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.comBlogger57125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8273911883856580200.post-58849449284527920312019-01-03T08:00:00.000+10:302019-01-03T08:00:13.606+10:30meme: New to me authors October to December 2018<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ_H_mUpP7JGcjqVCVnDiy-jUrbRkia0j6ZjfFyoGFVNxQ-eraEwCvvOO4v4xQ1uLu74MF7uVInYGgKhTs02_zhhhXJslAKngyP4ADS46wpbYbKGWqaqkfI5OclWHAY01Zw__-9wCThrM/s200/new-to-me.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="93" data-original-width="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ_H_mUpP7JGcjqVCVnDiy-jUrbRkia0j6ZjfFyoGFVNxQ-eraEwCvvOO4v4xQ1uLu74MF7uVInYGgKhTs02_zhhhXJslAKngyP4ADS46wpbYbKGWqaqkfI5OclWHAY01Zw__-9wCThrM/s200/new-to-me.jpg" /></a>I ended 2018 having read 49 titles altogether by "new-to-me authors".<br />
There were 10 books in the last quarter of the year, five of them by Australian authors (A), and, at least 2 of them, authors I will look out for in the future.<br />
While a number of these titles are recently published, I stress that all "new-to-me" means is that I haven't written about this title during to 10 years of this blog.<br />
<ol>
<li><a href="https://paradise-mysteries.blogspot.com/2018/10/review-french-girl-lexie-elliott.html">4.4, THE FRENCH GIRL, Lexie Elliott</a> </li>
<li><a href="https://paradise-mysteries.blogspot.com/2018/10/review-in-shadow-of-agatha-christie.html">4.3, IN THE SHADOW OF AGATHA CHRISTIE, Leslie S. Klinger</a></li>
<li><a href="https://paradise-mysteries.blogspot.com/2018/10/review-scrublands-chris-hammer.html">4.7, SCRUBLANDS, Chis Hammer</a> A </li>
<li><a href="https://paradise-mysteries.blogspot.com/2018/10/review-spark-of-light-jodi-picoult.html">4.5, A SPARK OF LIGHT, Jodi Picoult</a> </li>
<li><a href="https://paradise-mysteries.blogspot.com/2018/11/review-murder-in-murloo-brigid-george.html">4.0, MURDER IN MURLOO, Brigid George</a> A</li>
<li><a href="https://paradise-mysteries.blogspot.com/2018/12/review-honourable-thief-meaghan-wilson.html">3.5, THE HONOURABLE THIEF, Meaghan Wilson Anastasios</a> A</li>
<li><a href="https://paradise-mysteries.blogspot.com/2018/12/review-murder-wall-mari-hannah.html">4.4, THE MURDER WALL, Mari Hannah</a></li>
<li><a href="https://paradise-mysteries.blogspot.com/2018/12/review-man-at-window-robert-jeffreys.html">4.9. MAN AT THE WINDOW, Robert Jeffreys</a> A</li>
<li><a href="https://paradise-mysteries.blogspot.com/2018/12/review-murder-at-fitzwilliam-jim.html">4.3, MURDER AT THE FITZWILLIAM, Jim Eldridge</a> </li>
<li><a href="https://paradise-mysteries.blogspot.com/2018/12/review-botanists-daughter-kayte-nunn.html">4.5, THE BOTANIST'S DAUGHTER, Kayte Nunn</a> A </li>
</ol>
<a href="https://paradise-mysteries.blogspot.com/2019/01/new-to-me-authors-october-to-december.html">Check what others have found</a>. Kerriehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13581470363339796352noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8273911883856580200.post-42434682129776652412019-01-01T20:44:00.002+10:302019-01-01T20:44:26.231+10:30New to me authors - October to December 2018<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnZAGQ25kEN76bDcAsmTMTDebe5Uo0Zfh2AlOycV9LGGnnD6V2KIsCX0BcFpFzV3_aOPgT4uFDRzYJa2npOS-1csDhdUNbnv2UvjV2b4LFaPka6lSwmMxiJ6C6X5WY4ayuGfrW7cHOnlI/s1600/new-to-me.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="92" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnZAGQ25kEN76bDcAsmTMTDebe5Uo0Zfh2AlOycV9LGGnnD6V2KIsCX0BcFpFzV3_aOPgT4uFDRzYJa2npOS-1csDhdUNbnv2UvjV2b4LFaPka6lSwmMxiJ6C6X5WY4ayuGfrW7cHOnlI/s200/new-to-me.jpg" width="200" /></a>It's easy to join this meme.<br />
<br />
Just write a post about the best new-to-you crime fiction authors (or all) you've read in the period of <b>October to December 2018</b>, put a link to this meme in your post, and even use the logo if you like.<br />
The books don't necessarily need to be newly published. <br />
<br />
After writing your post, then come back to this post and add your link to Mr Linky below. (if Mr Linky does not appear - leave your URL in a comment and I will add to Mr Linky when it comes back up, or I'll add the link to the post)<br />
Visit the links posted by other participants in the meme to discover even more books to read.<br />
<br />
This meme will run again during 2019. Expect it to appear at the end of March.<br />
<br />
<hr />
<link href="//www.blenza.com/linkies/styles/default.css" media="all" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"></link><script src="//www.blenza.com/linkies/loc_en.js"></script><script src="//www.blenza.com/linkies/opt_defaults.js"></script><script src="//www.blenza.com/linkies/misterlinky.js"></script><script src="//www.blenza.com/linkies/autolink.php?mode=standard&owner=smik&postid=01Jan2019&meme=9611" type="text/javascript"></script>Kerriehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13581470363339796352noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8273911883856580200.post-81432756019707944782018-12-28T15:16:00.001+10:302018-12-28T15:16:11.176+10:30Review: THE BOTANIST'S DAUGHTER, Kayte Nunn<ul><a href="https://www.booktopia.com.au/http_coversbooktopiacomau/big/9780733639388/xthe-botanist-s-daughter.jpg.pagespeed.ic.RAflp81WmD.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="459" data-original-width="300" height="320" src="https://www.booktopia.com.au/http_coversbooktopiacomau/big/9780733639388/xthe-botanist-s-daughter.jpg.pagespeed.ic.RAflp81WmD.jpg" width="209" /></a>
<li>this edition published <a href="https://www.hachette.com.au/kayte-nunn/the-botanist-s-daughter">Hachette Australia 2018</a></li>
<li>ISBN 978-0-7336-3938-8</li>
<li>387 pages</li>
<li>source: my local library</li>
</ul>
<b>Synopsis</b> (<a href="https://www.hachette.com.au/kayte-nunn/the-botanist-s-daughter">publisher</a>) <br />
<br />
<b>Discovery. Desire. Deception.</b> A wondrously imagined tale of two female botanists, separated by more than a century, in a race to discover a life-saving flower . . .<br /><br />In Victorian England, headstrong adventuress Elizabeth takes up her late father's quest for a rare, miraculous plant. She faces a perilous sea voyage, unforeseen dangers and treachery that threatens her entire family.<br /><br />In present-day Australia, Anna finds a mysterious metal box containing a sketchbook of dazzling watercolours, a photograph inscribed 'Spring 1886' and a small bag of seeds. It sets her on a path far from her safe, carefully ordered life, and on a journey that will force her to face her own demons.<br /><br />In this spellbinding botanical odyssey of discovery, desire and deception, Kayte Nunn has so exquisitely researched nineteenth-century Cornwall and Chile you can almost smell the fragrance of the flowers, the touch of the flora on your fingertips . . .<br />
