tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-82739118838565802002024-03-18T20:17:53.419+10:30MYSTERIES in PARADISEWhy <b>MYSTERIES?</b> Because that is the genre I read. <br>Why <b>PARADISE?</b> Because that is where I live.<br>
Among other things, this blog, the result of a 2008 New Year's resolution, <br>will act as a record of books that I've read, and random thoughts.Kerriehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13581470363339796352noreply@blogger.comBlogger512125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8273911883856580200.post-60560920710085538782024-03-16T11:58:00.002+10:302024-03-16T11:58:43.908+10:30Review: THE NIGHT SHE FELL, Eileen Merriman<ul style="text-align: left;"><li><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71D3U2XwVML._SL1500_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="523" height="320" src="https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71D3U2XwVML._SL1500_.jpg" width="209" /></a></div> this edition is available on <a href=" https://www.amazon.com/Night-She-Fell-Eileen-Merriman-ebook/dp/B0CP6X5ZFJ/">Amazon</a> for Kindle<br /></li><li>ASIN : B0CP6X5ZFJ</li><li>Publisher : Penguin eBooks (NZ Adult) (March 5, 2024)</li><li><a href="https://eileenmerriman.co.nz/">author website</a> <br /></li></ul><p><b>Synopsis</b> (<a href=" https://www.amazon.com/Night-She-Fell-Eileen-Merriman-ebook/dp/B0CP6X5ZFJ/">Amazon</a>)</p><p>‘When I last saw Ashleigh, she was lying in a pool of blood . . . Her eyes were open, staring sightlessly into the sky. I’d like to think she saw the stars before she died; that in her last moments she flew, soaring on serotonin, dreamy with dopamine. I’d like to think she didn’t suffer . . .’<br /><br />A beautiful young law student dies on the concrete below her third-storey window in chilly Dunedin.<br /><br />It’s clear enough how she died. What isn’t is why — or who’s involved.<br /><br />Plenty of people had a reason to hate Ashleigh, with her straight As and perfect looks. She’s fallen out with her flatmates, and her boyfriend Xander is having second thoughts about their future together. And then there are the weird messages.<br /><br />The Night She Fell is a gripping psychological thriller from one of New Zealand's most multi-talented contemporary novelists. </p><p><b>My Take</b></p><p>This appears to be the author's first adult crime fiction novel.</p><p>Set in Dunedin where Ashleigh and Xander are university students living in different flats. Xander is a medical student and Ashleigh a law student. They have been together for seven years but Ashleigh is dominating while her parents have been financially generous to Xander and his family. Xander's eye has been recently caught by Ronnie, a psychology student with a room in Ashleigh's house.</p><p>And then one night Ashleigh dies, jumping from a third floor window. It is just a week since she and Xander broke up.</p><p>The structure of book centres around Ashleigh's death. The main voices are Xander and Ronnie and the chapters are Before and After. The puzzle is what caused Ashleigh to jump. Is anyone or anything to blame?</p><p>Very engrossing.<br /></p><p><b>My rating:</b> 4.7 </p><p><b>About the author</b></p><p>Several of Eileen Merriman’s young adult novels have been finalists in the NZ Children’s and Young Adult Book Awards, and also Storylines Notable Books. Her first adult novel, Moonlight Sonata, was released in 2019, and was longlisted for the Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction. Her fourth YA novel, A Trio of Sophies, was released in Australia, New Zealand and Germany in 2020 and was a finalist in the Ngaio Marsh Crime Awards. Her fourth adult novel, The Night She Fell, is due for release in March 2024. Three of her young adult novels have been optioned for TV or film, including Catch Me When You Fall, for which the prequel, Catch A Falling Star, was released in 2023.<br /></p>Kerriehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13581470363339796352noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8273911883856580200.post-89348553590670806442024-02-23T19:13:00.006+10:302024-02-23T19:13:50.508+10:30Review: THE WAITER, Ajay Chowdhury<ul style="text-align: left;"><li><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://cdn2.penguin.com.au/covers/original/9781529111934.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="521" height="320" src="https://cdn2.penguin.com.au/covers/original/9781529111934.jpg" width="208" /></a></div>This edition read on Kindle (<a href="https://www.amazon.com.au/Waiter-Ajay-Chowdhury-ebook/dp/B088GQDNLG">Amazon</a>)<br /></li><li>ASIN : B088GQDNLG</li><li>Publisher : Vintage Digital (27 May 2021)</li><li>Print length : 283 pages</li></ul><p><b>Synopsis</b> (<a href="https://www.amazon.com.au/Waiter-Ajay-Chowdhury-ebook/dp/B088GQDNLG">Amazon</a>)</p><p>Ex-detective Kamil Rahman is embroiled in a case that might just change his life - for better or for worse . . .<br /><br />Disgraced detective Kamil Rahman moves from Kolkata to London to start afresh as a waiter in an Indian restaurant. But the peace of his new life is soon shattered. The day Kamil caters an extravagant party, the powerful host, Rakesh, is found dead in his swimming pool.<br /><br />Suspicion falls on Rakesh's young and glamorous new wife, and Kamil is called to investigate for the family. Kamil and Anjoli, his boss's daughter, prove a winning team - yet as the case progresses, and their relationship grows, the events of Kamil's past threaten to catch up with him . . .</p><p><b>My Take</b></p><p>Dismissed and disgraced Kolkata detective Kamil Rahman moves to London to shake off his past but he soon finds himself attempting to solve another murder, and to his amazement finds the events are connected, and that people have followed him to London.</p><p>A competently constructed first novel with an interesting scenario.<br /></p><p><b>My rating</b>: 4.3</p><p><b>About the author</b><br /><br />Ajay Chowdhury was the inaugural winner of the Harvill Secker-Bloody Scotland crime fiction award. He is a tech entrepreneur and theatre director who was born in India and now lives in London where he builds digital businesses, cooks experimental dishes for his wife and daughters and writes through the night. His children's book, Ayesha and the Firefish, was published in 2016 and adapted into a musical.<br /><br />The Waiter, published in 2021, is the first in his critically-acclaimed crime series about Kamil Rahman, an ex-policeman from Kolkata who has moved to Brick Lane in London. It is being adapted for television by Moonage Pictures. Follow-up The Cook was published in May 2022 to excellent reviews and deals with the issue of homelessness. The third book in the series - The Detective - is about government surveillance and AI. <br /></p>Kerriehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13581470363339796352noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8273911883856580200.post-66373063298137665312024-01-08T15:42:00.003+10:302024-01-08T15:42:55.560+10:30Review: THE TEA LADIES, Angela Hampson<ul style="text-align: left;"><li><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://cdn2.penguin.com.au/covers/original/9781761344626.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="521" height="320" src="https://cdn2.penguin.com.au/covers/original/9781761344626.jpg" width="208" /></a></div>this edition made available by my local library<br /></li><li>ISBN 9-78176-04385</li><li>368 pages</li><li><a href="https://www.penguin.com.au/books/the-tea-ladies-9781761344626">Penguin Random House 2023</a> <br /></li></ul><p><b>Synopsis</b> (<a href="https://www.penguin.com.au/books/the-tea-ladies-9781761344626">publisher</a>) </p><p>A wickedly witty cosy crime novel set in Sydney in the swinging sixties, ideal for fans of Richard Osman and Bonnie Garmus.<br /><br />They keep everyone's secrets, until there's a murder...<br /><br />Sydney, 1965: After a chance encounter with a stranger, tea ladies Hazel, Betty and Irene become accidental sleuths, stumbling into a world of ruthless crooks and racketeers in search of a young woman believed to be in danger.<br /><br />In the meantime, Hazel’s job at Empire Fashionwear is in jeopardy. The firm has turned out the same frocks and blouses for the past twenty years and when the mini-skirt bursts onto the scene, it rocks the rag trade to its foundations. War breaks out between departments and it falls to Hazel, the quiet diplomat, to broker peace and save the firm.<br /><br />When there is a murder in the building, the tea ladies draw on their wider network and put themselves in danger as they piece together clues that connect the murder to a nearby arson and a kidnapping. But if there’s one thing tea ladies can handle, it’s hot water.</p><p><b>My Take</b></p><p>Angela Hampson is obviously an accomplished writer but this is my first outing with her. It takes us back into the 1960s in Sydney with a bunch of observant tea ladies who become accidental detectives. </p><p>The glue who holds together a group of tea ladies who work in adjacent buildings is Hazel Bates. Hazel also provides an observant link between all levels of workers and management in Empire Fashionwear. It is Hazel who first notices "the woman at the window" in the bond store next door. It is Hazel who reports her observations to the police and raises the alarm when the bond store is torched.</p><p>Hazel is the ring leader of a group of tea ladies who work for neighbouring firms, and organises meetings where they compare notes on their observations.</p><p>There are lovely character sketches of each of the tea ladies, and touches of humour too. A satisfying read. I can see myself looking for more by this author..<br /></p><p><b>My rating:</b> 4.4</p><p><b>About the author</b></p><p>Amanda Hampson grew up in rural New Zealand. She has lived in London and Sydney, and now lives in Melbourne. Writing professionally for more than 20 years, she is the author of The Olive Sisters, Two for the Road, The French Perfumer, The Yellow Villa, Sixty Summers, Lovebirds, and the bestselling cosy crime novel The Tea Ladies. Her forthcoming novel is The Cryptic Clue.<br /></p>Kerriehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13581470363339796352noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8273911883856580200.post-83081008373276154502024-01-07T10:07:00.003+10:302024-01-07T10:07:17.610+10:30Review: MURDER ON FRIDAY STREET, Russell Cooper<ul style="text-align: left;"><li>This edition read on my Kindle (<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Murder-Friday-Street-Mysteries/dp/B0CJBCR7K4">Amazon</a>)<a href="https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71oLwXowutL._SL1500_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="500" height="320" src="https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71oLwXowutL._SL1500_.jpg" width="200" /></a><br /></li><li>ASIN : B0CJBCR7K4</li><li>Publisher : Red Balloon Press (September 19, 2023)</li><li>Paperback : 394 pages</li><li>ISBN-10 : 1919602178</li><li>ISBN-13 : 978-1919602172</li><li>#1 Friday Street Murder Mysteries<br /></li></ul><p><b>Synopsis</b> (<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Murder-Friday-Street-Mysteries/dp/B0CJBCR7K4">publisher</a>) </p><p>If you love Richard Osman’s Thursday Murder Club series, you’ll love this.