Tag: Murder Mystery

Quick Review – Death on the Tiber by Lindsey Davis

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Historical Fiction, Murder Mystery2 Comments

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton (Trade Paperback – 9 April 2024)

Series: Flavia Albia – Book 12

Length: 380 pages

My Rating: 4.75 out of 5 stars

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Those in the mood for a clever murder mystery in ancient Rome look no further than the 2024 entry in the long-running Flavia Albia series with Death on the Tiber by Lindsey Davis.

I am a huge fan of historical fiction, and one of my favourite ongoing historical series is the outstanding Flavia Albia books by veteran author Lindsey Davis.  The Flavia Albia books, which are a sequel series to the author’s long-running Falco series, follow a determined private investigator in ancient Rome who takes on a range of complex cases and murder investigations, often encountering many of the city’s over-the-top inhabitants.  I have had an amazing time reading this series over the years, including The Third Nero, Pandora’s Boy, A Capitol Death, The Grove of the Caesars (one of my favourite books of 2020), A Comedy of Terrors, Desperate Undertakings (one of my favourite books of 2022) and Fatal Legacy.  As such, I try to read every new Flavia Albia book that comes out, and after accidently avoiding it for much of 2024, I recently finished off the 12th book in the series, Death on the Tiber.


Plot Synopsis:

Rome is in chaos. The empire of a mobster chief is falling apart following his death. Rivals, fearsome relatives and associates are taking up position to vie for the spoils.

With hideous murders in the streets of Rome, a lone female traveller arrives with an agenda of her own. But when her corpse is dragged out of the river bearing signs of foul play, Flavia Alba is drawn in, concerned about her fellow Briton’s fate.

Alba’s quest to find the killer becomes deeply personal when she discovers a man at the centre of the plot is an old adversary of hers. Will she be obsessed by revenge? Can she let the past go, or will it consume her?

Death on the Tiber was a great addition to the Flavia Albia series that features its own distinctive crimes, while also cleverly tying into several of the author’s previous Falco and Flavia Albia books. 

The plot of Death on the Tiber is very compelling, as the protagonist, Flavia Albia, finds herself drawn into the investigation of a murdered tourist pulled out of the Tiber.  However, the case becomes personal for Albia when she discovers the victim’s connection to the gangster Florius, an old foe of her fathers, who years before committed unspeakable evils against Albia and who may have finally returned to Rome.  Determined to finally hunt down Florius and make him pay for his crimes, Albia begins her investigation and soon finds herself embroiled in a deadly gang war that could tip the balance of Rome’s underworld.  Forced to compete with a range of interested parties, including her own vengeful father and uncle, the Roman military and several gangsters and their families who Flavia has previously encountered through her work, the protagonist slowly begins to piece together the events that lead to the victim’s death and the connection to her quarry’s current location.

This proved to be a highly personal and complex entry in the series, and one that I felt served as a love letter to the author’s prior works.  A huge range of characters from previous Flavia Albia novels, as well as major figures from the preceding Falco books, are featured throughout Death on the Tiber as the author takes the opportunity to tie together a range of ongoing storylines related to a major antagonist of the Falco books.  This allows for quite a fascinating read, especially for those readers familiar with the previous works, and it was awesome to see Davis bring together a compelling cast of returning figures. 

The plot moves in some interesting directions as the book nears the end, and Davis adds in a range of compelling layers to the case, including disgruntled mobster wives, a big gang war for the control of Rome, and alternating bands of Roman officials seeking to disrupt events.  The conclusion for the book proves to be very emotionally charged, especially as the protagonist comes face to face with her biggest monster and finally gets some closure.  The main mystery of Death on the Tiber is also extremely well written and utilised, and Davis does an excellent job tying in a lot of the novel’s leads and investigative plots into the main hunt for the returning Florius.  While the reveal of the ultimate culprit behind the killing isn’t especially surprising, the way in which Davis addresses their fate is particularly impressive, and it leads to a very fun final moment in the book.  I loved this last little twist, which I honestly think tied the book together very nicely, and it certainly was one of the moments that has stuck with me since finishing Death on the Tiber off.

This ended up being another strong Flavia Albia book as Davis continues to utilise her trademark style in Death on the Tiber.  Focused primarily through the sarcastic and cynical Flavia, Death in the Tiber evolves into a twisty hunt for answers, that brings together mystery, criminal intrigue, and the protagonist’s various personal connections.  Davis has a very compelling way of writing her stories, and her examinations of Rome through the protagonist’s eyes are often light-hearted, sarcastic, and applying modern mentalities to the ancient society.  This results in an impressive read, especially as Davis lays down an exceptional combination mystery and revenge-focussed narrative.  While I really enjoyed how well Davis revisited multiple previous books from both the Falco and Flavia Albia series, it does mean that readers do need a bit of pre-knowledge of these earlier works to fully appreciate Death on the Tiber’s plot.  Davis does provide some much-needed context at times, which will allow some new or forgetful readers to enjoy this book, but I personally think that people should have at least read the last few Flavia Albia books before Death on the Tiber to really get this book.

Despite the series’ general comedic vibe, Death on the Tiber gets very dark at times, especially as the protagonist is forced to revisit her traumatic history.  The author does an excellent job of diving into Flavia’s trauma and pain on the subject, and it was nice for this compelling protagonist to finally get some closure.  Davis nicely balances some of these darker moments by including an extensive cast of eccentric characters, many of whom are continuing their storylines from both the Falco and Flavia Albia series, and there are some very fun moments scattered throughout Death on the Tiber as a result.  This includes a fun competitiveness with Flavia’s father, Falco, a dive into some other important parental figures in her life, as well as her very strong relationship with her supportive and relentless husband.  I personally loved the return of all the various major gangsters Flavia has dealt with over the years, and it was fun to see her try to investigate them after prior experiences.  However, two of Flavia’s female relatives end up stealing the show in Death on the Tiber, especially at the end where they showed an ironic sense of justice.  An overall great extended cast that served to connect this book to the larger series in some outstanding ways.

With Lindsey Davis’s typical impressive writing and a cool plot laden with mystery and criminal intrigue, Death on the Tiber was an amazing entry in one of my favourite historical fiction series.  Entertaining, addictive and very moving, Death on the Tiber had me hooked from the very beginning, and I wish I’d read it sooner.  I look forward to continuing the Flavia Albia series this year, especially as Davis has a cool book coming out in April set around the ruins of Pompei with There Will Be Bodies.

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Quick Review – Little Red Death by A. K. Benedict

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Fantasy, Murder Mystery1 Comment

Publisher: Simon & Schuster (ebook – 13 February 2025)

Series: Standalone

Length: 383 pages

My Rating: 4.25 out of 5 stars

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I had a wonderful time reading one of the more unique murder mystery novels of 2025, the compelling and occasionally bonkers novel, Litte Red Death by bestselling author A. K. Benedict.


Plot Synopsis:

ONCE UPON A TIME LIKE YOU’VE NEVER READ IT BEFORE . . .

DI Lyla Rondell is on the case of a lifetime. Tasked with investigating a series of perplexing deaths, the only lead she has is that each appears to be based on a different classic fairy tale. Far from the stuff of bedtime stories, the press is having a field day with what they have named the Grimm Ripper Murders.

