 The Hypnotist
By: Lars Kepler
Published by: Harper Collins
ISBN: 978-0-00-735911-0
Reviewed by: Kylie Fox
Three members of a family are brutally slaughtered; the young son the only survivor left in the house but with multiple stab wounds, his survival was a close call. The case seems personal so grave fears are held for an elder sister who lives away from the family home. Will the killer go after her next?
Detective Inspector Joona Linna takes on the case at his own demand, but with no witnesses, aside from a deeply traumatised and comatose boy, Linna doesn’t know where to start. Obsessed with finding the truth, Linna turns to disgraced specialist Erik Maria Bark for assistance. Bark is The Hypnotist but he’s sworn never to practise again. When he finally relents and agrees to hypnotise the boy, a chain of events that none of them could see coming is unleashed and the consequences are far reaching for all of them.
The premise of this book is fantastic and has all the hallmarks of a great book but, unfortunately, didn’t quite manage to live up to them. I can’t say I didn’t enjoy the book, I did, but not as much as I wanted to.
It’s impossible to avoid drawing comparisons to other books as the Scandinavian crime juggernaut continues to roll, but this book is very different from many of its counterparts. The Hypnotist is set in Sweden but, unlike others, the characters and the story are universal – this book could have been set anywhere in the world.
Parts of this book were terrifyingly creepy and the suspense is drawn right throughout but as the intensity builds, parts begin to unravel. Several plot points were left unresolved, info-dumps abound and unfortunately, not a lot surprised me. I had the ending well figured out long before the author was willing to reveal it.
The story is told in present tense which, whether due to translation or the author’s mistakes, wasn’t done quite well enough to pull it off. Too often, an awkward phrase would pull me out of the story and remind me that I was merely reading a book so that I couldn’t fully immerse myself in the world.
The multiple character points of view, though in itself not an issue, were done in such a way that often the reader is left feeling yanked out of a characters head and thrown into another. There is also an inordinate length of time before we’re taken back to the previous character to continue their thread.
The Hypnotist was intelligently written and contained some great, if chilling, insights into the characters psyches and behaviours and the long-reaching consequences of each of their actions but just falls a little flat.
This book has an almost cinematic feel to it and would probably translate better in film than it does on the page.
Despite all this, it was an enjoyable and interesting read and worth taking a look at. Perhaps you’ll see something in it that I didn’t.
 The Sixth Man
by David Baldacci
Macmillan
ISBN: 978-0-230-75333-4
Reviewed by: Gaile Hughes
The stakes have never been higher for Sean King and Michelle Maxwell, Secret Service agents turned private investigators. An alleged serial killer, Edgar Roy, has been locked away in the new federal facility ‘Cutters Rock’; a psychiatric prison located in isolated Maine.
Ted Bergin, an old friend and mentor of King, is Edgar Roy’s attorney. He summons the pair to investigate the allegations against his client. Nearing their destination on an isolated stretch of road they see the emergency lights flashing from a car. In the car they find Bergin – dead – murdered.
King is determined to avenge his friend’s murder and investigate the case against Edgar Roy . When the duo tries to question Roy in the Cutters Rock facility, they discover that since his arrest he has retreated into a catatonic-like state.
The bodies start to pile up as King and Maxwell begin to unravel the details of the case. The pair stumble across a secret government operation called ‘The Wall’. What is the Wall and how is it connected to Edgar Roy? Why are the nations top security forces involved? As King and Maxwell delve further, it leads them into increasingly dangerous territory. What follows exposes the corruption, greed, ambition and infighting in the highest levels of government.
The Sixth Man is the Baldacci’s fifth adventure for King and Maxwell. As a standalone, or for readers already familiar with the characters, this is a fast moving, complex thriller, full to the brim with plots and subplots. Baldacci has created interesting and thought-provoking characters where love, loyalty and betrayal are played out in a tense, fast paced storyline, with a few surprises along the way.
I did feel that the multiple journeys of King and Maxwell were a little repetitive. Doubtless the reader will overlook this as the storyline is so fast paced, so gripping, that it may be a welcome pause that allows you to catch your breath. As always Baldacci is the master craftsman.
