March 2005

Pathway To Treason by Ken Harris (pub. Haddington Press). Publisher's Synopsis: Australia in 2020 has become a republic with a Prime Minister and elected President. A crisis looms as the Prime Minister proposes sending troops abroad. The President threatens to withhold his consent as Commander-in-Chief. The Australian Defence Force faces a dilemma. Who to obey?Australia in 2020 has become a republic with a Prime Minister and elected President. A crisis looms as the Prime Minister proposes sending troops abroad. The President threatens to withhold his consent as Commander-in-Chief. The Australian Defence Force faces a dilemma. Who to obey?

Crook As Rookwood by Chris Nyst (pub. HarperCollins Publishers). Publisher's Synopsis: In an inner suburb of Sydney, a pensioner is bashed in his own home. An old Labor Party stalwart loses the faith and goes looking for someone to blame. And a young woman called Slick finds an unsettling connection between the death of her ex-husband and her new boss. When Gold Coast lawyer Eddie Moran comes to Sydney to look after Slick's interests after the death of her ex, he finds a simple drug overdose isn't so simple after all. It's not just the crooked cops, it's the strong whiff of a deal being done higher up and well offstage. From sleazy Sydney backstreets to the new-money glamour of the Gold Coast, this is the world where politics and business meet, and where the consequences are far-reaching - and surprising. . .

April 2005

Dangerous Deception by Sandy Curtis (pub. Pan Macmillan Australia). Publisher's Synopsis: Driving alone on a rainy Melbourne night, Professor John Raymond suffers a stroke and is involved in a fatal accident. A week later, brilliant young scientist Breeanna Montgomery arrives home from work and is attacked by a black-clad stranger. She disappears without a trace. Then, dive-boat operator Rogan McKay awakens at midnight with terrible pain tearing through his body. When Rogan discovers his identical twin, Liam, is missing, he flies to Melbourne to search for him. He finds out that Liam, a private investigator, had been hired to locate Breeanna. When Rogan discovers Breeanna and confronts her, a shocking chain of events unfolds as Rogan learns her dark family secrets. But nothing he comes to know about the woman that he is falling in love with will be as astounding as the truth about the project Professor Raymond was trying to hide.

A Certain Malice by Felicity Young (pub. Creme de la Crime) Publisher's Synopsis:   You can run from anything... but your fears. When Sergeant Cam Fraser thinks the gang who murdered his wife and son are targeting his daughter, he relocates to the other side of Australia, not expecting trouble in the small country town where he was raised. But a violent, puzzling murder at an exclusive girls' college plunges him into a baffling and deadly investigation - and raises menacing ghosts from his past. Taut and creepy debut crime novel from rising Australian author.

May 2005

 

The Devil's Companions by John Misto (pub. Hachette Livre Australia). Publisher's Synopsis: On Christmas Eve, four-year-old Anna Brennan disappears from a crowded church during midnight mass. She is kidnapped, believed murdered. Twenty years later, in the process of a burglary investigation, a startling piece of evidence accidentally comes to light. Could Anna still be alive? If so, who abducted her, and why? Detective Constable Gregory Raine is assigned the task of solving the case and re-uniting Anna with her parents. But a nightmare of treachery and murder lies ahead. In a shattering climax, the detective unearths the secret behind Anna's disappearance... and it's a discovery that comes at a terrifying price.

Lost by Michael Robotham (pub. Time Warner UK). Publisher's Synopsis: Vincent Ruiz is lucky to be alive. A bullet in the leg, another through the hand, he is discovered clinging to a buoy in the River Thames, losing blood and consciousness fast. It takes six days for him to come out of his coma, and when he does, his nightmare is only just beginning. Because Vincent has no recollection of what happened, and nobody believes him. A mile away from his body, a boat was found covered in blood -- Vincent's and that of three others. Forensics say at least one of them must be dead. Vincent, a police detective, had signed his service pistol out of the station armoury, despite being on leave. Many murder suspects fake amnesia, and the investigating team are not sure this case is any different... The only clue is a picture in his pocket, a photograph of a young girl, Mickey Carlyle, who disappeared three years ago. And though Mickey is presumed dead, Vincent has the nagging doubt that she is alive and in terrible danger. . .