But as the bodies stack up, Lyla’s whole world is about to flip on its head. Because the killer’s bloody trail stretches deep into her own origin story, and when she discovers the truth, nothing will ever be the same again.

Faced with the fact that everything she knows is fiction, Lyla will have to take a little creative license of her own if she’s going to turn the final page on the killings . . .


Little Red Death was a quite a fascinating read that went in some very surprising directions.  While I was expecting a less conventional crime fiction book, I honestly wasn’t prepared for just how fantastical Little Red Death turned out to be, as Benedict loads in some memorable twists that change everything, while keeping the readers engaged with its compelling plot.

I felt that Little Red Death started off strong and provided some intriguing details that will hook most readers.  The main plotline revolves around DI Lyla Rondell, who is called in to investigate a killing that has been inspired by classic Grimm fairytales.  This case strikes Lyla hard, as years before the girl she loved suddenly disappeared with a classic fairytale plot device left behind.  Receiving taunting messages apparently from the killer, known as the Grimm Ripper, as more vicious fairytale themed murders are carried, Lyla becomes obsessed with the case, hoping that she will finally find her missing friend.  This initial storyline around Lyla is quite impactful in its own right, and Benedict ensures that the first half of the book is made further intriguing thanks to a perspective from a second major character, Katie, a mystery writer who has been kidnapped by the killer and is now being forced to write a series of twisted fairytale murder stories that the Grimm Ripper is using as a guideline for his crimes.  These two major storylines blend quite nicely, and Benedict cleverly layers in some clues at the major events to come, which was very well done in hindsight.  However, despite some hints about the unusual nature of events, nothing quite prepares you for the big twist at the centre of the book.

Now, I don’t want to give too much away about what the big twist is, especially as it is quite fun to find out on your own.  I will say that Benedict does set it up nicely, and it fits the unusual nature of Little Red Death extremely well.  While I can see some murder mystery purists not enjoying it, especially as it veers the story towards fantasy grounds, I personally liked it.  I must admit that I did laugh like crazy when I initially discovered what was happening, because it is pretty out there, but Benedict really commits to it, and it makes Little Red Death really stand out.  Because of this twist, the second half of Little Red Death has a very different tone to it, but it also allows for some great character moments, especially as the main protagonists discover more about themselves and are forced to come to terms with some very hard truths.  It leads up nicely to a series of big twists and shocking moments at the end, which were quite clever in their way, although it did feel like Benedict was trying to make things too complicated at times.  Still, it was a very fun ending, and I liked the sadistically satisfying and unique overall conclusion to Little Red Death, which is extremely meta and brings together a lot of fun references from the rest of the book.

Little Red Death proved to be a very exciting and outrageous book in the end, and I think that Benedict did a great job of introducing and utilising all her unique ideas to create a very distinctive story.  As I mentioned above, the use of multiple character perspectives between Lyla and Katie worked very well to tell a layered narrative with some great added complexity, especially after the big twist showcases their unlikely connection.  Benedict also has fun including a series of Katie’s twisted fairytales throughout the book, which allows the reader to see the inspiration behind the killer’s next murders.  These stories, and other inclusions, add a great self-referential edge to the plot, especially as the characters discuss writing techniques and how to come up with elaborate murders which clearly emulate the author’s own personal experiences.  It also allowed Benedict to showcase knowledge of the original Grimm fairytales, and she twists the classic tales into even darker scenarios.  Benedict further adds to the mystery and darker elements of the story by including multiple subtle meta references and hints throughout the book.  While a few of these at the start seem weird, by the end you realise that Benedict was trying something very clever, and they play in nicely to the book’s complex ending.  I quite liked this fun way in which the author tried to make Little Red Death just a bit more memorable and zanier, and it ensures that you come away from the book really thinking about the full implications of the plot and what it means to both the reader and all the characters.

With a very out-there plot, a unique mystery and some intriguing characters, Little Red Death was one of the more distinctive novels of 2025, and one that I had an outstanding time with.  A. K. Benedict clearly had fun coming up with this dark fairytale themed romp (or maybe not depending on how you see the final meta twist), and Little Red Death is really worth a read, especially if you enjoy unusual and exciting murder mysteries.

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The Bluff by Joanna Jenkins

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Australian, Murder Mystery4 Comments

Publisher: Allen & Unwin (Trade Paperback – 4 March 2025)

Series: How to Kill a Client – Book Two

Length: 432 pages

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

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Impressive new Australian author Joanna Jenkins presents another captivating piece of crime fiction with the gripping and emotionally charged read, The Bluff.

Back in 2023 I had the very great pleasure of reading the fantastic legal thriller, How to Kill a Client.  The debut novel of Australian author Joanna Jenkins, How to Kill a Client followed various members of a prestigious Australian law firm who are forced to deal with the fallout of the murder of one of their biggest clients, a man who everyone in the firm had a motive to kill.  Jenkins produced an outstanding story in her first novel, and How to Kill a Client ended up being one of my favourite debuts and pieces of Australian fiction of 2023.  Due to how good her first book was, I have been keeping an eye out for anything else from Jenkins and I was very happy to see she had a new book coming out in 2025 with The Bluff.  A surprising sequel to How to Kill a Client, The Bluff has been on my to-read list for a while, and I was very glad that I finally got the chance to check it out.

Plot Synopsis:

People like Dash didn’t die. He was only what? Mid-thirties? Well off. Adored. By some anyway. World at his feet. Well, Myddle at his feet, which was his world.

Ruth Dawson has taken a break from big city law to fill in for a few months at a mate’s small-town legal practice in Myddle. It’s not what she’s used to . . .

So when she hears the front door of her office open she’s expecting a weird demand, or a question she doesn’t know the answer to. But it’s Bea Baulderstone’s mum, worried that she hasn’t seen her seventeen-year-old daughter for five days, and Constable Gazza Parker is refusing to report the girl missing.

Ruth tries to find Bea, but Myddle is a wall of indifference. Then Dash Rogers is found at his farm gate, dead from a gunshot wound, and suddenly the town is very interested in Bea’s whereabouts.

An unputdownable thriller of deception and greed, The Bluff reveals an enmeshed web of family and community loyalties, set in the lush rural hinterland of east coast Australia.


The Bluff was an extremely captivating and complex Australian thriller from Joanna Jenkins that stands on its own feet while also serving as a great sequel to How to Kill a Client.  Featuring a fantastic character-driven story loaded with mystery, impressive storytelling and an excellent rural setting, The Bluff had me hooked very quickly, and I ended up powering through it in a day.

I really enjoyed the amazing story that Jenkins came up with for The Bluff, as she provides both an intriguing mystery, and some great character development.  A mostly standalone plot set after the events of How to Kill a Client, the reader is reintroduced to high profile layer Ruth Dawson, who is taking a break from the high-flying life to manage a small law firm in the small New South Wales town of Myddle.  This change in setting and story focus towards a rural thriller, rather than the big-city legal thriller of Jenkins’ previous book, proved to be quite effective, as was the very clever way the author set out The Bluff’s story.