 The Intruders
By: Michael Marshall
Published by: Harper Collins
ISBN: 978-0-00721000-8
Reviewed by: Kylie Fox
Ex-cop, Jack Whalen’s wife goes missing on what should be a routine business trip and Jack’s search for her produces more questions than it does answers.
Gary Fisher, a childhood acquaintance, reappears in Jack’s life asking for help with a puzzle, a will and some unsolved murders.
A ten-year-old girl meets a sinister stranger and disappears.
Jack’s search for the truth of his wife, leads him into the kind of darkness that he didn’t know, or believe, could exist. How do all of these threads connect? How do all the secrets of the past impact on these apparently separate cases and on the future of them all?
This is one hell of a good read. In fact, one of my favourite books in a long time. It is dark, it’s creepy and often, just plain disturbing.
The boundaries between crime, the paranormal and science fiction are blurred to the extent that trying to categorise it is near impossible. The Intruders is a psychological thriller, that much is certain, and one of the finest examples of its kind. This book will stay with you, the messages it imparts stay with you, the characters haunt you, long after the last words are read.
I began reading this book without any indication that it was anything other than a straight crime thriller and was surprised, pleasantly, I might add, when the story evolved into something “other.” What that “other” is, I can’t say without spoilers. But, be prepared for a shift in the storyline and the genre.
The plot is so intricate with so many separate threads and ideas that a lesser writer may have lost his way. Not so, Marshall, who weaves a rich tapestry of the seemingly unrelated threads and ties them together beautifully – all without ever losing the chillingly sinister mood that is created right from the outset.
An absolute must-read for lovers of the dark side, particularly those who like their crime with a supernatural bent. You won’t be disappointed.
 Body of Proof
Article by: Belinda Hamilton
Dem bones, dem bones, dem dry bones. Oh, sorry, this one is in fact NOT Bones. It has so many things similar that you might be mistaken for the first 5 minutes of each program, but Body of Proof is mostly standalone. As my hubby says; ‘Same crap; different smell.’
IMDB’s synopsis of the first series, written by KGF Vissers reads… “Having lost her medical license in the aftermath of a family tragedy, Megan Hunt M.D. joined the medical examiners and proved herself a forensic genius. Yet even diplomatic police partner Pete Dunlop can’t prevent her arrogant attitude and total disregard for any authority or social norm to cause grave aggravation all around. Still, as long as the perpetrators suffer most, the bulldozer approach pays off on the balance.” http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1587669/fullcredits#cast
The program debuted on Aussie channel 7 on Monday the 8th of August 2011. I thought, ‘Hmm, here’s another corpse show. I wonder if it’ll be your standard issue, find the dead body, solve the case with screwed up forensics and autopsies that just ‘happen’ to find the cause of death. Every-Single- Episode.’ Guess what…? Uh huh, it is.
Let’s see, there’s an anti-social expert, a badge wielding handler, dead bodies, and a happy ending… well not for the bad guy, but you get the idea.
The differences; our anti-social expert is a medical examiner and knows little about anthropology, she works in a hospital and is on retainer with the regular police, not the Feds. She actually has done the family thing, but her ex-husband is a tosser and her kid is a brat. She USED to be a neurosurgeon but due to a couple of accidents, both on and off the operating table, she’s now dealing with the contents of stomachs and diaphragms of the deceased, rather than rooting around in living people’s skulls. This series is shot in and around Rhode Island, not Washington.
With all that being said, on the whole, I found the show to be enjoyably watchable. There were moments of humor and emotion. Onscreen chemistry should keep things interesting at least through the twelve episodes of season one. It is like the diet version of Bones, with less hard boiled forensics and the bodies, at least for the first two episodes were less decomposed looking.
An interesting fact is that Dana Delaney shares a similarity with her scalpel wielding character; being involved in a car accident and when she’s rubbing her hand on screen, it is usually because she is actually in pain. Not so nice for Dana and we wish her a full recovery, however it adds depth to the role.
 Cast for the Pilot and episode one “Letting go”
Megan Hunt (Medical examiner / ex-neurologist) – Dana Delany
Peter Dunlop (badge wielding handler) – Nicholas Bishop
Bud Morris (Head detective with a chip on his shoulder) – John Carroll Lynch
Samantha Baker (Partner of the shoulder chipped detective) – Sonja Sohn
Kate Murphy (Hospital big wig) – Jeri Ryan
Curtis Brumfield (Head of the ward Megan works in) – Windell Middlebrooks
Todd Flemming (Butt hole ex-husband) – Jeffrey Nordling
Lacey Flemming (Brat daughter) – Mary Mouser
If you watched Body of Proof, what did you think?
