2023 crime fiction highlights
Crime readers, rejoice! It has been another stellar year for Australian and international authors, including books from longtime favourites as well as those making their debut. From cosy and rural crime to thrillers and high-paced noir we've got you covered!
Everyone On This Train Is a Suspect by Benjamin Stevenson
Ernest Cunningham returns in a deliciously witty locked room (train) mystery.
When the Australian Mystery Writers’ Society invited me to their crime-writing festival aboard the Ghan, the famous train between Darwin and Adelaide, I was hoping for some inspiration for my second book. Fiction, this time: I needed a break from real people killing each other. Obviously, that didn’t pan out.
The program is a who’s who of crime writing royalty, but when one of us is murdered, six authors quickly turn into five detectives. Together, we should know how to solve a crime. Or commit one. How can you find a killer when all the suspects know how to get away with murder?
Ripper by Shelley Burr
Gemma Guillory has lived in Rainier her entire life. She knows the tiny town's ins and outs like the back of her hand. She knows her once-charming town is now remembered for one reason only. That three innocent people died. That the last stop on the Rainier Ripper's trail of death seventeen years ago was her innocuous little teashop. She knows that the consequences of catching the Ripper still haunt her police officer husband and their marriage to this day and that some of her neighbours are desperate enough to welcome a dark tourism company keen to cash in on Rainier's reputation as the murder town.
When the tour operator is killed by a Ripper copycat on Gemma's doorstep, the unease that has lurked quietly in the original killer's wake turns to foreboding, and she's drawn into the investigation. Unbeknownst to her, so is a prisoner named Lane Holland.
The Last Devil to Die (The Thursday Murder Club, Book 4) by Richard Osman
Shocking news reaches the Thursday Murder Club.
An old friend in the antiques business has been killed, and a dangerous package he was protecting has gone missing.
As the gang springs into action they encounter art forgers, online fraudsters and drug dealers, as well as heartache close to home.
With the body count rising, the package still missing and trouble firmly on their tail, has their luck finally run out? And who will be the last devil to die?
The Raging Storm by Ann Cleeves
When Jem Rosco blows in to the local pub in the middle of an autumn gale, the residents of Greystone are delighted. The whole place has a strange, unreal quality: the village that time forgot. Backed by a worked-out quarry, with a shingle beach and a north-facing quay, there's little to recommend it to tourists. When Rosco disappears again, they think nothing of it until the lifeboat is launched to a hoax call-out and his body is found in a dinghy, anchored off Scully Cove, a place with legends of its own.
This is an uncomfortable case for Venn. Greystone is a stronghold of the Barum Brethren and he came here as a child. Faith and superstition mix as another body is found in Scully, and Matthew finds his judgement clouded. The wind continues to howl, and he realizes that his own life is in danger.
The Seven by Chris Hammer
Yuwonderie's seven founding families have lorded it over their district for a century, growing ever more rich and powerful. But now one of their own is found dead in a ditch and homicide detectives Ivan Lucic and Nell Buchanan are sent to investigate. Could the murder be connected to the execution of the victim's friend thirty years ago – another member of The Seven – or even the long-forgotten story of a servant girl on the brink of the Great War?
What are the secrets The Seven are so desperate to keep hidden? With the killer still on the loose, and events spiralling out of control, the closer Ivan and Nell get to discovering the truth, the more dangerous their investigation becomes. Can they crack the case before more people die?
The Tea Ladies by Amanda Hampson
Sydney, 1965: After a chance encounter with a stranger, tea ladies Hazel, Betty and Irene become accidental sleuths, stumbling into a world of ruthless crooks and racketeers in search of a young woman believed to be in danger.
In the meantime, Hazel's job at Empire Fashionwear is in jeopardy. The firm has turned out the same frocks and blouses for the past twenty years and when the mini-skirt bursts onto the scene, it rocks the rag trade to its foundations. War breaks out between departments and it falls to Hazel, the quiet diplomat, to broker peace and save the firm.
When there is a murder in the building, the tea ladies draw on their wider network and put themselves in danger as they piece together clues that connect the murder to a nearby arson and a kidnapping. But if there's one thing tea ladies can handle, it's hot water.