June 2005

Death By Water by Kerry Greenwood (pub. Allen and Unwin). Publisher's Synopsis: The divine Phryne Fisher returns in the fifteenth seductive instalment in the classic Phryne Fisher whodunnit series. 'Who are you?' asked the doctor. 'You are not the standard cruise passenger, I can tell you that.' 'Thank you,' said Phryne in a self-possessed manner. 'You are correct. I am a lot of things, some of which do not concern you, but mostly I am Phryne Fisher.' The nice men at P&O are worried. A succession of jewellery thefts from first class passengers is hardly the best advertisement for their cruise liners, particularly when it is likely that it is a passenger who is doing the stealing. Phryne Fisher, with her Lulu bob, green eyes, Cupid's bow lips and Chanel travelling suits, is exactly the sort of elegant sleuth to take on a ring of jewellery thieves aboard the high seas - or at least, aboard the SS Hinemoa on a luxury cruise to New Zealand. With the Maharani - the Great Queen of Sapphires - as the bait, Phryne rises magnificently to the challenge. There are shipboard romances, champagne cocktails, erotic photographers, jealous husbands, mickey finns, blackmail and attempted murder, all before the thieves find out - as have countless love-smitten men before them - that where the glamorous and intelligent Phryne is involved, resistance is futile.

July 2005

The Visitor by Jane R. Goodall (pub. Hachette Livre Australia). Publisher's Synopsis: Twin boys run away from their au pair on a trip to the Oxford countryside. They race into some woods where they see a man chopping. At first they think he is chopping wood, but what he is holding in his hand is not an axe, and the shape on the ground is not a tree. Their au pair, Sylvie sets off to look for them... Briony Williams has moved to Oxford. The story begins as she speeds across the city to the murder site, where Sylvie Bec has been found dead - killed by a single blow that crushed her skull. The forensic pathologist says he has never seen anything like it. With a fascination for all things terrifying, Jane Goodall takes readers into the dark, drug-filled world of 1970s Oxford, where we witness serial killings and a murderer with a fascination for ancient artefacts. Not even Detective Williams is safe.