<br />
<b>My Take</b><br />
<br />
The novel is a romantic mystery, not my usual fare of crime fiction: written with a dual time frame, with over a century between them.<br />
<br />
Anna is renovating a house in Paddington in Sydney, left to her by her grandmother when the builders find some intriguing objects sealed up in the wall. Anna has a gardening business, and has a "botanical" background. Intrigued by what she has found she tries to find out something about their provenance. As she reaches back in history, so the other narrative in the story reaches forward.<br />
<br />
The second chapter takes us to Cornwall in 1886, where, at Trebithick Hall, Elizabeth's dying father requests that she goes to Chile, to carry out a task that he had intended to do himself.<br />
<br />
The two narratives are interlaced throughout and gradually Anna pieces together a family history that she had no idea about.<br />
<br />
A good read.<br />
<br />
<b>My rating</b>: 4.5<br />
<br />
<b>About the author</b> (<a href="http://kaytenunn.com/about-me/">website</a>)<br />
<br />
Kayte Nunn is a former book and magazine editor, and the author of two contemporary novels, ROSE'S VINTAGE and ANGEL'S SHARE. THE BOTANIST'S DAUGHTER was Kayte's first novel of transporting historical fiction, followed by THE FORGOTTEN LETTERS OF ESTHER DURRANT, set largely in the atmospheric Isles of Scilly.<br />
<br />
I now live in the Northern Rivers of NSW and am also a mother to two girls. When not writing, reading or ferrying them around I can be found in the kitchen, procrasti-baking.<br /><br />I love nothing more than a generous slice of warm cake, a cup of tea, a comfortable place to sit and a good book to read! Kerriehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13581470363339796352noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8273911883856580200.post-24699300916357484632018-12-20T09:30:00.001+10:302018-12-20T09:30:39.288+10:30Review: MURDER AT THE FITZWILLIAM, Jim Eldridge<ul><a href="https://images-fe.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51ujTpUs2FL.SX316.SY316.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="315" height="320" src="https://images-fe.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51ujTpUs2FL.SX316.SY316.jpg" width="201" /></a>
<li>this edition published by Allison & Busby 2018</li>
<li>ISBN 978-0-7490-2366-9</li>
<li>316 pages</li>
<li>#1 in the Museum series</li>
</ul>
<b>Synopsis</b> (<a href="https://www.fantasticfiction.com/e/jim-eldridge/murder-at-the-fitzwilliam.htm">Fantastic Fiction</a>)<br />
<br />
1894. After rising to prominence for his role investigating the case of Jack the Ripper alongside the formidable Inspector Abberline, Daniel Wilson has retired from the force and now works as a private enquiry agent. Having built a reputation for intelligence and integrity, Wilson is the natural choice for the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, which finds itself in need of urgent assistance.<br /><br />The remains of an ancient princess and her entourage are to be unveiled as the centerpiece of the museum's new Egyptian collection, but strange occurrences have followed their arrival in Britain: a dead body is discovered in a previously empty sarcophagus, one of the mummified bodyguards seemingly goes 'walkabout' and another man is found strangled to death with three-thousand-year-old bandages. Aided by the talented resident archaeologist Abigail Fenton but hindered by the dismissive local police force, can Wilson unravel the mystery and preserve the reputation of the museum ahead of its public launch?<br />
<br />
<b>My Take</b><br />
<br />
<br />
There is a comfortable almost old-fashioned feel about this book set in Cambridge at the end of the nineteenth century. A body has been found, recently murdered, in a sarcophagus in the Egyptian room at the famous Fitzwilliam museum.<br />
<br />
The manager of the Museum decides to use a private enquiry agent, Daniel Wilson, a young man who became famous as part of Scotland Yard's Abberline team who solved the Ripper case. (There is some back story here as the principal members of that team have now left Scotland yard and are all working as private detectives). The investigation into the murder brings Daniel into contact with Abigail Fenton who discovers the body.<br />
<br />
The story proceeds at a good pace, another two murders occur, but I found it a relatively unchallenging read. Perhaps attractive to those who look with nostalgia at the Golden Age who-dunnits.<br />
<br />
<b>My rating</b>: 4.3<br />
<br />
<b>About the author</b><br />
<br />
Jim Eldridge has had ninety-five books published, which have sold over three million copies. He is also a radio, TV and movie scriptwriter who has had 250 TV scripts broadcast in the UK and internationally. He lives in Sevenoaks, Kent.<br /><br />Author's Website: <a href="http://www.jimeldridge.com/">www.jimeldridge.com</a><br />
<br />
Jim Eldridge has had a long writing career but this appears to be the
beginning of a new detection series, with two more titles promised in
2019. Kerriehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13581470363339796352noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8273911883856580200.post-56518600451880064372018-12-10T16:45:00.002+10:302018-12-10T16:47:04.627+10:30Review: MAN AT THE WINDOW, Robert Jeffreys<ul><a href="http://www.echopublishing.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/9781760683306.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.echopublishing.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/9781760683306.jpg" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="523" height="320" width="209" /></a>
<li>this edition published by <a href="http://www.echopublishing.com.au/titles/man-at-the-window/">Echo Publishing 2018</a></li>
<li>ISBN 978-1-76068-330-6</li>
<li>343 pages</li>
