Monday, February 6, 2023

Five top Australian thrillers & mysteries

Jane Harper is the New York Times and #1 international bestselling author of The Dry, Force of Nature, The Lost Man, and The Survivors.

Exiles is her fifth novel.

Harper previously worked as a print journalist in Australia and the UK and lives in Melbourne with her husband, daughter, and son.

At the Waterstones blog she tagged five favorite mysteries that make the most of the sheer danger and diversity of Australia. One title on her list:
The Younger Wife by Sally Hepworth

If you haven’t discovered Sally Hepworth’s deliciously fun and twisty reads, take this as your sign to pick one up and devour it immediately. Set in an affluent bayside suburb of Melbourne, two sisters try to unpick truth from lie when their father marries a woman much closer to their age than his. It’s a complete page-turner in the purest sense and Sally expertly leads us on a dance that just doesn’t let go. Daily life with a dark edge, it’s no surprise that Sally’s style has made her a firm favourite among Australian readers. I also highly recommend pre-ordering her latest novel, The Soulmate, which hits shelves in the UK in April and sees a family swept up with big secrets when they buy a cliff-top house near a notorious suicide spot. Unputdownable.
Read about the other entries on the list.

The Younger Wife is among Kimberly Belle's four top thrillers with maximum escapism.

--Marshal Zeringue