My review back log gets longer by the week. In an effort to catch up I’m going to batch a few together. First on the scene are two crime novels by authors whose work I’ve read in the past.

Force of Nature by Jane Harper

I’ve endured many a corporate team-building exercise during my career. Mercifully none as arduous or fractious as the one featured in Force of Nature.

This is a follow up to her debut novel The Dry which I loved for its claustrophobic atmosphere of life in a small rural town in Australia during a prolonged drought. Force of Nature is no less atmospheric, though this time we’re in the hostile bushland of the Giralang Ranges on a very wet weekend.

Five employees from the accountancy conglomerate BaileyTennants, head out into the bush in an exercise designed to build camaraderie. Only four return. Of the missing woman, Alice Russell, there is no trace despite an extensive search and rescue mission.

Her disappearance has a special significance for Aaron Falk, the police officer introduced in The Dry. He’s now part of a police financial investigation unit in Melbourne where he’s working on a major case involving BaileyTennants. Alice is a key witness, an insider who can get him vital documents to prove various fraudulent dealings by the company.

So the question is whether Alice’s whistleblower activities are somehow connected to her disappearance. She sounded desperate in a voice message she left for him shortly before she went missing. Has she done a runner to avoid having to give evidence or is she the victim of a crime? Throw in the unsolved disappearance of another girl and a notorious killer connected to this bushland area, and you have the recipe for a tension-laden mystery.

Haroer’s narrative skilfully navigates past and present in alternating chapters that become shorter as the book reaches the climax.

The present-day thread is very much a police procedural while the past relates details of the expedition. Underlying tensions between the five women come to the surface when they lose their way. With dwindling food and water supplies, and no consensus on how to get out of this mess, caustic and snide remarks escalate into violent arguments.

While the Force of Nature wasn’t quite as compelling as The Dry it’s still a very strong second novel. I’m now looking forward to reading Exiles which is the the third (and apparently final) novel to feature Aaron Falk

All the Devils are Here by Louise Penny

For the 16th novel in her Chief Inspector Gamache series, Louise Penny transports her chief investigator from his usual stamping ground in the villages and cities of Quebec province, to the streets of Paris. All the Devils are Here sees Armand Gamache and his wife Reine-Marie on a visit to see their children and await the birth of a new grand-child.

The visit gets off to a horrific start. As the couple leave a family dinner at a favourite bistro, Armand’s billionaire godfather is knocked down and critically injured. Armand is certain this was no accident but who would want to kill the old man and why?

Though he has no authority to investigate, that doesn’t stop Armand pushing for the truth. He’s aided by his son-in-law Jean-Guy Beauvioir who is now living in Paris and working for a private engineering corporation. They encounter lies, deceit and conspiracies that put the whole family in danger.

I enjoyed the change in location. Though the village of Three Pines (home to the Gamache family) is delightful and charming, some of the villagers can be a touch annoying. The Paris setting means we are mercifully spared the grumpy poet Ruth and her blasted duck. I’m also more than happy to trade Parisienne patisseries and moules for the hot chocolate and pancakes served at the Three Pines bistro.

The books in this series to date have been noticeable for plots that are more than just exciting crime mysteries. Penny uses them to explore relationships, behaviours and attitudes. All the Devils are Here doesn’t disappoint in that regard.

In previous novels, Armand’s son Daniel has largely stayed in the background , the source of tension between him and his father mentioned but not explained. This novel gets to the heart of the issue, revealing mistakes, misunderstandings and unspoken fears. Through faltering attempts at a reconciliation we see a side to Armand that hasn’t been in evidence previously.

The father/son relationship and the poignant ending lift this book above your standard crime fiction novel.