Australian authors are masterful at producing fast-paced mysteries and crime fiction. It’s almost criminal how good these are!
Here are some of our favourite home-grown crime, thriller and mystery reads.
The Dry – Jane Harper [B2274]
After an apparent murder-suicide, Detective Aaron Falk is drawn back to his hometown for a funeral, but finds everything is not so clear cut. Harper’s prose is electric as the stark landscape the story is set in. Indeed the desolate town, where people are more desperate for rain than truth, sets the stage for mystery. Aaron Falk returns in Harper’s Force of Nature. The movie adaption of The Dry is set to be released later this year.
Crossing the Lines – Sulari Gentill
This is a crime novel with a difference! Madeleine d’Leon has stopped writing her successful crime series to invent Ned McGinnity, a serious writer who stumbles across a murder mystery. But Ned has just created Madeleine, a writer of detective fiction with her own secrets… We loved this layered mystery, which has you questioning, who is writing who?
The Broken Shore – Peter Temple [B1917]
A literary thriller about place, family and power, set in a quiet Victorian coastal town. Joe Cashin is trying to get on with the sedated of a country police offer, but a violent attack draws him in. How do you live a decent life when everything around you is decaying? A moving, gripping, genre-defying novel from a master of Australian crime.
The Rip – Mark Brandi
An urban crime novel that is gritty and unflinchingly real. A young woman lives on the streets and struggles to survive – but she can rely on Anton. At least until the drugs kick in. And Anton’s friend Steve has a flat they can stay it, so surely everything is going to turn around… We found this to be a gritty and devastating read, with an element of hope.
Resurrection Bay – Emma Viskic [B2232]
An original fast-paced thriller, which questions what it means to pass for ‘normal’. Deaf since childhood, Caleb has always relied on his instincts. His best friend’s murder forces him to face his past as he investigates. We love that this fast-paced thriller is filled with dark humour and delves into questions of identity and belonging. Viskic continues Caleb’s story in And Fire Came Down and Darkness for Light.
The Wife and the Widow – Christian White
A thrilling mystery. Kate goes to pick up her husband John from the airport after a work trip, only to find he was never on the plane – or on a work trip. Kate seeks answers in a local island community with ties to John, where Abby is also delving into secrets about her own husband that will turn all their lives upside down. We loved this fast-paced read from the author of The Nowhere Child.
Inheritance of Secrets – Sonya Bates
Moving from Germany to present day Adelaide, this is a compelling read. In Adelaide, Juliet’s grandparents are brutally murdered. But who would want to hurt them, and what happened to her grandfather Karl’s missing signet ring? The answers might lie with Juliet’s sister, Lily, who keeps disappearing, and her grandfather’s secrets from WWII. A gripping, tense historical mystery.
Do you have a favourite Australian crime novel? Get in touch on bookgroups@cae.edu.au