 Top TIps On How Not To Be A Fictional Victim
Article by: Janette Dalgliesh
You could be forgiven for thinking the world is a dangerous place. But I have some ideas that will help!
Get fussy
Feeling safe means that I’m more confident and assured when I’m out and about—and that in turn makes me less of a target. On my first trip to Rome, I read that pickpockets only target tourists who stand around looking lost. I strode about the city as if I owned it, and never had a problem. That attitude has stood me in good stead ever since. But we all see the world through our own personal filter, and if that includes endless TV news stories of muggings and assaults, it can make us very nervous.
So my Number One strategy for feeling safe is to be picky about my exposure to TV news and current affairs. It’s normal for media to focus on bad news stories. But last year, local networks in my home town didn’t do a single story on the 98.77 percent of the population who weren’t victims of “crime against the person” (assault, murder, rape etc).
It’s easy to forget that not experiencing crime is the norm by a long shot. No wonder we get stressed!
But if giving up your nightly dose of TV news is too hard, how about following my easy tips to avoid becoming a crime statistic?
Location, location, location
Obviously you must never, ever move to Midsomer County in England, despite the bucolic beauty of the scenery. Its appallingly high body count is enough to warn you off.
Longstanding crim-catcher extraordinaire, Detective Chief Inspector Tom Barnaby (John Nettles), has passed the ball to the safe hands of his cousin, John Barnaby (Neil Dudgeon), also conveniently a DCI . If you DO get murdered, you can rest assured your killer is bound to be caught. But it’s not much consolation, is it?
Even Tom displayed wariness about moving to one of the local villages, recalling the grisly murders associated with every village that his wife Joyce suggested in a discussion about relocating.
Incidentally, Midscomer County is not to be confused with poor old Midsomer-Norton near Bath, which appears to have roughly the national UK average crime rates.
Tip: You might also want to exercise caution before moving to Cabot Cove, Smallville or Eureka. Thankfully Sunnydale was obliterated, so there is one less risky area to move to.
 Witness
If you happen to see someone doing something naughty, don’t waste time. I’ve mentioned this before, but it’s worth saying again: never ring the detective (especially in front of the murderer) and organise to meet later in a dark, lonely spot. Madness!
Also, don’t tell everyone in the village pub or the local bar that you know who did the deed, and for heaven’s sake don’t try and blackmail anyone. It never works. Ever.
Tip: If it’s a copper who’s the baddie, you’ll need to move to an Amish village and hope that Harrison Ford gets there in time.
Friends
If you must befriend a homicide detective or amateur sleuth, please do your due diligence. If the name is Barnaby, obviously run like mad (see aforementioned advice regarding Midsomer County) and it’s probably best not to get to know members of the family. In any case, do check how frequently the friends, relations or acquaintances are murdered (or, in a popular twist, arrested for murder).
Sadly, the same goes if you wish to befriend crime writers. This is especially true if the name is Fletcher, but you still might want to exercise caution with other literary types.
Naturally if the writer’s name is Marianne this recommendation does not apply, and such excellent people may be welcomed into your circle of friends without hesitation.
(But of course, I would say that….)
In essence, my approach is to exercise sensible caution and avoid getting too caught up in so-called reality (or at least, the tabloid version of it). What’s your top tip for being safe?
The SheKilda crime convention now has an active website. Have a look at all the wonderful guests coming. It will be a feast of criminality! Kylie, Mandy, Janette and myself will all be there – so the Sharp Girls will be out in force!
 NEWS FROM SISTERS IN CRIME, AUSTRALIA
Crime lovers, particularly those of us in Melbourne, have some dates to mark on their calendars. Sisters in Crime apologise that there are fewer events throughout the year – but it’s with good reason. SheKilda 2 is coming!!! Featuring the best crime fiction talent from around the country (including, of course, our very own Marianne Delacourt), this is the convention that all lovers of crime MUST attend. October 7 – 9, 2011.
