Tag: Australian

Waiting on Wednesday – Dark Desert Road by Tim Ayliffe

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Thriller, Australian, Waiting on Wednesday3 Comments

In addition to the Waiting on Wednesday post I did for 30Seven by Jeremy Robinson, I’m also going to do an additional post this week for an awesome upcoming Australian crime fiction read.  This is to make up for missing my regular Waiting on Wednesday post last week (I was away), plus I really wanted to talk about this book which I literally discovered was coming out last night.  This new book is Dark Desert Road by impressive Australian thriller author, Tim Ayliffe, which sounds extremely awesome.

Tim Ayliffe is a rising Australian author whose work I have been really enjoying in recent years, primarily thanks to his John Bailey series.  Utilising his experience as a journalist, Ayliffe has pulled together a series of compelling and complex crime fiction novels as part of a series that follows his journalist protagonist, John Bailey, as he finds himself part of a series of dark crimes and conspiracies. Many of these books, which include The Greater Good, State of Fear, The Enemy Within, Killer Traitor Spy and The Wrong Man, cleverly reference or utilise real-world elements that have been impacting Australia, such as terrorism, espionage and the rise of right-wing extremism, to enhance their narratives.  I have really enjoyed these excellent books, which are regularly amongst the best Australian novels released each year, and it is always interesting to see what Ayliffe explores next.

While I was hoping that we would be getting a new John Bailey novel soon, it looks instead that Ayliffe is going in a very different direction with his next book, Dark Desert Road.  Following a new protagonist, Dark Desert Road will feature a complex Australian thriller as a burnt-out cop attempts to save her long-estranged family while also dealing with the dark fringes of Australian society.  Set for release in early January 2026, Dark Desert Road will likely be one of the very first books I read in the new year, and I am already excited by its compelling sounding plot.

Plot Synopsis:

Kit McCarthy hasn’t seen her identical twin sister, Billie, in more than a decade.

The sisters don’t see eye to eye, which is understandable, considering Kit’s a police officer and Billie followed their violent father into a life of crime.

Kit is no angel. Burnt out by years working in child protection, she has been accused of using excessive force in the arrest of a violent drunk. Kit has just been ordered to take time off work when she gets a frantic message from Billie, telling her she has a young son and that somebody is trying to kill her.

And then Billie disappears.

Determined to find her estranged sister, Kit’s only lead comes after visiting their father in prison. Malcolm McCarthy claims Billie married a former United States Marine and has been living with a group of sovereign citizens in the desert country of the New South Wales Riverina.

Kit’s journey to find Billie takes her through shuttered towns destroyed by drought, where everybody owns guns, nobody talks to cops, and people get lost for a reason.

Out here a war is brewing between a ruthless bikie gang and a separatist community that is re-engaging with society in the most violent way.

Kit will risk everything to find her sister and the nephew she never knew she had.

But does Billie really want to be saved?

Ok, now this looks like another particularly impressive Australian crime fiction novel from Ayliffe.  Moving away from the author’s previous journalistic/espionage focused narratives in the big city, Dark Desert Road will be more of a classic, outback Australian crime fiction tale, loaded with gritty action, complex characters and an isolated setting.  However, Ayliffe will also throw in his customary examination of Australian society, this time by looking at sovereign citizens in the countryside, which, thanks to recent tragic events, is a very significant issue.  I look forward to seeing Ayliffe’s compelling take on this, as well as his depiction of Australia’s declining rural towns, and I am curious to see what sort of story he writes around them.

Due to how compelling and socially relevant Ayliffe’s previous novels have been, I’m quite keen to check out Dark Desert Road, especially as it has an outstanding sounding plot behind it.  It is going to be interesting to see Ayliffe focus on a new protagonist and a very different story focus, and I strongly believe that Dark Desert Road is going to be one of the top Australian releases of 2026, and I am very excited to check it out.

Five Found Dead by Sulari Gentill

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Australian, Murder Mystery1 Comment

Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press (ebook – 19 August 2025)

Series: Standalone

Length: 310 pages

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Amazon

Those looking for a fun and very meta murder mystery that looks back at the classics should check out the very amusing new novel from Australian author Sulari Gentill, Five Found Dead.

There are few Australian crime fiction authors whose works have entertained me over the years as much as Sulari Gentill’s have.  An amazing author who knows how to combine unique premises with compelling mysteries, Gentill has written some great novels over the years.  I am a particular fan of her Rowland Sinclair series about an unlikely gentleman protagonist in the 1930s who solved crimes loaded with historical cameos, while some of her more recent standalone novels, such as Crossing the Lines, The Woman in the Library and The Mystery Writer, have also received critical acclaim.  As such, I was very happy to get my hands on her latest novel, Five Found Dead, which had a very fun plot behind it which resulted in quite an exciting and fast-paced read.

Plot Synopsis:

On a train, there are only so many places to hide…

Crime fiction author Joe Penvale has won the most brutal battle of his life. Now that he has finished his intense medical treatment, he and his twin sister, Meredith, are boarding the glorious Orient Express in Paris, hoping for some much-needed rest and rejuvenation. Meredith also hopes that the literary ghosts on the train will nudge Joe’s muse awake, and he’ll be inspired to write again. And he is; after their first evening spent getting to know some of their fellow travelers, Joe pulls out his laptop and opens a new document. Seems like this trip is just what the doctor ordered…

And then some. The next morning, Joe and Meredith are shocked to witness that the cabin next door has become a crime scene, bathed in blood but with no body in sight. The pair soon find themselves caught up in an Agatha Christie-esque murder investigation. Without any help from the authorities, and with the victim still not found, Joe and Meredith are asked to join a group of fellow passengers with law enforcement backgrounds to look into the mysterious disappearance of the man in Cabin16G. But when the steward guarding the crime scene is murdered, it marks the beginning of a killing spree which leaves five found dead—and one still missing. Now Joe and Meredith must fight once again to preserve their newfound future and to catch a cunning killer before they reach the end of the line.