Jenkins ensured that readers get dragged into The Bluff’s tale almost immediately, with two very quick sequences at the start: one that showed a key moment of the plot without any context, and then a subsequent scene where the protagonist is reintroduced and then finds out about the narrative’s two main mysteries, a missing girl and a murder.  With these important bits of information in your brain, the reader is then transported back six months and is shown all the events that occurred over this period that led up to the disappearance of Bea Baulderstone and the murder of Dash Rogers.  Through this six-month period, you become acquainted with all the key players around Myddle and observe their interactions with the victims and the protagonist, and you begin the appreciate the complex web of relationships, problems and personalities that surround the case, as well as the many potential motivations for the book’s main crimes.

This dive back in time was an outstanding writing choice by Jenkins that allowed the reader to really appreciate the full breadth of the relationships and troubles that accompany the crime, all while perfectly utilising The Bluff’s excellent rural setting.  With every brick of plot laid down to hint at the events to come, you find yourself becoming more and more involved with the plot as you try to picture how and why the murder will occur and which of the many interesting and emotional characters may commit it.  The inclusion of a countdown at the start of each new chapter gives a great ticking clock vibe to The Bluff, and you become more and more anxious and excited as you get closer the plot’s principal event.  The reader also begins to appreciate just how despicable the main murder victim is, and that allows for an even more compelling read, as you can see just how many potential people have a motive to kill him, as well as cause the disappearance of the missing girl.

The final third of The Bluff is probably the best, and I flew through it to find out how the story ends.  The final series of events leading up to the pivotal killings are particularly dark (and potentially triggering for some readers), and it was fascinating to see everyone’s emotional state in advance of this crime, especially as there are so many potential suspects.  However, rather than show the killings there, Jenkins instead jumps back to the timeline from the front of the book and spends the last 100 or so pages dealing with the subsequent investigation, with the protagonist pulling events together.  I liked this delay, as it provided an excellent trickle effect for the twists and also allowed the protagonist to shine as she uses her knowledge of events and her own skills at deduction to identify the culprit and protect her friends in the town.  The eventual solutions for the mysteries were very clever, and Jenkins did such a great job subtly dropping the clues throughout the backstory of the plot and setting up the various motivations.  I really appreciated the many complex and compelling twists which fit into the plot perfectly, especially the last one that really made you think.

This entire brilliant story is wrapped up in some great character arcs, as Jenkins features a range of protagonists and potential suspects, each of whom were quite compelling and brought different shades of drama to the plot.  I loved seeing their complex relationships and interactions throughout the plot of The Bluff, especially those that could lead to them committing the book’s main crimes.  There are some really great characters here, and it was especially interesting to see more of series protagonist Ruth Dawson, who is not only continuing to move on from the personal trauma and loneliness that was a key part of How to Kill Your Client, but is also trying to figure out where her life is going after the collapse of her previous law firm.  These character arcs come together in a very satisfying manner at the end of The Bluff, and a lot of this book’s complexity and strength came from how relatable and compelling Jenkins’ made these various characters, especially when it comes to their anger, fear and potential ability to commit murder.

Overall, The Bluff was an exceptional and deeply impressive sequel from Joanna Jenkins that I think was even stronger than the excellent first book.  Featuring a very clever and well-written narrative that brings together powerful character storylines and a great rural setting with complex mystery, The Bluff proved to be extremely captivating, and you will become engrossed in uncovering the full extent of the plot.  One of the best Australian crime fiction books of 2025 so far, The Bluff comes highly recommended and is really worth checking out.

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Quick Review – The Wrong Man by Tim Ayliffe

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

Publisher: Simon & Schuster (Trade Paperback – 3 July 2024)

Series: John Bailey series – Book Five

Length: 335 pages

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

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From one of my favourite Australian crime fiction authors, Tim Ayliffe, comes the fantastic 2024 novel, The Wrong Man, which sees the author’s damaged protagonist investigate a dark new crime in Sydney.

For the last few years, I have become a major fan of Australian author Tim Ayliffe, who has been producing some excellent books as part of 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.  Many of these books, which include The Greater Good, State of Fear, The Enemy Within and Killer Traitor Spy, 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, and I have really enjoyed the captivating Australian stories that emerge.  The fifth book in this series, The Wrong Man, presents the reader with a cool new case as Ayliffe expands his series with an excellent new protagonist.

Plot Synopsis:

The fifth novel in the John Bailey thriller series. Bailey is trying to solve two murders, ten years apart – unfinished business from his former flame Sharon Dexter. But will it cost him his life?

When Sydney socialite Tottie Evans is found dead at a house in Palm Beach, Detective Holly Sutton is called in to investigate. She immediately suspects the boyfriend, a millionaire property developer and ex-mercenary soldier, who refuses to cooperate with police.

Across the city, old-school reporter John Bailey – still haunted by the death of his girlfriend, former cop Sharon Dexter – gets a call about a break-in. It leads to the unearthing of an old case file on a murder at the men-only Sydney Club that Dexter had been pursuing a decade earlier. Her notes reveal a link between that murder and the killing of Tottie Evans.

Suddenly, John Bailey and Holly Sutton have the same mission. And for Bailey, this is a chance to finish a job for the woman who saved his life.

The only problem: a serial killer is already serving a life sentence for the Sydney Club murder.


The Wrong Man was a very impressive addition to the John Bailey series that sees the protagonist dragged into a series of dark murders.  Ayliffe pulls together an intense, compelling and character-focused narrative that makes great use of its protagonists to tell a layered and complex story of murder, secrets and redemption.

The plot of The Wrong Man is cleverly told from the perspective of three central characters, each of whom have their own unique contribution to the overarching story.  The central character is John Bailey, Ayliffe’s damaged series protagonist who has managed to rebuild his life after the trauma of the earlier books and now serves as a mostly balanced figure, determined to uncover the truth no matter what.  Forced to investigate two murders, including a recent slaying and an older killing that his dead former love interest solved, Bailey finds old pain coming to the surface again and must also face interference from one of his only friends, CIA spy Ronnie Johnson, who is trying to stop Bailey’s investigation into a prominent military contractor.  Bailey is backed up in this book by his current love interest, reporter Annie Brooks, whose own journalistic interest in the case is supported by her connection to one of the suspects.  The two of them prove to be an effective team, although I felt that the third central protagonist, Holly Sutton, was the one who stole the show.

Holly Sutton is a new police protagonist who is assigned to investigate the murders Bailey and Brooks are looking into.  Another highly damaged protagonist who has issues with debts and her own past, Sutton proves to be a jaded figure in the investigation.  This is enhanced by her realisation she has a dark connection to the case, especially when a cover-up she was inadvertently involved with forces her to keep key facts hidden from her boss.  This adds an additional element of secrecy to the plot, which works well alongside the complimentary storylines of the other protagonists.  Ayliffe presents a tight and exciting narrative for the entirety of The Wrong Man that goes in some intriguing directions.  I felt that the compelling mystery comes together extremely well, and the character-driven storylines are brought together in an exciting and high-stakes manner.  I felt that this was one of Ayliffe’s stronger stories, and I honestly powered through it in no time at all.

