Why am I passionate about this?

I’m an Australian crime writer and I love reading crime with a real sense of place and/or time. Growing up in Australia, most of the time I read international authors, so finding fabulous books by local authors was a thrill every time, and that excitement has never left me. This list crosses the genre from cosy to hard-boiled crime, which hopefully means something for everyone. If nothing here grabs you, there’s a lot more fantastic Australian crime fiction to discover (did you know Australian author Charlotte Jay won the first ever Edgar Award in 1954?) and I can passion-talk about it anytime!


I wrote

The Shifting Landscape

By Katherine Kovacic,

Book cover of The Shifting Landscape

What is my book about?

Art dealer Alex Clayton travels to Victoria's Western District to value the McMillan family's collection. At their historic sheep station,…

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The books I picked & why

Book cover of The Dying Trade

Katherine Kovacic Why did I love this book?

Corris and his protagonist, the hard-scrabble private detective Cliff Hardy, are quintessentially Australian. The Dying Trade introduces Cliff (smoker, drinker, ex-boxer) and sets the standard for all the books that follow in this series. It’s dry and laconic, with a wonderful sense of place (a very gritty 1980s Sydney). There’s a definite nod to the greats— Chandler and Hammett in this series; you know Cliff Hardy probably shouldn’t take this job, it’s odds-on he’ll cop a beating along the way, possible he’ll find love and lose it again. I enjoy the author’s economy with words and the moral complexity of his characters. If you like hard-boiled crime, this series is worth a look!

*Note: Sydney is much nicer than it may seem when you walk in Corris’s shoes!

By Peter Corris,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Dying Trade as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Meet Cliff Hardy. Smoker, drinker, ex-boxer. And private investigator.

The Dying Trade not only introduces a sleuth who has become an enduring Australian literary legend—the antihero of thirty-seven thrillers—but it is also a long love letter to the seamy side of Sydney itself.


Book cover of The Broken Shore

Katherine Kovacic Why did I love this book?

Crime but with such achingly good prose, I sometimes have to stop and re-read a sentence just to admire the way Temple wrote it. It’s a slow-burn, with a very dark, noir feeling, and the more you learn about the backstory of protagonist, Detective Senior Sergeant Joe Cashin, the more intriguing he becomes. A great plot, and I love the way Temple weaves different threads together to bring about the slick resolution. If you’re unfamiliar with Australian slang, expect a crash course in the first part of this novel. What makes this book one I return to again and again is the way Temple takes the standard formula of crime fiction and bends it to his will. This is not just a great crime, it’s a great novel.  

By Peter Temple,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked The Broken Shore as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLING, CWA GOLD DAGGER-WINNING AND NED KELLY AWARD-RECEIVING CRIME POWERHOUSE: read The Broken Shore and become hooked on Peter Temple.

'A masterpiece' John Lanchester

'Read page one and I challenge you not to finish it' Independent on Sunday

Haunted by his last case, homicide detective Joe Cashin has fled Melbourne and returned to his hometown, running its one-man police station while his wounds heal and his nightmares fade.

But when a local man is attacked and left for dead, Cashin's recovery is put on hold. And in a small town where everyone knows everyone, he finds himself…


Book cover of Ruddy Gore

Katherine Kovacic Why did I love this book?

The entire Miss Fisher series is a delight but Ruddy Gore is a stand-out. In this book, the reader sees the Hon. Miss Phryne Fisher at her absolute best. In 1920s Melbourne, the lady detective is investigating the strange on-stage death of an actor during a performance of  Gilbert and Sullivan’s ‘Ruddigore.’ I like this book because it is here readers are introduced to Phryne’s only long-term lover, the charming and handsome Lin Chung. Phryne is a gutsy heroine and the 1920s setting and fashions are marvellous. A dashing tale to keep readers on the edge of their seats!  

By Kerry Greenwood,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Ruddy Gore as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

From the author of the bestselling Phryne Fisher Series comes Ruddy Gore, the next historical mystery featuring the unstoppable, elegant amateur sleuth. Can Miss Fisher use her theater ties to take care of a phantasm haunting a Gilbert and Sullivan show?

"The appeal of this story is the glimpse it provides into the 1920s theater world and the opportunity it affords to observe Phryne and Lin Chung's romance from its inception."―Booklist

Perfect for Fans of Rhys Bowen and Jacqueline Winspear Inspired the Netflix show Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries Movie Miss Fisher and the Crypt of Tears Currently Streaming on Acorn…


Book cover of The Dry

Katherine Kovacic Why did I love this book?

What draws me to The Dry is that it’s a classic small-town murder mystery but instead of rural America or a village in the UK, the action takes place in a drought-stricken, outback Australian setting. There is a recent brutal triple homicide, a decades-old secret, and an investigator with a deeply-troubled past. Harper gives her characters great depth, the writing is sharp and the mystery is solid. Best of all, even if you guess whodunnit, you’re unlikely to figure out why; it’s always satisfying to read crime with a good reveal! 