Gentill brings the fun with this very compelling and exciting crime fiction novel that serves as a great love letter to a classic Agatha Christie novel.  Bringing together a colourful array of characters, including an overabundance of cliche detectives and setting them loose against an apparent serial killer, Five Found Dead was a very easy book to fall in love with, and I ended up powering through it in less than a day.

The plot for Five Found Dead had a lot of interesting elements to it, which resulted in a very fast-paced novel that hit a lot of entertaining notes.  Starting off with some quick introductions to the lawyer protagonist and her author brother, you soon find yourself aboard the iconic Orient Express.  A natural setting for any murder mystery, Gentill brought together an amusing array of characters inspired by classic crime fiction novels, many of whom are revealed to have law enforcement backgrounds, as well as a very similar grudge.  The story naturally soon devolves into a compelling murder mystery when a guest disappears from their blood-soaked room.  Thanks to a new strain of coronavirus infecting part of the train, the passengers find themselves stuck on the rails, and it falls to the protagonists and the various assembled detectives to solve the case.  However, a series of additional murders quickly unfold across the train, resulting in chaos and anarchy, especially when the normal passengers of the train attempt to escape the growing massacre.

I loved the excellent and fast pace of Five Found Dead as Gentill cleverly lays out the respective murders and keeps increasing the stakes of the plot.  While much of the story is intentionally silly, including the appearance of so many stereotypical detectives with connections to the initial victim, the author works it into a great investigation angle, and I had fun working out who was behind the killings.  There are some fantastic twists and turns throughout the book, and while I saw a few reveals coming thanks to the featured clues, the identity of the actual antagonist hit me by surprise.  Some of this was due to the clever red herrings and potential alternate suspects that Gentill included, although I must admit the brilliantly crazy disguise utilised by the killer helped a lot.  This led to a very exciting and over-the-top conclusion, where all the secrets come out and the various fun storylines come together.  I had an absolute blast getting to the end of Five Found Dead, and Gentill crafted an extremely exciting murder mystery here that served as an homage to the classic, while also bringing its own flair to the occasion.

While Five Found Dead is loaded with amazing and familiar characters, I feel that I need to highlight protagonist Meredith Penvale and her brother Joe as the two best written characters in the novel.  A pair of Australian twins, Meredith and Joe have journeyed to the Orient Express to celebrate Joe’s recent cancer remission and to rejuvenate his writing muse.  While much of the story revolves around Meredith’s inadvertent role as amateur detective aboard this train of suspicious souls, Gentill also spends time examining the emotional health of these two main characters, and as a result dives deep into the impacts of cancer and the effects it can have on both the sufferers and their loved ones.  In this case, Meredith is the loyal sister who sacrificed a successful career to care for her brother and, now that he’s recovered, is wondering where her life will go and whether to follow her true passions.  Joe, on the other hand, is a seemingly light-hearted figure who has an amusing meta initial arc about a murder mystery set onboard the Orient Express.  However, there is also a lot of hidden fear in Joe about his cancer returning, which sees him literally running from bad news, while also trying to keep this potential truth from his long-suffering sister.  You can tell that Gentill put a lot of herself into these two characters, and their personal focuses outside the mystery are extremely realistic and powerful.  Indeed, these personal concerns and the powerful writing that accompanies them gives Five Found Dead some much needed emotional heft that helped to evolve this novel into something truly special.  Throw in all the additional eccentric figures that accompany Meredith and Joe onto the Orient Express, and Five Found Dead has a truly amazing cast who enhance the entire story.

Overall, I found Five Found Dead to be an addictive and engaging novel that I honestly couldn’t stop reading.  Sulari Gentill’s latest standalone novel was a wonderful blend of mystery, charming humour and complex characters, that came together into something extremely awesome.  I really enjoyed Five Found Dead, and it is an excellent read for someone in the mood for a light-hearted murder mystery with some amazing heart to it.

Amazon

Of Flame and Fury by Mikayla Bridge

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Australian, Fantasy, Young Adult1 Comment

Publisher: Macmillan (Trade Paperback – 15 July 2025)

Series: Standalone / Book One

Length: 383 pages

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Amazon

Australian author Mikayla Bridge produces one of the more compelling young adult fantasy debuts of 2025 with the inventive and clever read, Of Flame and Fury.

Plot Synopsis:

On an island built from ash and shrouded in fire, phoenix racing is a sport just as profitable as it is deadly.

Seventeen-year-old Kel Varra and her team of underdogs, the Crimson Howlers, are desperate to win the annual races and the fortune that comes with it. But the Howlers need a new rider, which leads Kel to join forces with Warren “Coup” Coupers – an arrogant rival she can’t get out of her head.

As tensions rise on and off the track, Kel’s home is mistakenly burned down, and she’s forced to take a job from a mysterious tech mogul with an unsettling interest in her phoenix, Savita. This sets in motion a conspiracy that threatens everyone Kel cares for, especially Coup, for whom her embers of resentment are quickly igniting into something dangerously new.