<br /><br />Eccentric twin brothers, Cedric and Ambrose, retire from MI6 to make honey and tackle crosswords at Tanglefoot Farm in England’s Surrey Hills.<br /><br />The unsolved brutal murder of their long-lost friend drags them back into the secret life they left behind.<br /><br />Can Cedric and Ambrose, along with Charlie, their dead friend’s daughter, and the seventy-five year old mystery woman who lives in a campervan, unravel the clues and crack the cold case before the killer strikes again?<br /><br />The chase is on to solve the mystery and catch the murderer.<br /><br />Murder on Friday Street is the highly entertaining first book in the Friday Street Murder Mystery series. If you like witty, feisty women, a tangle of clever clues, and hilarious adventures, then you’ll love Russell Cooper’s gripping murder mystery.</p><p><b>My Take</b></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_CMmy6qwAEy0Fln4bfysA3TTapTSmdUMo71D2Pxvbs4lyGFI7GtXt7q7iQ3Rw2N6uvR2MtqlWsRjXuVHSSkcxE6GcDL-VrUKtznpFtgBYseqApGEJQ-FYqrEKnVMHh1VcZK12czCjwP8/s200/coat-tails.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="187" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_CMmy6qwAEy0Fln4bfysA3TTapTSmdUMo71D2Pxvbs4lyGFI7GtXt7q7iQ3Rw2N6uvR2MtqlWsRjXuVHSSkcxE6GcDL-VrUKtznpFtgBYseqApGEJQ-FYqrEKnVMHh1VcZK12czCjwP8/s200/coat-tails.jpg" width="187" /></a></div>While I enjoyed reading this latest outing in the <a href="https://paradise-mysteries.blogspot.com/search?q=geezer+lit">geezer lit</a> genre, I am just a little uncomfortable with its close proximity to that other very successful series by <a href="https://paradise-mysteries.blogspot.com/search?q=Richard+Osman">Richard Osman</a>. It feels a little to0 close to a spoof on a spoof, an author saying "<i>I can do a little better. ... instead of one retired spy lets put a few of them together and see what happens</i>." (although I am sure this sort of thing happens more than I indicate in my reviews)<br /><p></p><p>In the middle of it there is some serious plotting, a serious cold case, some delightfully drawn characters, some humorous and not-so humorous situations.<br /></p><p>However, if you read it then come back here and tell me if you think I've been unduly harsh with my <a href="https://paradise-mysteries.blogspot.com/2008/08/riding-on-coat-tails-or-plagiarism.html">coattails analogy</a>.<br /></p><p><b>My rating</b>: 4.0</p><p><b>About the author</b></p><p>Russell Cooper...grew up on a rich diet of spy novels and Sunday afternoon television dramas. Following a hectic career in the restaurant business I did a couple of undisclosed stints (nothing dangerous) with NATO & GCHQ. Today I live in Surrey UK and when I’m not writing, editing or reading, I support the demands of Winnie, my toy poodle. <br /></p>Kerriehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13581470363339796352noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8273911883856580200.post-35559456303852552332023-12-18T12:34:00.002+10:302023-12-18T12:34:49.170+10:30Review: FALLING, T.J. Newman<ul style="text-align: left;"><li><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.booktopia.com.au/covers/900/9781398507289/4217/falling.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="652" data-original-width="800" height="261" src="https://www.booktopia.com.au/covers/900/9781398507289/4217/falling.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>This edition made available as an e-book on Libby by my local library<br /></li><li>ISBN: 9781398507289</li><li>ISBN-10: 1398507288</li><li>Number Of Pages: 368</li><li>Published: 15th June 2022, <a href="https://www.booktopia.com.au/falling-t-j-newman/book/9781398507289.html">Simon & Schuster</a> UK</li></ul><p><b>Synopsis</b> (<a href="https://www.booktopia.com.au/falling-t-j-newman/book/9781398507289.html">publisher</a>) </p><p>You just boarded a flight to New York.<br /><br />There are one hundred and forty-three other passengers onboard.<br /><br />What you don’t know is that thirty minutes before the flight your pilot’s family was kidnapped.<br /><br />For his family to live, everyone on your plane must die.<br /><br />The only way the family will survive is if the pilot follows his orders and crashes the plane.<br /><br />Enjoy the flight.<br /></p><p><b>My Take</b></p><p>This was a real page turner, and the reader is kept in suspense, working out how the story will turn out.</p><p>There are elements that you've seen in other real-life stories but also some carefully thought through good-feel moments.</p><p>Highly recommended.<br /></p><p><b>My rating</b>: 4.9</p><p><b>About the Author</b><br /><br />T. J. Newman, a former bookseller turned flight attendant, worked for Virgin America and Alaska Airlines from 2011 to 2021. She wrote much of Falling on cross-country red-eye flights while her passengers were asleep. She lives in Phoenix, Arizona. Falling is her first novel. <br /></p>Kerriehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13581470363339796352noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8273911883856580200.post-15972538709763052392023-12-07T09:47:00.004+10:302023-12-07T09:47:52.358+10:30Review: A LESSON IN MALICE, Catherine Kirwan<ul style="text-align: left;"><li><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://hachette.imgix.net/books/9781529381443.jpg?auto=compress&w=440" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="663" data-original-width="440" height="320" src="https://hachette.imgix.net/books/9781529381443.jpg?auto=compress&w=440" width="212" /></a></div>this edition from my local library<br /></li><li>published by <a href="https://www.hachette.com.au/catherine-kirwan/a-lesson-in-malice">HACHETTE BOOKS</a> Ireland 2023</li><li>ISBN 978-1-5293-8143-6</li><li>456 pages</li></ul><p><b>Synopsis</b> (<a href="https://www.hachette.com.au/catherine-kirwan/a-lesson-in-malice">Publisher</a>)</p><p>She said yes to a dinner invitation. Now she's a murder suspect ...<br /><br />A visit to her old university takes an unexpected turn for solicitor Finn Fitzpatrick when she receives an exclusive invitation. She is far from high profile on the legal scene, so why is she on the guestlist for a select gathering in the College president's private dining room?<br /><br />Three days later, a body is discovered on College grounds. And, as the police launch their hunt for the killer, everyone who was dinner that night falls under suspicion. Including Finn.<br /><br />Soon, she's investigating the murder, unearthing the bitter rivalries and hidden agendas lurking beneath the success of her fellow dinner guests. As the mysteries and revelations pile up, Finn finds herself keeping secrets from those around her - but at what cost? </p><p><b>My Take</b></p><p>This is the second novel featuring Cork solicitor Finn Fitzpatrick.</p><p>It seems that the high profile speaker from Australia, a graduate originally from Cork University, with a reputation for womanising, came to the conference intending to speak to Finn. But circumstances got in the way and they never had a chance to talk and now he is dead. Finn has not been able to work out why she was invited to speak anyway, but now she finds herself as the liaison between the university and the police. </p><p>And then some unexpected news results in her being arrested and investigated.</p><p>I obviously didn't find the book as captivating as some of those whose blurbs appear on the cover. Nevertheless it took me into a world and a setting with which I was not familiar.<br /></p><p><b>My rating:</b> 4.4</p><p><b>About the author</b><br />Catherine Kirwan grew up in the parish of Fews, County Waterford. She studied law at University College Cork and she now lives in Cork City where she works as a solicitor.<br />This is her second novel <br /></p>Kerriehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13581470363339796352noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8273911883856580200.post-67766422286660617542023-12-01T09:34:00.000+10:302023-12-01T09:34:01.115+10:30Review: JUST ANOTHER MISSING PERSON, Gillian McAllister<ul style="text-align: left;"><li><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81en0TUo3xL._SL1500_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="533" height="320" src="https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81en0TUo3xL._SL1500_.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>this edition provided by my local library<br /></li><li>Harper Large print published August 2023</li><li>496 pages</li><li>ISBN 9-780063-322899</li></ul><p> <b>Synopsis</b> (<a href="https://www.amazon.com.au/Another-Missing-Person-Gillian-McAllister/dp/0063322897">Publisher</a>)<br /><br />From the author of the Reese's Book Club Pick and the New York Times bestseller Wrong Place Wrong Time comes a new heart-stopping thriller in which a missing-person case unravels deeper, darker secrets that lead a detective to an impossible moral choice.<br /><br />Not everyone who is lost should be found...<br /><br />Twenty-two-year-old Olivia has been missing for one day...and counting. She was last seen on CCTV, entering a dead-end alley. And not coming back out again.<br /><br />Julia, the detective heading up the search for Olivia, thinks she knows what to expect. A desperate family, a ticking clock, and long hours away from her husband and daughter. But she has no idea just how close to home this case is going to get.<br /><br />Because the criminal at the heart of the disappearance has something she never expected. His weapon isn't a gun, or a knife: it's a secret. Her worst one. And her family's safety depends on one thing: Julia must NOT find out what happened to Olivia - and must frame somebody else for her murder.<br /><br />If you find her, you will lose everything. What would you do?<br /><br />This clever and endlessly surprising thriller is laced with a clever look at family and motherhood, and cements Gillian McAllister as a major talent in the world of suspense and a master of creating ethical dilemmas that show just how murky the distinction between right and wrong can be.</p><p><b>My Take</b></p><p>Julia is a detective who does everything by the books, dots the i's and crosses the t's, always. But in her past lies a mistake just waiting to trip her up.</p><p>Missing persons is her speciality and the case of Olivia seems much like any other. But is it? She is captured on CCTV walking into a dead end alley, and then she disappears. No trace, no blood. Nothing. As the days count down, no clues, except something that a masked man gives Julia.</p><p>There are a lot of surprises in this plot.<br /></p><p>There are a number of new authors around this year. Here is another to watch, and catch up on.