<li>copy supplied by <a href="http://www.bfredrickspr.com/">publicist</a></li>
</ul>
<b>Synopsis</b> (<a href="http://www.echopublishing.com.au/titles/man-at-the-window/">publisher</a>)<br />
<br />
When a boarding master at an exclusive boys’ school is shot dead, it is deemed accidental. A lazy and usually drunk detective is sent to write up the report. Cardilini unexpectedly does not cooperate, as he becomes riled by the privileged arrogance of those at the school. He used to have instincts. Perhaps he should follow them now…<br />
<br />
With no real evidence he declares the shooting a murder and puts himself on a collision course with the powerful and elite of Perth. As he peels back layers, the school’s dark secrets being to emerge. But is his dogged pursuit of justice helpful or harmful to those most affected by the man’s death?<br />
<br />
Man at the Window is the first in the Detective Cardilini series, set in 1960s Western Australia.<br />
<br />
<b>My Take</b><br />
<br />
It is 12 months since Detective Cardilini's wife died and he has well
and truly dropped his bundle. Before Betty's death he had the reputation
of hard bitten excellent detective but no more. Even his son Paul can't keep him sober and on track.<br />
<br />
St. Nicholas school has supplied Perth with many fine citizens, upstanding and successful businessmen, and it is the school that the police hierarchy attended. But the way in which they try to push any investigation of the death of the boarding master late one night, shot as he stands at the window of his room, does not sit well with Cardilini. Is it perversity or gut instinct that makes him declare he thinks the death is murder?<br />
<br />
There are threats to the continuance of Cardilini's career, already on the rocks, but he continues to follow tiny threads and eventually thinks he has worked out who did the shooting. Meanwhile his personal life appears to be getting back on track as he works on the garden that he has neglected for 12 months. Eventually his discoveries lead to an understanding of what caused the shooting, but also a dilemma about who to punish.<br />
<br />
This is a very topical story, considering the moral dilemma that has recently faced our society, particularly related to institutionalised sexual abuse.<br />
<br />
A very engaging start to what promises to be an excellent classic noir series.<br />
<br />
<b>My rating</b>: 4.9<br />
<br />
<b>About the author</b><br />
<br />
Robert Jeffreys has worked as an actor, teacher, builder, labourer, cleaner, real estate agent, personal security agent and playwright of the professionally produced stage plays Cox Four, Covert, The Simple Truth, and The Messenger. ABC Radio National featured his radio plays, Covert, which received an AWGIE award, and Bodily Harm. He has also published a poetry anthology, Frame of Mind. Robert's debut novel, Man at the Window, is the first in the Detective Cardilini series, set in 1960s Western Australia.Kerriehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13581470363339796352noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8273911883856580200.post-81716099583212328112018-12-09T10:13:00.002+10:302018-12-09T10:14:45.545+10:30review: THE MURDER WALL, Mari Hannah<ul><a href="https://images-fe.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51mZLaLyC1L.SX233.SY22.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="355" data-original-width="233" height="320" src="https://images-fe.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51mZLaLyC1L.SX233.SY22.jpg" width="210" /></a>
<li>this large print edition published by AudioGo through PanMacmillan 2012</li>
<li>ISBN 978-1-4458-9299-3</li>
<li>415 pages</li>
<li>source: my local library</li>
<li>#1 in the Kate Daniels series </li>
</ul>
<b>Synopsis</b><br />
<br />
Eleven months after discovering a brutal double murder in a sleepy Northumbrian town, Detective Chief Inspector Kate Daniels is still haunted by her failure to solve the case.<br />
<br />
Then the brutal killing of a man on Newcastle's Quayside gives Daniels another chance to get it right, and her first case as Senior Investigating Officer.<br />
<br />
When Daniels recognises the corpse, but fails to disclose the fact, her personal life swerves dangerously into her professional life.<br />
But much worse, she is now being watched.<br />
<br />
As Daniels steps closer to finding a killer, a killer is only a breath away from claiming his next victim...<br />
<br />
<b>My Take</b><br />
<br />
Being appointed as SIO on this murder case gives DCI Kate Daniels an opportunity to give her reputation a boost after her failure to solve a double murder case from 11 months earlier. But her boss seems very reluctant to let her loose, besides which he has problems of his own.<br />
<br />
In addition Kate recognises the victim and should report that it, but she is afraid that will take her off the case. As time goes on more murders occur and it seems there must be a connection and the team desperately searches for it.<br />
<br />
The reader is made privy to the mind of the murderer so we work desperately too to discover his identity.<br />
<br />
A police procedural with a few twists. <br />
<br />
<b>My rating</b>: 4.4<br />
<br />
<b>About the author</b><br />
Mari Hannah, author of the Kate Daniels series and the Matthew Ryan series, has won the<a href="https://www.panmacmillan.com/blogs/crime-thriller/mari-hannah-wins-cwa-2017-dagger-in-the-library"> CWA 2017 Dagger in the Library. </a><br />
<br />
Mari was declared the winner at a reception at the British Library on Saturday 17 June by Martin Edwards, Chair of the CWA. Martin said:<br />
<i>At a time when the CWA is expanding its support for public and independent libraries, I am delighted to congratulate Mari. Her DCI Kate Daniels books, set in the North East, are tremendously popular and we know they’re eagerly devoured by library goers and book groups. </i><br />
<br />
Series<br />
DCI Kate Daniels<br />
1. The Murder Wall (2012)<br />
2. Settled Blood (2012)<br />
3. Deadly Deceit (2013)<br />
4. Monument to Murder (2013)<br />
aka Fatal Games<br />
5. Killing For Keeps (2014)<br />
6. Gallows Drop (2016)<br />
<br />
Matthew Ryan<br />
1. The Silent Room (2015)<br />
2. The Death Messenger (2017)<br />
<br />
Stone and Oliver<br />
1. The Lost (2018)<br />
2. The Insider (2018)<br />