Heart-pounding pages full of steamy romance, fiery confessions, political scheming, and volatile magic culminate in a final twist readers will never see coming.

Of Flame and Fury was a very interesting 2025 young adult fantasy release that I was quite excited to get my hands on.  The first book from Australian author Mikayla Bridge, Of Flame and Fury had a very exciting plot behind it which Bridge effectively built on with an excellent story and some fantastic writing.

I ended up really enjoying Of Flame and Fury’s intriguing narrative, which grabs the reader’s attention early thanks to an initial intense and tragic phoenix racing sequence.  This early race quickly and effectively sets up most of the book’s key characters, including protagonist Kel Varra and her rival and inevitable romantic interest, Coup, with an additional, fiery moment bonding these key figures together.  The story quickly moves onward with Kel forced to recruit Coup to her phoenix racing team, which has been recruited by a powerful tech mogul with his own hidden agenda.  This initial part of the book was quite interesting and set up a lot of key story elements, while also providing readers with a lot of the new lore in Bridge’s phoenix filled society.

While fun and loaded with interesting character introductions, this early part of the book lacked a little action, especially as there was a nearly 150-page gap between the first and second phoenix races.  I feel that some readers may lose momentum in this part of the book, especially as the promised races are such a big part of the book’s appeal.  Still, I enjoyed the story development here, and Of Flame and Fury’s big races, when they finally start, have all the chaotic fun you’d hope for, made even more exciting and compelling by the character relationships and distinctive fantasy elements Bridge introduced and built up during this period.

The second half of the book flies by quickly, as you soon get drawn into the various races, intrigues, and complex relationships that are such a vital part of the narrative, even if the main enemies-to-lovers storyline was a little tropey.  I ended up really enjoying the compelling focus on the intrigues of the corporation sponsoring Kel and her team, which leads up to the big climax of the book.  While it does have an obvious villain, the motivations of this antagonist are very important and well set out.  The revelations around this main storyline make Of Flame and Fury’s plot really stand out, especially as it leads to an impressive twist I honestly didn’t see coming.  This big twist worked extremely well, as it cleverly utilized lore elements that Bridge had been inserting into the narrative the entire time, while also completely reshaping your entire perspective of the preceding story.  I deeply appreciated how this came together, and its excellent execution honestly amplified my entire estimation of this novel.  Following on from this, Bridge leads Of Flame and Fury to its fantastic conclusion, which featured all the drama and intensity you would expect from a great young adult fantasy novel, and which leaves the reader very satisfied.

I felt that Of Flame and Fury came together extremely well as a novel, and Bridge really showcased her writing chops in her debut.  Primarily shown from the perspective of the main character, Kel, Of Flame and Fury was a very fast-paced read that did a good job of blending fantasy elements with compelling characters.  I love how seamlessly Bridge was able to work the unique elements of her fantasy universe into the narrative, and readers were quickly able to get across the cool phoenix lore.  The resulting high-octane phoenix races were a real highlight of this novel, while other bits of compelling lore were well utilised, especially in that cool twist I gushed about above.

Bridge kept an excellent young adult tone for Of Flame and Fury, resulting in a novel that would primarily appeal to teenager readers, while also being quite enjoyable for older fantasy fans, especially those who like unique ideas or compelling characters.  There is also a certain amount of appeal for the romantasy crowd, thanks to the fiery relationship between Kel and Coup.  As someone who doesn’t massively enjoy romance fiction, I personally found the enemies-to-lovers sub-plot to be one of the weaker parts of the book, while the book’s secondary romance (between team winger Dira and corporate engineer Rahn) was a little more interesting.  Still, I’m sure more typical romance/romantasy fans will enjoy the combative relationship between Kel and Coup, and it helps that both are well-written characters who stand on their own outside of the romance.

Due to its great characters, clever story and fun, fire-filled phoenix races, Of Flame and Fury was an awesome young adult fantasy novel, and it’s one I had a lot of fun reading.  New author Mikayla Bridge proved to be extremely talented with this debut book, and I will be curious to see what she writes next.  An overall wonderful novel that will appeal to a wide audience.

Amazon

The Bolthole by Peter Papathanasiou

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Australian, Murder Mystery2 Comments

Publisher: MacLehose (Trade Paperback – 29 July 2025)

Series: DS George Manolis – Book Four

Length: 349 pages

My Rating: 4.25 out of 5 stars

Amazon

Acclaimed Australian crime fiction author Peter Papathanasiou returns with another outstanding entry in his DS George Manolis series, The Bolthole.

Peter Papathanasiou is an Australian author who has been making some excellent waves in recent years with his intricate and culturally relevant murder mysteries set around striking areas of outback Australia, as well as one novel set in Greece.  These books form part of his DS George Manolis series, which I had had the pleasure of first reading in 2023 with the third entry in the series, The Pit.  A fantastic novel that combined moving character history with the red desert of the Kimberley mining region, The Pit was a captivating and memorable novel that I had a great time with.  As such, I was very interested when a copy of The Bolthole arrived, and it proved to be another curious read.

Plot Synopsis:

Located off the coast of South Australia, Kangaroo Island lies surrounded by violent seas harbouring deadly great white sharks and forgotten shipwrecks.

Over the centuries the Islanders have cultivated a sense of self-sufficiency, independence and resilience. But times are changing: multimillionaires from the mainland are building immense clifftop mansions and filling the skies with private planes and helicopters. A quiet paradise is being transformed into a bolthole for the rich and privileged. And the locals aren’t happy.