Red Queen by Juan Gomez-Jurado & Nick Caistor (trans.)
Antonia Scott is special. Very special. She is not a policewoman or a lawyer. She has never wielded a weapon or carried a badge, and yet, she has solved dozens of crimes. But it’s been awhile since Antonia left her attic in Madrid. The things she has lost are much more important to her than the things awaiting her outside.
She also doesn’t receive visitors. That’s why she really, really doesn’t like it when she hears unknown footsteps coming up the stairs. Whoever it is, Antonia is sure that they are coming to look for her. And she likes that even less.
Broken Bay by Margaret Hickey
Detective Sergeant Mark Ariti has taken a few days' holiday in Broken Bay at precisely the wrong time. The small fishing town on South Australia's Limestone Coast is now the scene of a terrible tragedy. Renowned cave diver Mya Rennik has drowned while exploring a sinkhole on the land of wealthy farmer Frank Doyle. As the press descends, Mark's boss orders him to stay put and assist the police operation.
But when they retrieve Mya's body, a whole new mystery is opened up, around the disappearance of a young local woman twenty years before. Suddenly Mark is diving deep into the town's history – and in particular the simmering rivalry between its two most prominent families, the Doyles and Sinclairs. Then a murder takes place at the Sinclairs' old home – and Mark is left wondering which is more dangerous – Broken Bay's hidden subterranean world or the secretive town above it.
The Drowning by Bryan Brown
The body of a local teenage boy is found on the beach of a sleepy northern New South Wales town. David went for an evening swim and got into trouble ... at least, that's what it looks like. Three weeks before, Leila, a young backpacker, didn't turn up for her shift at the local cafe. Benny, the owner, isn't worried. It happens – backpackers are always on the move. There'll be another one.
One of the locals, Adrian, has been a help to Benny. He's found him a nice little sideline. Not exactly legal. Is that all Adrian is arranging on the coast? He once was a cop but has he gone bad? And in the back-blocks outside town, a bikie gang is gearing up for a large consignment from South America.
Murder, drugs, liaisons and lies are stirring up this small coastal town.
The Running Grave by Robert Galbraith
Private Detective Cormoran Strike is contacted by a worried father whose son, Will, has gone to join a religious cult in the depths of the Norfolk countryside. The Universal Humanitarian Church is, on the surface, a peaceable organisation that campaigns for a better world. Yet Strike discovers that beneath the surface there are deeply sinister undertones, and unexplained deaths.
In order to try to rescue Will, Strike's business partner Robin Ellacott decides to infiltrate the cult and she travels to Norfolk to live incognito amongst them. But in doing so, she is unprepared for the dangers that await her there or for the toll it will take on her.
The Mantis by Kotoro Isaka & Sam Malissa (trans.)
Kabuto is an ordinary guy; stressed with work, hassled by his wife and disrespected by his son. No wonder he visits his doctor so often. Except 'the Doctor' is actually his handler, and Kabuto is a hired assassin. The 'prescriptions' the Doctor hands over are his unlucky targets. Because although Kabuto may seem like a small man at home, he's really good at killing people.
Kabuto is worn out with the business of murder. He's trying to pay his way out of the Doctor's employment with a few last jobs. But the most lucrative contracts involve taking out other professional assassins and his final assignment puts both him and his family in danger.
The Golden Spoon by Jessa Maxwell
For six amateur bakers, competing in Bake Week is a dream come true. When they arrive at Grafton Manor to compete, they're ready to do whatever it takes to win the ultimate prize: The Golden Spoon.
But for the show's famous host, Betsy Martin, Bake Week is more than just a competition. Grafton Manor is her family's home and legacy – and Bake Week is her life's work. It's imperative that both continue to succeed. But as the competition commences, things begin to go awry. At first, it's small acts of sabotage. But when a body is discovered, it's clear that for someone in the competition, The Golden Spoon is a prize worth killing for.
The Man Who Wasn't There by Dan Box
Zak Grieve grew up in an outback town, at the crossroads between right and wrong, white and black, punishment and forgiving. Convicted of a brutal killing despite even the judge saying he wasn't there when it happened, he spent years writing letters describing his hopes and dreams, his role in what happened, and how when the real world came down on him with a tonne of punishment, he wasn't ready.