3. The Scandal (2019)Kerriehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13581470363339796352noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8273911883856580200.post-30382841107524490132018-12-02T14:26:00.000+10:302018-12-02T14:26:18.436+10:30Review: THE HONOURABLE THIEF, Meaghan Wilson Anastasios<ul><a href="https://www.biblioimages.com/macmillanaus/getimage.aspx?class=books&assetversionid=509388&cat=default&size=large&id=34845" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="330" height="320" src="https://www.biblioimages.com/macmillanaus/getimage.aspx?class=books&assetversionid=509388&cat=default&size=large&id=34845" width="211" /></a>
<li>this edition published by <a href="https://www.panmacmillan.com.au/9781760552626/">Pan Macmillan Australia</a> 2018</li>
<li>ISBN 978-1-76055-262-6</li>
<li>440 pages</li>
</ul>
<b>Synopsis</b> (publisher)<br />
<br />
<i>'Achilles? Because...?'<br />'Obsession of mine. Half man, half god - and his own worst enemy.</i><br />My kind of man.' He laughed.<br /><br />Istanbul, Turkey 1955<br /><br />Benedict Hitchens, once a world-renowned archaeologist, is now a discredited - but still rather charming - shell of his former self.<br /><br />Once full of optimism and adventure, his determination to prove that Achilles was a real historical figure led him to his greatest love, Karina, on the island of Crete and to his greatest downfall, following the disappearance of an enigmatic stranger, Eris.<br /><br />He has one last chance to restore his reputation, solve the mystery of Eris and prove his Achilles theory. But it is full of risk, and possibly fatal consequences...<br /><br />In her breakout novel, Meaghan Wilson Anastasios weaves an action-packed tale of honour, passion, heroes and thieves across an epic backdrop of history.<br />
<br />
<b>My Take</b> <br />
<br />
The structure of this novel turns it into demanding reading. It chops backwards and forwards across multiple time frames, designed to show the reader how Benedict Hitchens is brought low, but in actual fact disrupting the flow of the story. The time frames bring with them a number of plot strands with issues that did not always resolve. <br />
<br />
The final chapters of the novel read like an episode from an Indiana Jones movie and for me did not sit comfortably with the Benedict Hitchens I met in the first part of the novel. And then the final element of where Achilles' shield ends up is just pure foolishness.<br />
<br />
<b>My rating</b>: 3.5<br />
<br />
<b>About the author</b><br />
Meaghan Wilson Anastasios spent her formative years in Melbourne before travelling and working as an archaeologist in the Mediterranean and Middle East. She holds a PhD in art history and cultural economics, has been a lecturer at the University of Melbourne and was a fine art auctioneer. Meaghan now uses her expertise to write and research for film and TV. She lives in inner-city Melbourne with her husband and their two children. The Water Diviner was her first novel, which she co-wrote with her husband Andrew. The Honourable Thief is her first solo novel. Kerriehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13581470363339796352noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8273911883856580200.post-34230586278529099992018-11-11T09:41:00.002+10:302018-11-11T09:59:44.251+10:30Review: MURDER IN MURLOO, Brigid George<ul>
<a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51JD3fJkJ4L._SX311_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="313" height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51JD3fJkJ4L._SX311_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg" width="200" /></a>
<li>format: kindle (<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Murder-Murloo-Dusty-Mystery-Mysteries/dp/1508739250/">Amazon</a>)</li>
<li><b>Series:</b> Dusty Kent Mysteries (Book 1)</li>
<li><b>Paperback:</b> 416 pages</li>
<li><b>Publisher:</b> CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform; 1 edition (March 25, 2015)</li>
<li><b>Language:</b> English</li>
<li><b>ISBN-10:</b> 9781508739258</li>
<li><b>ISBN-13:</b> 978-1508739258</li>
<li><b>ASIN:</b> 1508739250</li>
</ul>
<b>Synopsis</b> (<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Murder-Murloo-Dusty-Mystery-Mysteries/dp/1508739250/">Amazon</a>)<br />
<br />
When a popular young woman is strangled in her home in the seaside village of Murloo, the residents are sure an itinerant surfer who disappeared after the murder is the killer. However, one year later the surfer is still missing and the killer’s identity remains a mystery.<br />
<br />
The victim’s family call in investigative journalist Dusty Kent who has an impeccable record in solving the cold cases she writes about. Dusty’s determination to investigate unresolved crime is fuelled by a personal connection through her own family tragedy.<br />
<br />
However, this case tests Dusty to the limit and she despairs of ever catching the callous killer who seems to be lurking nearby and yet...A gripping mystery imbued with the ambience of Australia—from the mysterious wood carving found with the body, the captivating characters of a small town, to the coastal splendour of the Southern Ocean.<br />
<br />
<br />
Murder in Murloo is a classic who-dun-it introducing Dusty Kent written by JB Rowley and published under the pseudonym Brigid George.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>My Take</b><br />
<br />
Journalist Dusty Kent is investigating the unsolved murder of Gabby Peters one year after the event, telling everyone she is writing a book. Together with recent arrival from Ireland Sean O'Kelly who is a super "online" hacker and sleuth, she interviews the entire town, trying to find out where everybody was when Gabby was killed. The method produces an overwhelming amount of information including some which the residents did not reveal to the police at the time when they were first interviewed.<br />
The local police warn Dusty off, telling her she is stirring up trouble, muddying their own investigation. But Dusty has a contact in the police force who she talks to from time to time.<br />
<br />
Dusty's methodology also has the effect of giving the reader a bewildering amount of data to sift through.<br />
The setting is close to a surfing beach on the southern coast of Victoria.<br />