<br /></p><p><b>My rating</b>: 4.5 </p><p><b>About the Author</b><br /><br />Gillian McAllister is the New York Times bestselling author of Reese's Book Club Pick Wrong Place Wrong Time, Just Another Missing Person, Everything but the Truth, The Choice, The Good Sister, The Evidence Against You, How to Disappear, and the Richard & Judy Book Club pick That Night. She graduated with an English degree before working as a lawyer. She lives in Birmingham, England, where she now writes full-time. She is also the creator and co-host of the popular Honest Authors podcast.<br /></p>Kerriehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13581470363339796352noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8273911883856580200.post-17496544961915322602023-10-04T10:32:00.002+10:302023-10-04T10:32:28.870+10:30Review: THE RUSH, Michelle Prak<ul style="text-align: left;"><li><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://d28hgpri8am2if.cloudfront.net/book_images/onix/cvr9781761108204/the-rush-9781761108204_lg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="262" height="320" src="https://d28hgpri8am2if.cloudfront.net/book_images/onix/cvr9781761108204/the-rush-9781761108204_lg.jpg" width="210" /></a></div>This edition made available as an e-book on Libby by my local library<br /></li><li>Publisher: <a href="https://www.simonandschuster.com.au/books/The-Rush/Michelle-Prak/9781761108204">Simon & Schuster</a> Australia (May 3, 2023)</li><li>Length: 320 pages</li><li>ISBN13: 9781761108204</li></ul><p><b>Synopsis</b> (<a href="https://www.simonandschuster.com.au/books/The-Rush/Michelle-Prak/9781761108204">publisher</a>) </p><p>The first drops start to fall when Quinn spies the body. With no reception and nothing but an empty road for miles, does she stop to help or keep driving to safety?<br /><br />Back at the iconic country pub where Quinn works, Andrea is sandbagging the place in preparation for heavy rains. Alone with her sleeping son in the back room, she reluctantly lets a biker in to wait out the storm.<br /><br />Out on the wet roads, tensions arise among four backpackers on their way to Darwin. They haven’t prepared for this kind of weather and the flooding isn’t the only threat on the horizon …<br /><br />Chilling, tense and twisted, this compulsive thriller will send adrenaline coursing through your veins. </p><p><b>My Take</b></p><p>This story brings together some elements of recent news stories about outback Australia - unexpected flooding, backpackers disappearing or being murdered, an outback pub struggling to survive.</p><p>Hayley and Scott are accountancy students in Adelaide, embarking on a holiday trip to Darwin by road. They plan to take a week or two, and to defray expenses they borrow Scott's grandfather's four wheel drive and decide to offer seats in the car to two backpackers who will contribute to the expenses kitty. It is surprisingly easy to find a couple of people to join them. Hayley makes detailed plans of their route, where they will go sightseeing, and where they will camp overnight. They appear to have given little thought to the return journey.</p><p>Hayley and Scott have been together for a couple of years, but she is beginning to think he is tiring of her. Hayley is young and she doesn't realise that she is literally being "taken for a ride".</p><p>Further north, the rains start, the flooding begins, and then the two main elements of the story come together, with a scenario that is guaranteed to leave the reader gobsmacked. <br /></p><p>There are some structural elements which ask the reader to take extra notice - a number of narrative voices, a disjointed time frame (each chapter tells you the name of the main narrator and the date and time, but they are not sequential). There are little backstories which add to your knowledge of each character.<br /></p><p>I have some reservations about the title - I am not really sure how it relates to the story.<br /></p><p><b>My rating</b>: 4.5</p><p><b>About the author</b><br />Michelle Prak is a professional communicator with a thirty-year career in corporate communication, social media, politics and journalism. Writing has been the backbone of much of her work and she has written several short stories and self-published commercial women's fiction titles. She lives in Adelaide and lectures in public relations and social media at the University of South Australia. The Rush is her first thriller.<br /></p>Kerriehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13581470363339796352noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8273911883856580200.post-36217020122794925712023-08-19T14:03:00.001+09:302023-08-19T14:03:26.131+09:30Review: THE WOMAN IN DARKNESS, Charlie Donlea<ul style="text-align: left;"><li><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://cdn2.penguin.com.au/covers/original/9780143795162.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="523" height="320" src="https://cdn2.penguin.com.au/covers/original/9780143795162.jpg" width="209" /></a></div>this edition published by <a href="https://www.penguin.com.au/books/the-woman-in-darkness-9780143795162">Penguin Australia 2019</a></li><li>made available by my local library<br /></li><li>ISBN 978-0-14379-515-5</li><li>291 pages</li></ul><p><b>Synopsis</b> (<a href="https://www.penguin.com.au/books/the-woman-in-darkness-9780143795162">publisher</a>)<br /><br />Charlie Donlea's chilling new suspense thriller is the story of two women, separated by forty years, yet both inextricably linked by a series of horrific murders that took place in 1979.<br /><i><br />"She wondered if the mysterious woman had chosen darkness. Or if darkness had chosen her."</i><br /><br />As a forensic reconstructionist, Rory Moore sheds light on cold-case homicides by piecing together details others fail to see. And while cleaning out her late father’s law office, she takes a call that plunges her into a forty-year-old mystery.<br /><br />In the summer of 1979, five Chicago women went missing. The predator, nicknamed The Thief, left no bodies and no clues behind - until police received a package from a mysterious woman named Angela Mitchell, which uncovered his identity. But before police could question her, Angela disappeared.<br /><br />Forty years later, The Thief is about to be paroled for Angela’s murder – the only killing the DA could pin on him. But a cryptic file found in her father’s office suggests to Rory there is more to the case than anyone knew.<br /><br />Soon Rory is helplessly entangled in the enigma of Angela Mitchell and what happened to her. Drawing connections between the past and present, she uncovers dark truths about the reclusive woman, her own father, and the man called The Thief.<br /><br />But not even Rory is prepared for the terrifying secrets about to emerge…</p><p><b>My Take</b></p><p>When Rory Moore's father dies she is surprised to learn that for the last 40 years he has been providing services for The Thief, suspected of being a serial killer. Now The Thief is about to be paroled, 20 years early, and Rory's father was to have managed the conditions of his release. He appears to be a reformed character, but is he?</p><p>He was convicted of killing his wife but no body has ever been found, and it is only his wife's investigations that link Thomas Mitchell to the other deaths. </p><p>Rory is drawn into investigating what happened to Angela Miller, and her research reveals some surprises.</p><p>This novel leads down some surprising paths: a very engaging read.<br /></p><p>This certainly won't be the last book I read by this author.</p><p>(BTW I was surprised to find that the author is male)<br /></p><p><b>My rating</b>: 4.6</p><p><b>About the author</b></p><p>Charlie Donlea is a <i>USA Today </i>bestselling author who has been praised as a 'bold new writer…on his way to becoming a major figure in the world of suspense' (<i>Publishers Weekly</i>). He was born and raised in Chicago, where he continues to live with his wife and two young children. He is the author of <i>Summit Lake</i>, <i>The</i> <i>Girl Who Was Taken</i>, <i>Don't Believe It, </i><i>The Woman in Darkness </i>(published elsewhere as <i>Some Choose Darkness</i>) and <i>The Suicide House</i>.</p>Kerriehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13581470363339796352noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8273911883856580200.post-78216013249065914422023-08-18T11:05:00.000+09:302023-08-18T11:05:05.889+09:30Review: THE LONG WEEKEND, Judy Nunn<ul style="text-align: left;"><li><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://cdn2.penguin.com.au/covers/original/9780143778370.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="524" height="320" src="https://cdn2.penguin.com.au/covers/original/9780143778370.jpg" width="210" /></a></div>This edition made available as an e-book on Libby by my local library<br /></li><li>Published: 1 November 2022</li><li>ISBN: 9780143778370</li><li>Imprint: William Heinemann Australia</li><li>Pages: 304</li></ul><p><b>Synopsis</b> (<a href="https://www.penguin.com.au/books/the-long-weekend-9780143778370">publisher</a>)<br /><br />Six short stories from Australia’s master storyteller Judy Nunn.<br /><br /><b>The Long Weekend</b> <br />Eve, Jet, Mel and Danielle are looking forward – if a little nervously - to their upcoming digital detox. No phones, no laptops – just a quiet weekend in a remote mountain shack. What could go wrong?<br /><br /><b>The Wardrobe</b> <br />When journalist Nancy buys a rundown terrace house she knows nothing about the previous owner - until a discovery in an old wardrobe reveals the lives, loves and losses in the world of Emily Roper.<br /><br /><b>The Otto Bin Empire: Clive's Story</b> <br />To the homeless men and women who gather near the docks, the newly arrived Clive cuts an enigmatic figure. ‘I’m just a bloke going through a period of adjustment,’ he tells himself, ‘I’ll be back on my feet soon . . .’<br /><br /><b>Changes</b> <br />As she celebrates her sixty-fifth birthday, actor turned film producer Jackie looks back on her seven decades – and all the many changes in her life. Not least the most recent and most surprising one of all . . .<br /><br /><b>The House on Hill Street</b> <br />It was such a respectable address - the perfect home for Professor Jameson and his family. But the neighbours are becoming concerned. Eileen Jameson and the boys haven't been seen for quite some time...<br /><br /><b>Just South of Rome<br /></b> On her way to England, actor Jane Prescott makes a quick stopover in Italy. When she stumbles upon the Hotel Visconti, a grand eighteenth-century villa, she has no idea that it will change her life.</p><p><b>My Take</b></p><p>These stories are very different, mostly almost novellas, a couple of them could be classified as crime fiction, their plots a little macabre. At the end of each story the author describes what led her to write the story. In some cases, a scenario that has stuck in the author's mind for a long time.