August 2005

	The Broken Shore by Peter Temple (pub. Text Publishing). Publisher's Synopsis : Joe Cashin was different once. He moved easily then; was surer and less thoughtful. But there are consequences when you've come so close to dying. For Cashin, they included a posting away from the world of Homicide to the quiet place on the coast where he grew up. Now all he has to do is play the country cop and walk the dogs. And sometimes think about how he was before.   Then prominent local Charles Bourgoyne is bashed and left for dead. Everything seems to point to three boys from the nearby Aboriginal community; everyone seems to want it to. But Cashin is unconvinced. And as tragedy unfolds relentlessly into tragedy, he finds himself holding onto something that might be better let go.
	Rubdown by Leigh Redbead (pub. Allen and Unwin). Publisher's Synopsis: Simone Kirsch and her best friend Chloe, celebrity stripper, return in Simone's first official case as a private investigator. Sexy, witty and a great read. Simone Kirsch, P.I. has given up stripping and is trying to be straight. But she can never stay straight for long. Simone is hired by prominent lawyer Emery Wade, to follow his wayward daughter Tamara. She's been taking drugs and working in the sex industry and Daddy fears a scandal that will affect not just his reputation, but that of her AFL-hotshot brother and his high-profile soap-star fiancee. When Simone finds Tamara dead the coroner says suicide. But Lulu, Tammy's best friend from the parlour, is convinced it's murder. Tangling with a drug dealer, a sleazy brothel owner and a bizarre love quadrangle with three coppers, time is running out for Simone to get to the bottom of it all before someone tries to keep her quiet too.
	The Millionaire Float by Kirsty Brooks (pub. Hachette Livre). Publisher's Synopsis: After her success in The Vodka Dialogue and The Happiness Punch, Cassidy Blair returns with more confidence in her PI skills, more money in her bank account and more Officer Sam Tasker in her life than ever before. Sam Tasker is gorgeous, great at the sex, and unfortunately always on the right side of the law. So when Cassidy lands a job infiltrating one of the city's most dangerous nightclubs, whilst wearing the skimpiest of outfits, the odds are Sam isn't going to be too thrilled. Meanwhile, Cass has to survive a battle with her crazed parrot, a complete body wax and the disturbing reappearance of her high school nemesis. Fortunately she also has a terrific set of friends, a sexy lingerie collection and a brand new Mini that even Wonder Woman would want to drive. And she's not the kind of girl who'd let a little breathlessness come between her and the sex, especially with someone like Sam Tasker...
	D.E.D Dead by Geoffrey McGeachin (pub. Penguin Australia). Publisher's Synopsis: From the moment Alby drops his gun on a St Kilda tram he knows he's in for a bad day. Then his partner Harry is gunned down in a Double Bay coffee shop. By lunchtime Alby realises someone wants him dead - and they want him dead now. All Alby wants is some pasta, a good bottle of wine and to know more about the mysterious Grace Goodluck . . . long dark hair, legs up to there, piercing slate-grey eyes . . . sniper's eyes. But he also has to figure out who shot Harry and who wants him dead. And why. Unfortunately for Alby, the answer lies over the razor wire and past the anti-personnel mines protecting Bitter Springs, a top-secret US military facility deep in the central Australian desert. Now that can really ruin your day . . .
	Pressure Point by Greg Baker (pub. Hardie Grant Books). Publisher's Synopsis: In South Africa, apartheid is collapsing. In Australia, a guerrilla army training camp has been set up in secret. Late one night Tony Martin receives a call from a friend with information someone would kill for.Thirty minutes later,Tony finds his friend dead. As part of a deep undercover operation known only to the Prime Minister, Tony Martin now finds himself running for his life armed with just a few unlikely clues - clues that point towards a conspiracy covering two continents and a twenty-year-old mystery. What he discovers could bring down the Australian government.   'Are you all right?' he shouted. There was no reply, just the sound of footfalls moving away through the bush. He stood still, suddenly more alert, listening to the sounds grow faint. Finally they were swallowed in the traffic noise and he was alone. The mopoke sounded again as he bent down to the fallen bicycle. There was no one there, just the eerie red glow. He detached the light from the bicycle, stood up, and turned towards the path. The object seemed to swing towards Tony, strung on a wire across the path.   It was the cyclist, neck caught, nearly severed by a taut barbed wire across the track.The cyclist's shirt front and the ground around were bathed in blood, shining in the glow from the lamp.
	The Omega Scroll by Adrian d'Hage (pub. Penguin Australia). Publisher's Synopsis : The Pope's health is failing and the Cardinal Secretary of State, the ruthless Lorenzo Petroni, has the Keys to St Peter within his grasp. Three things threaten to destroy him: Cardinal Giovanni Donelli has started an investigation into the Vatican Bank; journalist Tom Schweiker is looking into Petroni's past; and, even more dangerously, the brilliant Dr Allegra Bassetti, one of the world's foremost authorities on archaeological DNA, is piecing together fragments of the Omega Scroll in war-torn Jerusalem. Donelli, Schweiker and Bassetti must fight for their lives in a deadly race for the scroll. The Vatican will stop at nothing in its quest to keep the prophecy hidden. At the CIA's headquarters in Langley, Virginia, Mike McKinnon is investigating a number of missing nuclear suitcase bombs and suspects they are connected to the warning in the Omega Scroll. In the Judaean Desert a few more grains of sand trickle from the wall of a cave. The countdown for civilisation has begun.

September 2005

	Original Face by Nicholas Jose (pub. Giramondo Publishing). Publisher's synopsis: The drama begins with a body dumped in south-western Sydney - skinned, with no face. Lewis Lin, taxi driver, photographer, recent arrival from Beijing, happens to be at the scene. With detectives Ginger Rogers and Shelley Swert in pursuit, Lin finds himself drawn into a deadly immigration racket, with a cast which includes a film-maker just in from LA, a Buddhist monk, a millionaire bachelor artist, a masseuse, a maniacal violinist, and a refugee assassin. Part thriller, part ethnic noir, dark and comic by turns, Original Face offers a sensuous and highly coloured portrait of the jostling energies that make up life in the contemporary Australian city.   Drawing its title from an ancient Zen koan, the novel traces the complicated manoeuvres by which people mask their identities, and the accidental pathways by which these hidden selves come to light.
	Snapshot by Garry Disher (pub. Text Publishing). Publisher's synopsis : Superintendent McQuarrie is not well liked. Bullying bureaucrat, dapper golfer and Chamber of Commerce toady, he has few allies amongst the rank and file of Waterloo coppers. But when his daughter-in-law Janine is brutally slain in front of her seven-year-old daughter looks on, the team are quick to respond. Detective Inspector Hal Challis sets out to investigate. Was Janine the target? What did her death have to do with the sex parties taking place behind closed doors up and down the peninsula? How many people had something to hide, something to gain from her death?   To make matters worse Challis has problems of his own. His relationship with Tessa Kane, editor of the local newspaper, has stalled. His ex-wife's suicide has compounded his sense of isolation and Tessa is caught up in a big story about the controversial new immigration detention centre on the edge of town. Desperately trying to negotiate both personal and political sensitivities, Challis and his colleagues are faced with a network of lies and secrets, of explosive passions and deadly intent.
	Innocent Murder by Steve J. Spears (pub. Wakefield Press). Publisher's synopsis : In Innocent Murder, Investigator Ng and Stella Pentangeli work different sides of the crime fence. Ng's case is one of triads, sex slavery and murder. Stella's case is a showbiz trifle - she must discover who is stealing plotlines from the hugely successful soap The Young and the Naked and selling the information to a rival channel.
	The House At Number 10 by Dorothy Johnston (pub. Wakefield Press). Publisher's synopsis : Sophie Harper is abandoned by her husband and left with a four-year-old daughter to support. She finds work in an old house in Canberra that is being used as a brothel.   She falls under the house's eerie, yet strangely comforting spell, and discovers within herself not only the ability to perform well, and delight in the freedom bought by an independent income, but the capacity to learn from the men and women she encounters there. One of these men, Jack, teaches her more about revenge than she ever wished to know.