In classic Poirot style Dusty holds a gathering where she reveals the murderer, and other surprising facts come to light too.<br />
<br />
An interesting start to what is now a series of 4 novels, in which O'Kelly appears to act as Dusty's Watson, recording the cases in his diary.<br />
<br />
<br />
I read this book on my Kindle but now can't find the Kindle version on Amazon.com.<br />
<br />
<b>My rating</b>: 4.0<br />
<br />
<b>About the author</b><br />
<br />
Brigid George is the pseudonym of JB Rowley; author of Amazon #1 Bestsellers 'Whisper My Secret' and 'Mother of Ten'. JB also writes children’s stories such as 'Wilhelmina Woylie' and writes the Dusty Kent Murder Mystery series (starting with 'Murder in Murloo') under the pen name Brigid George. Kerriehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13581470363339796352noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8273911883856580200.post-45466144419396064592018-10-27T17:26:00.000+10:302018-10-27T17:26:10.434+10:30Review: A SPARK OF LIGHT, Jodi Picoult<ul><a href="https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/assets.allenandunwin.com/images/small/9781760110512.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="527" data-original-width="345" height="320" src="https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/assets.allenandunwin.com/images/small/9781760110512.jpg" width="209" /></a>
<li>this edition published 2018 Allen & Unwin Australia</li>
<li>ISBN 978-1-76011-051-2</li>
<li>369 pages</li>
<li>author website: <a href="http://www.jodipicoult.com/">www.jodipicoult.com</a> </li>
</ul>
<b>Synopsis</b> (<a href="https://www.jodipicoult.com/a-spark-of-light.html#about">author website</a>)<br />
<br />
The warm fall day starts like any other at the Center—a women’s reproductive health services clinic —its staff offering care to anyone who passes through its doors. Then, in late morning, a desperate and distraught gunman bursts in and opens fire, taking all inside hostage.<br />
<br />
After rushing to the scene, Hugh McElroy, a police hostage negotiator, sets up a perimeter and begins making a plan to communicate with the gunman. As his phone vibrates with incoming text messages he glances at it and, to his horror, finds out that his fifteen-year-old daughter, Wren, is inside the clinic.<br />
<br />
But Wren is not alone. She will share the next and tensest few hours of her young life with a cast of unforgettable characters: A nurse who calms her own panic in order save the life of a wounded woman. A doctor who does his work not in spite of his faith but because of it, and who will find that faith tested as never before. A pro-life protester disguised as a patient, who now stands in the cross hairs of the same rage she herself has felt. A young woman who has come to terminate her pregnancy. And the disturbed individual himself, vowing to be heard.<br />
<br />
Told in a daring and enthralling narrative structure that counts backward through the hours of the standoff, this is a story that traces its way back to what brought each of these very different individuals to the same place on this fateful day.<br />
<br />
<b>My Take</b><br />
<br />
Probably not really a crime fiction title, or at the very boundaries of the genre.<br />
<br />
This is so obviously a book with a message. It comes through the narration and the characters as well as in the "Author's Note", the bibliography, and the blurb.<br />
<i>one of the most fearless writers of our time—tackles a complicated issue in this gripping and nuanced novel. How do we balance the rights of pregnant women with the rights of the unborn they carry? What does it mean to be a good parent? A Spark of Light will inspire debate, conversation . . . and, hopefully, understanding. </i><br />
<br />
I found the narrative structure a challenge and was tempted at times to read the chapters in reverse order so that I could get the events in the right order. In the long run I continued to read in the order as published. The structure did give the author considerable flexibility in the presentation of background detail on every character that we met.<br />
<br />
There were a couple of twists to the story that I was not expecting and they were cleverly done. A worthwhile read.<br />
<br />
During the 10 year life of this blog I have not reviewed a novel by this author even though she has written a massive number of books - that is why I have used the "new to me" label.<br />
<br />
<b>My rating</b>: 4.5<br />
<br />
<b>About the author</b><br />
<br />
Jodi Picoult, 52 , is the bestselling author of twenty-four novels: Songs of the Humpback Whale (1992), Harvesting the Heart (1994), Picture Perfect (1995), Mercy (1996), The Pact (1998), Keeping Faith (1999), Plain Truth (2000), Salem Falls (2001), Perfect Match (2002), Second Glance (2003), My Sister's Keeper (2004), Vanishing Acts (2005), The Tenth Circle (2006), Nineteen Minutes (2007), Change of Heart (2008), Handle With Care (2009), House Rules (2010), Sing You Home (2011), Lone Wolf (2012), The Storyteller (2013), Leaving Time (2014), and the YA novels Between The Lines (2012), and Off The Page (2015), co-written with her daughter Samantha van Leer. Her last ten novels including her highly acclaimed novel, Small Great Things (2016), have debuted at number one on the New York Times bestseller list. Her twenty-fifth novel, A Spark of Light, will be published October, 2018.Kerriehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13581470363339796352noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8273911883856580200.post-952697202639598262018-10-21T14:56:00.000+10:302018-10-21T14:56:20.808+10:30Review: SCRUBLANDS, Chris Hammer<ul><a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/516paLEb8IL.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://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/516paLEb8IL.jpg" width="209" /></a>
<li>format: Kindle (<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Scrublands-Chris-Hammer-ebook/dp/B079Z1VHZL/">Amazon</a>)</li>
<li>File Size: 2387 KB</li>
<li>Print Length: 384 pages</li>
<li>Publisher: Allen & Unwin (July 25, 2018)</li>
<li>Publication Date: July 25, 2018</li>
<li>Sold by: Amazon Digital Services LLC</li>
<li>Language: English</li>
<li>ASIN: B079Z1VHZL</li>
</ul>
<b>Synopsis</b> (<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Scrublands-Chris-Hammer-ebook/dp/B079Z1VHZL/">Amazon</a>)<br />
