Lexie Rogers has just returned to work as a Police Detective following a brutal stabbing by a member of a bikie gang. She has been transferred to a new Police Station in the Eastern suburbs and hopes that a fresh start will help her get back on her feet and put the stabbing behind her.

Unfortunately, a bikie war between two rival gangs in the Eastern suburbs is hotting up and Lexie's first case involves the shooting of a bikie. Lexie and her partner arrive at the scene of the shooting before the man is taken to hospital and he manages to tell her the nickname of the person who shot him. Although gutsy, Lexie struggles to cope with interviewing hostile bikies and suffers from dreadful nightmares. The police quickly become frustrated with trying to get any information on the murderer and are puzzled that they seem to be protecting him.

This is a very good debut novel. The author was herself a police officer for many years and it's evident in her stories of crime and bikie gangs in particular. The story is told at a good pace, with enough twists and turns to keep it interesting. Lexie's growing attraction to her partner Josh is an additional storyline that simmers slowly throughout the novel. The suspense and tension also build up to boiling point towards the end of the novel when it becomes clear that Lexie's life is in danger. ( )

Even if I hadn’t known from her bio that Karen Davis is an ex-cop I think I’d have guessed fairly soon after I started reading SINISTER INTENT. It’s not so much that the set pieces and procedural elements ring true (though they do) but that the ‘in-between moments’ have the air of authenticity that only first-hand knowledge can provide. She has captured the ever-changing atmosphere of this specialised working environment with skill; showing the adrenalin that accompanies the start of a major investigation, the doldrums that can follow when there is little progress despite everyone’s efforts and the tensions that can build up between colleagues working so closely together.

This depiction underpins the topical tale of a potential bikie war breaking out in the suburbs of Sydney as drugs a found in a gang headquarters then a gang member is shot and killed, possibly by someone from a rival gang. When trying to investigate the death of Bluey the cops from Bondi Junction are up against the famed bikie’s code of silence and must struggle for every snippet of intelligence and scrap of evidence while they try to ensure that there are no retaliatory violent outbreaks.

For me the book’s strength lies in the characters on both sides of the criminal divide. Lexie Rogers is the newly promoted Detective Constable who teams up with the more seasoned DS Josh Harrison to take charge of the case and they are both interesting. Lexie has a pretty traumatic past for someone not yet 30 which offers lots of scope for insight and further development) and Josh has a demon or two of his own though neither are irretrievably damaged. Rex Donaldson is effectively in charge of the gang at the centre of the troubles but thankfully does not display most of the stereotypical traits that our politicians would have us believe all bikies possess, though he’s no fan of the police.

I’m afraid I didn’t actually find the story itself particularly suspenseful but that’s at least partially due to my personal tastes. It has a much higher quotient of romantic entanglement and sexual tension (resolved and otherwise) than I normally like, to the point I felt it strayed a little too far into ‘chick lit’ territory (a term I don’t really like but what I mean is that I cannot imagine recommending this book to male crime fiction readers I know). The fact I thought the book too long is mainly connected to my boredom with this element of the novel. The other factor in me finding this book less than suspense-filled is that I thought the culprit(s) blindingly obvious from almost the very beginning. Normally I am fairly forgiving of this because I read more crime novels than the average reader and there are usually other suspects and sidetracks to keep me guessing but I truly find it difficult to believe anyone could read this book and imagine for a moment there was ever a chance of a different person being the main guilty party.

That said I did enjoy Davis’ depiction of the investigative process and her creation of a very believable environment and backdrop against which to set her story and I enjoyed meeting all the characters, even the unlikable but very credible ones like Rex’s insecure girlfriend Kate. The book definitely holds its own in the increasingly crowded romantic suspense genre and is a solid debut novel that demonstrates the author’s potential to build a real following.

A retired Australian police officer, Karen M. Davis draws on her years of career experience in Sinister Intent, her impressive debut crime fiction novel.

After surviving a violent attack from a crazed Bikie in a Kings Cross laneway, Lexie Rogers is disconcerted when her first big case as a new detective with the Bondi Junction office involves the increasing rivalry of two local Bikie gangs known as the Devil's Guardians and the Assassins. It's rumoured the animosity between the outlaw clubs began over a woman but Lexie is about to discover this latest quarrel has been carefully orchestrated and she is at risk of becoming the next casualty of war.

Well paced with a balanced dose of action, psychological suspense and romance, Sinister Intent is an enjoyable novel. The plot holds a few surprises circling around the outlaw Bikie gangs, police corruption, a missing daughter and a police officer's death.

Sinister Intent is in part a police procedural as Lexie and Bondi Junction detectives chase leads and gather evidence trying to identify the man, presumed a Bikie, known only as 'The Grub' responsible for the hit on the Devil's Guardians member. Stymied by the Bikie's code of silence it's a difficult investigation and the pieces don't all fall into place until it is almost too late.

I thought the characters were portrayed authentically from the cops who drink a little more than they should do, to the casual chauvinism of a predominately male workplace, to the Bikie's who have little respect for the law and believe in loyalty to each other above all. I probably would have rated Sinister Intent slightly higher if Lexie had been a little stronger, both emotionally and physically. Though she has good reasons to be paranoid and vulnerable given her recent brush with death, and the murder of her brother, I thought Lexie was a little too often at the mercy of her post traumatic distress.

The only other niggle with this novel for me was the fairly frequent use of exclamation marks - it's a petty thing to point out, but they distracted me every time and mostly seemed unnecessary.

I really enjoyed Sinister Intent, I read it almost straight through and was reluctant to put it down. I am glad to welcome another great woman writer to the Australian crime fiction genre and I hope we see more from Karen M Davis soon. ( )