Book picks similar to
Tank Water by Michael Burge
crime
australian
australian-authors
australia
I Will Make You Pay
Caroline Bale - 2019
He is watching Connie Taylor in the café. He has befriended the waitress over the previous months and gained her confidence. Her coarseness disgusts him and he muses to himself about pouring acid on her face. He is going to torture Connie that evening to get the final information he needs and then he will kill her. Connie Taylor’s head is found on the doorstep of a house in upmarket Heworth Green in York. DI Ellen McClure finds herself embroiled in a complicated murder investigation that pits her against colleagues and family. Her boss thinks that ex-prostitute Connie was killed by one of her former clients, but Ellen thinks there is more to it. Vicky is on the run with her five-year-old daughter, Kallie. Her life is in danger. ELLEN MUST FIND HER BEFORE HE DOES. Desperate to save Vicky, Ellen drags her own young daughter, Zoe into the path of a deadly psychopath who will stop at nothing on his murderous rampage. A RACE AGAINST TIME TO STOP A PSYCHOPATH ON A MISSION
Fetish
Tara Moss - 1999
When she travels to Sydney on assignment and finds her best friend murdered, she soon discovers a deadly puzzle of suspicious photographers, hired thugs, mysterious lovers and the handsome, jaded Detective Andy Flynn investigating the Stiletto Murders - the most violent serial killings Australia has ever known. In her quest to uncover the truth behind her best friend's murder, Mak falls headlong into a deadly game of cat and mouse, unaware she has become the obsession of a sadistic psychopath. When a photo from her portfolio disappears, her borrowed flat is ransacked and Andy Flynn suddenly goes underground, Mak knows she must run. But where can she go and to whom can she turn? Mak has scratched the seedy underbelly of a foreign city and is driven into a corner, an evil place where, for her own well-being and state of mind, she must suspect everyone and everything... The first book in the Mak Vanderwall series, FETISH is followed by SPLIT, COVET, HIT, SIREN and ASSASSIN.
Open Grave
A.M. Peacock - 2018
But when the body of a local thug shows up on the banks of the River Tyne, the DCI’s criminal past comes back to haunt him.Meanwhile, a local celebrity singer claims that she is being stalked. Could there be a link to the killings?As the bodies start to pile up, Lambert realises the motive lies in the past and that the killer is taunting them.
The clock is ticking. Can he catch the murderer, or will one of their own end up in an open grave?
What everyone is saying about Open Grave:
"thoroughly entertaining and so engrossing I just had to keep on turning the pages." Peggy Beaver - Reviewer
"Lots of twists and turns, unpredictable right to the end."
Emma Smith - reviewer
"I really loved the main characters and the brilliant plot. I read this book in one sitting and could not put it down."
Stephanie Collins - Reviewer
"a great addition to the police procedural genre!"
Amanda Perrott - reviewer
"The plot is well written and had me engrossed, plenty of twists to keep me guessing."
Marion Butler - reviewer
"I felt like I was on a roller coaster. The writer does a superb job at keeping you engrossed."
Laura Hundley - reviewer
Open Grave is the debut novel by A.M. Peacock. It's a fast-paced police procedural, full of stunning twists and turns, which will keep you guessing to the end. It will appeal to fans of authors like Angela Marsons, Joy Ellis and Helen H. Durrant.
The Cuckoo's Cry
Caroline Overington - 2020
Listening Length: 4 hours and 43 minutesOn the eve of the global lockdown, Don Barlow opens the door of his old beachside cottage to find a pretty girl with pink-tipped hair, claiming to have nowhere to go.He allows her entry, and so begins a mystery set in unprecedented times: with the virus raging outside their home, the girl cannot be asked to leave, but what does he risk by having her stay?
Casting Bones
Don Bruns - 2016
When a prominent New Orleans judge is brutally murdered, former Detroit cop Quentin Archer is handed the case. His enquiries will lead him into a world of darkness and mysticism which underpins the carefree atmosphere of the Big Easy. Interrogating crooked police officers, a pickpocket, a bartender with underground contacts and a swamp dweller, Archer uncovers some troubling facts about the late judge's past. But it's only when he encounters a beautiful young voodoo practitioner that he starts to make headway in the investigation.Voodoo queen Solange Cordray volunteers at the dementia centre where her mother lives. When she starts reading the mind of one of her patients, she learns that a secretive organization known as Krewe Charbonerrie may be behind the murder of the judge. And the second murder. And the third . . .