As with his preceding narratives in the John Bailey series, Ayliffe cleverly utilises some real-life Australian issues and themes in The Wrong Man, which I always enjoy, and which I feel gives some extra realism and impact.  This includes some interesting references to current Pacific politics and alliances, with the protagonist’s ability to interrogate a potential suspect impacted by the CIA, who have a vested interest in the area.  Ayliffe also provides some examinations of police corruption in the story, with the long-term impacts of cover-ups, conspiracies and other darker elements of the police, such as sexism, having a compelling role in the plot.  Other compelling inclusions examine the roles and responsibility of journalists in modern society, as well as some interesting references to reality television stars.  I really felt these elements worked well alongside the crime fiction storyline, and Ayliffe expertly utilises and explores these in the plot.

Overall, The Wrong Man was a fantastic and powerful piece of Australian fiction that once again highlights Tim Ayliffe’s ability to tell a compelling and intense narrative.  Cleverly continuing the author’s series while also exploring cool new protagonists, The Wrong Man was an excellent and captivating read that I had an outstanding time getting through.

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Quick Review – 2024 Crime Fiction novels

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Murder Mystery, Quick Review, Thriller2 Comments

As we get further into 2025, I have been trying to revisit some of the books from last year that I read but never got a chance to write reviews for.  This includes four excellent crime fiction reads from earlier in the year that I had fun getting through but which I never seemed to have enough time to publish anything about it.  I am hoping to rectify that now by quickly reviewing these fantastic 2024 releases with very interesting plots behind them.

Blood Mountain by Alisa Lynn Valdés

Publisher: Thomas & Mercer (ebook – 16 October 2024)

Series: Jodi Luna – Book Two

Length: 331 pages

My Rating: 3.75 out of 5 stars

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The first book that I want to highlight was the intriguing and entertaining thriller, Blood Mountain by Alisa Lynn Valdés.  The second book in the author’s Jodi Luna series, Blood Mountain was an interesting novel that saw a contentious group caught up on a mountain with a killer on the loose.


Plot Synopsis:

New Mexico game warden Jodi Luna disrupts a murderous wilderness adventure in this thrilling second installment from Alisa Lynn Valdés, New York Times bestselling author of The Dirty Girls Social Club.

Former poetry professor Jodi Luna hasn’t quite adjusted to life as a game warden. Her boss thinks she’s better with animals than humans, and the man she’s seeing wants a real relationship. Still reeling from her husband’s death, Jodi has to admit that she keeps people at a distance.

After her new friend, wealthy actress Claudia Evans, gathers with family members in the New Mexico wilderness, Jodi gets some unsettling news—that Claudia’s brother-in-law is missing. Eager to help, Jodi ventures into the wild to investigate, only to be thwarted by a blizzard that leaves the entire group stranded at a fishing lodge.

Jodi is no stranger to extreme weather, but when these reluctant adventurers start turning up mauled around the snowed-in lodge, Jodi suspects the this was no bear. This was murder.

And inside the snowy confines of this rustic hideaway, everyone is fair game…

…for a killer.


Blood Mountain was a compelling and fast-paced read from Valdés that sought to combine a whodunnit in an isolated location with over-the-top characters, a great natural setting and other intriguing elements.  An intriguing sequel to the author’s previous Jodi Luna, Blood Mountain was a great book that works well as both a standalone novel and part of the larger series.  This was an entertaining read that I had a lot of fun getting into.

Starting off in a memorable way with a bear, the main plot sees protagonist Jodi Luna trapped in the central story location with a dysfunctional family, with a murderer on the loose.  Clashing with the elements and the entitled rich people she is forced to babysit, Luna tries to wrangle everyone through the night while discovering their secrets and motives for murder.  I felt the result was a decent whodunit narrative, and I liked the mystery that emerged.  The big personalities of the supporting cast allowed for a very exaggerated story at times, which helped to disguise the motives of the real killer to a degree.  While I do think that Valdés might have overplayed her social messaging to an unfortunate degree, for the most part Blood Mountain was a fantastic read that I was really glad I decided to check out.

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A Clean Kill by Steven Konkoly

Publisher: Thomas & Mercer (ebook – 1 July 2024)

Series: Garrett Mann – Book One

Length: 384 pages

My Rating: 4.25 out of 5 stars

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The second book in this post is the very intense action-packed thriller, A Clean Kill by Steven Konkoly.  An excellent read that starts off as a serial killer story before transforming into a conspiracy laden spy thriller, A Clean Kill was one of the more unique books I read in 2024, and I really enjoyed its captivating plot. 


Plot Synopsis:

An FBI agent hunting a serial killer has to up his game when a trail of murders is not what it seems in a riveting thriller by Wall Street Journal bestselling author Steven Konkoly.

Five dismembered bodies are found along the roadside, dumped in the middle of nowhere. This isn’t new to Special Agent Garrett Mann. Head of ARTEMIS, a specialized FBI task force hell-bent on hunting down cartel-related killings in the Southwest, Mann has seen this before.

He and his team have been tracking similar kills along thousands of miles of rural roads running north, south, and back again. When the latest slaughter yields a key piece of evidence, Mann thinks he’s found the killer and solved the case. That’s when the nightmare begins.

From a lakeside Minnesota mansion to an abandoned CIA black site in New Mexico, the hunt is on. But the closer Mann gets to his prey, the deadlier the stakes become. This is no ordinary serial killer. He’s not working alone—and the stakes go far beyond just preventing the serial killer’s next massacre. What Mann unravels is a powerful and far-reaching conspiracy beyond his wildest imagination. 


This was a very cool thriller from Konkoly that goes in some excellent and exciting directions.  Starting off with an investigation from FBI agent Garrett Mann’s ARTEMIS team, who are hunting a serial killer, the case goes in some unique directions when the team find themselves under attack by an unknown organisation determined to help the killer escape.  Going against orders, the team attempt to find their suspect and uncover the truth only to become fugitives themselves.  Working outside the law, Mann and his team soon uncover an elaborate conspiracy as their opponents attempt to enact their own insidious plan using dangerous killers as their pawns.

A Clean Kill was one of the more thrilling and fun books I read last year, and I had a brilliant time powering through its compelling story.  Featuring a great conspiracy narrative and loaded with action, Konkoly keeps up a great pace the entire way through A Clean Kill that ensures the reader is constantly glued to the page.  I loved how the author kept raising the stakes for the protagonists, with the characters forced to go rogue to find justice and their killer.  Konkoly ensures everything leads up to an outstanding and fun major confrontation in the second half of the book, and you come away intrigued by how the series will continue.  While there were some flaws in how the antagonist’s motivations and history were shown to the reader, and the protagonist’s group contained way too many supporting characters, A Clean Kill was an overall excellent read and one that comes highly recommended.  I am hoping to read the sequel to this book, A Hired Kill, later this year, and I will be very interested to see how this series continues.

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Ghost of the Neon God by T. R. Napper

Publisher: Titan Books (Trade Paperback – 25 June 2024)

Series: Standalone

Length: 113 pages

My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

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Next we have the interesting science fiction novella Ghost of the Neon God by Australian author T. R. Napper.  Set in the same universe as Napper’s previous book, 36 Streets, Ghost of the Neon God was a cool cyberpunk adventure set in an over-teched, future Australia that gets wild in some amazing ways.


Plot Synopsis:

A thrilling, propulsive story of escape as a small-time crook goes on the run across Australia with a stolen secret that will change the world, perfect for fans of William Gibson’s All Tomorrow’s Parties, Richard Morgan and Ghost in the Shell.

