Bright Air by Barry Maitland (pub. Allen & Unwin) Publisher's Synopsis : Secrets, lies and a deathbed confession lead to a deadly, dangerous trail.

On a cliff-face in New Zealand, two men fall to their deaths. Four years before, another member of the same close group of university climbing friends, the bright and beautiful Luce, disappeared - supposedly in a climbing accident. As the circle of friends dwindles, two of the surviving members of the group, Luce's ex-lover Josh and best friend Anna, see a new significance in her death. In an attempt to uncover the truth, Josh and Anna follow the trail to Lord Howe Island, where they begin to suspect an island-wide conspiracy to hide what really happened. Had Luce uncovered a dangerous secret - one that was still worth killing for?

Voodoo Doll by Leah Giarratano (pub. Random House) Publisher's Synopsis : Sergeant Jill Jackson has been promoted and is transferred to a task force targeting gang-related home invasions in south western Sydney. This means leaving her beloved eastern suburbs and her partner, Scott, which would have been impossible a year ago. Jill is much stronger since the death of the man who abducted her and is now ready to face the challenge of a new team and a new partner.

The gang is believed to be responsible for at least five brutal home invasions over the last two months, with the most recent culminating in a vicious knife attack that has left one of the victims crippled. On Jill's first day in the office the taskforce finds that that violence has escalated to murder and Jill and the team are now hunting a psychopath.

One of the victims knows who the psychopath is. A figure from his delinquent past who has come back to haunt him.

Splinter by Michael MacConnell (pub. Hachette Australia) Publisher's Synopsis : Sarah Reilly just brought down one of America's worst serial killers. Her father, FBI legend Harry Reilly, was kidnapped during the investigation, and the man she loved was murdered. Refusing offers of extended leave, Sarah launches herself back into her work in the Boston FBI field office. But the murder of a child in California sees her and her new partner assigned to a special taskforce to investigate.

It's a high-profile case. The parents are famous, wealthy and, it seems, they are holding information back. The media and public sympathy that initially was directed to them at their son's senseless murder has turned to suspicion. The whispers about their guilt are growing. Sarah is right in the middle, looking for the truth, and she isn't going to let PR spin doctors or the LAPD get in her way. The taskforce, led by Sarah, starts to uncover evidence of something bigger than a domestic homicide. It seems over a number of years someone has been coldly and brutally extorting wealthy West Coast families.

Whoever is behind the crimes is a master manipulator who will stop at nothing to evade capture. Sarah, haunted by her past and faced with the murder of another young boy.

 
Dreamland by Tom Gilling (pub. Text Publishing) Publisher's Synopsis : It was just a little lie. But it has landed Nick Carmody in serious trouble. It didn't seem much--to say he was the one driving Danny Grogan's car when it was caught by a speed camera. And Danny's billionaire father has promised to make the lie worth his while. But Danny hasn't told him the full story, and when Nick Carmody stands up in court he doesn't quite know what it is he's admitting to. By the time he works it out, it is too late.

Soon Nick's 'good deed' has hurled him into a nightmare of dirty secrets, corruption and increasing danger. It leaves him with no choice--he needs to disappear. Three years as a crime reporter taught him a lot about aliases, deception, and getting away with it. But Nick soon learns something else: the person you are pretending to be can be a lot more dangerous.

The Darkest Hour by Katherine Howell (pub. Pan Macmillan) Publisher's Synopsis :

Paramedic Lauren Yates stumbles into a world of trouble the night she discovers a dead man in an inner city alley, for the killer still lurks nearby. When the murderer threatens to make her life hell if she tells the police, she believes him - he's Miles Werner, her sister's ex and father to Lauren's niece... and a very bad man indeed.

But when a stabbing victim tells her with his dying breath that Werner attacked him too, she finds herself with blood on her hands and Detective Ella Marconi on her back. Ella knows Lauren is the perfect witness for the murder since she can testify to the victim's last words. But when Lauren tries to change her statement, Ella begins her own investigation.

The harder she digs into Lauren's past, however, the more Lauren resists, and the worse the threat from Werner becomes.

The Silver Dagger by Jame McLean (pub. Longueville Books) Publisher's Synopsis :

Queensland's Gold Coast is holiday paradise to millions - the last place one would imagine as the hunting ground of a brutal but brilliant serial killer. A man filled with pain, and an agony that others must share. Robert Carrana doesn't have much pity and he certainly has no compassion. What he does have is a passion for vengeance, a brutal heart, and a long list of names. His promise is to keep going until all those on his list are dead.

For hardened crime fighter and Brisbane detective Joseph Crowley, the question stands: who will be next and what's the connection? Will he discover the killer's identity before paradise is lost for another innocent, or perhaps not so innocent, victim?

A Deadly Business by Lenny Bartulin (pub. Scribe Publications) Publisher's Synopsis : Jack Susko is trying for a quiet life in his second-hand bookshop in downtown Sydney. It's more tin mine than gold mine, yet its his and thats something. But when a wealthy businessman hires Jack to locate some books for him, life starts to get a little more complicated.

Soon he's up to his neck in family secrets, corruption and murder, plunged into a world he thought hed left behind. Making a play for the businessman's beautiful daughter doesnt help matters. And as the bodies start piling up, Jack cant help but wonder when second-hand book dealing became so dangerous.

A Deadly Business introduces a new crime hero who's not a detective and whose motives arent always pure, but hes sure got a talent for finding trouble.

The Medici Secret by Michael White (pub. Bantam Australia) Publisher's Synopsis : In the crypt of the Medici Chapel in Florence, scientist Edie Granger, and her uncle, Carlin Mackenzie, are examining the mummified remains of one of the most powerful families in Renaissance Italy.

The embalmers have done their work well in terms of outward appearance. But under the crisp skin, the organs have shrivelled to a fraction of their original size, which means it is difficult to gather a usable DNA sample. Edie and Mackenzie both have serious doubts about the true identity of at least two of the five-hundred-year-old bodies.

And no one can explain the presence of an alien object discovered resting against Cosimo di Medici's spine.

For Carlin Mackenzie, this is the most fascinating and the most dangerous discovery of his life. For Edie, it is the beginning of an obsessive, life-threatening quest.