Hades by Candice Fox

Author: Candice Fox Publisher: Random House Copyright Year: 2014 Review By: Anne Bruist Book Synopsis: Homicide detective Frank Bennett has an intriguing new partner. Dark, beautiful, coldly efficient, Eden Archer is one of the most enigmatic colleagues Frank has ever worked with—that includes her brother Eric, who’s also on the Sydney Metro police force. All …

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Designated Daughters by Margaret Maron

Author: Margaret Maron Publisher: Grand Central/Hachette Copyright Year: 2014 Review By: Robyn Walton Book Synopsis: When Judge Deborah Knott is summoned to her ailing Aunt Rachel’s bedside, she assumes the worst. Thankfully when she arrives at the hospice center she learns that Rachel hasn’t passed; in fact, the dying woman is awake. Surrounded by her …

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The Kizuna Coast by Sujata Massey

Author: Sujata Massey Publisher: Ikat Press Copyright Year: 2014 Review By: Robyn Walton Book Synopsis: When an earthquake triggers a tsunami that floods Japan’s northeast coast, amateur sleuth Rei Shimura is pushed into her most rugged adventure yet. It starts with an SOS from Rei’s beloved elderly friend, the antiques dealer Mr. Ishida, who’s trapped …

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Speaking in Bones by Kathy Reichs

Author: Kathy Reichs Publisher: William Heinemann Review By: Robyn Walton Book Synopsis: When forensic anthropologist Dr Tempe Brennan is approached by amateur detective Hazel ‘Lucky’ Strike, at first she is inclined to dismiss the woman’s claims that she’s matched a previously unidentified set of remains with a name. But as the words of a terrified …

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Dishonour by Gabrielle Lord

Author: Gabrielle Lord Publisher: Hachette Copyright Year: 2014 Review By: Robyn Walton Book Synopsis: Detective-Inspector Debra Hawkins has domestic violence in her sights. But as head of a new police unit targeting violence against women, she has hit a wall of silence. How can she help Rana al-Sheikly, a young woman who yearns for the …

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Caro Was Here by Elizabeth Farrelly

Author: Elizabeth Farrelly Publisher: Walker Books Copyright Year: 2014 Review By: Nita Jaye Book Synopsis: One match, one chance, she thinks. Make it count. Skipping school to lead a group of friends – and enemies – on an adult-free excursion to an island in Sydney Harbour is Caro’s idea of a twelfth birthday outing. Marooned …

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The Fall—How Simon Gittany Killed Lisa Harnum – by Amy Dale

Author: Amy Dale Publisher: Ebury Press Copyright Year: 2014 ISBN: 9780857985330 Review By: Suzanne Bozorth-Baines Book Synopsis: A terrified woman runs for the door, her final effort to escape a cruel and controlling fiancé. She is too late. A secret camera captures him covering her mouth to suppress her screams as he drags her back …

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Razorhurst by Justine Larbalestier

Author: Justine Larbalestier Publisher: Allen and Unwin Copyright Year: 2014 Review By: Angela Savage Book Synopsis: Kelpie and Dymphna are accustomed to the mean streets of 1930s Sydney, but this is a day that will test their courage, their loyalty, and their ability to survive both the ill-intentions of the living and the ever-presence of …

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Death in the Rainy Season by Anna Jaquiery

Author: Anna Jaquiery Publisher: Pan MacMillan Copyright Year: 2015 Review By: Angela Savage and Sandra Nicholson Book Synopsis: Phnom Penh, Cambodia; the rainy season. When a French man, Hugo Quercy, is found brutally murdered, Commandant Serge Morel finds his holiday drawn to an abrupt halt. Quercy – dynamic, well-connected – was the magnetic head of …

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The Lost Swimmer by Ann Turner

Author: Ann Turner Publisher: Simon and Schuster Copyright Year: 2015 Review By: Ann Byrne Book Synopsis: Rebecca Wilding, an archaeology professor, makes sense of the past for a living. But suddenly, truth and certainty are turning against her. Rebecca is accused of serious fraud, and worse, she suspects – she knows– that her husband, Stephen, …

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