SheKilda Again, marks the 20th Anniversary of Sisters in Crime Australia and will include panels and workshops with all of your favourite Aussie crime authors. And, some very special international guests too: Margie Orford – South Africa, Vanda Symon – New Zealand and, Shamini Flint from Singapore.
The new website for the event which will include all the exciting news of the event will be launched on Friday May 20 at SinC event, Courting Justice (see below).
8pm FRIDAY MAY 20, 2011: COURTING JUSTICE
Three of Victoria’s top female legal eagles bring experience, verve and humour (and many tales) to a debate about where you go for justice when faced with a legal issue, whether it’s a neighbourhood dispute, settling a will or a (nasty or very nasty) accusation? Who does what and what can (and does) happen?
Interrogating the judges is true crime author and novelist, Robin Bowles.
Justice Elizabeth Hollingworth has served on the Supreme Court of Victoria since 2004 and is a former Rhodes Scholar and Senior Counsel. She has sat in a broad range of civil and criminal trials and appeals including the recent trial of serial killer, Peter Dupas, for the murder of Mersina Halvagis.
Judge Liz Gaynor was a defence barrister before becoming a judge in the County Court in 2002. In last year’s ‘Punji hunting’ case, she declared that some boys ”ought to be “put in a dark cupboard at 16 and brought out again at age 25”. She is a different sort of judge (and frequent debater) in the annual Ned Kelly Crime Writing Awards.
Jelena Popovic, Deputy Chief Magistrate, was appointed to Magistrates’ Court of Victoria in 1989 after ten years in practice as a solicitor. She is passionate about the significant role of the Magistrates’ Court in our community, particularly its role in problem-solving and reducing crime. An advocate of “therapeutic jurisprudence”, she’s interested in how factors like disability, drugs, mental health, homelessness and Aboriginality impact on defendants in the criminal justice system. She is the Co-ordinating Magistrate of the Koori Court and has court portfolio responsibility for the Criminal Justice Diversion Program.
NOTE: New venue: The Rising Sun Hotel, corner Raglan Street & Eastern Road, South Melbourne (cnr Coventry). Mel 57, H2.Try 112, 55 or St Kilda Road trams. Free on-street parking after 6pm.
Entry is $5 for SinC members, $10 for non-members. Dinner can be purchased from the venue before the event.
 Tuesday May 24, 2011: Where (and How and Why) Crime Fiction
Gets It Wrong
(Part of the 2011 Bayside Literary Festival)
True crime author & Brighton resident Vikki Petraitis has rounded up some of the usual (often unusual) suspects to spill the beans. She interrogates a judge, a true crime writer and a novelist on where (and how and why) crime on the page and screen contrasts so wildly with what really happens in real life:
Judge Liz Gaynor was a defence barrister before becoming a judge in the County Court in 2002. She is a different sort of judge in the annual Ned Kelly Crime Writing Awards. She’s outspoken, funny, fair and very, very smart.
Liz Porter, a Brighton resident journalist Liz Porter is the author of Written On The Skin: An Australian Forensic Casebook (Pan Macmillan), a joint winner of the 2007 Ned Kelly Award for best true crime book. Her latest work, Cold Case Files: Past crimes solved by new forensic science, published by Pan Macmillan in May, features cases from Australia, the UK and the US. Murder and DNA are recurring themes, but the book also covers mysteries involving art fraud, the mysterious death of an Egyptian mummy and the authorship of Bach’s cello suites. Info: http://www.panmacmillan.com.au/display_title.asp?ISBN=9781742610092&Author=Porter,%20Liz
P D (Phillipa Deanne) Martin has written five novels featuring ex-pat FBI criminal profiler Sophie Anderson, all of which have received glowing reviews in Australia and overseas. To date, the series has been published in thirteen countries. She’s also written an ebook. To date, the series has been published in thirteen countries. She’s contributed to a true crime anthology titled Meaner than Fiction. Info: www.pdmartin.com.au
7.30-9pm, Tuesday May 24 — Brighton Savoy Hotel, 150 The Esplanade, Brighton Cost: $15.Bookings (from early May): www.bayside.vic.gov.au/literaryfestival
PHRYNE FISHER TV SERIES – seeking extras
http://www.everycloudproductions.com.au/news/p/16
Every Cloud Productions:We are excited to announce an opportunity for Phryne fans to get involved in the production.