Jackson Nguyen is a petty crook living slim on the mean streets of Melbourne. When he crosses paths with a desperate, but wealthy, Chinese dissident, begging for his help, Jack responds in the only natural he steals her shoes.

And yet, despite every effort to mind his own damn business, a wild spiral into the worst kind of trouble begins – Murder, mayhem, fast cars, fast-talking, bent cops, and long straight highways into the terrible beauty of the vast Australian Outback.

In Jack’s world, taking a stand against the ruling class is the shortest path to a shallow grave. But when an Earth-shattering technology falls into his hands, he must do everything he can to stop the wrong people taking it. In a world of pervasive government surveillance and oppressive corporate control, it’s up to a small-time criminal to keep the spark of human rebellion alive.


Napper came up with an intriguing tech thriller in Ghost of the Neon God that sees a petty thief caught up in dangerous events when he becomes the unwilling host to a powerful AI.  Quickly and effectively building up a storyline involving Chinese agents hunting the protagonist, the AI and their passenger throughout the country, Ghost of the Neon God was a compelling and action-packed read that made great use of the dark, technological future that Napper has envisioned in his previous works.  Thanks to its short length, Ghost of the Neon God is an easy book to power through, and I had a wonderful time reading this enjoyable and thoughtful read.

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The Last Murder at the End of the World by Stuart Turton

Publisher: Raven Books (Trade Paperback – 28 March 2024)

Series: Standalone

Length: 403 pages

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

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The last crime fiction book that I want to review in this post is the impressive science fiction murder mystery The Last Murder at the End of the World by Stuart Turton.  One of my most anticipated books for the first half of 2024, The Last Murder at the End of the World was the third book from Turton, who previously impressed me with his first book, The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle.  This latest book was a particularly amazing novel that featured a distinctive plot and outstanding scenario.


Plot Synopsis:

Solve the murder to save what’s left of the world.

Outside the island there is nothing: the world was destroyed by a fog that swept the planet, killing anyone it touched.

On the island: it is idyllic. One hundred and twenty-two villagers and three scientists, living in peaceful harmony. The villagers are content to fish, farm and feast, to obey their nightly curfew, to do what they’re told by the scientists.

Until, to the horror of the islanders, one of their beloved scientists is found brutally stabbed to death. And then they learn that the murder has triggered a lowering of the security system around the island, the only thing that was keeping the fog at bay. If the murder isn’t solved within 107 hours, the fog will smother the island—and everyone on it.

But the security system has also wiped everyone’s memories of exactly what happened the night before, which means that someone on the island is a murderer—and they don’t even know it.

And the clock is ticking.


This was an intense and thought-provoking novel from Turton that saw the author combine an inventive science fiction scenario with complex mystery as the unusual protagonists attempt to solve a crime that goes against their very nature.  Turton was very ambitious in his writing for The Last Murder at the End of the World, as he effectively sets up this compelling society and loads it with secrets and unusual characters before throwing all their lives into chaos with the killing.

The resulting narrative goes in some very interesting directions, as the various secrets of the island are slowly revealed and the truth behind the killings is uncovered.  Turton’s elaborate setting really took on a life of its own as the book continued, and I deeply enjoyed the elaborate science fiction elements and complex world building that is skilfully introduced to the reader as the story continues.  There are a lot of clever elements to this book, and I really appreciated the powerful character work, the constantly evolving narrative and the raw emotion of the book, which helped to produce an outstanding read.

Other highlights of this book that I really enjoyed including the distinctive narration style that Turton utilises throughout The Last Murder at the End of the World, as the story is told through the eye of a computer connected to the mind of all the main characters.  Not only does this narrative tool help to produce a unique read but it also plays into the narrative in some very clever ways that I really appreciated.  This entire book comes together extremely well, and Turton resolves the mystery in a satisfying way, keeping the reader hooked all the way to the end.  The Last Murder at the End of the World proved to be quite a powerful book, and readers will come away very thoughtful thanks to the author’s unique ideas and intense storytelling.  Highly recommended, especially for those readers looking for something truly stylish and memorable.

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Quick Review – Gunnawah by Ronni Salt

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Australian, Murder Mystery, Quick Review4 Comments

Publisher: Hachette Australia (Trade Paperback – 1 January 2025)

Series: Standalone/Book One

Length: 328 pages

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

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New Australian author Ronni Salt presents a compelling new crime fiction debut with the fantastic novel Gunnawah, an intriguing and distinctive read that explores an intriguing period of rural Australian history.

Plot Synopsis:

It’s 1974 in the Riverina

The weather is hot

But the body in the Murray River is stone cold . . .

A captivating and compulsive crime thriller about guns, drugs and a young woman dead on the money

When nineteen-year-old farmgirl Adelaide Hoffman applies for a cadetship at the Gunnawah Gazette, she sees it as her ticket out of a life too small for her. The paper’s owner, Valdene Bullark, seeing something of the girl she once was in young Adelaide, puts her straight to work.

What starts as a routine assignment covering an irrigation project soon puts Adelaide on the trail of a much bigger story. Water is money in farming communities, and when Adelaide starts asking questions, it’s like she’s poked a bull ant’s nest. Someone will do whatever it takes to stop Adelaide and Val finding out how far the river of corruption and crime runs.

Shady deals. Vested interests. A labyrinth of lies. It seems everyone in Gunnawah has a secret to keep. And too many are already dead quiet.

Set deep in the heart of rural Australia during the era of Gough Whitlam, pub brawls and flared jeans, Gunnawah is a compulsive crime thriller of corruption, guns and drugs from Australian Noir’s most arresting new voice.

Gunnawah was an excellent first book from Ronni Salt that was an amazing and entertaining bit of Australian fiction to start 2025 on.  Cleverly examining the unique landscape of Australia’s Riverina area in the 1970s and diving into its controversial history, Gunnawah was a fast-paced and surprisingly complex read that blended big characters with an addictive crime fiction narrative.

The book has an interesting, if slow, start to it, as the reader is introduced to the protagonist, Adelaide Hoffman, as well as the various other memorable inhabitants of the town.  Much of the first third of Gunnawah is dedicated to building these figures up, while also hinting at the many secrets surrounding the town.  While readers don’t get a lot of excitement off the bat in Gunnawah, I felt that this slow burn start was vital to the book’s later impact, especially as Salt loads up a ton of clues and hints about the later events of the book.

Things begin to heat up when the protagonists discover that there is a darker side to their small town, especially when it becomes clear a vital new irrigation project has ties to a local drug operation, while other crimes remain hidden in the shadows.  There are some tense scenes as Adelaide, Val and their offsider Wayne begin to uncover what’s really going on around Gunnawah.  However, it is the last third of the book that really ensures Gunnawah sticks in the mind.  Starting off with a big event that is reminiscent of a particularly infamous Australian crime, the protagonists are soon thrust into greater danger and are forced to fight back like the battling Australian farmers they are.  There are some awesome scenes here, especially as damaged protagonist Adelaide shows how badass she is, and I liked some of the satisfying conclusions that occur to the main story.  Salt also cleverly ties up some other intriguing mysteries that have been running alongside the central plot, and I liked the solutions that emerged, especially as the resulting reveals were well built up in the earlier parts of the book.  Readers come away very satisfied with how Salt concludes Gunnawah, and there is some potential to continue this book as a series if the author wants to.