Richard Marlowe, a wealthy “blow-in” to the island, goes missing, last seen wading into the ocean for a dawn swim. A shark attack is blamed, but things don’t add up. Reuniting for a new investigation, Detective Sergeant Manolis and Senior Constable Sparrow arrive on the island, but their presence isn’t welcomed, either. Faced with hostility from both Islanders and newcomers, their attempts to locate the missing man are derailed by a civil war over limited resources, a fragile environment, and fractured community dynamics.

The Bolthole was another compelling novel from Papathanasiou that successfully blended a cool focus on an iconic Australian setting with a slow-burn mystery.  The result was an awesome novel that I had an excellent time getting through and which consistently kept my attention.

Papathanasiou’s new novel is primarily set on the historical and picturesque Kangaroo Island and features an intricate mystery about a powerful business luminary who goes missing during his morning surf.  Arriving on the island, protagonists Detective Sergeant Manolis and Senior Constable Sparrow begin an investigation of the disappearance.  With a split focus between these two protagonists, The Bolthole’s narrative goes at slow but steady pace, as the police officers become familiar with the island, its people, and certain controversial local politics and developments that the victim, Richard Marlowe, was involved in.

The author sets The Bolthole’s mystery out in a very methodical and detail focused manner, with the protagonists trying to learn everything about the victim and potential suspects in the case, while also dealing with their own personal conflicts and concerns.  While the plot was often focused more on the social, cultural and environmental issues affecting Kangaroo Island, the investigation angle was constantly ongoing, and Papathanasiou continued to fit in subtle clues and development.  The conclusion of The Bolthole was intense and captivating, with several clever twists, some great reveals, and even a bit of exciting action.  Most readers are going to come away from this novel very satisfied, and I felt that Papathanasiou produced an impressive piece of Australian crime fiction.

The Bolthole proved to be an effective, character-driven mystery novel that once again showcased the author’s love of remote and unique locations.  A rich and detail laden book, The Bolthole is a slower read than most crime fiction novels; however, this deliberate pacing from Papathanasiou allows him to feature a great collection of supporting characters, while also really diving into compelling setting of Kangaroo Island.  The author spends a lot of time exploring the island, and readers come away with a great deal of knowledge about its history, environment and culture, with a particular focus on some of the modern issues impacting it.  This includes extended discussions about new developments, exploitation of natural resources, impacts on the environment, and concerns about cultural changes to Kangaroo Island led by new wealthy residents buying up the land.  While the focus on these issues comes across a little preachy at times, it plays into the narrative around the main mystery extremely well and helps to explore certain character motivations and attitudes, while also laying down some false leads for the reader.  As such, the resulting mystery proves to be quite compelling, and the unique tone that Papathanasiou took for this book is going to appeal to a lot of readers.

On top of the above elements, I must also mention the great characters featured within The Bolthole, as Papathanasiou brings back the two main protagonists from his previous novels, Detective Sergeant Manolis and Senior Constable Sparrow.  Both these police characters have some interesting character elements, which the author does an excellent job exploring through their separate perspective chapters.  Manolis, for example, is still dealing with certain revelations about his family that came up in previous books and spends much of the novel guilty about how the truth will impact his partner.  At the same time, he tries to balance his obsession with finding justice with his failing marriage and his inability to properly prioritise them.  Sparrow, on the other hand, is dealing with his extreme dislike of the island due to the historical atrocities inflecting on his people there by white settlers, as well as issues around his own past and hidden sexuality.  While the author somewhat overplayed Sparrow’s cultural outrage and snarky nature in this book, for the most part these two protagonists are great to follow, and they blend well with the massive array of supporting characters that populate the author’s version of Kangaroo Island.  There are a lot of interesting figures in this supporting cast, and it proved fun to see the protagonists dive into their various histories.  This includes the victim, Richard Marlowe, whose own history and motivations proved quite interesting to uncover.  These characters, and more, all added a lot to The Bolthole’s overall impact, and it allowed for quite a compelling narrative in the end.

Peter Papathanasiou continues to showcase his skill as one of Australia’s more unique crime fiction authors with the distinctive novel, The Bolthole.  An excellent book with a lot of interesting elements to it, The Bolthole hits hard and keeps the reader’s attention with a great mystery and a compelling look at certain real-world issues.  A recommended novel, especially for those who love crime fiction reads that make full use of the background settings.

Amazon

Quick Review – Landfall by James Bradley

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Australian, Murder Mystery, Quick Review, Science Fiction, Thriller1 Comment

Publisher: Penguin (ebook – 23 April 2025)

Series: Standalone

Length: 336 pages

My Rating: 4.25 out of 5 stars

Amazon

Those in the mood for a though-provoking and powerful Australian crime fiction read would do well to check out the excellent 2025 release, Landfall.  Written by acclaimed Australian author James Bradley, Landfall was a clever and intense standalone novel that presented a gritty crime fiction scenario in a dark Australian future.

Plot Synopsis:

In an already swamped city, a disastrous weather system looms, making the search to find a missing child urgent.

A missing child.

A city on edge.

Time is running out…

The world is in the grip of climate catastrophe. Sydney has been transformed by rising sea levels, soaring temperatures and rocketing social divide and unrest.

When a small girl on the margins goes missing, Senior Detective Sadiya Azad is assigned to find her. She knows exactly what it is to be displaced, and swallowed by the landscape. A murder at the site of the child’s disappearance suggests a connection and web of corruption, but fear keeps eyes turned and mouths closed.

