rachel Amphlett - 2011
    A murdered friend. A deadly enemy.Dan Taylor’s career as a bomb disposal expert in the British Army ended when an IED killed three of his team and left him scarred for life. Years later, and on the brink of self-destruction, Dan struggles to cope with the nightmares that haunt him.Until the day an estranged friend leaves a voicemail message for him, moments before he is assassinated in cold blood.Plunged into a global conspiracy, Dan must unravel the research notes that Peter Edgewater left behind to locate an explosive device that is being smuggled towards London by a secretive organisation hell-bent on protecting its assets – and time is running out.

The Survivors


Jane Harper - 2020
    Between them all is his absent brother, Finn.When a body is discovered on the beach, long-held secrets threaten to emerge. A sunken wreck, a missing girl, and questions that have never washed away...

Sweet Jimmy


Bryan Brown - 2021
    More please.' - Michael Robotham'My friend Bryan Brown, quite apart from his other manifold talents, turns out to be an excellent writer. An authentic voice; highly imaginative yet completely believable, with a flair for fully realised characters and a gripping narrative … a great story teller. This is utterly baffling. I'm furious.' - Sam NeillIt was a gentle knock. Agnes had been waiting for it. Hoping he would be on time. Such a lovely fella, she thought...'Come on through. Got a surprise for you,' she said.He had one for her too.Phil and Sweet Jimmy are cousins. Phil grows orchids . . . spider orchids . . . learnt about them in the nick. Jimmy likes orchids, too, but there are other things he likes even more . . .Trish Bennett didn't like her life. Hadn't liked it for a long time. Been on the streets. Bit of this for a bit of that. The 'that' wasn't always nice. Then Ahmed found her.Sam is a tea-leaf, a thief. Likes nickin. . . anything . . . always has . . . until the day he knocked off more than the Volvo.Fell for the sexy and beautiful Sue May from Hong Kong, Frank Testy did. Silly old prick. What price for ego? A huge bloody price it turns out.Taut and crackling with character, these gritty, raw and sometimes very funny stories from Australian great Bryan Brown are Aussie Noir at its best. Crime doesn't discriminate . . . it can happen to anyone . . . it could happen to you . . . in any ordinary suburb . . . at any time.

Malicious Intent


Kathryn Fox - 2005
    Anya Crichton.The only female freelancer in the male-dominated field, pathologist Dr. Anya Crichton will take any work she can find to pay child support and her mortgage, get her new business off the ground, and battle her ex-husband for custody of their three-year-old son. Things turn around rapidly, however, when her expert forensic evidence is instrumental in winning a high-profile case -- and new work offers start pouring in.But Anya's investigation into the drug overdose of a young Lebanese girl is raising troubling questions. Startling coincidences between this sad and tragic death and a series of seemingly unrelated suicides that Anya is also examining at the urging of her friend and colleague, detective sergeant Kate Farrer, suggest that there's a monumental evil at work in the shadows. With each scalpel cut, Anya Crichton's forensic prowess and deductive brilliance are pulling her relentlessly toward a sinister plot and a devastating truth -- and once she enters the lethal darkness, she may never again see the light of day.

The Girl She Was


Rebecca Freeborn - 2020
    It was in the past, and Layla didn’t dwell on the past.’Layla was just like any other teenager in the small town of Glasswater Bay: she studied hard, went out with her friends and worked at the local cafe after school. But when her attractive, married boss turned his attention on her, everything changed.Twenty years later, Layla's living a quiet life in the suburbs with a loving husband and two children. She's finally left the truth of what happened behind. Until she receives a text message: I know what you did.For years, she’s outrun her past, turning away from her friends and her home town. Now her past is about to catch up.

Alice to Nowhere


Evan Green - 1984
    Two vicious murderers, fleeing Alice Springs, hide on a battered truck carrying mail, food and supplies on its fortnightly journey to remote cattle stations.

Hell to Pay


Garry Disher - 2013
    Hirsch isn’t just a disgraced cop; the internal investigations bureau is still trying to convict him of something, even if it means planting evidence. When someone leaves a pistol cartridge in his mailbox, Hirsch suspects that his career isn't the only thing on the line.  But the tiny town of Tiverton has more crime than one lone cop should have to handle. The stagnant economy, rural isolation, and entrenched racism and misogyny mean every case Hirsch investigates is a new basket of snakes. When the body of a 16-year-old local girl is found on the side of the highway, the situation in Tiverton gets even more sinister, and whether or not he finds her killer, there’s going to be hell to pay.Paperback edition found under the title Bitter Wash Road.

