Why am I passionate about this?

I’m a thriller writer with civilian protagonists who find themselves caught in situations way outside their comfort zones. They’re not people to whom guns or regular weapons are accessible or familiar. Consequently, I need my characters to have access to other weapons, and I find these in the environments in which I set my stories – elements that offer both defensive and offensive potential. Whether it be a dangerous natural feature (like a chasm), or a deadly creature, (I love a crocodile or snake), there needs to be something on offer. This is also what I admire in other authors – that harnessing of environmental weaponry that can make stories so exciting.


I wrote

The Chasm

By Bronwyn Hall,

Book cover of The Chasm

What is my book about?

The Chasm is about Andy King, a vet who left her childhood home in the Stonefield valley ten years ago…

Shepherd is reader supported. When you buy books, we may earn an affiliate commission.

The books I picked & why

Book cover of The Lost Man

Bronwyn Hall Why did I love this book?

The Lost Man is ultimately about family dynamics and how abusive control can manifest over generations.

Jane Harper is superb at revealing the relationship layers and nuances, all the while under the watch of some of the harshest environment Australia has to offer. As a tension raiser, she couldn’t have used her setting better, and who doesn’t love the Australian midday sun as the murder weapon? Brilliant.

By Jane Harper,

Why should I read it?

6 authors picked The Lost Man as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

Two brothers meet in the remote Australian outback when the third brother is found dead, in this stunning new standalone novel from Jane Harper

Brothers Nathan and Bub Bright meet for the first time in months at the remote fence line separating their cattle ranches in the lonely outback.

Their third brother, Cameron, lies dead at their feet.

In an isolated belt of Australia, their homes a three-hour drive apart, the brothers were one another’s nearest neighbors. Cameron was the middle child, the one who ran the family homestead. But something made him head out…


Book cover of Broken Bay: Where Truth is Dead in the Water

Bronwyn Hall Why did I love this book?

Third in the Mark Ariti series, Broken Bay is still a great stand alone, and especially awesome in terms of having an unusual weaponised setting. Sinkholes. Who would have thought that beautiful and mysterious environment could be so innately deadly?

South Australian farmers have apparently been popping in rubbish, (down the sinkhole chute), for decades, cluttering up what are already such dangerous places. Margaret Hickey has weaponised one of them further to make it the perfect murder implement, and I loved the originality.

By Margaret Hickey,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Broken Bay 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 Cutters End and Stone Town, a captivating new crime novel featuring Detective Mark Ariti. Old loyalties and decades-long feuds rise to the surface in this stunning crime novel, set in a spectacular Australian landscape known for its jagged cliffs and hidden caves. Detective Sergeant Mark Ariti has taken a few days’ holiday in Broken Bay at precisely the wrong time. The small fishing town on South Australia’ s Limestone Coast is now the scene of a terrible tragedy. Renowned cave-diver Mya Rennik has drowned while exploring a sinkhole on the land of wealthy farmer…


Book cover of The Snowman

Bronwyn Hall Why did I love this book?

Jo Nesbo needs no introduction as a master of the thriller genre, and The Snowman is a chilling example of his skill.

A serial killer walking among the community, building snowmen that look inside the homes of his victims. As far as weaponising the environment, and specifically the snow, Nesbo has nailed it. The tension is as dark as the long nights, and the terror is all the colder because of that snow.

I read it in a tropical Rio summer, yet still had to wear a jumper for days.

By Jo Nesbo, Don Bartlett (translator),

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Soon the first snow will come

A young boy wakes to find his mother missing. Outside, he sees her favourite scarf - wrapped around the neck of a snowman.

And then he will appear again

Detective Harry Hole soon discovers that an alarming number of wives and mothers have gone missing over the years.

And when the snow is gone...

When a second woman disappears, Harry's worst suspicion is confirmed: a serial killer is operating on his home turf.