<br /></p><p></p><p><b>My rating</b>: 4.5</p><p><b>About the author</b></p><p>Judy Nunn’s career has been long, illustrious and multifaceted. After combining her internationally successful acting career with scriptwriting for television and radio, Judy decided in the 90s to turn her hand to prose.<br /><br />Her first three novels, The Glitter Game, Centre Stage and Araluen, set respectively in the worlds of television, theatre and film, became instant bestsellers, and the rest is history, quite literally in fact. She has since developed a love of writing Australian historically-based fiction and her fame as a novelist has spread rapidly throughout Europe where she has been published in English, German, French, Dutch, Czech and Spanish.<br /><br />Her subsequent bestsellers, Kal, Beneath the Southern Cross, Territory, Pacific, Heritage, Floodtide, Maralinga, Tiger Men, Elianne, Spirits of the Ghan, Sanctuary, Khaki Town and Showtime! confirmed Judy’s position as one of Australia’s leading fiction writers. She has now sold over one million books in Australia alone.<br /><br />In 2015 Judy was made a Member of the Order of Australia for her "significant service to the performing arts as a scriptwriter and actor of stage and screen, and to literature as an author". <br /></p>Kerriehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13581470363339796352noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8273911883856580200.post-2035304226792197232023-08-06T15:42:00.000+09:302023-08-06T15:42:16.752+09:30Review: DEAD MAN'S GRAVE, Neil Lancaster<ul style="text-align: left;"><li><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.harperapps.com/hcanz/covers/9780008527730/x293.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="449" data-original-width="293" height="320" src="https://i.harperapps.com/hcanz/covers/9780008527730/x293.jpg" width="209" /></a></div>this edition made available as an e-book on Libby by my local library<br /></li><li>ISBN 10: 0008527733</li><li>Imprint: HQ Fiction GB</li><li>On Sale: 13/04/2022</li><li>Pages: 400</li><li>#1 in the DS Max Craigie Scottish Crime series</li><li>LONGLISTED FOR THE 2021 McILVANNEY PRIZE FOR SCOTTISH CRIME BOOK OF THE YEAR</li></ul><p><b>Synopsis</b> (publisher)</p><p>This grave can never be opened.<br />The head of Scotland’s most powerful crime family is brutally murdered, his body dumped inside an ancient grave in a remote cemetery.<br /> <br />This murder can never be forgotten.<br />Detectives Max Craigie and Janie Calder arrive at the scene, a small town where everyone has secrets to hide. They soon realise this murder is part of a blood feud between two Scottish families that stretches back to the 1800s. One thing’s for certain: it might be the latest killing, but it won’t be the last…<br /> <br />This killer can never be caught.<br />As the body count rises, the investigation uncovers large-scale corruption at the heart of the Scottish Police Service. Now Max and Janie must turn against their closest colleagues – to solve a case that could cost them far more than just their lives…</p><p><b>My Take</b></p><p>Max Craigie has recently arrived in Scotland from London after the shooting of a suspect. He is teamed up with Janie Calder, unpopular because she has been accelerated through the force and is thought to be a bit "odd". Initially they are trying to track down the elderly head of a crime family who has gone missing and they eventually discover his body in a grave in a remote northern cemetery. </p><p>They actually have no difficulty in discovering who murdered the old man, but the reason he gives seems a bit fanciful. It seems there is a blood feud going back two centuries. The old man's son has succeeded his father as the head of the family, and is most unwilling to let matters rest.</p><p>The blurbs on this book from well known crime writers praise this as a novel that tells us how police departments work. It is certainly thorough and detailed. Max Craigie comes over as a bit of a rogue cop, but, in his own words, he has come into the police force to wear a "white" hat and he wants to stamp out corruption wherever it exists, And it seems there is plenty to be found in the Scottish Police Service.</p><p>There is another book in the series, THE BLOOD TIDE, which I will try.<br /></p><p><b>My rating</b>: 4.7</p><p><b>About the author</b></p><p>NEIL LANCASTER is the No. 1 digital bestselling author of both the Tom Novak and Max Craigie series. His first Craigie novel, <b>Dead Man’s Grave</b>, was longlisted for the 2021 McIlvanney Prize for Best Scottish Crime Book of the Year. The second Craigie novel, <b>The Blood Tide</b>, topped several ebook and audio charts. It was also longlisted for the 2022 McIlvanney Prize and shortlisted for Best New Series at the Dead Good Reader Awards.<br /><br />Neil served as a military policeman and worked for the Metropolitan Police as a detective, investigating serious crimes in the capital and beyond. As a covert policing specialist, he used all manner of techniques to investigate and disrupt major crime and criminals. He now lives in the Scottish Highlands, writes crime and thriller novels and works as a broadcaster and commentator on true crime documentaries. He is an expert on two Sky Crime TV series, <b><i>Meet, Marry, Murde</i></b>r and <b><i>Made for Murder</i></b>.<br />Twitter: <a href="http://www.twitter.com/@neillancaster66">www.twitter.com/@neillancaster66</a> <br /></p>Kerriehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13581470363339796352noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8273911883856580200.post-78913238708941828212023-06-08T14:13:00.003+09:302023-06-08T14:13:39.887+09:30Review: DEATH IN THE SUNSHINE, Steph Broadribb<ul style="text-align: left;"><li><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/517JtEtHogL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="326" height="320" src="https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/517JtEtHogL.jpg" width="209" /></a></div>This edition available as an e-book on <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Death-Sunshine-Retired-Detectives-Club-ebook/dp/B094JMFJNK/">Amazon</a> (Kindle)<br /></li><li>Book #1, The Retired Detectives Club</li><li>ASIN : B094JMFJNK</li><li>Publisher : Thomas & Mercer (March 1, 2022)</li><li>Print length : 319 pages</li></ul><p><b>Synopsis</b> (<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Death-Sunshine-Retired-Detectives-Club-ebook/dp/B094JMFJNK/">Amazon</a>)</p><p>Four ex-cops in a retirement paradise. Sure they’ll rest…when the killer is caught.<br /><br />After a long career as a police officer, Moira hopes a move to a luxury retirement community will mean she can finally leave the detective work to the youngsters and focus on a quieter life. But it turns out The Homestead is far from paradise. When she discovers the body of a young woman floating in one of the pools, surrounded by thousands of dollar bills, her crime-fighting instinct kicks back in and she joins up with fellow ex-cops—and new neighbours—Philip, Lizzie and Rick to investigate the murder.<br /><br />With the case officers dropping ball after ball, Moira and the gang take matters into their own hands, turning into undercover homicide investigators. But the killer is desperate to destroy all the evidence and Moira, Philip, Lizzie and Rick soon find themselves getting in the way—of the murderer and the police.<br /><br />Just when they think they can finally relax, they discover that someone has infiltrated their ‘safe’ community. Can they hunt down the murderer and get back to retiring in peace? And after all the excitement, will they want to? <br /></p><p><b>My Take</b></p><p>A crime fiction that is not quite a cozy, and not quite geezer lit. Moira, married couple Philip and Lizzie, are British cops who have, for various reasons, decided to retire to Florida in the USA. Philip and Lizzie have been retired at The Homestead for about 10 years while Moira is recently arrived. Rick, on the other hand, is American, recently widowed. Moira is trying to maintain a low profile and seems to have a lot to hide. She is cautious not to reveal too much about herself to her new neighbours.</p><p>All four feel that they have been either forced into retirement or have retired too early, that they still have a lot to give. So when Moira discovers a body in the lap pool they slip into old ways. They all know what ought to be done in terms of an investigation, and find it hard to understand while the local police are slow to react.</p><p>A reasonably satisfying read with plenty of room for a sequel or two.</p><p><b>My rating</b>: 4.5 </p><p><b>About the author</b><br />Steph Broadribb was born in Birmingham and grew up in Buckinghamshire. Most of her working life has been spent between the UK and USA. As her alter ego - Crime Thriller Girl - she indulges her love of all things crime fiction by blogging at www.crimethrillergirl.com<br />Steph is an alumni of the MA in Creative Writing (Crime Fiction) at City University London, and she trained as a bounty hunter in California. She lives in Buckinghamshire surrounded by horses, cows and chickens.<br /></p><p> </p>Kerriehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13581470363339796352noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8273911883856580200.post-78007585717955741022023-05-28T19:23:00.003+09:302023-05-28T19:23:46.734+09:30Review: AN A-LIST FOR DEATH, Pamela Hart<ul style="text-align: left;"><li><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.pamela-hart.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/A-List500.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="327" height="320" src="https://www.pamela-hart.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/A-List500.jpg" width="209" /></a></div>this edition published 2022, made available by my local library<br /></li><li>published by HQ Fiction</li><li>ISBN 978-1-8672-0189-2</li><li>353 pages</li><li><a href="https://www.pamela-hart.com/">Author website</a></li><li>#2 in the Poppy McGowan series</li></ul><p><b>Synopsis</b> (<a href="https://www.pamela-hart.com/mystery-novels/an-a-list-for-death/">author website</a>)<br /><br />Shooting for fame could end your career … and your life. A sparkling mystery from a stylish new voice in crime fiction, in a book that will delight fans of Richard Osman and Kerry Greenwood.<br /><br />TV researcher Poppy McGowan has never sought the spotlight and is none too happy to be photographed with rock god Nathan Castle. When the photo pops up on celebrity gossip sites, it sparks a media feeding frenzy, forcing Poppy to go to ground, don a wig, and pull some nifty moves to escape a tailing car. And she cops abuse from Nathan’s outraged fans.