Salt pulls together an intriguing book for her debut that blends a fantastic crime fiction read with some cool historical inclusions and a subtle web of humour that proves hard to get away from.  Featuring a mass of interesting perspective characters, Gunnawah’s plot revolves around finding out all their relevant secrets and working together the storylines of the various big personalities in the town.  These multiple perspectives help to create a complex and layered narrative, and they often backup the fantastic central characters of Adelaide and Val.  The author builds up some excellent character development and human moments throughout Gunnawah, especially as there are some complex and damaged protagonists featured throughout.  For example, Adelaide comes into the narrative traumatised by a previous incident that is expanded on as the book continues, and it was great to see her regain her confidence as Gunnawah continues.

The rest of the characters in the novel are an excellent combination of outrageous small-town folk, and a lot of Gunnawah’s humour is built from the fantastically funny interactions between these entertaining figures.  For example, Val and Wayne, long-time friends who have history with the seedier side of Sydney before coming to small-town Gunnawah, prove to be a highly entertaining duo, and I enjoyed how they took events into their own hands, especially when it comes to protecting Adelaide.  Other great humorous figures include the ambitious, if slightly hapless, mayor of Gunnawah and his social-climbing wife, whose antics in face of the serious crimes going on around town prove to be a lot of fun.  These figures, as well as a range of other great exaggerated small-town folk in Gunnawah, add a lot to how entertaining Gunnawah proved to be, and I am curious to see if Salt will revisit them in any future books.

Another amazing aspect of Gunnawah that I really enjoyed was the fantastic historical background surrounding the main setting of the plot.  Salt did a great job emulating a Riverina town for this book, and you really got the sense of a small Australian town in the 1970s, with the mixture of farmers, local politics and other country folk.  Small towns always work well in Australian crime fiction, especially as readers love to see antics out in the bush, and Salt makes her story stand out by tying the narrative into real-life crime aspects of 1970s Australia.  In particular, the narrative features representatives of a criminal organisation active during the period, and one of the major events of the books is highly reminiscent of the Donald Mackay incident.  The author also includes a lot of references to larger events occurring around Australia during the period, especially rampant police corruption in New South Wales, as well as a focus on Australian politics.  I personally enjoyed seeing the references to the Gough Whitlam era, and Salt actually includes a visit from Whitlam to Gunnawah as part of the plot, which proves to be quite a fun scene, especially when two of the book’s more entertaining personalities become involved.  These intriguing historical inclusions give Gunnawah some real authenticity, especially if you are familiar with how bad things got in the Riverina area during the period, and I appreciated how Salt worked it into her narrative.

Ronni Salt comes out of the gate swinging with her first novel as Gunnawah proves to be an outstanding and compelling piece of Australian fiction.  An amazing debut to start 2025 on, Gunnawah featured a great blend of crime fiction and historical inclusions to create a gripping and entertaining read.  I had an awesome time reading Gunnawah, and I look forward to seeing what Salt writes next.

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Top Ten Tuesday – Most Anticipated Thrillers, Crime Fiction, Historical Fiction and Comics releasing in the First Half of 2025

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Comics/Manga, Historical Fiction, List, Murder Mystery, Thriller13 Comments

Welcome to my second Top Ten Tuesday list of the week, were I look at my most anticipated thrillers, crime fiction and historical fiction novels coming out in the first half of 2025. Traditionally I usually only do one list to represent the top upcoming books for the year, however, I was inspired to separate out the fantasy and science fiction novels into my previous list, while this list will feature epic reads from the other major genres that I am interested in.

Despite only just starting, 2025 is already shaping up to be an epic and exciting year for books with a huge range of impressive and highly anticipated novels due for release in the next 12 months.  This includes exciting debuts, anticipated sequels and the latest entries in beloved bestselling series.  The first half of the year is looking particularly awesome, with a substantial number of incredible upcoming releases that I am deeply looking forward to. 

Even though I excluded fantasy and science fiction books, this ended up being a rather difficult list to pull together due to all the awesome releases coming out in Australia or on Netgalley between 1 January 2025 and 30 June 2025.  There were way too many extraordinary upcoming books that I could have included, and I ended up having to make some very tough calls and cutting several novels that have an immense amount of potential.  Despite this, I am rather happy with the eventual choices that I made, and I think that this list reflects the upcoming novels and comics I am going to have the most fun reading. However, there are also some interesting new books that I am discussing for the first time here, so that should give this list a bit of variety.  So let us get to my selections and find out which upcoming novels are my most anticipated releases for the first half of 2025.

Honourable Mentions:

Open Season by Jonathan Kellerman – 6 February 2025

An interesting and entertaining new murder mystery from one of my yearly must-read authors, Open Season continues the awesome Alex Delaware series and pits the detective protagonists against a killer determined to take out Hollywood hopefuls.

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Pacific Heights by S. R. White – 25 March 2025

One of the more interesting authors of Australian crime fiction, S. R. White (see my reviews for Prisoner, Red Dirt Road and White Ash Ridge) is set to release a standalone whodunnit with Pacific Heights.  Featuring a cool plot about detectives trying to unwind different stories about who killed someone from five separate witnesses, Pacific Heights sounds really awesome, and I cannot wait to check it out.

 

The Pilgrim’s Revenge by Scott Mariani by 24 April 2025

An exciting and intense revenge thriller set in the time of King Richard the Lionheart; The Pilgrim’s Revenge should be a very epic read.

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Vanish by Shelley Burr – 30 April 2025

Rising Australian author Shelley Burr follows up her excellent first two crime fiction novels, Wake and Ripper with the intriguing third entry Vanish.  Once again set in a small Australian community, Vanish will see the series’ damaged protagonist investigate a problematic commune as he attempts to find out the truth behind a long-lost missing girl.  Sure to be one of the top Australian releases of 2025.

Top Ten Tuesday:

Grave Danger by James Grippando – 14 January 2025

Back in 2024 I had the pleasure of reading my first book from impressive James Grippando, Goodbye Girl, a fantastic entry in the author’s Jack Swyteck series.  A compelling and twisty legal thriller, Goodbye Girl was really fun to read, and I am now quite keen to continue the series.  As such, I am planning to grab the upcoming book, Grave Danger, as soon as it comes out.  Featuring an intriguing case about international child custody and murder, Grave Danger has some real potential, and I know I am going to have a great time with this awesome book.

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Usagi Yojimbo: Volume 40: The Crow by Stan Sakai – 4 February 2025

A very easy inclusion to this list was the next entry in one of my favourite comic book series with volume 40 of the Usagi Yojimbo series, The Crow.  I only just published a review of the previous volume, Ice and Snow, a few days ago, so I am quite excited to see that a new entry is coming out very soon.  Set to continue some of the author’s excellent ongoing storylines about the titular rabbit ronin, The Crow should be another awesome volume in the series, and I cannot wait to get my hands on it the first chance I get.