The Axeman's Jazz
Ray Celestin - 2014
As a dark serial killer – The Axeman – stalks the city, three individuals set out to unmask him…Though every citizen of the ‘Big Easy’ thinks they know who could be behind the terrifying murders, Detective Lieutenant Michael Talbot, heading up the official investigation, is struggling to find leads. But Michael has a grave secret – and if he doesn’t find himself on the right track fast – it could be exposed…Former detective Luca d’Andrea has spent the last six years in Angola state penitentiary, after Michael, his protégée, blew the whistle on his corrupt behaviour. Now a newly freed man, Luca finds himself working with the mafia, whose need to solve the mystery of the Axeman is every bit as urgent as the authorities’.Meanwhile, Ida is a secretary at the Pinkerton Detective Agency.Obsessed with Sherlock Holmes and dreaming of a better life, Ida stumbles across a clue which lures her and her trumpet-playing friend, Lewis ‘Louis’ Armstrong, to the case and into terrible danger…As Michael, Luca and Ida each draw closer to discovering the killer’s identity, the Axeman himself will issue a challenge to the people of New Orleans: play jazz or risk becoming the next victim. And as the case builds to its crescendo, the sky will darken and a great storm will loom over the city…
Black & Blue
James Patterson - 2016
But new clues point to a more chilling predator than she ever could have imagined.BookShotsLIGHTNING-FAST STORIES BY JAMES PATTERSON- Novels you can devour in a few hours- Impossible to stop reading- All original content from James Patterson
Snake Island
Ben Hobson - 2019
Not after he hit his wife and ended up in gaol. A lifetime of careful parental love wiped out in a moment.But when retired teacher Vernon hears that Caleb is being regularly visited and savagely bashed by a local criminal as the police stand by, he knows he has to act. What has his life been as a father if he turns his back on his son in his hour of desperate need? He realises with shame that he has failed Caleb. But no longer.The father of the man bashing Caleb is head of a violent crime family. The town lives in fear of him but Vernon is determined to fix things in a civilised way, father to father. If he shows respect, he reasons, it will be reciprocated. But how wrong he is. And what hell has he brought down on his family?Reading like a morality tale Western but in a starkly beautiful Australian setting, Snake Island is a propulsive literary thriller written with great clarity and power. It will take you to the edge and keep you there long after the final page is turned.
Hunted
Alex Knight - 2020
It's a young girl, the daughter of the love of your life. She's scared, covered in blood, she says her mother is hurt. You let her in, try to calm her down, tell her you're going to get help. You reach for your phone, but it lights up with a notification before you touch it.It's an Amber alert, sent simultaneously to four million phones in the Bay Area. A child has been abducted by a dangerous suspect.The child is the girl standing in front of you.
The suspect? You.
Tallowwood
N.R. Walker - 2019
Since the death of his boyfriend eight years ago, August works alone, lives alone, is alone — and that’s exactly how he likes it. His work is his entire life, and he’s convinced a string of unsolved cold-case suicides are linked to what could be Australia’s worst ever serial killer. Problem is, no one believes him.Senior Constable Jacob Porter loves his life in the small town of Tallowwood in the middle of the rainforests in northern New South Wales. He runs summer camps for the local Indigenous kids, plays rugby with his mates, has a close family, and he’s the local LGBTQIA+ Liaison and the Indigenous Liaison Officer.When human remains are found in the camping grounds at Tallowwood Reserve, Jake’s new case turns out to be linked to August’s cold cases, and Jake agrees they’re not suicides at all. With Jacob now firmly in August’s corner, they face one hurdle after another, even when more remains are found, they still can’t seem to gain ground.But when the body of a fellow police officer turns up under the same MO, it can’t be ignored anymore. August and Jake must trace the untraceable before the killer takes his next victim or before he stops one of them, permanently.
Killer Mine
Hammond Innes - 1947
He is soon plunged into a hazardous world of crooks,contraband, madness and mysteries underneath the rocky cliffs.
Hair of the Dog (A Gil Mason Novel Book 2)
Gordon Carroll - 2020
The Amber Trail
M.J. Kelly - 2015
But after a tragic accident, he is unnerved by his dad’s dying words. Without his father, it falls to Dig and his belligerent brother Jake to put aside their differences and get the successful family brewery running again—or their mother will be forced into bankruptcy and lose the family home.The Buckley Brewery makes Australia’s most popular craft beer—but there’s a catch. The recipe is based on a unique hop sourced from a secretive supplier in India. And when the supplier hears of Dig’s father’s death they shut down deliveries and threaten to silence the family.Why is the mysterious group acting so aggressively? Was there a hidden side to their father’s business? Is there another reason the beer is so popular?Dig is forced to travel to India to track the supplier down. He embarks on a challenging journey across the Indian countryside, unravelling a complicated history as he fights for his family and comes to terms with his father’s death.
Wonderment in Death
J.D. Robb - 2015
When friends of Darlene and Marcus Fitzwilliams insist Darlene would never hurt her brother, Eve digs deeper.Eve learns that Darlene sought help from sensitivities, psychics, and doctors of paranormal studies in an attempt to contact her dead parents. After clues mimicking Alice in Wonderland repeatedly turns up, the case gets curiouser and curiouser...Racing against the clock, Eve must travel down the rabbit hole to stop a madman's murderous tea party.__________Unabridged, 3 audio discs, 3 hours 34 minutes
Firewatching
Russ Thomas - 2020
. .When financier Gerald Cartwright disappeared from his home six years ago, it was assumed he'd gone on the run from his creditors. But then a skeleton is found bricked up in the cellar of Cartwright's burned-out mansion, and it becomes clear Gerald never left alive.As the sole representative of South Yorkshire's Cold Case Review Unit, Detective Sergeant Adam Tyler is not expected to get results, but he knows this is the case that might finally kick start his floundering career. Luckily, he already has a suspect. Unluckily, that suspect is Cartwright's son, the man Tyler slept with the night before.Keeping his possible conflict-of-interest under wraps, Tyler digs into the case alongside Amina Rabbani, an ambitious young Muslim constable and a fellow outsider seeking to prove herself on the force. Soon their investigation will come up against close-lipped townsfolk, an elderly woman with dementia who's receiving mysterious threats referencing a past she can't remember, and an escalating series of conflagrations set by a troubled soul intent on watching the world burn . . .