<br /><br />None of this would have happened if Poppy had not found Nathan’s mother Daisy, one-time glamour girl and elderly best friend of her Aunty Mary, bleeding and unconscious in her bathroom. The police dismiss the case as an accident, but Poppy is sure there are questions to be answered. Who attacked Daisy, and why? Will she come out of her coma? What secrets are her gathering family hiding? What happens to Daisy’s money if she dies?<br /><br />When a murder occurs outside Daisy’s flat, the police step in at last. Unfortunately, they finger Poppy’s boyfriend, Tol, for the crime – after all, he had bad blood with the victim. As Daisy’s money-hungry family circle, amid hints of poisoning, bribery and blackmail, Poppy must find a way to clear Tol’s name and ensure Daisy’s safety. </p><p><b>My Take</b></p><p>To me, this novel feels a cross between chick-lit, geezer-lit, and a cozy.</p><p>If none of those terms are familiar to you, then perhaps the closest is cozy, although there are a couple of nasty deaths and a couple of close calls.</p><p>The narrator is the heroine, Poppy McGowan herself, a youngish woman who works for the Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC) on producing research material for children's programs. This role gets Poppy into Museums and other places which might be difficult to crack. So an Australian writer, using Australian settings.<br /></p><p>The novel is tightly plotted although I found the main plot a little implausible. However the characters are strong and believable.<br /></p><p><b>My rating</b>: 4.5</p><p><b>About the author</b><br />Pamela Hart is my married name and The Soldier’s Wife was my first book under that name, inspired by my grandfather’s service as an ANZAC at Gallipoli (see The Story behind The Soldier’s Wife). Since then, I’ve enjoyed working with other true stories set in and after WWI. Each book has given rise to the next, as I stumble over wonderful stories while doing the research for the current book. As Pamela Freeman, I’ve written children’s fiction, epic fantasy, crime fiction and children’s poetry. You can find out more about my other books here.<br /><br />I became seriously interested in historical fiction when I wrote The Black Dress, a fictional account of the childhood of Mary MacKillop in the Australia of the 1840s-1860s.<br /><br />I have a Doctor of Creative Arts in Writing from the University of Technology, Sydney, and I teach writing (face-to-face and online) at the Australian Writers’ Centre.<br /><br />My writing started when I was a children’s scriptwriter for ABC Kids, which was where I began to write children’s stories. But then I found that I wanted to tell stories for adults, too, and particularly stories about women’s lives, loves, tears and joys.<br /><br />I live in Sydney with my husband and son and many musical instruments. (I’m a drummer – or at least I’m learning to be one!)<br /><br />I love to keep in touch with my readers, so follow me on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest!<br /><br /><b>Awards</b><br /><br /> The Black Dress, NSW Premier’s History Prize, 2006<br /> Victor’s Challenge, Aurealis Award, 2009<br /> Ember and Ash, Aurealis Award, 2011<br /> Desert Lake, ASO Librarian’s Choice Award, 2017<br /> Shortlistings: NSW Premier’s Literary Awards, Romantic Book of the Year Australia (the Ruby), Romantic Book of the Year UK (the Rona), Children’s Book Council Book of the Year Awards, Koala Awards, Wilderness Society Environment Award, Speech Pathology Awards. <br /></p>Kerriehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13581470363339796352noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8273911883856580200.post-65383648214635079312023-05-04T19:55:00.000+09:302023-05-04T19:55:07.429+09:30Review: JUDGEMENT DAY, Mali Waugh<ul style="text-align: left;"><li><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.biblioimages.com/macmillanaus/getimage.aspx?class=books&assetversionid=762020&cat=default&size=large&id=52924" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="328" height="320" src="https://www.biblioimages.com/macmillanaus/getimage.aspx?class=books&assetversionid=762020&cat=default&size=large&id=52924" width="210" /></a></div>This edition available as an e-book from <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Judgement-Day-Mali-Waugh-ebook/dp/B0BN9TW1SY/">Amazon on Kindle</a></li><li>ASIN : B0BN9TW1SY<br /></li><li>Publisher : Macmillan Australia (February 28, 2023)</li><li>Print length : 312 pages </li></ul><p><b>Synopsis</b> (<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Judgement-Day-Mali-Waugh-ebook/dp/B0BN9TW1SY/">Amazon</a>) </p><p>Family law judge Kaye Bailey is found murdered in her chambers. Is this the work of a disgruntled complainant? Or an inside job by a jealous colleague? Or is there something even more insidious at the heart of this brutal act?<br /><br />Detective Jillian Basset is just back from maternity leave, struggling with new motherhood as she tackles the biggest case of her career. As her work and home lives get messier and messier, though, something's going to give.<br /><br />Exploring the murky underworld of the justice system and setting a cracking pace, Judgement Day is a gripping thriller from a fresh and compelling new Australian voice.</p><p><b>My Take</b></p><p>Here is a new Australian author to watch.</p><p>An Australian family law judge is murdered just hours after her colleagues are told that she will be the next Chief Justice of the Family Law Court. There is no lack of suspects, because Kaye Bailey was extremely outspoken.<br /></p><p>It becomes her first case after maternity leave for Detective Jill Bassett. Jill thinks she will be happier returning to work, as she is certainly deeply uncomfortable with motherhood. She buries herself in the case, troubled by her relationship with the Acting Detective who has filled her shoes for the last six months. She would prefer to be working on her own, but things improve on the working front, at the same time as things at home go into a downward spiral.</p><p>This novel had me totally hooked.<br /></p><p><b>My rating</b>: 4.7</p><p><b>Author Information</b><br />Mali Waugh has a Bachelor of Arts degree from Monash University and a Juris Doctor from the University of Melbourne. She has previously worked in a library and a chocolate shop, and now works as a lawyer. This is her first novel. <br /></p>Kerriehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13581470363339796352noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8273911883856580200.post-49982133812119342152023-01-04T17:27:00.000+10:302023-01-04T17:27:09.007+10:30Review: HER LAST WORDS, E.V. Kelly<ul style="text-align: left;"><li><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.quercusbooks.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/hbg-title-9781529417180-47.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="519" height="320" src="https://www.quercusbooks.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/hbg-title-9781529417180-47.jpg" width="208" /></a></div>this edition first published by <a href="https://www.quercusbooks.co.uk/titles/e-v-kelly/her-last-words/9781529417180/">Quercus UK 2022</a></li><li>ISBN 978-1-52941-717-3<br /></li><li>386 pages</li></ul><p><b>Synopsis</b> (<a href="https://www.quercusbooks.co.uk/titles/e-v-kelly/her-last-words/9781529417180/">publisher</a>) </p><p>THE DEAD WON’T STAY SILENT FOREVER…<br /><br />It’s a crisp spring morning when Cass drops her husband, a respected lecturer, to the beach for his medically prescribed swim. While waiting for him, something catches her eye. A young woman runs towards her husband and embraces him – until he holds his hand over her face and she falls down on the stones, dead.<br /><br />In the backseat of the car, their seven-year-old son sits quietly. When her husband returns, he says nothing. Neither does Cass. Afraid to speak up in the immediate aftermath, Cass embarks on a solitary quest to unravel what has taken place.<br /><br />Cass is quickly drawn into a web of lies that pulls her back to the previous autumn, when a beautiful Italian postgraduate student finds herself subsumed by an inescapable desire. It’s visceral. It’s destiny. But sometimes destiny can kill…<br /><br />Atmospheric, twisty, and propulsive, Her Last Words is an edge-of-your-seat read about obsession and dark secrets coming to light.</p><p><b>My Take</b></p><p>A young Irish wife watches her husband apparently murder a young woman on the beach in front of her. But when he gets in the car he makes no comment about it and she is not sure exactly what she has witnessed.</p><p>As the morning progresses the death is reported on the television news and Cass is still not sure what she should do.</p><p>The novel uses two time frames which seem to work independently of each other, one in fact considerably ahead of the other. The reader's job is to jigsaw them together which is at time s very challenging. I found the eventual result quite unexpected although there were early hints.<br /></p><p><b>My rating</b>: 4.7</p><p><b>About the author</b><br />E. V. Kelly holds a PhD in sociology from UCD. Her short stories have been broadcast on RTÉ and published in Crannóg, while her winning stories have appeared in The Irish Times, an anthology and online. She has been shortlisted for various awards including the Francis MacManus Short Story Award, the Hennessy Literary Awards and the SBP/Penguin Ireland Award. She was nominated for The Pushcart Prize 2021. Her Last Words is her first novel.<br /></p>Kerriehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13581470363339796352noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8273911883856580200.post-23107398250965147972022-12-31T10:14:00.002+10:302022-12-31T10:14:29.651+10:30Review: THE WIFE UPSTAIRS, Rachel Hawkins<ul style="text-align: left;"><li><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://mpd-biblio-covers.imgix.net/9781250245496.jpg?w=900" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="526" height="320" src="https://mpd-biblio-covers.imgix.net/9781250245496.jpg?w=900" width="210" /></a></div>this edition published by Harper Collins UK 2021<br /></li><li>ISBN 978-0-00-837752-6</li><li>290 pages</li><li>January 2021 Indie Next Pick and #1 LibraryReads Pick <br /></li></ul><p><b>Synopsis</b> (publisher)</p><p>A delicious twist on a Gothic classic, The Wife Upstairs pairs Southern charm with atmospheric domestic suspense, perfect for fans of B.A. Paris and Megan Miranda.<br /><br />Meet Jane. Newly arrived to Birmingham, Alabama, Jane is a broke dog-walker in Thornfield Estates––a gated community full of McMansions, shiny SUVs, and bored housewives. The kind of place where no one will notice if Jane lifts the discarded tchotchkes and jewelry off the side tables of her well-heeled clients. Where no one will think to ask if Jane is her real name.<br /><br />But her luck changes when she meets Eddie Rochester. Recently widowed, Eddie is Thornfield Estates’ most mysterious resident. His wife, Bea, drowned in a boating accident with her best friend, their bodies lost to the deep. Jane can’t help but see an opportunity in Eddie––not only is he rich, brooding, and handsome, he could also offer her the kind of protection she’s always yearned for.