C.J. Box: The Crossroads, Head of Zeus/ Bloomsbury , ebook available

Big fan of the Joe Pickett series, always a great armchair trip to Wyoming but this novel almost sees the end of Joe Pickett when he is shot in an ambush receiving serious head injuries leaving him barely alive. 

His daughters April, Sheridan and Lucy start an investigation of their own into the last days and hours of their fathers activities, not trusting the new sheriff, hoping to find out who wants their father dead. This novel is one of the better Joe Pickett books, really enjoyed the narration which gives a refreshing emphasis to the women in Joe's life.

 Garry Disher: Under the Cold Bright Lights, c format paperback, Profile Books, 16. July pub date

Garry Disher is considered the king of the Australian noir crime novel. I am a big fan of his Paul Hirsch mysteries but his stand alone novels are all excellent. Under the Cold Bright Lights being his latest, has a very unusual twist I did not expect, first feeling ambivalent about it but decided it is actually a brilliant change in the plot, will not reveal more as it would ruin the reading. 

 The protagonist of the novel, Sergeant Alan Auhl, a retired homicide cop, decides retirement is too boring for him and has now joined the cold case unit. There are a lot of details with the cold cases and characters to keep tabs on as a reader but the major shift comes from Auhl himself and that's all I will say. Coming in July, a great holiday mystery with very likeable characters.

 Addie Citchens: Dominion, Europa Editions, 9781787706156, paperback

Shortlisted for the Womens Prize for fiction, recommended by publishing friends: this is one of the most powerful novels I have read in a while. Wow.

Brilliantly narrated by two very different women, Diamond and Priscilla, who both love the same man, Wonderboy/ Manny/Emmanuel, one the girlfriend, the other the mother, both rooted in the deep Southern US  church communities and its patriachial structure, I found myself so drawn in my this wise, often funny, heartbreaking drama,  i read it in two days. Go buy it, its an incredible read. 

 Matt Haig: The Midnight Train, Canongate, ebook available 

Midnight Library is a book I still buy as a gift or recommend as reading, a wise fable with much food for thought. 

"Midnight train" continues with this train of thought: what happens if you were given a second chance and are  on a train that stops at important pathways of your life after you died and became a ghost, as happens to Wilbur, a booksellers that starts a successful book chain but looses the love of his life Maggie during the process. 

I guess with "Midnight Train"  the surprise element was lacking and although still filled with some insightful thoughts, didn't  quite do it for me this time.

 Jane Harper: Last one out, Pan Macmillian, C format paperback,  ebook available 

Jane Harper is the Queen of Australian noir crime and "Last one out" is a very slow burner of a novel that is less a mystery but a masterful psychological dissection of what happens to a town and its inhabitants when mining moves in and destroys the past, present and future. Sam Crowley visits his family in the dying town Carralon,  disappearing without much of a trace on the day of his 21th birthday. His family and particularly his mother Ro are still digging for answers to what happend to him 5 years later. 

You need to hold out until the last 100 pages before the actual crime sees some fresh insights and development. For me the  individual characters in the book and the narration of the catastrophic helplessness of a whole town up against powerful mining companies and the impact on everyone's life made the book. The ending fit perectly, a plausible answer to the actions of desperate humans,  very compelling read with a noir, melancholical undertone.

 Jo Murray: Dissection of a murder,  Pan Macmillian, ebook and other formats

Wow, this one hell of a legal murder mystery!!! Very unusual excellent plot that had me reading  way into the night as I could not stop. Definitely outside of the box of what I expected, I sure as hell did not see the ending coming. 

Set in the UK juidical system, with a husband and wife team battling each other on opposite sides, Leila Reynolds defence and her first murder case, her high calibar husband Julian  prosection. Their conflict alone is worth the read but it becomes totally  explosive when the man accused of killing, Jack Millman pleads not guilty despite overwhelming evidence giving his defence team no further insight. Excellent characters, one can tell the author used to be a barrister, best crime novel I read all year! 

Rory Clements: Invitation from a Dictator, pubdate: August 2026, Viking, ebook available, i read a proof

New historical thriller, featuring Detective Sebastian Wolff, book no 3 in the series, which I have really come to enjoy, all set during the rise of the Third Reich. Clements does a good job of portraying the conflict of those in government or juidical positions who did not want to play by the new rules the Nazis have installed.

 The upcoming visit of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor and their protection plus a brutal murder put Seb Wolff in a tight spot, as demands by superiors and Nazi thugs collide heavily with his own beliefs.  The strength of the novel lies in portraying how the political developments played havoc with everyone's life, when trying to hide other political leanings or if family members did not fit the standards of the new German.