<br />
In an isolated (Australian) country town brought to its knees by endless drought, a charismatic and dedicated young priest calmly opens fire on his congregation, killing five parishioners before being shot dead himself.<br /><br />A year later, troubled journalist Martin Scarsden arrives in Riversend to write a feature on the anniversary of the tragedy. But the stories he hears from the locals about the priest and incidents leading up to the shooting don't fit with the accepted version of events his own newspaper reported in an award-winning investigation. Martin can't ignore his doubts, nor the urgings of some locals to unearth the real reason behind the priest's deadly rampage.<br /><br />Just as Martin believes he is making headway, a shocking new development rocks the town, which becomes the biggest story in Australia. The media descends on Riversend and Martin is now the one in the spotlight. His reasons for investigating the shooting have suddenly become very personal.<br /><br />Wrestling with his own demons, Martin finds himself risking everything to discover a truth that becomes darker and more complex with every twist. But there are powerful forces determined to stop him, and he has no idea how far they will go to make sure the town's secrets stay buried.<br />
<br />
<b>My Take:</b><br />
<br />
This novel surprised me with the complexity of the plot. It weaves a number of contemporary threads into the narrative. Some of these are revealed only as Martin Scarsend begins to investigate the ongoing impact of the tragic events that took place in Riversend nearly a year earlier.<br />
<br />
Scarsend himself is "damaged goods" but his boss has sent him to write a human interest story which will perhaps help him get over the trauma he has suffered. Nothing prepares him for the heat of the drought stricken town and for the fact that no-one can tell him why the priest shot five locals.<br />
<br />
<b>My rating</b>: 4.7<br />
<br />
<b>About the author</b><br />
<br />
Christopher Hammer lives in Australia and has been a journalist for over twenty-five years. He has been an international correspondent, the chief political correspondent for The Bulletin, and a senior political journalist for The Age.Kerriehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13581470363339796352noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8273911883856580200.post-89108871944770092712018-10-09T16:03:00.000+10:302018-10-09T16:03:29.804+10:30Review: IN THE SHADOW OF AGATHA CHRISTIE: Classic Crime Fiction by Forgotten Female Writers: 1850-1917, Leslie S. Klinger (edit)<ul>
<li>format: Kindle (<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Shadow-Agatha-Christie-Forgotten-1850-1917-ebook/dp/B074D4M6WR/">Amazon</a>) <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/5109LLQc1TL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="333" height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/5109LLQc1TL.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
</li>
<li><b>File Size:</b> 3741 KB</li>
<li><b>Print Length:</b> 323 pages</li>
<li><b>Page Numbers Source ISBN:</b> 1681776308</li>
<li><b>Publisher:</b> Pegasus Books (January 2, 2018)</li>
<li><b>Publication Date:</b> January 2, 2018</li>
<li id="sold-by-merchant">
<b>Sold by:</b> Amazon Digital Services LLC
</li>
<li><b>Language:</b> English</li>
<li><b>ASIN:</b> B074D4M6WR</li>
</ul>
<b>Synopsis</b> (<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Shadow-Agatha-Christie-Forgotten-1850-1917-ebook/dp/B074D4M6WR/">Amazon</a>)<br />
<br />
Before Agatha Christie became the world’s Queen of Crime, she stood on the talented shoulders of the female crime authors who came before her. This splendid new anthology by Leslie S. Klinger brings these exceptional writers out of Christie’s shadow and back into the spotlight they deserve.<br /><br />Agatha Christie is undoubtedly the world’s best-selling mystery author, hailed as the “Queen of Crime,” with worldwide sales in the billions. Christie burst onto the literary scene in 1920, with The Mysterious Affair at Styles; her last novel was published in 1976, a career longer than even Conan Doyle’s forty-year span.<br /><br />The truth is that it was due to the success of writers like Anna Katherine Green in America; L. T. Meade, C. L. Pirkis, the Baroness Orczy, and Elizabeth Corbett in England; and Mary Fortune in Australia that the doors were finally opened for women crime-writers. Authors who followed them, such as Patricia Wentworth, Dorothy Sayers, and, of course, Agatha Christie would not have thrived without the bold, fearless work of their predecessors—and the genre would be much poorer for their absence. So while Agatha Christie may still reign supreme, it is important to remember that she did not ascend that throne except on the shoulders of the women who came before her—and inspired her—and who are now removed from her shadow once and for all by this superb new anthology by Leslie S. Klinger.<br /><br />Featuring: Mary Fortune, Harriet Prescott Spofford, Ellen Wood, Elizabeth Corbett, C. L. Pirkis, Geraldine Bonner, Ellen Glasgow, L. T. Meade, Baroness Orczy, Augusta Großer, M. E. Graddon, Anna Katherine Green, Carolyn Wells, Susan Glashell<br />
<br />
<b>My Take</b><br />
<br />
The thing that struck me as I read the small biographies for each of these pre-Golden Age female crime fiction writers was how prolific they were, how many novels each one of them had written, how much choice late Victorian readers would have had.<br />
<br />
Most of them were British, and from a 21st century perspective, many of them were Victorian and rather wordy even cumbersome in style. Agatha Christie would have felt like a breath of fresh air. I don't think I had realised how different readers in 1920 would have found THE MYSTERIOUS AFFAIR AT STYLES.<br />
<br />
But these writers paved the way for crime fiction by female writers as an acceptable, if not quite literary, genre.<br />
<br />
An interesting and educative anthology. <br />
<br />
<b>My rating</b>: 4.3<br />
<br />
<b>About the author</b><br />