This is a book about growing up, about dying and about writing. In the end, it is only Zak's imagination, given life in the novels he also writes inside prison, that hold the key to his survival. In the grand tradition of Helen Garner's Joe Cinque's Consolation and Chloe Hooper's The Tall Man, it is a gripping story of injustice in the Deep North of Australia.
City of Dreams by Don Winslow
Danny Ryan, a young widower and mob underboss, has left the East Coast and settled in California with his young son in tow. The move has been good for Danny; in his new base of operations, his power, influence, and wealth have grown. Now he's heading up to Hollywood to rein in two of his crew, who are shaking down a film being made about their involvement in the New England crime war.
At the film set, Danny finds himself in a replica of his old neighborhood, standing face-to-face with an actor who's portraying him, and Diane Carson, the actress playing his late wife. Danny is immediately drawn to Diane, but soon learns of a crime in her past that Diane is desperate to cover up. As Danny tries to help Diane, he goes to war against new enemies who don't want him moving in on their West Coast action, and their two worlds pull them in different, dangerous directions.
Lenny Marks Gets Away with Murder by Kerryn Mayne
Lenny Marks is good at not remembering. She has spent the last twenty years not thinking about the day her mother left her when she was still a child. Her stepfather's parting words, however, remain annoyingly unforgettable: 'You did this.'
Now thirty-seven, Lenny prefers contentment and order over the unreliability of happiness and the messiness of relationships. She fills her days teaching at the local primary school, and her nights playing Scrabble with her pretend housemate, watching reruns of Friends and rearranging her thirty-six copies of The Hobbit.
Recently though, if only to appease her beloved foster-mum, Lenny has set herself the goal of 'getting a life'. Then, out of the blue, a letter arrives from the Adult Parole Board. And when her desperate attempts to ignore it fail, Lenny starts to unravel.
The Year of the Locust by Terry Hayes
If, like Kane, you're a Denied Access Area spy for the CIA, then boundaries have no meaning. Your function is to go in, do whatever is required, and get out again – by whatever means necessary. You know when to run, when to hide – and when to shoot.
But some places don't play by the rules. Some places are too dangerous, even for a man of Kane's experience. The badlands where the borders of Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan meet are such a placea place where violence is the only way to survive.
Kane travels there to exfiltrate a man with vital information for the safety of the West – but instead he meets an adversary who will take the world to the brink of extinction.
The Enchanters by James Ellroy
Los Angeles. August 4, 1962. Marilyn Monroe ODs. A B-movie starlet is kidnapped. The overhyped LAPD overreacts. Chief Bill Parker's looking for some getback. The Monroe deal looks like a moneymaker. He calls in Freddy Otash: the freewheeling Freddy O. Tainted ex-cop, defrocked private eye, dope fiend, and freelance extortionist.
Freddy gets to work. He dimly perceives Marilyn Monroe's death and the kidnapped starlet to be a poisonous riddle that only he has the guts and the brains to untangle. We are with him as he tears through those who block his path to the truth. We are with him as he penetrates the faux-sunshine of Jack and Bobby Kennedy and the shuck of Camelot. We are with him as he falters, and grasps for love beyond opportunity. We are with him as he tracks Marilyn Monroe's last charade through a nightmare L.A. that he served to create.
Bad Men by Julie Mae Cohen
Saffy Huntley-Oliver is beautiful, charming, rich, and in her spare time she's a serial killer. For the past fifteen years she's been hunting down and killing bad men: rapists, murderers, domestic abusers. As a hobby, it's not as Instagrammable as baking, but at least it's better for your thighs. The problem is, that it's hard to sustain a healthy, balanced heterosexual relationship when you're expecting to have to kill your boyfriend at any moment.
That's why she's decided to look for a good man instead, preferably one who shares her interests. Jon Desrosiers, with his campaigning podcast, perfect bone structure and adorably messy hair, could be just the guy for her. As the creator of a hugely popular true-crime podcast, he has to delve deep into the psyches of monsters, though he's always been on the side of justice. So begins a tale of obsession as Saffy uses every trick in the book to get her man.