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Nemesis by Gregg Hurwitz – 11 February 2025

Early 2025 is filled with a ton of great spy thrillers from some of my favourite authors, and that includes the new Orphan X book from Gregg Hurwitz, Nemesis.  Set after the events of the 2024 book, Lone Wolf, Nemesis will see the former government assassin turned vigilante protagonist square off against his best friend over secrets that were kept from him.  However, other shadowy players soon reveal themselves, and Orphan X will need to fight deadly enemies and a former friend to survive.  This looks set to be a particularly compelling and emotionally charged addition to the series and I cannot wait to check it out.

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The Medici Return by Steve Berry – 11 February 2025

Each year I have a ton of fun with the entertaining and elaborate Cotton Malone books by Steve Berry that combine modern thriller storylines with hidden historical secrets and elaborate historical settings.  Books like The Malta Exchange, The Warsaw Protocol, The Kaiser’s Web, The Last Kingdom and The Atlas Maneuver, have all really impressed me, and the Cotton Malone books are now a must-read for me each year.  This includes the early 2025 release, The Medici Return, which will see a dark conspiracy emerge in Italy when an ancient debt owed by the church threatens to destabilise everything.  This sounds like another awesome thriller, and I cannot wait to dive into the history of the famous Medici family with this new fantastic book.

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Midnight Black by Mark Greaney – 18 February 2025

A spy thriller book I am particularly keen to get my hands on this year is Midnight Black by Mark Greaney.  The 14th book in Greaney’s Gray Man series, Midnight Black follows on after the cliffhanger ending of The Chaos Agent and sees the titular assassin protagonist burn through Russia and Siberia to free his imprisoned love interest.  This latest Gray Man book has the potential to be one of the most intense and impressive novels of 2025, and I cannot wait to see how Greaney continues his elaborate and always action-packed series.

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Burn to Shine by Jonathan Maberry – 4 March 2025

Readers of this blog will know I am a huge fan of Jonathan Maberry, so the inclusion of his next big thriller, Burn to Shine, on this list should come as no surprise, especially after I just published reviews of his 2024 books NecroTek and The Dragon in Winter.  Once again focussing on the author’s iconic protagonist, Joe Ledger, Burn to Shine will be the fourth book in the Rogue Team International series, which has previously featured such awesome books as Rage (one of my favourite books and audiobooks of 2019), Relentless (one of my favourite books and audiobooks of 2021), and Cave 13 (one of my favourite books and audiobooks of 2023).  This new entry in the series will see Ledger and his team deal with a new world-ending threat, with old enemies returning, seeking revenge.  I really love the sound of this new book, and I already know it’s going to get a five-star rating from me.

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A Death in Berlin by Simon Scarrow – 13 March 2025

After wowing me last year with Revenge of Rome, one of my favourite historical fiction authors, Simon Scarrow looks set to continue one of his other cool series with the third Berlin Wartime thriller, A Death in Berlin.  Following on from Blackout and Dead of Night, A Death in Berlin will once again place Scarrow’s complex protagonist, the last honest detective in Berlin, as he tries to investigate dark crimes in the shadow of World War II and the crimes of the Nazi regime.  I have deeply enjoyed the previous Berlin Wartime thrillers, and I cannot wait to see what elaborate story Scarrow has for us this time.

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The White Fortress by Boyd and Beth Morrison – 15 April 2025

The awesome team of thriller author Boyd Morrison and historian Beth Morrison return with the third book in their Tales of the Lawless Land series, The White Fortress.  Continuing the story started in The Lawless Land and its sequel The Last True Templar, The White Fortress will once again follow the author’s excommunicated knight protagonist and his adventurous wife as they become embroiled in dangerous quests across 14th century Europe.  This time, the pair end up in Croatia, where they become involved in a deadly plot involving a prophecy and a lost codex written by Marco Polo.  I have had an amazing time with the first two books in the series and I cannot wait to see how this wonderful pair of authors continue their ambitious and thrilling historical series.

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Nightshade by Michael Connelly – 20 May 2025

One of my most anticipated upcoming murder mysteries is the new Michael Connelly novel, Nightshade.  While the cover for Nightshade has yet to be released, the plot synopsis sounds really cool as Connelly introduces a new police protagonist assigned to the idyllic Catalina Island off the coast of Los Angeles who is forced to investigate a sinister murder when a body washes up on the shore of the island.  I love the idea of exploring a new Connelly character, especially one based around a cool setting, and this should end up being an excellent and strong murder mystery from this always compelling author.

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Never Flinch by Stephen King – 27 May 2025

The final book I want to highlight on this list is probably the one I am most excited for this year with the new Stephen King novel, Never Flinch.  I have been having such a great time getting into Stephen King’s incredible books these last few years, and some of his most recent releases, such as Later, Fairy Tale, Billy Summers and You Like It Darker, have completely enthralled me. However, my favourite Stephen King books have so far been his compelling dives into crime fiction. Starting with the dark and powerful Mr Mercedes and featuring the three outstanding Bill Hodges books, King has expanded his crime fiction works by focussing on the unique protagonist of Holly Gibney. The subsequent Holly Gibney focused books, The Outsider (one of my favourite horror novels) and Holly (one of my favourite books and audiobooks of 2023), were extremely exceptional, and I have loved the brilliant, yet shocking, narratives they contained.  As such, I am very, very keen to read the upcoming Holly Gibney book, Never Flinch.  Set to follow this great protagonist as she deals with two dangerous opponents, a serial killer and a stalker, Never Flinch sounds incredible, and I have no doubt this will be one of the best things I read in 2025.

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That is the end of this list.  I am extremely happy with how my latest Top Ten Tuesday article turned out and this list contains an intriguing collection of upcoming books that should prove to be incredible reads.  I think that nearly every one of these books has the potential to get a full five-star rating from me and I cannot wait to see what amazing and exciting stories they contain.  While I am waiting to get my hands on these books, why not let me know if any of the above interest you, as well as what your most anticipated releases for the next six months are in the comments below.  Also, make sure to check out my other Top Ten List with the top upcoming fantasy and science fiction books of 2025.

Endgame by Sarah Barrie

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

Publisher: HQ (Trade Paperback – 1 November 2024)

Series: Lexi Winter – Book Four

Length: 398 pages

My Rating: 4.75 out of 5 stars

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Outstanding Australian author Sarah Barrie brings her dark and powerful Lexi Winter series to a compelling conclusion with the exceptional novel Endgame.

Over the last couple of years, I have been really enjoying Australian author Sarah Barrie’s epic Lexi Winter crime fiction series.  One of the darker Australian series I have had the pleasure of reading, the Lexi Winter books follow a former vigilante turned police officer as she takes down some of the worst criminals in Sydney, including a deadly paedophile ring.  This series started with the amazing read, Unforgiven (one of my favourite Australian books of 2021), and continued with the excellent follow-ups Retribution (one of my favourite Australian books of 2022) and Vendetta (one of my favourite Australian books of 2023).  Due to this, Endgame has been one of my most anticipated books of 2024, and I was very eager to see how this novel would unfold, especially as it was marketed as the final book in the Lexi Winter series.

Former vigilante hacker Lexi Winters finally has her life together.  Now a decorated police officer studying to take her detective exams, Lexi’s biggest challenge is balancing her career with her hectic personal life, especially when it comes to looking after her ward, the former runaway Cait.  However, despite her best efforts at normalcy Lexi can never truly relax, especially as she knows her nemesis Vaughn is waiting to get revenge on her.