Roger Ascham and the Dead Queen's Command


Matthew Reilly - 2020
    

Scar Tissue


Marcus Sakey - 2010
    KONRATH: “Scar Tissue will make your heart race and your heart ache, often in the same sentence.” Not only that, but buying this collection helps battle real-life heartache—50% of every e-book sold is donated to fighting pediatric cancer. Marcus Sakey’s thrillers have won numerous awards and been translated into twenty languages. Celebrities like Ben Affleck and Tobey Maguire have snatched up his film rights. Now from the “modern master of suspense” (Chicago Sun-Times) comes seven stories of men and women pushed to—and beyond—the ragged edge: --* “The Desert Here and the Desert Far Away”Nick is back from Iraq, or so he keeps telling himself. But an old squad mate shows there are some battlefields you can’t leave behind. (Twice short-listed for Best Short Story of 2009)* “Gravity and Need”After having sex with a total stranger atop a $3000 television, you’re supposed to walk away. But for two lonely people, that’s just the beginning of a very complicated relationship.* “No One”The line between love and obsession is stretched razor-taut in this story where nothing is as it seems—and no one can be trusted.* “Cobalt”In this comic send-up the dotcom era, as the world panics over the last days of Y2K, one man searches for his soul. If he could only remember where last he saw it…* “The Time Before the Last”The shortest story I’ve ever written. It’s also inspired three paintings and made my wife cry.* “As Breathing”Billy Dexter has sworn off killing. But when he falls in love with the wrong woman, Dex discovers murder is a hard habit to break.* “The Days When You Were Anything Else”Frank has been many things: a conman, a hustler, a thief. But when his little girl finds herself in desperate trouble, he has one final shot at becoming something that matters.--These seven stories “contain some of the best writing in crime fiction today. You're in for quite a ride.” (J.A. Konrath). And it’s a ride you can feel good about, with 50% of every sale going to defeat pediatric cancer.---A PERSONAL NOTE FROM MARCUS---In 2010, two of the best people I know received unimaginable news: their four-year-old son had an incurable brain tumor. Julian Boivin was a superhero in training, and fought an epic battle. But in the end, cancer stole this beautiful boy. Nothing can make that right. But the Team Julian Foundation is trying to give other kids a fighting chance against this devastating disease. To help, I’m donating 50% of the proceeds from every single copy of SCAR TISSUE sold to pediatric cancer research. It’s a small way to work toward a big change. Want to get more involved? Visit TeamJulianFoundation.com.---MARCUS SAKEY IS:---“A brilliant writer.” -The Huffington Post “Brainy, twisty, twisted, and entirely ingenious.” -Gillian Flynn, bestselling author of GONE GIRL“One of our best storytellers.” -Michael Connelly, bestselling author of THE LINCOLN LAWYER“Exactly the electric jolt crime fiction needs.” -Dennis Lehane, bestselling author of MYSTIC RIVER“The new reigning prince of crime fiction.” -The Chicago Tribune

East Jesus South


T.R. Pearson - 2014
    That was the plan anyway. When Buck noses around in an old missing persons case by way of returning a favor to a neighbor, he unearths more corruption and criminal mischief than he ever suspected the rugged uplands could hide. A departure for T.R. Pearson, East Jesus South is not a comedy. It’s a creepy, unsettling look at the rot beneath the honeyed, 'Aw Shucks' veneer of the American South.

A Girl Called Eilinora: A Short Story


Nadine Dorries - 2015
    It is 1846, famine is gripping Ireland and nowhere is it crueller than in Mayo on the west coast. Owen FitzDeane of Ballyford Castle is a good landlord, but even he is powerless to save all his tenants. When he comes upon a half-dead girl beside the road, he insists on taking her back to the castle, to see if they can save her. But Eilinora is no ordinary girl and soon superstition and fear begin to swirl around her, while Lord FitzDeane of Ballyford falls deeper under her spell.

Trust Me When I Lie


Benjamin Stevenson - 2018
    So says Curtis Wade, the subject of Jack’s new true crime docuseries, convicted of a young woman’s murder four years prior. In the eyes of Jack’s viewers, flimsy evidence and police bias influenced the final verdict…even though, off screen, Jack himself has his doubts.But when the series finale is wildly successful, a retrial sees Curtis walk free. And then another victim turns up dead.To set things right, Jack goes back to the sleepy vineyard town where it all began, bent on discovering what really happened. Because behind the many stories he tells, the truth is Jack’s last chance. He may have sprung a killer from jail, but he’s also the one that can send him back.NOTE: This was first published in Australia with the title Greenlight, reissued UK: She Lies in the Vines, US: Trust Me When I Lie.

The Yarn Woman


Brooks Mencher - 2014
    The FBI and city police call her the Yarn Woman. She's their textile forensics expert.In her first recorded case, 'Ghosts of the Albert Townsend, ' Ruth has only a blood-soaked nineteenth century shawl to unravel the link between the resurfacing of a ghostly schooner just offshore and the severe wounds on young Hauper Brown's body. A nearby fatal animal mauling only adds to her worry. In her second case in this first Yarn Woman mysteries book, 'The Fisherman's Wife, ' Ruth must decipher the meaning behind a dead man's hand-knit sweater while racing against time to save his otherworldly widow. Finally, Ruth helps identify the body of a playwright by the handwork in his shirt, and finds not only a young friend in Gabriel, a curly-haired boy with unusual abilities, she unearths a network of beggar-masters and their slaves deep in San Francisco's seamy underside.This first book, a trilogy of dramatic novellas, introduces a cast of characters who will recur as the Yarn Woman mystery series continues in 'Wailing Wood' and 'The Rusalka Wheel, ' with more cases on the horiz