<br /><br />Yet as Jane and Eddie fall for each other, Jane is increasingly haunted by the legend of Bea, an ambitious beauty with a rags-to-riches origin story, who launched a wildly successful southern lifestyle brand. How can she, plain Jane, ever measure up? And can she win Eddie’s heart before her past––or his––catches up to her?<br /><br />With delicious suspense, incisive wit, and a fresh, feminist sensibility, The Wife Upstairs flips the script on a timeless tale of forbidden romance, ill-advised attraction, and a wife who just won’t stay buried. In this vivid reimagining of one of literature’s most twisted love triangles, which Mrs. Rochester will get her happy ending?</p><p><b>My Take</b></p><p>If it hadn't been for the blurb directing me to think of this novel as a "twist on a Gothic classic" and also the naming of the main male character as "Rochester", I don't think I would have come up with any Gothic associations. However it is an intriguing tale of Southern housewives and in particular Bea who is greedy and grasping and takes ideas from others and makes them her own, almost without realising she is doing it.</p><p>It is one of those books that keeps you reading because you want to learn the <u><b>real</b></u> story - and there are several versions. There is certainly a mystery to be solved and at least one, possibly two, murders.<br /></p><p><b>My rating</b>: 4.5</p><p><b>About the Author</b><br /><br />Rachel Hawkins is the New York Times bestselling author of The Wife Upstairs and Reckless Girls, as well as multiple books for young readers. Her work has been translated in over a dozen countries. She studied gender and sexuality in Victorian literature at Auburn University and currently lives in Alabama. <br /></p>Kerriehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13581470363339796352noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8273911883856580200.post-55538863782494843912022-12-30T13:36:00.002+10:302022-12-30T13:36:43.990+10:30Review: SOMETIMES PEOPLE DIE, Simon Stephenson<ul style="text-align: left;"><li><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41h0h+NT5+L.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="347" height="320" src="https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41h0h+NT5+L.jpg" width="222" /></a></div>This edition available on <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Sometimes-People-Die-gripping-thriller-ebook/dp/B09RPM3CTQ/">Kindle</a></li><li>A SUNDAY TIMES Crime Book of the Month and NEW YORK TIMES Editor Pick<br /></li><li>ASIN : B09RPM3CTQ</li><li>Publisher : The Borough Press (September 1, 2022)</li><li>Print length : 353 pages</li><li>Page numbers source ISBN : 0008547610</li></ul><p><b>Synopsis (<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Sometimes-People-Die-gripping-thriller-ebook/dp/B09RPM3CTQ/">Amazon</a>)<br /></b></p><p>The year is 1999. Returning to practice after a suspension for stealing opioids, a young Scottish doctor takes the only job he can find: a post as a senior house officer in the struggling east London hospital of St Luke’s.<br /><br />Amid the maelstrom of sick patients, over-worked staff and underfunded wards a darker secret soon declares itself: too many patients are dying.<br /><br />Which of the medical professionals our protagonist has encountered is behind the murders? And can our unnamed narrator’s version of the events be trusted?</p><p><b>My Take</b></p><p>A young doctor is caught up in an investigation into a series of deaths in the London hospital he is working in as a junior doctor. Because of his previous history of opioid theft the police treat him as their prime suspect. Eventually all the doctors and nurses come under suspicion.<br /></p><p>The narrative is written 20 years later, when the young doctor has finally worked out who was responsible for the deaths of a number of patients. The reader is taken on the journey of discovery that he went through.</p><p>Chapters of the book are interspersed with descriptions of people who in history have been healthcare serial killers. In some cases the number of deaths they were responsible for was incredible.</p><p>A well cosnstructed novel and an enjoyable read.<br /></p><p><b>My rating</b>: 4.6</p><p><b>About the author</b></p><p>Hello! <br /><br />I am from Edinburgh in Scotland, but live now in Los Angeles. I have had stopovers along the way in London and San Francisco. <br /><br />I’m a writer and screenwriter, and before I became a full-time writer I was a physician. <br /><br />My new novel, ‘Sometimes People Die’ will be published in September 2022. <br /><br />I have written two other books. ‘Set My Heart To Five’ came out in 2020. The Washington Post review said that I might be ‘Vonnegut’s first true protege’. You’d better believe I am going to be dining out on that for the rest of my life. <br /><br />‘Let Not the Waves Of the Sea’, my memoir about losing my brother came out in 2012. It won Best First Book at the Scottish Book Awards, and was serialized on BBC Radio 4. <br /><br />I’ve worked as a writer on various films including Pixar’s LUCA, PADDINGTON 2, and my own THE ELECTRICAL LIFE OF LOUIS WAIN. Like every other screenwriter in Hollywood, I have a bottom drawer full of unproduced scripts and forgotten promises. So it goes. <br /></p>Kerriehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13581470363339796352noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8273911883856580200.post-47993618323247007982022-12-11T19:31:00.001+10:302022-12-11T19:32:11.750+10:30Review: ALL THAT'S LEFT UNSAID, Tracey Lien<ul style="text-align: left;"><li><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.harperapps.com/hcanz/covers/9780008547080/x293.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="448" data-original-width="293" height="320" src="https://i.harperapps.com/hcanz/covers/9780008547080/x293.jpg" width="209" /></a></div>This edition made available as an e-book by my local library on Libby<br /></li><li>Published by <a href="https://www.harpercollins.com.au/9780008547080/all-thats-left-unsaid/">Harper Collins 2022</a></li><li>ISBN: 9780008547080</li><li>ISBN 10: 0008547084</li><li>Pages: 352</li><li><a href="https://www.bookbrowse.com/reading_guides/detail/index.cfm/book_number/4518/all-thats-left-unsaid">Reading guide</a> <br /></li></ul><p><b>Synopsis</b> (<a href="https://www.harpercollins.com.au/9780008547080/all-thats-left-unsaid/">publisher</a>)</p><p>There were a dozen witnesses to Denny Tran’s brutal murder in a busy Sydney restaurant. So how come no one saw anything?<br /><br />‘Just let him go.’ Those are words Ky Tran will forever regret. The words she spoke when her parents called to ask if they should let her younger brother Denny out to celebrate his high school graduation. That night in 1996, Denny – optimistic, guileless, brilliant Denny – is brutally murdered inside a busy restaurant in Cabramatta, a Sydney suburb facing violent crime, an indifferent police force, and the worst heroin epidemic in Australian history.<br /><br />Returning home for the funeral, Ky learns that the police are stumped by her brother’s case: several people were at Lucky 8 restaurant when Denny died, but each of the bystanders claim to have seen nothing.<br /><br />As an antidote to grief and guilt, Ky is determined to track down the witnesses herself. With each encounter, she peels away another layer of the place that shaped her and Denny,exposing the trauma and seeds of violence that were planted well before that fateful celebration dinner: by colonialism, by the war in Vietnam,and by the choices they’ve all made to survive.<br /><br />Tracey Lien's extraordinary debut pulls apart the intricate bonds of friendship, family, culture and community that produced a devastating crime. <i>All That's Left Unsaid</i> is both a study of the effects of inherited trauma and social discrimination, and a compulsively readable literary thriller that expertly holds the reader in its grip until the final page.</p><p><b>My Take</b></p><p>When Ky Tran finds that her parents have no idea how or why her baby brother Denny was killed, that they had refused an autopsy, and that all of those present at the time claim to have seen nothing, she is determined to conduct her own investigation.<br /></p><p>Ky is a journalist, and her profession and her own guilt about the way she has left her brother to his own devices, push her to track down those present at Denny's death, convinced that she must be able to work out what actually happened even if the police can't. </p><p>At the same time we are filled in on how Ky and her brother were raised, the cultural values important to them and their parents, and the effects of living in Cabramatta. <br /></p><p>The result is an unusual crime fiction debut novel, raising issues that most Australian readers have never thought about.</p><p><b>My rating</b>: 4.8<br /></p><p><b>About the author</b><br />Tracey Lien was born and raised in southwestern Sydney, Australia. She earned her MFA at the University of Kansas and was previously a reporter for the Los Angeles Times. She lives in Brooklyn, New York. All That’s Left Unsaid is her first novel. <br /></p>Kerriehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13581470363339796352noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8273911883856580200.post-5531419198111697232022-11-06T09:12:00.000+10:302022-11-06T09:12:04.856+10:30Review: BETTER THE BLOOD, Michael Bennett<ul style="text-align: left;"><li><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://d28hgpri8am2if.cloudfront.net/book_images/onix/cvr9781398512221/better-the-blood-9781398512221.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="250" data-original-width="163" height="250" src="https://d28hgpri8am2if.cloudfront.net/book_images/onix/cvr9781398512221/better-the-blood-9781398512221.jpg" width="163" /></a></div>this book made available by my local library as an e-book through Libby<br /></li><li>Published <a href="https://www.simonandschuster.com.au/books/Better-the-Blood/Michael-Bennett/9781398512221">Simon & Schuster</a> (in Australia), August 2022</li><li>Length: 336 pages</li><li>ISBN13: 9781398512221</li></ul><p><b>Synopsis</b> (<a href="https://www.simonandschuster.com.au/books/Better-the-Blood/Michael-Bennett/9781398512221">publisher</a>)</p><p>A DETECTIVE IN SEARCH OF THE TRUTH.<br />A KILLER IN SEARCH OF RETRIBUTION.<br />A CLASH BETWEEN CULTURE AND DUTY.<br />THE PAST NEVER TRULY STAYS BURIED.<br /><br />Hana Westerman is a tenacious Māori detective juggling single motherhood and the pressures of her career in Auckland’s Central Investigation Branch. When she’s led to a crime scene by a mysterious video, she discovers a man hanging in a secret room. As Hana and her team work to track down the killer, other deaths lead her to think that they are searching for New Zealand’s first serial killer.