When a series of brutal murders begins around Sydney, Lexi finds herself brought aboard when it becomes clear they are connected to a resurfaced Vaughn.  Determined to prove that he is better than her, Vaughn challenges Lexi to a very public game of murder.  Five people will be killed by the end of the month, but if Lexi can identify and save the final victim, Vaughn will turn himself in.

With the eyes of nation on them and public support seeming to lie on Vaughn’s side, Lexi finds her sanity tested like never before.  The more she digs into Vaughn’s dark crimes, the further she finds herself slipping over the edge, especially as she begins to see strange figures and ghosts wherever she goes.  With Vaughn’s attacks on her becoming even more personal and her own colleagues losing faith in her, Lexi has no choice but to keep playing her nemesis’s twisted game, even if it will lead to her death.  But Lexi has come too far to lose now, and she will do whatever she must to force an endgame between her and Vaughn.

Barrie continues to showcase why she is one of Australia’s most compelling crime fiction authors with this shocking and powerful final Lexi Winter novel.  Featuring a complex and captivating story loaded with dark moments and intense character work, Endgame was an exceptional novel that I honestly could not get enough of.

Endgame has an excellent and layered narrative behind it that not only stands on its own but helps to bring the entire Lexi Winter series to a powerful end.  Starting off with an interesting and horror-esque introduction that initially seems detached from the main plot, you quickly get drawn into the main narrative when Lexi discovers that her old nemesis, the long-feared Vaughn, has returned to finally get his revenge on her.  Barrie ensures that the story gets very addictive very early as you are drawn into the villain’s challenge, stop him murdering five people and he will turn himself in.

The resulting story moves at a fast and powerful pace as the protagonists do their best to try to find Vaughn and uncover his murders, all while he seems to be one step ahead of them utilising the media to his advantage.  The author keeps increasing the stakes for this main case again and again as Lexi is attacked close to home (literally and figuratively), and she finds herself a desperate mess as well as a constant target by the public.  At the same time, Endgame features a parallel plot involving the mysterious deaths of several teenagers that appear to have been committed by a vengeful spirit.  This secondary storyline, whilst initially a bit odd in the wider context of Endgame’s main narrative, works pretty well, and I liked the unique directions it helped to take the plot, and it links into the main case very well by the end.  Barrie ends up producing quite a fascinating and complex mystery for the protagonists to unfold and I loved some of the intriguing twists that unfold as a result.  While I was able to predict a few things, many of the major reveals were pleasantly surprising and I really appreciated the way in which Barrie layered the relevant clues and hints throughout the earlier plot.  Everything leads up to the big conclusion, which constantly has you on the edge of your seat and serves as a fitting finale to this amazing Australian series.

As with the previous entries in the Lexi Winter series, Endgame is a particularly intense character-driven murder mystery with a very gritty edge to it.  Making good use of its Australian urban setting, Endgame features a powerful plot that both stands on its own, while also serving as a compelling conclusion to the rest of the series.  While Barrie provides more than enough background in the main plot to allow new readers to come in and read Endgame as a standalone novel, for the most part readers are advised to read the rest of the books in the series first, especially as that allows you to get the full emotional impact of the book thanks to the great conclusion of several ongoing storylines and character arcs.

The overall narrative of Endgame is complex and moving, and I appreciated how it was told through several intriguing character perspectives that allowed for a multi-layered view of events.  The way in which the two separate murder plotlines and the multiple character arcs are brought together works extremely well, and Barrie ensures readers are constantly left guessing about how events are going to unfold.  The author also keeps things very dark, as not only are there multiple references to rape and brutal murders but the protagonist endures a range of attacks on herself and those closest to her that are guaranteed to shock most readers.  I appreciate how Barrie doesn’t hold back when it comes to highlighting the impacts of these various crimes, although I can imagine some readers may have a hard time with it.  Throw in some interesting modern commentary about how manipulation of social media and the tabloids allow monsters to become heroes to certain people, and Endgame proved to be one of the more intense Lexi Winter entries, but one that perfectly fits the series’ uncompromising themes and content.

One of the best things about Endgame was the multiple intriguing characters who the plot was set around.  The most prominent of these is series protagonist Lexi Winter, who has had a unique and damaging storyline throughout the series.  However, thanks to the help of her friends and family who she has learnt to let in, Lexi has managed to pull her life together to where it is now.  While Barie does continually make Lexi way too combative and unreasonable, for the most part she is a great protagonist to follow, and I have really appreciated seeing her grow throughout the series.  It was particularly moving to see her take on the role of mentor and guardian in this final book for the runaway Cait, especially as she seeks to help her ward avoid the same mistakes she made when younger.  There is also a good end to a long-running will-they, won’t-they romance arc, which I felt got handled well and which allowed for some additional stakes for the plot.  Much of Endgame revolves around Lexi trying to hold onto her new happiness when her enemy reappears, and the resulting battle to stay in control and not give in to her old habits makes up much of the books dramatic core.  I felt that Barrie did an outstanding job showcasing her protagonist’s battle for self-control in the face of great adversity and trauma, and the author made sure to really build on the dark events of the previous novels.  As such, you get a compelling bit of character work in Endgame around this distinctive and damaged protagonist, which really helps to turn this final entry into something extremely moving.

In addition to Lexi, Endgame also features an array of compelling supporting characters, which includes a mixture of established figures from the previous books, and several new characters who come into this story for this final entry.  Most of these characters proved to be quite interesting, and while a couple, such as Olivia, prove to be quite hard to like in a detrimental way to the plot, for the most part they add a lot to the book.  Highlights for me include Lexi’s ward, Cait, who proves to be a fun addition to the story, especially as she serves as a great foil to the now more serious Lexi.  Lexi’s biker associates were also interesting, especially as they allowed for some memorable interactions with the various police characters, while a new police bodyguard for Lexi ended up being a great addition to the plot.  However, it’s the villains of the narrative who really shine here.  This includes a group of wild teenagers, whose dark behaviour dives into a certain modern societal problem.  Another hidden antagonist added some interesting horror flair to the book, and I appreciated how well Barrie inserted them into the plot.  Finally, the main villain, Vaughn, was such a brilliant and impactful overarching antagonist that you could not wait to see get taken down.  Barrie has used Vaughn as an intimidating bogeyman figure since the first Lexi Winter book, and his long-awaited reappearance here really did not disappoint, especially as he creates a cult of personality around himself as he terrorises the protagonist.  Vaughn proves to be a particularly despicable figure, driven by his own ego to finally beat Lexi, and his nefarious use here was a key part of why Endgame was so impactful.

Overall, Endgame was a deeply captivating and impressive piece of Australian crime fiction that I could not get enough of.  Sarah Barrie did an excellent job bringing her Lexi Winter series to a powerful end, and Endgame’s unique mystery and compelling high stakes really helped to drag readers in.  This was one of the better pieces of Australian fiction this year, and I cannot recommend this series enough to those looking for a darker crime fiction read in the Australian setting.  While I am sad that the Lexi Winter series is over, I am glad we got such an impactful final entry, and I look forward to seeing what Sarah Barrie writes next.

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