We are looking for people interested in working as extras on the series, which is set in 1920s Melbourne.
Our casting department is looking for men and women over the age of 18. Of course, the ‘look’ of the 1920s is a world away from 2011, so we would not be able to cast anyone with gel nails, any obvious hair colouring or hair extensions, any visible tattoos or piercings or fake tans. Men would have to be prepared to have their hair cut in the period style.
 If you are interested in working as an extra please email gow.martine@abc.net.auwith your full name, age, contact details, measurements (chest, waist, hips, shoe) and two photos of yourself (a head shot and a full body shot).
Become a Facebook friend of Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries or see here for any updates and upcoming Phryne news!
CARMEL BIRD SHORT FICTION COMPETITION
http://shortaustralianstories.com.au/submissions/
Spineless Wonders are calling for short fiction submissions, to 3,000 words, open theme. Closing date is 31 July, 2011.
First Prize – $500
Two runners up – $100 each
 Criminal Masterminds – or not!
Article by: Kylie Fox
Chances are that if you’re on this page, you like to sink your teeth into a good crime story. Nothing beats trying to outsmart that criminal mastermind and solve the mystery, right? We’ve all read the books, watched the tv or the movies where the plots are woven so intricately and the criminals so devious that only the brilliant deductive skills of the detectives or sleuths can solve the case.
Then there are these crimes. The ones that will have you scratching your head for an altogether different reason. There is not a criminal mastermind in the bunch. No fancy detective work or forensic mastery was necessary in nabbing these criminals. They managed, in every instance, to foil themselves.
These are some of the world’s dumbest criminals.
A Shotgun and a Bottle of Scotch
In Colorado Springs, US, a man, brandishing a shotgun, demanded the cashier of a corner store fill a bag with all the cash from the register. The cashier complied and the robbery should have been over. Instead, the thief spotted a bottle of scotch that took his fancy and told the cashier to add it to his bag of loot.
The cashier refused, saying he didn’t believe the robber was over 21.
The pair argued – the thief declaring he was of legal drinking age and the cashier refusing.
Finally, the thief pulled out his driver’s license and handed it to the cashier – proving he was in fact, over 21. He then left the store with the money and the bottle of scotch.
The cashier promptly called the police and supplied them with the man’s name and address which he’d supplied on his license. He was arrested less than 2 hours later.
Quality Crack
Eloise Reaves, of Florida, was aggrieved that the crack cocaine that she’d just scored wasn’t of an acceptable standard. Did she return to the dealer with her complaint? No. She waved down a passing police officer and made her complaint to him, even showing him the crack to prove her case. Unfortunately for Eloise, the officer didn’t offer to return the goods to the dealer and get her a refund, he arrested her.
Job Offer
In Georgia, 28 year old Demetrius Robinson, was set to rob a Golden Pantry store but didn’t want to do it with the store full of people. To pass the time until he could be alone with the clerk he decided to fill in a job application form. After he robbed the store and made a successful getaway, he was quickly arrested with the details he’d provided on the form. Oh yes, he’d supplied his real name, address and his uncle’s phone number.
Strangely enough, he didn’t get the job.
Billion Dollar Boo Boo
Charles Ray Fuller, 21 of Dallas, Texas might have set his sights a little too high when he tried to pass a forged cheque. Not only was the cheque not made out in his name, he’d made it out for 360 BILLION DOLLARS! Yeah, ‘cause that wouldn’t raise any suspicion.
Out With A Bang
A pair of criminals in Belgium attempted to crack open an ATM on the side of a bank. A minor miscalculation with the dynamite and instead of scoring the cash, they managed to blow up the entire bank – and themselves.
 Murder He Wrote
Polish author Krystian Bala may well have gotten away with murder – if he’d been able to resist writing about it. Obviously the plot was too tempting and Bala wrote the best-selling novel Amok in 2003. Police noticed eerily similar details in the book to an unsolved murder from three years before and an investigation ensued. It ensued that the victim was romantically involved with Bala’s ex-wife. Bala was eventually jailed for 25 years for murder.