Leslie S. Klinger is one of the world’s foremost authorities on Sherlock Holmes. He is the editor of the three-volume The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes. The first two volumes, The Complete Short Stories, won the Edgar for “Best Critical/Biographical” work. He is also the editor of the hugely successful The New Annotated H. P. Lovecraft. Klinger is a member of the Baker Street Irregulars and lives in Malibu, California. Kerriehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13581470363339796352noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8273911883856580200.post-31823189977343038162018-10-08T09:01:00.002+10:302018-10-08T09:01:34.234+10:30Review: THE FRENCH GIRL, Lexie Elliott<ul><a href="https://images-fe.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41AXALYAQKL.SX223.SY22.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="346" data-original-width="223" height="320" src="https://images-fe.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41AXALYAQKL.SX223.SY22.jpg" width="206" /></a>
<li>this edition published by Corvus 2018</li>
<li>ISBN 9-781786-495549</li>
<li>296 pages</li>
<li>source: my local library</li>
</ul>
<b>Synopsis</b> (<a href="https://www.fantasticfiction.com/e/lexie-elliott/french-girl.htm">Fantastic Fiction</a>)<br />
<br />
Everyone has a secret...<br /><br />They were six university students from Oxford - friends and sometimes more than friends - spending an idyllic week together in a French farmhouse. It was supposed to be the perfect summer getaway...until they met Severine, the girl next door.<br /><br />But after a huge altercation on the last night of the holiday, Kate Channing knew nothing would ever be the same. There are some things you can't forgive. And there are some people you can't forget...like Severine, who was never seen again.<br /><br />A decade later, the case is reopened when Severine's body is found behind the farmhouse. Questioned along with her friends, Kate stands to lose everything she's worked so hard to achieve as suspicion mounts all around her. Desperate to resolve her unreliable memories and fearful she will be forever bound to the memory of the woman who still haunts her, Kate finds herself entangled within layers of deception with no one to set her free...<br />
<br />
<b>My Take</b><br />
<br />
Who can remember exactly what happened ten years ago?<br />
<br />
After Kate and her friends returned to England and new careers after their holiday in France, Severine, the girl next door to where they stayed, was declared missing. They were all interviewed at the time to establish a timeline of when Severine was last seen, but she was never found.<br />
<br />
Now her bones have been found down a well on the property they were staying in. One of their group has died in the war in Afghanistan and the rest have been apart establishing their careers. A policeman has come from France to interview them again, and Kate is made to feel that she is under suspicion. The policeman advises that she should "get a lawyer".<br />
<br />
Events occurred that night that fractured their group forever and the real significance of some events has never been explored.<br />
<br />
There is a paranormal element to this story that plays a significant role, but I didn't much like it.<br />
<br />
<b>My Rating</b>: 4.4<br />
<br />
<b>About the author</b><br />
<br />
LEXIE ELLIOTT grew up in Scotland, at the foot of the Highlands. She graduated from Oxford University, where she obtained a doctorate in Theoretical Physics. A keen sportswoman, she works in fund management in London, where she lives with her husband and two sons. The rest of her time is spent writing, or thinking about writing, and juggling family life and sport.Kerriehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13581470363339796352noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8273911883856580200.post-16505972970192400892018-10-02T08:00:00.000+09:302018-10-02T08:00:07.898+09:30meme: New to me authors - July to September 2018<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnZAGQ25kEN76bDcAsmTMTDebe5Uo0Zfh2AlOycV9LGGnnD6V2KIsCX0BcFpFzV3_aOPgT4uFDRzYJa2npOS-1csDhdUNbnv2UvjV2b4LFaPka6lSwmMxiJ6C6X5WY4ayuGfrW7cHOnlI/s1600/new-to-me.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="157" data-original-width="339" height="148" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnZAGQ25kEN76bDcAsmTMTDebe5Uo0Zfh2AlOycV9LGGnnD6V2KIsCX0BcFpFzV3_aOPgT4uFDRzYJa2npOS-1csDhdUNbnv2UvjV2b4LFaPka6lSwmMxiJ6C6X5WY4ayuGfrW7cHOnlI/s320/new-to-me.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
I have read over 20 new-to-me authors in the past 3 months<br />
<ol>
<li><a href="http://paradise-mysteries.blogspot.com/2018/06/review-seven-sisters-lucinda-riley.html">4.5, THE SEVEN SISTERS, Lucinda Riley</a></li>
<li><a href="http://paradise-mysteries.blogspot.com/2018/06/review-agatha-christies-true-crime.html">2.2, AGATHA CHRISTIE'S TRUE CRIME INSPIRATIONS, Mike Holgate</a></li>
<li><a href="http://paradise-mysteries.blogspot.com/2018/07/review-witness-nora-roberts.html">4.4, THE WITNESS, Nora Roberts</a></li>
<li><a href="https://paradise-mysteries.blogspot.com/2018/07/review-guilty-wife-elle-croft.html">4.4, THE GUILTY WIFE, Elle Croft</a></li>
<li><a href="https://paradise-mysteries.blogspot.com/2018/07/review-twist-of-faith-ellen-j-green.html">4.4, TWIST OF FAITH, Ellen J. Green</a></li>
<li><a href="https://paradise-mysteries.blogspot.com/2018/07/review-president-is-missing-bill.html">4.8, THE PRESIDENT IS MISSING, Bill Clinton & James Patterson</a></li>
<li><a href="https://paradise-mysteries.blogspot.com/2018/07/review-ballad-for-mad-girl-vikki.html">4.3, BALLAD FOR A MAD GIRL, Vikki Wakefield</a></li>
<li><a href="https://paradise-mysteries.blogspot.com/2018/07/review-dead-letters-cite-dolan-leach.html">4.4, DEAD LETTERS, Caite Dolan-Leach</a></li>
<li><a href="https://paradise-mysteries.blogspot.com/2018/07/review-midnight-at-bright-ideas.html">4.4, MIDNIGHT AT THE BRIGHT IDEAS BOOKSTORE, Matthew Sullivan</a></li>
<li><a href="https://paradise-mysteries.blogspot.com/2018/08/review-then-she-was-gone-lisa-jewell.html">4.4, THEN SHE WAS GONE, Lisa Jewell</a></li>
<li><a href="https://paradise-mysteries.blogspot.com/2018/08/review-three-little-lies-laura-marshall.html">4.5, THREE LITTLE LIES, Laura Marshall</a> </li>
<li><a href="https://paradise-mysteries.blogspot.com/2018/08/review-bannerless-carrie-vaughn.html">4.4, BANNERLESS, Carrie Vaughn</a></li>
<li><a href="https://paradise-mysteries.blogspot.com/2018/08/review-woman-in-window-j-finn.html">4.6, THE WOMAN IN THE WINDOW, A. J. Finn</a></li>
