Who’s up for a month of reading all things crime from Australia and New Zealand? This includes crime fiction, psychological thrillers, suspense novels and true crime.
I’m no expert in this field; I just thought it might be a fun way to celebrate the depth of talent we have Down Under as well as work my way through an ever-increasing pile of crime books I’ve amassed lately.
Most of you will be well aware of Jane Harper, whose novel The Dry earned accolades across the world, including the 2017 UK CWA Gold Dagger for Crime Novel of the Year, the 2017 Prix Cognac Award in France and the 2017 ABIA Awards Book of the Year. But crime writers from Australia have been ploughing their own furrow long before this. Fergus Hume’s Mystery of a Hansom Cab, which is set in Melbourne, was an overnight sensation, selling hundreds of thousands of copies around the world when it was first published in 1886!
Harper’s success has arguably shone the spotlight on a whole new bunch of writers in this genre, including Chris Hammer, Emma Viskic, Dervla McTiernan, Sarah Bailey and Christian White (amongst others), all of whom have had their novels published on the international stage in the past few years.
But, of course, there are other writers who have been around longer than this but might not have had the same level of fanfare. I’m thinking of the excellent Garry Disher, Peter Temple, Alan Carter, Nicole Trope and Helen Fitzgerald.
Anyway, basically, what I’m saying is that there’s no shortage of writers if you would like to take part. Other sources that might help:
- Southern Cross Crime by Craig Sisterton — an excellent guidebook published in paperback by Oldcastle Books in the UK last September
- A list of Australian crime novels on Wikipedia
- A list of New Zealand crime fiction writers on Wikipedia
- The Australian Crime Writers Association website, including a section dedicated to new releases
- A list of past winners of the Ned Kelly Awards, Australia’s most prestigious prizes honouring crime fiction and true crime writing
- The Facebook page for the Ngaio Marsh Awards
- All the crime books reviewed on the Australian Women Writers Challenge website
- The Sisters in Crime website, which celebrates women’s crime writing on the page and screen
- All the Southern Cross Crime novels I have reviewed on this blog under the #SouthernCrossCrime tag
- Five true crime books from Australia
There’s bound to be loads more so if you know of them, please do share in the comments below.
If you wish to take part please feel free to download the main image above or the smaller one below and to use the hashtag #SouthernCrossCrime2021
When does Southern Cross Crime Month run?
From March 1 to March 31, 2021, but feel free to read books beyond these dates!
What is Southern Cross Crime?
It’s basically anything that classifies as fictional crime (such as psychological thrillers, suspense novels and police procedurals) or true crime and is written by an author from either Australia or New Zealand. There’s a list of resources of my announcement post here.
Who can participate?
Absolutely anyone! All you have to do is read a Southern Cross Crime book — or books — over the course of the month and then share your thoughts about them on the platform/s of your choice. This could be a blog, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, GoodReads, YouTube or podcast. (Did I miss anything? Does anyone review books on TikTok?)
How do I participate?
As per above, but use the hashtag #SouthernCrossCrime2021 and feel free to use the image at the top of this page or a smaller one here. Then list your review on the Mr Linky page below.
Where it says “your name” write the ‘Book title’ by author’s name (your name in brackets), followed by the URL of your review:
Reading Matters 