Reads a bit of crime fiction. Been reviewing with a focus on Australian and New Zealand works on www.austcrimefiction.org since 2006.
Also @kcfromaustcrime@mastodon.online
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Three couples, friends since the university athletics team, travel to a house in the mountains …
Latest review on AustCrime - Kill Your Husbands, Jack Heath:
www.austcrimefiction.org/review/kill-your-husbands-jack-heath
... come for the entertainment, stay for the cleverness of the concept and execution.
Two missing backpackers. One vast outback.
DS Lucas Walker is on leave in his hometown, …
If, like Kane, you're a Denied Access Area spy for the CIA, then boundaries have …
When the Australian Mystery Writers’ Society invited me to their crime-writing festival aboard the Ghan, …
I'm not going to pretend that I didn't wonder if the dreaded "second book syndrome" would appear with Benjamin Stevenson's EVERYONE ON THIS TRAIN IS A SUSPECT.
Full Review: www.austcrimefiction.org/review/everyone-train-suspect-benjamin-stevenson
1982, New Zealand. Sean McBride, an unlicensed private investigator living under a false identity, forms …
Nash Rankin is a disgraced cop trying to escape his past – his career was …
My #review of Hyland Creek by Adrian Hyland, the 3rd Jesse Redpath novel has now been published at Newtown Review of Books:
newtownreviewofbooks.com.au/adrian-hyland-the-wiregrass-reviewed-by-karen-chisholm/
"The much anticipated follow-up to Canticle Creek, The Wiregrass is set in the temperate rainforest area of Victoria in the fictional town of Satellite."
Marshall Grade returns in an action-packed thrillride through the New York underworld.
When a former …
When Marshall Grade agrees to meet his former NYPD colleague Ray Vialoux, he does not expect Ray to end up dead on the floor of a New York restaurant.
Full Review at: newtownreviewofbooks.com.au/ben-sanders-exit-45-reviewed-by-karen-chisholm/
Chilling cases of murder and crime that have happened in the quiet streets of Australia’s …
The collection of cases covered by Emily Webb's SUBURBAN TRUE CRIME go back to the 1940's, through to more recent times, covering a wide range of different murders and disappearances that have occurred in Australian suburban locations.
www.austcrimefiction.org/review/suburban-true-crime-emily-webb
The body of a local teenage boy is found on the beach of a sleepy …
My review of Bryan Brown's first full length crime novel - The Drowning has been posted at Newtown Review of Books:
newtownreviewofbooks.com.au/bryan-brown-the-drowning-reviewed-by-karen-chisholm/
"Actor and Australian icon Bryan Brown brings his laconic style to his first full-length crime novel."
It has been eleven years since Hanne Wilhelmsen's life was forever changed by an assault …
Review of Offline by Anne Holt has just been published at:
www.austcrimefiction.org/review/offline-anne-holt
A long time overdue to read this from the godmother of modern Norwegian crime fiction - who certainly knows how to produce well written, atmospheric character driven crime fiction which tackles important questions along the way.
The untold story of Johnny Day, Australia’s first international sports hero – a tale of …
This was last month's F2F bookclub book, which I just could not finish because of the pointless animal cruelty. Which I get was probably accurate for the time but it was so matter of fact, I just couldn't.
Masterton isn’t a big town. The community’s tight, if not always harmonious. So when a …
My review of Paper Cage by Tom Baragwanath has just been posted at Newtown Review of Books:
newtownreviewofbooks.com.au/tom-baragwanath-paper-cage-reviewed-by-karen-chisholm
A finalist in the Ngaio Awards for Best First Crime Novel, Paper Cage is the story of a divided community and a string of missing children.
The shocking story of the case against Australia's most highly decorated soldier, Ben Roberts-Smith VC …
A full, reasonably dispassionate scrutiny of the defamation trial bought by Ben Roberts-Smith as a result of the investigations that Chris Masters and fellow journalist Nick McKenzie did into rumours of war crimes committed by BRS. Needless to say, the case was sensational, and followed closely by many Australian's, but fair to say not as closely as those involved in what would be a complex undertaking. From the outside it often seemed like BRS had scored an own goal on many occasions, but on the inside it was not so clear, clouded as well by the potential outcome for the participants should the case have gone the way of the applicant.
Well-written, this is an extremely detailed outline of the testimony of various witnesses, and the impact that the case had on them - many of them fellow soldiers with BRS. It also takes you through some of the research, …
A full, reasonably dispassionate scrutiny of the defamation trial bought by Ben Roberts-Smith as a result of the investigations that Chris Masters and fellow journalist Nick McKenzie did into rumours of war crimes committed by BRS. Needless to say, the case was sensational, and followed closely by many Australian's, but fair to say not as closely as those involved in what would be a complex undertaking. From the outside it often seemed like BRS had scored an own goal on many occasions, but on the inside it was not so clear, clouded as well by the potential outcome for the participants should the case have gone the way of the applicant.
Well-written, this is an extremely detailed outline of the testimony of various witnesses, and the impact that the case had on them - many of them fellow soldiers with BRS. It also takes you through some of the research, and background, to the stories that Masters, McKenzie and other journalists worked on that lead up to the trial.
BRS currently has an appeal running in the High Court (although last I saw on the matter was an eyewatering amount of money to be submitted against the potential for costs), so I'm not sure what's happening.
The defamation case dismissed the claims of BRS, effectively (and I'm paraphrasing here), suggesting that there was more than enough evidence of him being guilty of many of the crimes, and therefore, could not be defamed. The appeal is likely to be heard in February 2024.
www.abc.net.au/news/2023-06-01/ben-roberts-smith-war-crimes-established-in-federal-court/102422952
www.abc.net.au/news/2023-10-10/nsw-ben-roberts-smith-nearly-1-million-court-appeal/102956704
www.abc.net.au/news/2023-08-24/ben-roberts-smith-defamation-appeal-february/102771574
Why should Indigenous people have a direct say in the decisions that affect their lives? …
Extremely informative, well balanced range of opinions and information regarding recognition and reform (not related necessarily to the Referendum in October 2023).
So lucky to have had the opportunity to read this.
Can't help but reflect that too many people who should be aware of the thoughtful, considered positions in this work, will continue to refuse the opportunity.