October 2005

	The Factory by Paddy O'Reilly (pub. Thompson Walker). Publisher's Synopsis: Hilda has travelled to Japan to research 'The Factory', a controversial arts community that formed then collapsed twenty years earlier. When The Factory is re-formed by old members driven by motives she is unable to uncover, Hilda is drawn into a complex intrigue of love, betrayal and revenge. The Factory is a suspenseful narrative exploring the precariousness of self-knowledge and the elusive nature of truth.
	Seven Ancient Wonders by Matthew Reilly (pub. Pan Macmillan). Publisher's Synopsis: Thousands of years ago, a magnificent golden capstone sat atop the Great Pyramid of Giza. It was a source of immense power, capable of bestowing upon its holder absolute global rule for a thousand years But then, in 323 BC, the capstone was broken into seven pieces and spread to the corners of the Earth, hidden within the Seven Ancient Wonders of theWorld. Now, with the coming of a rare solar event, the time has come to locate the pieces and rebuild the capstone. Everyone wants it. From the greatest, most powerful countries on Earth, to gangs of evil terrorists and one daring coalition of eight small nations who think no single country should possess such an awesome power source. And so, led by the mysterious Captain Jack West Jr, this determined group enters into an adventure beyond imagining.
	A Thing of Blood by Robert Gott (pub. Scribe) Publisher's synopsis: The fatally over-confident hero of 'Good Murder' returns to pit his meagre detective skills against military intelligence, belligerent in-laws, a town full of GIs and a creepy conspiracy to bring on an Australian sectarian nightmare. Failed Shakespearean actor and would-be private detective William Power returns to Melbourne in disgrace after his disastrous brush with theatre and murder in Maryborough. Bloodied, broken but somehow unbowed, he finds himself in a fascinating world of bohemians, black marketeers and political agitators. And just when modesty and good sense threaten to intervene, Will realises that only he can save the nation from impending catastrophe. 'A Thing of Blood' is a brilliant, wry sequel which perfectly recreates the tension and fear of World War II Australia.
	The Death Trust by David A. Rollins (pub. Pan Macmillan). Publisher's synopsis : NATO Air Base in Germany, is killed in what appears to be a glider accident, Washington reluctantly washed-up Special Agent Vincent Cooper to the case. When the crash turns out to have been sabotage, Cooper suddenly finds himself immersed in a highly sensitive murder investigation - the general was married to the US Vice President's daughter. Cooper discovers that General Scott kept some highly questionable company. And so begins an investigation that takes Cooper and his uncooperative partner, Special Agent Anna Masters, around the world. They uncover a plot so monstrous it threatens to engulf the US military-industrial complex in a scandal of explosive proportions - as well as destroy the very fabric of contemporary society.
	Dirty Weekend by Gabrielle Lord (pub. Hachette Livre). Publisher's synopsis : Jack McCain is the chief forensic scientist for the Australian Federal Police. It's a job that continually throws the worst of human nature his way. A workaholic, he would like to spend some time painting watercolours and having more of a life. But the job, his daughter, and the spectre of his bitter ex-wife all conspire against him. After a phone call from a former police colleague worried that he is the prime suspect in the murder of his estranged wife, Jack finds himself in the car park of a Canberra nightclub looking for clues. After examining the body, Jack is left with more questions than answers. As his investigation continues Jack uses his forensic knowledge and that of his team to put together the clues. But just when it looks like he has a suspect, another murder interrupts him. From the science lab to an agricultural research laboratory and then on to a swingers sex club, Jack McCain is determined to link the pieces and find the crucial evidence that will convict the guilty.