<br /><br />With little to go on, Hana must use all her experience as a police officer to try and find a motive to these apparently unrelated murders. What she eventually discovers is a link to an historic crime that leads back to the brutal bloody colonisation of New Zealand.<br /><br />When the pursuit becomes frighteningly personal, Hana realises that her heritage and knowledge are their only keys to finding the killer.<br /><br />But as the murders continue, it seems that the killer's agenda of revenge may include Hana – and her family . . <br /></p><p><b>My take</b></p><p>It is unusual for me to read a book in a single day, but that is what happened here. And I came away feeling that I had learnt so much, particularly about what has happened to the Maori people in New Zealand.</p><p>The setting is Auckland. The scenario a killer who wants his crimes noticed by one person in particular, so he sens her videos alerting her. And Hana Westerman is clever enough to work where those videos have been shot, and then eventually to learn what is behind them.</p><p>An absolutely fascinating read. <br /></p><p><b>Rating:</b> 5.0</p><p><b>About the Author</b></p><p>Michael Te Arawa Bennett (Ngāti Pikiao, Ngāti Whakaue) is an award-winning screenwriter, director and author.<br /><br />His first book, a non-fiction novel telling the true story of New Zealand’s worst miscarriage of justice, In Dark Places, won Best Non-Fiction Book at the 2017 Ngaio Marsh Awards. Michael’s second book, Helen and the Go-Go Ninjas is a time-travel graphic novel co-authored with Ant Sang.<br /><br />Michael’s short films and feature films have won awards internationally, and have screened at numerous international festivals including Cannes, Toronto, Berlin, Locarno, New York, London and Melbourne. Michael is the 2020 recipient of the Te Aupounamu Māori Screen Excellence Award, in recognition of members of the Māori film-making community who have made high-level contributions to screen storytelling.<br /><br />He lives in Auckland, Aotearoa (New Zealand) with his partner Jane, and children Tīhema, Māhina and Matariki.<br /></p>Kerriehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13581470363339796352noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8273911883856580200.post-79487991624567654462022-11-03T16:42:00.001+10:302022-11-03T16:42:52.940+10:30Review: BLACK RIVER, Matthew Spencer<ul style="text-align: left;"><li><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.matthewspencer.com.au/s/Black-River-Book-Cover-by-Matthew-Spencer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="526" height="320" src="https://www.matthewspencer.com.au/s/Black-River-Book-Cover-by-Matthew-Spencer.jpg" width="210" /></a></div>this book made available as an e-book on Libby through my local library<br /></li><li><a href="https://www.matthewspencer.com.au/black-river">author website</a></li><li>eBook ISBN: 9781761064388</li><li>Publisher: Allen & Unwin</li><li>Publication Date: 31 May 2022</li><li>Page Extent: 352<br /> </li></ul><p><b>Synopsis</b> (<a href="https://www.matthewspencer.com.au/black-river">author website</a>)</p><p>A long, burning summer in Sydney. A young woman found murdered in the deserted grounds of an elite boarding school. A serial killer preying on victims along the banks of the Parramatta River. A city on edge.<br /><br />Adam Bowman, a battling journalist who grew up as the son of a teacher at Prince Albert College, might be the only person who can uncover the links between the school murder and the 'Blue Moon Killer'. But he will have to go into the darkest places of his childhood to piece together the clues. Detective Sergeant Rose Riley, meanwhile, is part of the taskforce desperately trying to find the killer before he strikes again. Adam Bowman's excavation of his past might turn out to be Rose's biggest trump card or it may bring the whole investigation crashing down, and put her own life in danger.</p><p><b>My take</b></p><p>According to booksellers, this new novel has simply flown off the shelves.</p><p>Part Australian police procedural, part psychological thriller. A police taskforce is investigating a serial killer who has already killed two young women in their houses close to each other on the banks of the Parramatta River near Sydney. Now a third body is found. But it doesn't follow the pattern set in the first two murders. So is it also the work of BMK? There are some doubts.</p><p>By chance an online newspaper <i><b>The National</b></i> sends Adam Bowman to the scene, a house in the grounds of a boarding school, as a backup journalist. Adam knows how to avoid the police presence on the gate, because he lived in the grounds when he was a teenager. On a hunch, Adam is used by the investigating team to release select pieces of the investigation, and through him information about the principal and other staff becomes known.</p><p>A well constructed and very authentic-feeling novel. An author to be watched.<br /></p><p><b>My rating:</b> 4.6 </p><p><b>About the author</b></p><p>Matthew Spencer was a journalist at The Australian for twenty years, with long stints running the Foreign News desk and as Opinion Editor. He has written for newspapers and magazines in Uganda and Kenya and been published in The Australian Financial Review and The Sydney Morning Herald. <br /><br />Matthew has an Honours degree in English Literature from the University of Sydney. Black River is his first novel.<br /><br />He was born in Parramatta. The son of teachers, he lived with his sister Kate on the 320-acre campus of a boys’ boarding school. Long summers on the largely deserted property while exploring the remnant bush with its tributary of the Parramatta River inspired the book. <br /><br />Black River is published by Allen and Unwin and is out now.<br /><br />Matthew lives in Sydney with his wife, Ritu Gupta, and their three children.<br /></p>Kerriehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13581470363339796352noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8273911883856580200.post-46009628680851737662022-10-29T14:06:00.000+10:302022-10-29T14:06:47.943+10:30Review: THE FEATHER THIEF: the Natural History Heist of the Century, Kirk Wallace Johnson<ul style="text-align: left;"><li><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.booktopia.com.au/covers/big/9780099510666/0000/the-feather-thief.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="460" data-original-width="300" height="320" src="https://www.booktopia.com.au/covers/big/9780099510666/0000/the-feather-thief.jpg" width="209" /></a></div>This edition made available as an e-book by my local library through Libby<br /></li><li>Published: 4th June 2019. Random House UK<br /></li><li>ISBN: 9780099510666</li><li>320 pages</li></ul><p><b>Synopsis</b> (<a href="https://www.booktopia.com.au/the-feather-thief-kirk-wallace-johnson/book/9780099510666.html">publisher</a>) </p><p>A page-turning story of a bizarre and shocking crime, and one man’s relentless quest for justice.<br /><br />One summer evening in 2009, twenty-year-old musical prodigy Edwin Rist broke into the Natural History Museum at Tring, home to one of the largest ornithological collections in the world. Once inside, Rist grabbed as many rare bird specimens as he was able to carry before escaping into the darkness.<br /><br />Kirk Wallace Johnson was waist-deep in a river in New Mexico when his fly-fishing guide first told him about the heist. But what would possess a person to steal dead birds? And had Rist paid for his crime? In search of answers, Johnson embarked upon a worldwide investigation, leading him into the fiercely secretive underground community obsessed with the Victorian art of salmon fly-tying.<br /><br />Was Edwin Rist a genius or narcissist? Mastermind or pawn? </p><p><b>My Take</b></p><p>A fascinating story right outside my usual genre, although a crime is committed, and there is a mystery perhaps still unsolved.</p><p>The first section of the book gives the reader the background to founding of the Natural History Museum at Tring, originally founded by Lord Rothschild, to house an incredible ornithological collection. The man who collected the birds that formed the basis of the collection played a role in formulating the science of evolution. At the same time as he and others were collecting rare and beautiful birds, feathers became a mark of wealth in fashion, particularly on hats.</p><p>But in a bizarre twist they became much sought after by Fly-Tiers, and this is where Edwin Rist, musical prodigy and fly-tier afficionado comes into the story.</p><p>When the author learns of the Tring Heist, in which Rist stole 299 bird carcases, he has a strong feeling that justice has not been served, and the book is his account of trying to sort the wood from the trees.<br /></p><p></p><p><b>My rating</b>: 4.6</p><p><b>About the Author</b><br /><br />Kirk Wallace Johnson served in Iraq with the US Agency for International Development in Baghdad and Fallujah as the Agency’s first co-ordinator for reconstruction in the war-torn city. He went on to found The List Project to Resettle Iraqi Allies. His work on behalf of Iraqi refugees was profiled by This American Life, 60 Minutes, the Today Show, the subject of a feature-length documentary, The List, and a memoir, To Be a Friend is Fatal.<br /><br />A Senior Fellow at the USC Annenberg Center on Communication Leadership and Policy, and the recipient of fellowships from the American Academy in Berlin, Yaddo, the MacDowell Colony, and the Wurlitzer Foundation, his writing has appeared in The New Yorker, the New York Times and the Washington Post . He lives in Los Angeles with his wife, son and daughter.<br /></p>Kerriehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13581470363339796352noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8273911883856580200.post-74482510386195227872022-10-04T09:44:00.002+10:302022-10-04T09:44:53.628+10:30Review: THE SERIAL KILLER'S WIFE, Alice Hunter<ul style="text-align: left;"><li><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51Py6zRHw2S.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="324" height="320" src="https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51Py6zRHw2S.jpg" width="207" /></a></div>This edition an e-book on Amazon (<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Serial-Killers-Wife-addictive-must-read-ebook/dp/B08N5MQYJ5/">Kindle</a>)<br /></li><li>ASIN : B08N5MQYJ5</li><li>Publisher : Avon (May 27, 2021)</li><li>Print length : 382 pages</li></ul><p><b>Synopsis</b> (<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Serial-Killers-Wife-addictive-must-read-ebook/dp/B08N5MQYJ5/">Amazon</a>)</p><p><b>Every marriage has its secrets…</b><br /><br />Beth and Tom Hardcastle are the envy of their neighbourhood – they have the perfect marriage, the perfect house, the perfect family.<br /><br />When the police knock on their door one evening, Beth panics. Tom should be back from work by now – what if he’s crashed his car? She fears the worst.