...he will have taken someone else

*JO NESBO HAS SOLD OVER 50 MILLION BOOKS WORLDWIDE*

*Watch out for The Jealousy Man,…


Book cover of The Whispering

Bronwyn Hall Why did I love this book?

The Whispering is set in the far northern Queensland tropical rainforest, a thick, densely-foliaged environment that is in turn pulsing with humidity and whispering with the strong winds of an approaching cyclone.

There are enough natural features (boulders, creeks, thorny vines) to make this a dangerous place on its own, but throw a deadly character or two in there, and it gets beyond creepy. Lando harnesses the edginess incredibly well, and readers know from the get go that the place is like a weapon only leashed by a safety catch. Always just one click away from lethal.

By Veronica Lando,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

The whispering wild will take your child if you dare to look away ...

The stunning Aussie crime debut from the winner of the 2021 Banjo Prize for Fiction.

Shortlisted for the 2023 Courier-Mail People's Choice Queensland Book of the Year Award.


Callum Haffenden swore he'd never return to Granite Creek. But, thirty years after a life-shattering accident, he's thrust back into the clutches of Far North Queensland and a local legend he worked hard to forget.

When a man goes missing in the rainforest, the past begins to resurface, breathing new life into memories of previous tragedies - two…


Book cover of Retribution

Bronwyn Hall Why did I love this book?

Sarah Barrie delivers such a great cast of characters – she mixes police, criminals, ex-criminals, and civilians to deliver a melting pot of quirky and process-driven people destined to clash.

Retribution’s urban environment is familiar to us all, but Barrie’s use of various settings and their respective weaponry is highly skilled. From building sites that combine heights, fragile safety fencing, and sharp impaling points, to dark and dangerous train tunnels, I loved being shifted from place to place and the exposure to each individual setting’s armory.

Even before she introduces the guns, there was always choice, and I was kept in suspense about which weapon would prove to be the deadly one.

Explore my book 😀

The Chasm

By Bronwyn Hall,

Book cover of The Chasm

What is my book about?

The Chasm is about Andy King, a vet who left her childhood home in the Stonefield valley ten years ago when her boyfriend, Will Hoffman, went missing. She’s back in the area for a short work stint – close enough to the mountains that she feels their special magic, but far enough away from Stonefield that she hopes to go undetected by those who believe that Will is likely dead and that it was Andy who killed him. The Chasm is ultimately about friendship and community and standing up against evil to defend the people we love. Readers can expect an emotionally layered thriller where the forest broods, the criminals lurk, the people care, and the pace races.

You might also like...

Lethal Impulse

By Steve Rush,

Book cover of Lethal Impulse

Steve Rush Author Of Lethal Impulse

New book alert!

Why am I passionate about this?

Author Investigator Instructor Outdoors lover Book enthusiast Researcher

Steve's 3 favorite reads in 2024

What is my book about?

He’s riddled with guilt. She’s annoyed with the status quo.

The death of a crime boss’s daughter forces Detective Neil Caldera to leave NYC. He seeks refuge in the tranquil embrace of a small town, where he finds himself entangled in the labyrinth of a teenage girl’s murder. Tess Fleishman’s pale skin and extreme weight loss portrays a disease she wants others to see. While inside, a compulsion for Neil fuels her passion to have him or destroy him.

Lethal Impulse

By Steve Rush,

What is this book about?

He's riddled with guilt. She's annoyed with the status quo. The death of a crime boss's daughter forces Detective Neil Caldera to leave NYC. He seeks refuge in the tranquil embrace of a small town, where he finds himself entangled in the labyrinth of a teenage girl's murder. Tess Fleishman's pale skin and extreme weight loss portrays a disease she wants others to see. While inside, a compulsion for Neil fuels her passion to have him or destroy him. As Neil delves into the heart of the town's secrets, will truth deliver solace? Or will Tess prevail?


5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in family secrets, fencing, and murder?

Family Secrets 206 books
Fencing 6 books
Murder 1,062 books