November 2005

Rendezvous At Kamakura Inn by Marshall Browne (pub. St Martin's Minotaur). Publisher's Synopsis: Tokyo Detective Aoki is devastated when influence and power undermine a major investigation. Unwilling to let go, he is sent to a remote Japanese retreat in the mountains for a vacation.   His stay quickly becomes a hotbed of suspense as Aoki realizes that all the guests are harboring secrets. A sudden snowstorm traps everyone just as Aoki begins to piece together each guest's connection to an unsolved disappearance years prior. Trapped by the snow, the retreat becomes a maze of stone walls, a geisha's seduction, and bloody murders in the night. Before long Aoki realizes that his earlier investigation and the unsolved disappearance are part of a larger scheme. Marshall Brown once again crafts an intelligent thriller with a riveting pace and spellbinding plot.

Crime Scene Cessnock by Robert G. Barrett (pub. HarperCollins Australia). Release date : 30/11/2005 Publisher's Synopsis: Les is back and on the detox ... All it took was a summer's day and a flat tyre on his push-bike, and Les is out on bail and on the run from a gun-happy street gang intent on a drive-by. So, with Warren's help, Les Norton defendant, becomes Len Gordon film director, safely ensconced at the ultra-swish Opal Springs Health Resort till Eddie can sort things out back in Sydney. Unfortunately, the first thing Les finds on arrival is motivational guru Alexander Holden dead at the front gate. Then, before you can say 'soya beans with tahini and lime dressing', the cops arrive and Les is up to his neck in a land of a thousand acronyms, fighting off steroid-happy body builders, sex-crazed socialites, violent greyhound owners - and, worst of all, caffeine withdrawals - while at the same time matching wits with the four acrimonious writers-in-residence. Was Alexander Holden murdered? Or was it an accident? Find out in the gripping climax and food fight when all is revealed - in the library.

December

	Saving Billie by Peter Corris (pub. Allen & Unwin) Release Date : 31/12/2005 Publisher's Synopsis: Australia's favourite PI, Cliff Hardy is back in a story set against the backdrop of a Federal election campaign.   When journalist Louise Kramer hires Cliff Hardy to find Billie Marchant, Hardy heads for unfamiliar territory of the far south-western suburbs of Sydney. Billie claims to have information about media big-wheel Jonas Clement -- the subject of an incriminating expose by Kramer. Clement doesn't want Billie found and Clement's enemies want to find her first. Hardy tracks Billie down, but saving Billie means not only rescuing her, it means saving her from herself. Billie, ex-stripper, sometime hooker and druggie, is a handful. Hardy gets help from members of the Pacific Islander community and others, but the enemies close in and he is soon fighting on several different fronts. Clement and his chief rival, Barclay Greaves, have heavies in the field, and Hardy has to negotiate his way through their divided loyalties. Some negotiations involve cunning but others involve guns. The action takes place against the backdrop of the Federal election campaign, and all outcomes are uncertain.
	Head Shot by Jarad Henry (pub. Thompson Walker). Release Date: 7/12/2005 Publisher's Synopsis: An acquitted cop-killer is executed in a St Kilda back-street. Suspicion falls on Rubens McCauley, a maverick detective with a lot of motive and plenty of enemies.   With his marriage in tatters and a team of elite investigators on his heels, McCauley needs answers - and fast. His hunt for the killer draws him deep into an underworld of gangsters, hitmen and dance parties - and a past he'll do anything to forget.
	The Quokka Question by Claire McNab (pub. Alyson Publications). Publisher's Synopsis: Aussie sleuth Kylie Kendall is hired for a routine security detail to prevent an academic rival from disrupting Dr. Oscar Braithwaite's keynote address at UCLA's Global Marsupial Symposium. Sounds like a piece of cake, but then Dr. Braithwaite is murdered, and his sister, the sexually voracious and irresistibly attractive Dr. Penelope Braithwaite, hires Kylie to investigate his death. Can Kylie keep from mixing business with oh-so-much pleasure? Can she remain true to her barely requited love for her ice-queen business partner Arianna Creeling? Oh, yes, and can she figure out who rubbed out Oscar? Find out in the most thrilling--and sexiest--installment of Claire McNab's Kylie Kendall Mystery series yet.