Book Title:   THE COLD COLD GROUND

Author:  Adrian McKinty

Location:   Northern Ireland

Series:   Sean Duffy

Publisher:   Serpents Tail / Allen & Unwin

Year of Publication:   2012



Northern Ireland. Spring 1981.



Hunger strikes. Riots. Power cuts.



A homophobic serial killer with a penchant for opera. And a young woman's suicide that may yet turn out to be murder.



On the surface, the events are unconnected, but then things - and people…

Book Title:   COCAINE BLUES

Author:  Kerry Greenwood

ISBN:   9781742377438

Location:   Melbourne

Series:   Phryne Fisher

Publisher:   Allen & Unwin

Year of Publication:   2012



Introducing Australia's most elegant and irrepressible sleuth.



The London season is in full fling at the end of the 1920s, but the Honourable Phryne Fisher - she of the green-grey eyes, diamante garters and outfits that should not be sprung suddenly on those of nervous…

Book Title:   MILES OFF COURSE

Author:  Sulari Gentill

ISBN:   9780987068521

Location:  New South Wales

Series:   Rowland Sinclair

Publisher:   Pantera Press

Year of Publication:   2012



In early 1933, Rowland Sinclair and his companions are ensconced in the superlative luxury of The Hydro Majestic - Medlow Bath, where trouble seems distant indeed.



And then Harry Simpson vanishes.



Croquet and pre-dinner cocktails are abandoned for the High…

Book Title:   LITTLE STAR

Author:  John Ajvide Lindqvist

ISBN:   9781921758577

Location:   Sweden

Publisher:   Text Publishing

Year of Publication:   2011



Lennart Cederström, embittered ex-pop singer, is foraging for mushrooms when he finds a baby left for dead in a plastic bag. He revives her and is utterly astonished by the sound of her crying: the child’s voice is a clear, haunting, perfectly pitched note.



Lennart decides the girl will be his project.…

Book Title:   BEYOND FEAR

Author:  Jaye Ford

ISBN:   9781864711974

Publisher:   Random House Australia

Year of Publication:   2011



At seventeen, Jodie Cramer survived a terrifying assault at the hands of three strangers.  Her schoolmate Angie was not so lucky ...



Now thirty-five, Jodie is a teacher and mother of two - and her past is a horror she's buried deep.  When she sets out for a weekend in the country with three friends, all she has in mind are a few…

Book Title:   Something Missing

Author:  Matthew Dicks

ISBN:   9780767930888

Publisher:  Broadway

Year of Publication:   2009



A career criminal with OCD tendencies and a savant-like genius for bringing order to his crime scenes, Martin considers himself one of the best in the biz. After all, he’s been able to steal from the same people for years on end—virtually undetected. Of course, this could also be attributed to his unique business model—he takes only items that…

Book Title:   THE DINOSAUR FEATHER

Author:  Sissel-Jo Gazan

ISBN:   9780857380333

Location:   Denmark

Publisher:   Quercus

Year of Publication:   2011



Biology graduate Anna Bella Nor is just two weeks away from defending her thesis on the origin of birds when her supervisor Lars Helland is found dead in his office, his severed tongue lying on his bloodied shirtfront, a copy of her thesis lying in his lap.



Police Superintendent Soren Marhauge is…

Book Title:   THE CALLER

Author:  Karin Fossum

ISBN:  9781846553936

Series:   Inspector Sejer

Publisher:   Harvill Secker

Year of Publication:   2011



One mild summer evening Lily and her husband are enjoying a meal while their baby daughter sleeps peacefully in her pram beneath a maple tree. But when Lily steps outside she is paralysed with terror. The child is bathed in blood.



Inspector Sejer is called to the hospital to meet the family. Mercifully the…

Book Title:   SHE'S NEVER COMING BACK

Author:  Hans Koppel

ISBN:   9780751547825

Publisher:   Little Brown

Year of Publication:   2012



When Ylva, a loving mother and wife, fails to come home from work, her husband is not initially suspicious.  But as time passes he becomes frantic with worry.  And by the time he finally contacts the police, he is almost hysterical.  Given the mysterious circumstances of her disappearance, he becomes the number one…

Book Title:   THE PRECIPICE

Author:  Virginia Duigan

ISBN:   9781741667165

Publisher:  Vintage Books

Year of Publication:   2011



Thea Farmer, 77, a reclusive and difficult retired school principal, lives in isolation with her dog in the Blue Mountains. Her distinguished career ended under a cloud over a decade earlier, following an unspecified scandal involving a much younger male teacher. After losing her savings in the financial crash, she is forced to sell the…

Book Title:   COMEBACK

Author:  Peter Corris

ISBN:   9781742377247

Location:   Sydney

Series:   Cliff Hardy

Publisher:   Allen & Unwin

Year of Publication:   2012



Cliff Hardy has his PI licence back - but does he still have what it takes to cut it on the mean streets of Sydney?



Cliff reckons the skills are still there, if a little rusty, and actor Bobby Forrest's case looks promising.  Bobby's a nice-enough guy, but why is he being stalked by a…

Book Title:   MURDER AND REDEMPTION

Author:  Noel Mealey

ISBN:   978073229366

Location:   Western Australia

Series:   Syd Fielding

Publisher:   Harper Collins

Year of Publication:   2012



Syd Fielding is on a fishing trip when he hears a horrifying scream.... What he doesn't yet know is that a young man is being fed to a saltwater crocodile.



So begins Murder & Redemption, an absorbing crime novel which follows in the traditions of both Peter…