With few leads to go on and only days until a deadly storm strikes the city, Sadiya and offsider Detective Sergeant Paul Findlay find themselves locked in a race against time.

Chilling and utterly compelling, Landfall is crime writing at its best – and a terrifying vision of the future bearing down on us.

Landfall was an excellent and exciting novel from earlier this year that presented a compelling crime fiction read with a complex and emotionally charged background setting.  Taking place in a dystopian version of modern Sydney that is starting to flood due to climate change, Landfall follows Senior Detective Sadiya Azad and her new partner, Detective Sergeant Paul Findlay, as they attempt to find a child who went missing around the Tideline, a slum area of the city that has been most impacted by rising sea levels.  However, they soon find their investigation hampered by multiple elements including corrupt policing, uncooperative family members with their own political agendas, rampart social divides and more.  This proves to be a strong start to Landfall, and Bradley does a good job of setting up the reality of Sydney, as well as introducing the case and some of the key players.

The story takes an interesting turn when a murdered body is found at a site connected to the child’s disappearance.  Assuming the two cases are linked, the protagonists are forced to investigate suspects related to the murder victim and her corporate ties, and the missing child, trying to find out who is responsible, while also dealing with the dark threat of an oncoming tropical cyclone that looks set to destroy half the city.  At the same time, several other key perspective character are introduced, including Tasim, a refugee living on the streets, who witnesses the abduction and finds himself dragged into events, and Sadiya’s dementia-suffering father, Arman, whose fractured mind provides greater context to their family’s history, as well as showing the early days of some of the environmental crisis’s impacting the world.

These character-focused storylines combine nicely to create an intriguing and compelling overall narrative, and I liked the various themes and outlooks at the future they contained.  The main investigative focus of Sadiya’s narrative is well balanced by the more human stories of Tasim and Arman, and Bradley also makes use of some intense flashback sequences to really build up the tragedy surrounding all these figures.  The mystery narrative also goes in some interesting directions, and while the culprit isn’t too surprising, Bradley does a good job focusing on the characters building their case and pulling together the conclusions.  Unsurprisingly, the climax of Landfall comes together amid the cyclone, with all the characters facing the storm in different ways.  This last part of the book, while dramatic and featuring a high-stakes backdrop, was a little rushed, and could have used a little padding to make it more satisfying.  Still, this is a mostly well-balanced narrative that allows for a good conclusion to the main story arc while also allowing Bradley to make all his thematic points.

Landfall ended up being an excellent overall read and Bradley succeeded in pulling together a complex novel with a lot of moving parts to it.  The central mystery element of the novel, while compelling on its own, was greatly enhanced by the author’s examinations of the future, which features some dire predictions and warnings, wrapped up in very human stories to make them even more impactful.  While an excellent police protagonist, I felt that Sadiya’s personal story was a bit overshadowed by Tasim and Arman’s arcs, especially as Tasmin’s story about losing his family to heatwaves and the harsh journey to Australia, as well as the very realistic depictions of dementia with Arman.  All three of these character’s stories are well wrapped up in the final chapters of the book, although I do wish there had been another chapter or two just to showcase what happened in the aftermath.  The overall focus on the potential dire future for Sydney and the world was probably the most impressive and notable part of Landfall, and Bradley provided a compelling, if terrifying, portrait of probable events to come that gives this book a fantastic edge that scrapes the edge of overshadowing the main mystery, and allows for quite a powerful overall read.

With its complex characters, intense story, and compelling visions of the future, Landfall by James Bradley was one of the more distinctive Australian novels of 2025, and I was glad I got the chance to check out my first book from the author.  An extremely interesting novel that blends crime fiction with social messaging, Landfall comes highly recommended, especially for those with one eye on the future.

Amazon

2 Sisters Murder Investigations by James Patterson and Candice Fox

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Australian, Murder Mystery, Thriller3 Comments

Publisher: Century (Trade Paperback – 18 March 2025)

Series: 2 Sisters Detective Agency – Book Two

Length: 352 pages

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Amazon

The team of iconic crime fiction author James Patterson and one of Australia’s best thriller authors, Candice Fox, once again come together for the outstanding 2025 sequel, 2 Sisters Murder Investigations.

James Patterson and Candice Fox are both very talented authors whose work I have been really enjoying since I started reading more crime fiction.  Patterson, the iconic writer who is known for his various long-running series, has been primarily producing collaborative work with other authors in recent years, including Death of the Black Widow with J. D. Barker, The No. 1 Lawyer with Nancy Allen and The Perfect Assassin by Brian Sitts.  Fox on the other hand, has been on a real roll with her great recent standalone novels, including Devil’s Kitchen, Fire with Fire, High Wire and The Chase.  On top of those previous novels, Patterson and Fox have found time to collaborate on several great books, including the fun 2024 novel, The Murder Inn, and their outstanding previous novel, 2 Sisters Detective Agency, the latter of which, has generated a sequel I now want to talk about with 2 Sisters Murder Investigations.  Following two mismatched sisters who find themselves investigating crimes in L. A. after re-opening their father’s old detective agency, this interesting series was very fun, I was very happy to receive a copy of the second 2 Sisters Detective Agency novel earlier this year.

Plot Synopsis:

Rhonda and Barbara “Baby” Bird are half-sisters—and full partners in their Los Angeles detective agency. They agree on nothing.

Rhonda, a former attorney, takes a by-the-book approach to solving crimes, while teenage Baby relies on her street smarts.

