Sisters in Crime Australia is dedicated to promoting women who write crime. Here are reviews of crime books (fiction and true crime) written by women.
If you wish to submit a book for review or be a reviewer, see the Contacts page for information.
Massey’s Perveen Mistry series is set during a period of political unrest and violence sparked by the arrival of Edward, Prince of Wales (and the future King Edward VIII) on a tour of India in 1921. It’s an intricate tapestry of a story and a fascinating insight into a complex culture
Elizabeth Flann’s Beware of Dogs won the Banjo Prize for Fiction in 2019. It’s a carefully crafted cross-genre tale open to multiple readings: a contemporary castaway’s ordeal, a crime suspense story, a correlative of a psychological escape endeavour, and an exemplar of urbanised humanity’s need for the natural environment.
A Clue for Clara is a book for all ages and a bright little gem which put the sparkle into the dull days of lockdown. It’s a treasure, lockdown or not. If you don’t enjoy A Clue for Clara, you’re a duck. And as Clara constantly reminds us: ducks are stupid creatures.
A gripping read that sits well in the outback noir genre. Captured is the dust, the searing heat, glimpses of rugged beauty, and stark loneliness of the Australian outback.
The last decades of the eighteenth century were explosive and the reverberations are felt even now. Belinda Lyons-Lee ventures upon a subject that others have treated fictionally.
Crafting a fine short story is a skill perhaps more closely akin to poetry writing than novel writing. However, success in short fiction can be a predictor of quality book-length work, and I’m happy to report this is the case with Suzanne Frankham’s developing career as an author following her first career in science. After …
Written with care, You Had It Coming reveals the impact of sexual violence as it ripples through everyone it touches. Carroll’s care and skill also bring this distressing story towards a place of hope and healing. I recommend it highly. BM Carroll’s You Had It Coming hits the ground running with a Sydney ambulance being …
Disgraced former lawyer Clementine Jones is on the shores of paradise—Queensland’s Great Sandy Straits—trying to outrun her past. Clementine (Clem) Jones, the creation of Queensland-based author Sarah Thornton, is a former corporate attorney left remorseful and unemployed following an error of judgement that saw her gaoled. In Lapse (2019), Thornton’s debut novel, Clem’s leadership and problem-solving skills …
Before You Knew My Name is a feminist novel filled with moments every women will recognise and at times dread. But is also a novel of optimism and tenderness – exquisitely crafted and my top read of the year. ‘They come for us all over the world. ‘Sometimes, if enough time has passed between one …
The Second Son by Loraine Peck and The Silent Listener by Lyn Yeowart. Two debut crime novels about families (the sort that screw you up) from opposite ends of the genre spectrum. While Loraine Peck gives us a fast-paced gangland thriller set in the western suburbs of Sydney, Lyn Yeowart offers a more reflective excursion …