<br /><br />But the worst is beyond imagining.<br /><br />As the interrogation begins, Beth will find herself questioning everything she believed about her husband.</p><p><b>They’re saying he’s a monster. And they’re saying she knew. </b></p><p><b>My Take</b></p><p>This story is told from the point of view of two main narrators - Beth and her husband Tom - with the occasional insert from another.</p><p>Neither of them are always truthful. The light of Beth's life is their small daughter Poppy. She will do anything for Poppy and every decision she makes is based on that premise. Tom and Beth have moved from London to the country to give Poppy a better life, even though it means quite a long commute for Tom as he still works in London. Beth has created a cafe where customers can paint ceramics while they sip coffee.</p><p>Beth is a very determined woman, and as the book progresses we learn that what Beth wants Beth gets.</p><p>In the end I was blown away by the way the story ends although there were hints of this earlier. <br /></p><p><b>My rating</b>: 4.6</p><p><b>About the author</b></p><p>After completing a psychology degree, Alice Hunter became an interventions facilitator in a prison. There, she was part of a team offering rehabilitation programmes to men serving sentences for a wide range of offences, often working with prisoners who'd committed serious violent crimes. Previously, Alice had been a nurse, working in the NHS. She now puts her experiences to good use in fiction. THE SERIAL KILLER'S WIFE draws heavily on her knowledge of psychology and the criminal mind.<br /></p>Kerriehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13581470363339796352noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8273911883856580200.post-52132392886133454872022-09-01T16:53:00.003+09:302022-09-01T16:53:34.152+09:30Review: THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER, Margie Orford<ul style="text-align: left;"><li><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://m.media-amazon.com/images/P/1838856803.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_SX500_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="314" height="320" src="https://m.media-amazon.com/images/P/1838856803.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_SX500_.jpg" width="201" /></a></div>this edition made available on Kindle via <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Eye-Beholder-Margie-Orford/dp/1838856803">Amazon</a><br /></li><li>ASIN : B09NW1XS2K</li><li>Publisher : Canongate Books (July 7, 2022)</li><li>Print length : 321 pages</li></ul><p><b>Synopsis</b> (<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Eye-Beholder-Margie-Orford/dp/1838856803">Amazon</a>)</p><p><i><b>When danger lies in the eye of the beholder, what happens when you reject its pull?</b></i><br /><br />Cora carries secrets her daughter can’t know.<br />Freya is frightened by what her mother leaves unsaid.<br />Angel will only bury the past if it means putting her abusers into the ground.<br /><br />One act of violence sets the three women on a collision course, each desperate to find the truth. In a nail-biting thriller set between the scorched red soil of South Africa, the pitiless snowfields of Canada and the chilly lochsides of western Scotland, each woman must contend with the spectres of male violence, sexual abuse and the choices we each make to keep our souls. <br /></p><p><b>My Take</b></p><p>This was one of those books that felt almost longer than it actually is. Three women's lives converge along what seemed to me improbable lines. Cora is the main thread of the book, but the other two threads are joined to he by both who they are and also by the things that have happened to them.</p><p>A very harrowing read.<br /></p><p><b>My rating</b>: 4.6</p><p><b>About the author</b> </p><p>Margie Orford is an award-winning journalist who has been dubbed the Queen of South African Crime Fiction. Her Clare Hart crime novels have been translated into ten languages and are being developed into a television series. She was born in London and grew up in Namibia. A Fulbright Scholar, she was educated in South Africa and the United States, has a doctorate in creative writing from the University of East Anglia and is an honorary fellow of St Hugh's College, Oxford. She is president Emerita of PEN South Africa and was the patron of Rape Crisis Cape Town while she lived in South Africa. She now lives in London.<br /></p>Kerriehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13581470363339796352noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8273911883856580200.post-75092522890010869062022-09-01T16:28:00.001+09:302022-09-01T16:28:49.574+09:30Review: THE RED NOTEBOOK, Antoine Laurain<ul style="text-align: left;"><li><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51MhrhzkURL.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="318" height="320" src="https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51MhrhzkURL.jpg" width="204" /></a></div>this edition first published in English by Gallic Books 2015</li><li>translated from French by Emily Boyce<br /></li><li>ISBN 978-1-908313-86-7</li><li>159 pages</li></ul><p><b>Synopsis</b> (<a href="https://www.amazon.com.au/Red-Notebook-Antoine-Laurain-ebook/dp/B00TNTA734">Amazon</a>)</p><p>Bookseller Laurent Letellier comes across an abandoned handbag on a Parisian street, and feels impelled to return it to its owner. The bag contains no money, phone or contact information. But a small red notebook with handwritten thoughts and jottings reveals a person that Laurent would very much like to meet. Without even a name to go on, and only a few of her possessions to help him, how is he to find one woman in a city of millions? </p><p><b>My Take</b></p><p>You probably can't justifiably categorise this book as crime fiction, more a mystery. We know from the very beginning who the red notebook belongs to. We know how it came to be abandoned in the street in the handbag that was stolen from its owner. As we keep an eye on the recovery of its owner, we watch Laurent Letellier investigate its contents and try to track down its owner.</p><p>A good read. <br /></p><p><b>My rating</b>: 4.4</p><p><b>About the author</b></p><p>Antoine Laurain is the award-winning author of nine novels including The Red Notebook (Indie Next, MIBA bestseller) and The President’s Hat (Waterstones Book Club, Indies Introduce). His books have been translated into 25 languages and sold more than 200,000 copies in English. He lives in Paris. <br /><br />Emily Boyce is a translator and editor. She was shortlisted for the French Book Office New Talent in Translation Award in 2008, the French-American Translation Prize in 2016, and the Scott Moncrieff Prize in 2021. She lives in London. <br /></p><p> </p>Kerriehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13581470363339796352noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8273911883856580200.post-20303192841711506542022-08-06T17:32:00.000+09:302022-08-06T17:32:57.160+09:30Review: ONCE THERE WERE WOLVES, Charlotte McConaghy<li>This edition made available via my local library through Libby<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51F02z+EYpL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="327" height="320" src="https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51F02z+EYpL.jpg" width="209" /></a></div></li><li>Publisher : <a href="https://www.amazon.com.au/Once-There-Wolves-Charlotte-McConaghy-ebook/dp/B08Z3GQ69J/"> Penguin eBooks</a> (3 August 2021)</li><li>Print length : 263 pages</li><li><a href="https://www.penguin.com.au/book-clubs/3110-once-there-were-wolves-book-club-notes">Book club questions</a></li><p> <br /><b>Synopsis </b>(<a href="https://www.amazon.com.au/Once-There-Wolves-Charlotte-McConaghy-ebook/dp/B08Z3GQ69J/">publisher</a>)</p><p>From the author of the international bestseller Migrations comes a pulse-pounding new novel set in the wild Scottish Highlands<br /><br />Inti Flynn arrives in Scotland with her twin sister, Aggie, to lead a team tasked with reintroducing fourteen grey wolves into the remote Highlands. She hopes to heal not only the dying landscape, but a broken Aggie, too. However, Inti is not the woman she once was, and may be in need of rewilding herself.<br /><br />Despite fierce opposition from the locals, Inti's wolves surprise everyone by thriving, and she begins to let her guard down, even opening up to the possibility of love. But when a local farmer is found dead, Inti knows where the town will lay blame. Unable to accept her wolves could be responsible, she makes a reckless decision to protect them, testing every instinct she has.<br /><br />But if her wolves didn't make the kill, then who did? And what will she do when the man she's been seeing becomes the main suspect?<br /><br />Propulsive and spellbinding, <i>Once There Were Wolves </i>is the unforgettable tale of a woman desperate to save the creatures she loves. Part thriller, part redemptive love story, Charlotte McConaghy's profoundly affecting novel will stay with you forever. </p><p><b>My Take</b></p><p>In places where there were once trees, the forests are gone. The world has lost countless species of wildlife, largely in our lifetimes. In places where there were once wolves, there are now none. In hunting down or chopping one down, the world's population has often destroyed the entire ecosystem that it was part of. Re-wilding projects believe that if you can re-instate one part of the system, sometimes the main predator, then you stand a chance of restoring the ecosystem.</p><p>But often the land was cleared, or the predators killed in order to grow another economic enterprise. In Scotland for example the land was cleared and the wolves hunted down to make way for sheep. But destroying that ecosystem has often turned the land barren. The promise is that if we can re-introduce wolves then other things will be restored and nature's balance will be restored.</p><p>But those whose livelihood depends on the sheep fear the re-introduction of wolves, believing that they will not only attack the sheep but also humans.</p><p>I found the scale of this novel breath taking. Only part of it was concerned crime fiction, with murder, and violence. Much of it was about how humans treat each other. The characters were very real and the scenarios credible. Highly recommended.<br /></p><p><b>My rating: 4.7</b></p><p><b>About the author</b></p><p>Charlotte McConaghy is the author of the international bestseller Migrations, a TIME Magazine Best Book of the Year and the Amazon.com Best Fiction Book of the Year for 2020, which is being translated into over twenty languages. She has both a Graduate Degree in Screenwriting and a Masters Degree in Screen Arts, and lives in Sydney, Australia. Her forthcoming novel Once There Were Wolves will be published by Flatiron Books in August 2021 in the US and around the world. <br /></p>Kerriehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13581470363339796352noreply@blogger.com0