But when they take a controversial case of a loner whose popular wife has gone missing, they’re accused of being PIs who can’t tell a client from a killer.

The Bird sisters share a late father, but not much else…except their willingness to fight.

Fight the system. Fight for the underdog. Fight for the truth. If they can stop fighting each other long enough to work together.

Patterson and Fox produce another outstanding and highly entertaining crime fiction read with 2 Sisters Murder Investigations, which quickly grabs your attention and keeps pushing you forward.  Slick, easy-to-read, and full of excitement, 2 Sisters Murder Investigations was another great thriller from two masters of the genre.

2 Sisters Murder Investigations had an excellent story behind it that sees the dysfunctional Bird sisters, older sister Rhonda and rampart teenager Baby, working together at their family detective agency after the events of the first book.  After an entertaining start that shows that the sisters still aren’t on the same page, 2 Sisters Murder Investigations thrusts them into a compelling new case when the main suspect in a current murder case requests their help to prove his innocence.  Deciding to take on the case against their better judgment, Rhonda and Baby try to help their new client, Troy Hansen, who is accused of murdering his missing wife, and whose unusual demeanour about the case has convinced the entire city he is guilty.

Patterson and Fox’s narrative for 2 Sisters Murder Investigations splits early, as Rhonda’s perspective chapters primarily focus on the Hansen case, which goes in some interesting directions.  Under pressure from both the public and the police to stop helping Troy, Rhonda tries to prove his innocence, but she is quickly stymied by a series of problems, including lethal intruders trying, her client’s unusual behaviour, and a box full of concerning evidence hidden at the crime scene.  At the same time, Baby attempts to help an older man who is being targeted as part of a sinister scheme to force him to sell his house to a corrupt company.  The resulting storylines both go in interesting directions, especially the one around Rhonda and her attempts to help Troy, as the evidence continues to point to her client being a dangerous killer.  The eventual result for this plot thread was very captivating, and there were some great twists here, including an unlikely alternate suspect who suddenly shows up.  While the reveal about the actual killer wasn’t all that surprising, the way that Patterson and Fox set it up was extremely good, and the fast-paced conclusion to that arc, as well as the surprising tragedy, allowed for some captivating and intense moments.  While I liked this main plotline, the secondary storyline with Baby attempting to take on her own case ended up being a little rushed, especially at the end, although I did enjoy seeing how Baby comes into her own and acquires an excellent canine friend.  While this weak ending to the second storyline does rob 2 Sisters Murder Investigations of some of its overall impact, I did feel that this narrative for the sequel was very strong, and all thriller fans, even those unfamiliar with the series or the authors, will have a lot of fun with it.

I really enjoyed how entertaining and exciting the authors made 2 Sisters Murder Investigations, and Patterson and Fox ensure that this was a highly compelling and fun novel to read.  Utilising the multiple short, sharp paragraphs that Patterson fans will be familiar with, 2 Sisters Murder Investigations was a very easy novel to power through as you jump from one compelling scene to the next.  These quick chapters really encourage you to keep going, as the next twists could be only pages away, and I found myself speeding through the story.  It helped that Patterson and Fox did a good job splitting the novel’s focus between the two sister protagonists, which allows for a layered narrative, especially as both characters have different focuses and priorities, resulting in a well-balanced and complex overarching story.  These separate storylines have a certain distinctness given to them, especially as the authors switched up the perspective style depending on whose chapter it is.  For example, Rhonda is shown as more of main protagonist due to her chapters being told in the first person, while Baby’s chapters are told in the third person, which helps to reflect her more junior role in the team.  While Patterson and Fox could have perhaps done a better job at the front of each chapter showing which character is the focal point of the book at that point, for the most part this split is pretty seamless, and I liked the alternating and fast-paced nature of the novel that the author’s writing style allows for.

On top of the great story and exciting writing style, I quite enjoyed how Patterson and Fox revisited the main characters of the series, sisters Rhonda and Baby Bird.  Still in conflict despite the initial successful nature of their relationship, Rhonda and Baby play off each other extremely well as dysfunctional sisters, which allows for a lot of fun interactions amongst the darker nature of the plot.  While you could argue there is a slight loss of character growth between Rhonda and Baby in 2 Sisters Murder Investigations, as they lose some of the cohesion they built up in the first novel, I think their continued bickering and disagreement worked well in the context of the story, as Baby tried to stretch her wings, while Rhonda continues to adjust to being a responsible guardian to a new sister.  Throw in some excellent supporting characters, including Rhonda’s complicated love interest, an obsessed cop investigating the murder, a lonely old man who finds purpose thanks to Baby, and one suspicious client who helped to showcase the unlikely choices those under pressure make, and this was a fun cast that turned 2 Sisters Murder Investigations into a really awesome read.

Overall, 2 Sisters Murder Investigations was a great sequel to James Patterson and Candice Fox’s 2 Sisters Detective Agency, and it was very cool to see the Bird sisters back in action again.  Featuring a fascinating and gripping narrative that you can easily speed through and still have an awesome time, 2 Sisters Murder Investigations was an outstanding novel that is worth reading, especially if you have enjoyed the previous collaborations between Patterson and Fox.

Amazon

Waiting on Wednesday – Kill Your Boss by Jack Heath

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Australian, Murder Mystery, Waiting on Wednesday3 Comments

Welcome to my weekly segment, Waiting on Wednesday, where I look at upcoming books that I am planning to order and review in the next few months and which I think I will really enjoy.  Stay tuned to see reviews of these books when I get a copy of them.  For this latest Waiting on Wednesday, I highlight an excellent upcoming piece of Australian crime fiction from one of my favourite local authors, with Kill Your Boss by Jack Heath.