Facebook Faux Pas
Social networking is the way of the world but should probably be avoided by burglars – at least while they’re inside a victim’s home. Jonathon G. Parker, of Pennsylvania, was robbing a house and couldn’t resist taking a peek at his Facebook profile while he was there – and forgot to sign himself out. Police were quickly able to track him down from the details provided on his page.
Just Hanging Around
John Pearce, 32 of Dartford, England, provided quite a spectacle for locals when he attempted to break into a house, via a window, in broad daylight. His foot became entangled in the window, leaving him dangling upside-down much to the amusement of onlookers who mocked him mercilessly until the police came – to first rescue, then arrest him.
Calling Ahead
Daniel Glen, from Ontario, wanted to be sure that it was worth his while showing up to a robbery at a convenience store so had the bright idea of calling in advance to ask the clerk how much money was in the register. When he arrived, on schedule, to rob the store, the police were waiting for him.
Eeeew!
Motor home owner, Dennis Quigly, called the police one morning, reporting weird noises from outside. Apparently a thief was trying to siphon gas from the vehicle using a hose. When police arrived they found a man curled up in a ball next to the motor home and a pile of vomit. In trying to suck the gas from the tank, he’d ended up with a mouthful, as often happens – but this wasn’t gas. He’d sucked the wrong tank and ended up with a mouthful of sewage! Quigly chose not to press charges figuring the man had suffered enough.
 The Ultimate Bank Robbery
I’ve left this one for last ‘cause for me it takes the cake!
A San Francisco man decided to rob a Bank Of America. He walked into the branch and wrote on a deposit slip “this iz a stickup. Put all your muny in this bag.”
He then stood in line and waited his turn so that he could give the note to the teller. He began to worry that someone may have seen him write the note and that the police might be called before the reached the window.
He left the Bank of America and crossed the road to another bank, Wells Fargo. He waited a few minutes in line and handed the note to the teller. She read it and surmised from his spelling that she wasn’t dealing with the brightest spark. She told him she could not accept the note because it was written on a Bank of America deposit slip, he would have to fill out a Wells Fargo slip or return to the Bank of America.
The man, defeated, merely said “Ok” and left, returning across the road, note in hand, to the Bank of America where he was promptly arrested.
Seriously, you couldn’t make this stuff up!
by Amanda Wrangles
Hi. I’m Amanda Wrangles, but feel free to call me Mandy – most people do. I’m not going to muck around, I’ll just come right out and say it.
I’m an addict.
I’m addicted to Paranormal Crime Fiction.
Okay, so let me clarify that a little. I love a good mystery, a problem to solve, a challenge between the pages of a great crime novel. I love trying to nut out what it is the author of a crime story is going to spring on us – the reader. I love that sense of satisfaction when you figure out the twist or the whodunit before you’re supposed to.
But what I love even more than figuring it out, is when the author gets the better of me.
That feeling, when your jaw drops, you stop, look around the room and say to no one in particular (and not because you’re probably alone): ‘Well, I didn’t see that coming!’
For me, that is far more likely to happen outside the realms of reality, or even just a sidestep from what we perceive as reality.
A ‘normal’ human cop, private detective or concerned citizen can only solve a crime so far as the law and reality will allow. There’s only so many places the story can go. Sure, some criminals are sicker, stranger and more imaginative than others, as are the good folk who try to end their fun. Some tales are more twisted and the crimes further fetched than the average. But when you add in that unknown element, the paranormal, the supernatural, that strange quirk or talent – well, the possibilities become endless.
That body in the alley? A detective in a ‘straight’ crime story has to solve the murder with the help of DNA, clues, witnesses, a clever partner and some gut-feeling. Throw a warlock or an aura-seeing detective into the mix, a shapeshifter or time-travelling bad guy and suddenly, there a hundred different ways the story could go.
Over the next little while, I’ll be introducing you to some of my favourite Paranormal Crime Crossover Novels. Some are only slightly off-beat, while others throw the reader into a completely new world. Hold onto your hats… it could be a wild ride!
The manager of my YA site, Bec Stafford, has been running a series of interviews called Big 4 Interviews – 4 questions asked of YA authors we love. The latest one is with Margo Lanagan, but previous interviews are archived. They make fascinating reading.
And speaking of interviews don’t forget to watch out for Tara Moss’s upcoming short interview series with known authors in crime fiction on Foxtel’s 13th street.
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