Say Goodbye, by Lisa Gardner (Orion, RRP $25.99): The latest in a series of action-packed novels featuring FBI special agent Kimberly Quincy, Say Goodbye lives up to the hype of Lisa Garnder’s earlier novels and manages to inject more than…
Category: Mysteries & Thrillers
Slow start builds to a great read
Echoes from the Dead, by Johan Theorin (Random House, RRP $36.99): This was one of those books that managed to surprise me. That surprise didn’t come as a result of a twisty plot (although it certainly had one of those)…
A little too familiar by the final chapters
Bones, by Jonathan Kellerman (Headline, RRP $38.99): This book presented me with a bit of a dilemma: I enjoy a good, old-fashioned murder mystery and for the most part, Jonathan Kellerman writes well enough. However, by the end of the…
An explosive thriller
Last Call, by James Grippando (HarperCollins, RRP $34.99): The friendship between Theo Knight and Jack Swyteck may seem an unlikely — Theo an ex-gang member and Jack a successful lawyer — but their loyalty to one another was set in concrete…
Not too taxing
Daddy’s Girl, by Lisa Scottoline (Macmillan, RRP $26.99): Law professor Natalie Greco takes on teaching a class at a local prison, which leads to her comfortable life being turned upside-down. A riot breaks out during her class and Nat rushes to…
Author’s skill saves flat ending from losing me
The Girl of his Dreams, by Donna Leon (Random House NZ, RRP $36.99): Set in Venice, the descriptive writing in this book is so good it could probably appeal to travel fans every bit as much as murder-mystery fans. It…
Didn’t ring true
Bones to Ashes, by Kathy Reichs (Random House, $36.99): I’m a wee bit on the slow side sometimes when it comes to getting hooked on television programmes. Bones, a TV series about forensic anthropologist Temperance “Bones” Brennan — which was…
Perfect blend of history and drama
The Judas Strain, by James Rollins (Orion, $36.99): The elite Sigma Force is back in action in James Rollins’ latest novel, The Judas Strain. Sigma Force is made up of brilliant scientists, who are called on to save the world…
Grisly, nasty and I love it
Written in Bone, by Simon Beckett (Random House, $36.99): Now here’s a book that really kept me guessing until the very last page and beyond. Yes, it had the type of cliffhanger ending that means I’ll be queuing up to buy…
Fresh from start to finish
Exit Music, by Ian Rankin (Orion, RRP $36.99): Ian Rankin has produced another intriguing and compelling Inspector Rebus murder mystery in this book. The inspector is tying up loose ends as he nears retirement but a dead Russian poet changes his plans.…