I Am Already Dead by David Whish-Wilson
In this thrilling crime novel, Lee Southern finds himself the target of increasingly ominous threats as he seeks to uncover the mastermind behind a sordid mystery.
Trainee private investigator Lee Southern finds himself drawn into a web of danger and deceit as he investigates a series of bribery attempts targeting a wealthy entrepreneur. Under the expert tutelage of retiring PI Frank Swann, Lee uses all of his developing skills, instincts and cunning to get to the heart of a sordid mystery. As Lee delves deeper into the case and questions the intentions of those he's working for, he finds himself the target of increasingly ominous threats and several attempts on his life.
Unnatural Death by Patricia Cornwell
In this thrilling new instalment of the #1 bestselling series, chief medical examiner Dr Kay Scarpetta finds herself in a Northern Virginia wilderness examining the remains of two campers wanted by federal law enforcement.
The victims have been savaged beyond recognition, and other evidence is terrifying and baffling, including a larger-than-life footprint. After the most frightening body retrievals of her career, Scarpetta must discover who would commit murders this savage, and why.
From a Far and Lovely Country by Alexander McCall Smith
If you are the founder and Managing Director of the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency you may expect complete strangers to approach you with their problems when they see you having dinner with your husband in a peri-peri restaurant. And if you are Precious Ramotswe, you are a kind and helpful person who will be willing to take on a quest to find the relatives of a man who, many years ago, left the country for the uncertainties and dangers of a distant conflict.
While that is going on, though, there may be other things that claim your attention – such as the shocking news that a club that calls itself the Cool Singles Evening Club is encouraging married men to pretend to be single and meet women under false pretences. Who can be behind such a distasteful venture?
Age of Vice by Deepti Kapoor
New Delhi, 3 a.m. A speeding Mercedes jumps the kerb, and in the blink of an eye five people are dead. It's a rich man's car, but when the dust settles there is no rich man at all, just a shell-shocked servant who cannot explain the strange series of events that led to this crime. Nor can he foresee the dark drama that is about to unfold.
In the shadow of lavish estates, extravagant parties, predatory business deals, and calculated political influence, three lives become dangerously intertwined: Ajay is the watchful servant, born into poverty, who rises through the family's ranks. Sunny is the playboy heir who dreams of outshining his father, whatever the cost. And Neda is the curious journalist caught between morality and desire. Against a sweeping plot fueled by loss, pleasure, greed, yearning, violence, and revenge, will these characters' connections become a path to escape, or a trigger of further destruction?
West Heart Kill by Dann McDorman
It's the Fourth of July weekend at the prestigious West Heart country club. Gathered for cocktails on the first evening are just some of the guests: the club president, the treasurer and his pregnant wife, the snooping school boy, the bereaved father, the taciturn caretaker, the prospective member, the private detective...
And there will also be a body. And a fiendish mystery to solve. But everything else is all to play for. And you are about to find out that you have a role to play in this mystery too....
West Heart Kill is an outrageously original and imaginative murder mystery that is both a love letter to the greats of classic crime fiction and a fiendishly brilliant puzzle the likes of which you will never have read before.
None of This Is True by Lisa Jewell
Celebrating her 45th birthday at her local pub, podcaster Alix Summers crosses paths with an unassuming woman called Josie Fair. Josie is also celebrating her 45th birthday. They are, in fact, birthday twins. A few days later, Alix and Josie bump into each other again, outside Alix's children's school. Josie has been listening to Alix's podcasts and thinks she might be an interesting subject for her series. She is, she tells Alix, on the cusp of great changes in her life.
Josie's life appears to be strange and complicated, and although Alix finds her unsettling, she can't quite resist the temptation to keep making the podcast. Slowly Alix starts to realise that Josie has been hiding some very dark secrets, and before she knows it Josie has inveigled her way into Alix's life - and into her home. But, as quickly as she arrived, Josie disappears. Only then does Alix discover that Josie has left a terrible and terrifying legacy in her wake...
With such a strong list this year it's impossible to include them all but it is also quickly worth mentioning the latest books from these crime writing legends:
- The Bone Hacker by Kathy Reichs
- Resurrection Walk by Michael Connelly
- So Shall You Reap by Donna Leon