By Jane Harper,

Why should I read it?

5 authors picked The Dry as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

'One of the most stunning debuts I've ever read...Read it!' David Baldacci

'Packed with sneaky moves and teasing possibilities that keep the reader guessing...The Dry is a breathless page-turner' Janet Maslin, New York Times

THE SIMON MAYO RADIO 2 BOOK CLUB CHOICE
AUSTRALIA INDIE BOOK OF THE YEAR 2017
AUSTRALIA INDIE DEBUT OF THE YEAR 2017

WHO REALLY KILLED THE HADLER FAMILY?

I just can't understand how someone like him could do something like that.

Amid the worst drought to ravage Australia in a century, it hasn't rained in small country town Kiewarra for two years. Tensions in the community…


Book cover of Give the Devil His Due

Katherine Kovacic Why did I love this book?

I like the historical setting of Gentil’s books (mainly 1930s Australia, although her characters venture overseas in a couple of the books) and the original newspaper clippings that introduce the chapters, which give you a glimpse of current affairs that form the backdrop to the story. Personally, I also enjoy the fact that her protagonist is an artist, albeit one with a wealthy family behind him. There’s danger, disapproving family, Blackshirts, unrequited love, and above all, staunch friendships; Rowland and his mates are people you wish you could hang out with. Give the Devil His Due is the seventh book in the Rowland Sinclair series.  

By Sulari Gentill,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Give the Devil His Due as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

When Rowland Sinclair is invited to take his yellow Mercedes onto the Marouba Speedway, popularly known as the Killer Track, he agrees without caution or reserve.

But then people start to die...

The body of a journalist covering the race is found in a House of Horrors, an English blueblood with Blackshirt affiliations is killed on the race track... and it seems that someone has Rowland in their sights...

With danger presenting at every turn, and the brakes long since disengaged, Rowland Sinclair hurtles towards disaster with an artist, a poet and brazen sculptress along for the ride.


Explore my book 😀

The Shifting Landscape

By Katherine Kovacic,

Book cover of The Shifting Landscape

What is my book about?

Art dealer Alex Clayton travels to Victoria's Western District to value the McMillan family's collection. At their historic sheep station, she finds an important and previously unknown colonial painting - and a family fraught with tension. There are arguments about the future of the property and its place in an ancient and highly significant indigenous landscape.

When the family patriarch dies under mysterious circumstances and the painting is stolen, Alex decides to leave; then a toddler disappears and Alex's faithful dog Hogarth goes missing. With fears rising for the safety of both child and hound, Alex joins searchers scouring the countryside. But her attempts to unravel the McMillan family secrets have put Alex in danger, and she's not the only one. Winner of the 2021 Sisters in Crime Australia Readers’ Choice Award.

You might also like...

From One Cell: A Journey into Life's Origins and the Future of Medicine

By Ben Stanger,

Book cover of From One Cell: A Journey into Life's Origins and the Future of Medicine

Ben Stanger Author Of From One Cell: A Journey into Life's Origins and the Future of Medicine

New book alert!

Why am I passionate about this?

I am a Harvard- and MIT-trained physician-scientist, and I am drawn to research problems that bridge the basic and the practical – how a better understanding of cells and tissues can inform new therapies for cancer and other diseases. As children, we are all scientists – mini-hypothesis generators trying to make sense of the world. I suppose I never outgrew that curiosity. My list of best science books credits writers who bring to life the excitement that comes from looking at the natural world in a new way, a spirit that I try to emulate in my own writing. I hope you enjoy these books as much as I have!

Ben's book list on science written by scientists

What is my book about?

Everybody knows that all animals—bats, bears, sharks, ponies, and people—start out as a single cell: the fertilized egg. But how does something no bigger than the period at the end of this sentence give rise to the remarkable complexity of each of these creatures?

FROM ONE CELL is a dive inside the cell and its evolutionary prerogatives to explain how these "endless forms most beautiful," as Charles Darwin called them, come about. Along the way, we learn about the scientific process, filled as it is with serendipity, as the story is told through the eyes of the scientists who informed…

From One Cell: A Journey into Life's Origins and the Future of Medicine

By Ben Stanger,

What is this book about?

Every animal on Earth begins life as a single cell. From this humble origin, the nascent creature embarks on a risky journey fraught with opportunities for disaster-yet with astounding regularity, it reaches its destination intact. From One Cell illuminates this epic transformation-still one of nature's most mysterious feats-to show where we all come from and where we're going.

Through the eyes of the scientists unraveling the secrets of development, we see how all the information needed to build a human fits into a fertilised egg, and how the trillions of cells that emerge know what to become and where to…


5 book lists we think you will like!

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