Fans of over-the-top crime fiction will be quite familiar with Australian author Jack Heath, who has produced some very interesting and memorable novels over the last several years.  The author is probably known for excellent Timothy Blake series, which follows a murder-solving cannibal as he attempts to solve complex cases while also finding his next gory meal and I have deeply entries such as Hideout and Headcase.

In addition to these fun books, Heath has also written some gripping pieces of Australian crime fiction, including the outstanding novel, Kill Your Brother, which saw a damaged protagonist imprisoned and forced to choose between killing her guilty brother or dying alongside him.  This was an amazing book, and I loved the intense and twist laden story that emerged.  Kill Your Brother ended up being one of my favourite Australian novels of 2021, and I was very excited when Heath subsequently produced a sequel to it in 2023 with Kill Your Husbands.  A particularly memorable sequel to Kill Your Brother that brought back some of the novel’s original protagonists, Kill Your Husbands had a powerful plot involving brutal murders following an ill-advised bout of partner swapping.  This very entertaining sequel proved to be just as clever as Heath’s previous entry in the series, and Kill Your Husbands ended up being one of my favourite Australian novels of 2023.

Due to how impressive Heath’s last several novels have been, as well as the fact that he is consistently one of the best authors of Australian crime fiction, I am naturally keen to read any new novel he releases.  As such, I was particularly stoked to find out that he had a new book coming out later this year with Kill Your Boss.  Set for release in November 2025, Kill Your Boss will see the main police protagonist from Heath’s previous two Australian novels investigate the murder of a hated manager of the local library, who everyone had a motive to kill.

Plot Synopsis:

What would it take to turn you into a killer?

Detective Sergeant Kiara Lui has just broken up a loud brawl between two blokes in front of the Warrigal Public Library. But just as she’s about to leave the scene, a man inexplicably plummets from the sky and slams into the bike rack right in front of her, dead.

Neville Adams was the head of library services, hated by staff, borrowers, or in fact anybody who had ever met him. Kiara quickly seals the building, trapping everyone who might have pushed him off the roof. She expects to have someone in custody within minutes.

Instead, the investigation becomes the most challenging and dangerous of her career as it spirals outward, ensnaring half the town. It seems that Neville was connected to the disappearance of Emmylou Chisholm – a case that Kiara could never solve, and that has haunted her ever since.

If the killer isn’t found fast, the first two victims won’t be the last . . .

Compelling, propulsive and darkly funny, this is a perfect follow-up to Jack Heath’s bestselling Kill Your Husbands.

Very interesting! I must admit that I really like the sound of the above plot synopsis, and it looks like Heath has pulled together another twisty and complex Australian murder mystery.  Focussing the case around a very dislikeable manager figure should make this a very relatable case for the average office worker, and you just know that Heath is going to have fun turning his murder victim into a despicable figure that everyone hates for good reason.  Indeed, I get the feeling that Kill Your Boss is going to have a somewhat humorous tone to it, and it is going to be very interesting to see how Heath balances this with the more serious crime fiction elements.

Based on the synopsis above, it sounds like Kill Your Boss is going to initially become some sort of looked-room mystery with all the suspects contained in the same location.  I think this has a lot of potential, mainly because that’s not an extremely common trope in Australian crime fiction (with Benjamin Stevenson’s Ernest Cunningham books being an obvious exception), and I cannot wait to see how a bunch of likely over-the-top library staff and patrons trapped in the building will react to the whole scenario.  It looks like Heath is going to take this one step further by expanding the murder investigation to encapsulate a cold case that the protagonist has a particular connection to, which should make this quite an intense and powerful read.  The whole scenario sounds particularly intriguing, and with the highly entertaining Heath at the helm, it is likely to result in a very impressive and addictive novel.

Overall, Kill Your Boss sounds like quite a fantastic upcoming novel, and it’s one I pretty darn excited for.  Jack Heath has really impressed me in recent years with his elaborate and outrageous crime fiction novels, and it will be interesting to see how he continues to utilise the protagonists from Kill Your Brother and Kill Your Husbands.  Kill Your Boss will likely end up being one of the top Australian releases of 2025, and I anticipate that it will be a particularly incredible novel.

Top Ten Tuesday – My Favourite Australian Books from the First Half of 2025

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Australian, List3 Comments

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature that currently resides at The Artsy Reader Girl and features bloggers sharing lists on various book topics.  The official topic for this week’s Top Ten Tuesday was to lists books with a beachy theme to them. While this is an interesting concept, it’s not one I think I can contribute to in the dead of Australia’s Winter and I’m instead going to do something different and will provide two separate lists here that continue my theme of recapping the first half of 2025.

I have had a lot of fun recapping some of the best recent books and audiobooks released in the first half of 2025 in previous weeks, but I also need to spend this time highlighting other specific releases from the first half of the year.  While last year I examined new authors and pre-2024 fiction in my mid-year lists, as I had an abundance of these in my reading list, 2025 is shaping up to be very different, as I instead seem to have read an awful lot of novels from Australian authors.  While I generally tend to read a great deal of Australian fiction each year due to my location, I have found that 2025 has been a particularly impressive year for Australian fiction, with some truly outstanding novels from very talented local authors.

As such, I thought I would take this opportunity to highlight some of the very best Australian talents who have so far released books in 2025.  To make it onto this list, the book had to be released by an Australia author this year.  I tend to take a bit of a different approach to Australian fiction than some other bloggers, as I highlight all books written by Australian authors rather than novels purely set in Australia or featuring Australian characters.  The eventual list I pulled together was pretty long, but I was eventually able to whittle it down into the absolute best Australian books of the year so far, which included some amazing reads from across the genres.

Honourable Mentions:

Landfall by James Bradley

A gritty crime fiction read set in a deteriorating future Sydney.

Amazon

 

Barren Cape by Michelle Prak

A compelling contemporary read that touches on some very pressing Australian issues.

Amazon

 

Of Flame and Fury by Mikayla Bridge

A great young adult fantasy debut from a talented new author.

Amazon

Top Ten List:

Whisper in the Wind by Luke Arnold

First of this list we have the exceptional urban fantasy novel, Whisper in the Wind by rising Australian author Luke Arnold.  The fourth book in his Fetch Phillips series, Whisper in the Wind was a powerful novel that saw the author’s damaged protagonist once again dragged into the chaotic events engulfing the formerly magical city he doomed.  A very clever novel that perfectly built on the amazing narrative threads of the previous entries in the series, this was one of Arnold’s most impressive books yet and I cannot recommend it enough.

Amazon

 

Broke Road by Matthew Spencer

Next, we have one of the best pieces of Australian crime fiction in 2025, with Broke Road by Matthew Spencer.  The sequel to Spencer’s excellent debut, Black River, Broke Road brought back the author’s compelling protagonists as they investigated a brutal killing in small town Australia.  Featuring a particularly impressive and gripping case, Broke Road had me hooked the entire way through and I deeply enjoyed this complex and powerful read.

Amazon

 

Gunnawah by Ronni Salt

New author Ronni Salt greatly impresses with her debut novel, Gunnawah.  A captivating crime fiction read set back in 1970s rural Australia, Gunnawah provides an interesting examination of the period while hooking you with a cool mystery.  A great piece of Australian fiction from a memorable debuting author.

Amazon

 

Sins of the Fathers by John Byrnes

John Byrnes once again dives back into the early 20th century with his historical epic Sins of the Fathers.  Following several battling young characters as they attempt to survive the harrowing 1910s, Sins of the Fathers was another strong outing from Byrnes who has really found his writing niche.

Amazon

 

The Bluff by Joanna Jenkins

After having a lot of fun with her cool 2023 debut, How to Kill a Client, Joanna Jenkins returns with the outstanding sequel, The Bluff.  Moving Jenkin’s big city lawyer protagonist from her first book to small town Australia, The Bluff sees the protagonist attempt to unwind a series of events that lead to the death of the town’s local hero, and the disappearance of a young outcast girl.  A masterful read that cleverly recaps events from the past, The Bluff was a brilliant sequel from Jenkins, who continues to showcase her massive potential as an author.

Amazon

 

Pacific Heights by S. R. White

The next book on this list is the intricate murder mystery, Pacific Heights, by the distinctive S. R. White.  A spinoff from his main series, Pacific Heights follows two detectives as they attempt to solve a murder that took place in easy view of multiple apartments.  However, the case becomes complicated when each of the witnesses has a different story, and no series of events truly matches up.  A powerful read that combines an excellent mystery with a fun cautionary tale about perception.

Amazon

 

The Whisperer’s War by Jackie French

A complex World War II drama from one of Australia’s best authors, this was an outstanding book and one I got really caught up in.

Amazon

 

The Reunion by Bronwyn Rivers

Another outstanding Australian fiction debut in 2025 was The Reunion by Bronwyn Rivers.  Following a group of former friends who return to the scene of a great tragedy from their shared past many years later, The Reunion brought out old secrets and lies as a deranged mother tries to discover how her son truly died.  A clever and intense novel that you won’t be able to turn away from, The Reunion was very impressive, and I look forward to seeing what cool books Rivers will produce in the future.

Amazon

 

2 Sisters Murder Investigations by James Patterson and Candice Fox

Acclaimed Australian author Candice Fox once again teams with the legendary James Patterson for the exciting read, 2 Sisters Murder Investigation.  A sequel to 2 Sisters Detective Agency, 2 Sisters Murder Investigation was a thrilling novel that followed the turbulent sister protagonists on another wild ride.  Exciting, fast-paced and very fun, this was another great read from this impressive team.

Amazon

 

Vanish by Shelley Burr

The final book was the distinctive crime fiction novel Vanish.  The final book in the author’s Lane Holland trilogy (which previously featured Wake and Ripper), Vanish sees the protagonist embark on an unusual investigation to try and find the fate of a missing girl.  An outstanding novel from one of Australia’s best rising authors, Vanish was a great conclusion to the protagonist’s ongoing storylines and a very worthy entry to this list.

Amazon

 

As you can see from the above, I have managed to check out a bunch of epic Australian novels in the first half of this year.  Each of the above were exceptional and fun reads and I would strongly recommend to everyone.  I look forward to reading more awesome Australian books in the second half of 2025, and I feel that books like The Strength of the Few by James Islington, Everyone in this Bank is a Thief by Benjamin Stevenson and Once a Villain by Vanessa Len are likely to make the end-of-year version of this list.  Make sure to check out my other recent lists about the first half of 2025, especially my other Top Ten Tuesday post tonight, and let me know what cool Australian books you have already checked out this year.