<li><a href="https://paradise-mysteries.blogspot.com/2018/08/review-bodies-from-library-lost-classic.html">4.5, BODIES FROM THE LIBRARY, Tony Medawar (edit)</a></li>
<li><a href="https://paradise-mysteries.blogspot.com/2018/08/review-need-to-know-karen-cleveland.html">4.5, NEED TO KNOW, Karen Cleveland</a> </li>
<li><a href="https://paradise-mysteries.blogspot.com/2018/09/review-celtic-stone-nick-hawkes.html">4.3, THE CELTIC STONE, Nick Hawkes</a></li>
<li><a href="https://paradise-mysteries.blogspot.com/2018/09/review-paris-secret-karen-swan.html">4.4, THE PARIS SECRET, Karen Swan</a></li>
<li><a href="https://paradise-mysteries.blogspot.com/2018/09/review-bring-me-back-b-paris.html">4.5, BRING ME BACK, B. A. Paris</a> </li>
<li><a href="https://paradise-mysteries.blogspot.com/2018/09/review-odd-child-out-gilly-macmillan.html">4.5, ODD CHILD OUT, Gilly Macmillan</a></li>
<li><a href="https://paradise-mysteries.blogspot.com/2018/09/review-dark-water-robert-bryndza.html">4.6, DARK WATER, Robert Bryndza</a> </li>
<li><a href="https://paradise-mysteries.blogspot.com/2018/09/review-wife-between-us-greer-hendricks.html">4.4, THE WIFE BETWEEN US, Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen</a> </li>
</ol>
<a href="https://paradise-mysteries.blogspot.com/2018/09/new-to-me-authors-july-to-september-2018.html">Catch up with authors others have discovered</a> <br />
<br />Kerriehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13581470363339796352noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8273911883856580200.post-18418534191228541082018-09-30T11:18:00.004+09:302018-09-30T11:18:52.612+09:30New to me authors - July to September 2018<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnZAGQ25kEN76bDcAsmTMTDebe5Uo0Zfh2AlOycV9LGGnnD6V2KIsCX0BcFpFzV3_aOPgT4uFDRzYJa2npOS-1csDhdUNbnv2UvjV2b4LFaPka6lSwmMxiJ6C6X5WY4ayuGfrW7cHOnlI/s1600/new-to-me.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="92" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnZAGQ25kEN76bDcAsmTMTDebe5Uo0Zfh2AlOycV9LGGnnD6V2KIsCX0BcFpFzV3_aOPgT4uFDRzYJa2npOS-1csDhdUNbnv2UvjV2b4LFaPka6lSwmMxiJ6C6X5WY4ayuGfrW7cHOnlI/s200/new-to-me.jpg" width="200" /></a>It's easy to join this meme.<br />
<br />
Just write a post about the best new-to-you crime fiction authors (or all) you've read in the period of <b>July to September 2018</b>, put a link to this meme in your post, and even use the logo if you like.<br />
The books don't necessarily need to be newly published. <br />
<br />
After writing your post, then come back to this post and add your link to Mr Linky below. (if Mr Linky does not appear - leave your URL in a comment and I will add to Mr Linky when it comes back up, or I'll add the link to the post)<br />
Visit the links posted by other participants in the meme to discover even more books to read.<br />
<br />
This meme will run again at the end of December 2018<br />
<br />
<hr />
<link href="//www.blenza.com/linkies/styles/default.css" media="all" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"></link><script src="//www.blenza.com/linkies/loc_en.js"></script><script src="//www.blenza.com/linkies/opt_defaults.js"></script><script src="//www.blenza.com/linkies/misterlinky.js"></script><script src="//www.blenza.com/linkies/autolink.php?mode=standard&owner=smik&postid=01Oct2018&meme=9611" type="text/javascript"></script>Kerriehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13581470363339796352noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8273911883856580200.post-18741621385326768422018-09-30T11:03:00.000+09:302018-09-30T11:03:34.151+09:30Review: THE WIFE BETWEEN US, Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekannen<ul><a href="https://images.macmillan.com/folio-assets/macmillan_us_frontbookcovers_1000H/9781250130921.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://images.macmillan.com/folio-assets/macmillan_us_frontbookcovers_1000H/9781250130921.jpg" width="210" /></a>
<li>this edition published by <a href="https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250130921">St Martin's Press</a> 2018</li>
<li>ISBN 978-1509842827</li>
<li>346 pages</li>
<li>source: my local library</li>
</ul>
<b>Synopsis</b> (<a href="https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250130921">St Martin's Press</a>)<br />
<br />
When you read this book, you will make many assumptions.<br />You will assume you are reading about a jealous ex-wife.<br />You will assume she is obsessed with her replacement – a beautiful, younger woman who is about to marry the man they both love.<br />You will assume you know the anatomy of this tangled love triangle.<br />Assume nothing.<br /><br />Twisted and deliciously chilling, Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen's <b>The Wife Between Us</b> exposes the secret complexities of an enviable marriage - and the dangerous truths we ignore in the name of love. <br />
<br />
<b>My Take</b><br />
<br />
There are a number of little puzzles for the reader to solve from the very beginning of this novel. While the narrator is mainly Richard Thompson's ex-wife the authors played around with the time line so nothing is straightforward. The plot darts back and forth across events from before Richard and Nellie met until well after their marriage has collapsed.<br />
<br />
But the truth of why the marriage collapsed and what Nellie is up to are far from simple.<br />
<br />
This is an engrossing thriller. Well worth the read.<br />
<br />
<b>My rating</b>: 4.4<br />
<br />
<b>About the authors</b><br />
GREER HENDRICKS is the coauthor of the New York Times bestseller The Wife Between Us. Prior to becoming a novelist, she spent two decades as an editor at Simon & Schuster. She obtained her master's degree in journalism from Columbia University, and her writing has appeared in The New York Times, Allure, and Publishers Weekly. She lives in Manhattan with her husband and two children.<br /><br />SARAH PEKKANEN is the internationally and USA Today bestselling author of eight previous solo novels and the coauthor of the New York Times bestseller The Wife Between Us. A former investigative journalist and award-winning feature writer, she has published work in The Washington Post, USA Today, and many others. She is the mother of three sons and lives just outside Washington, D.C.Kerriehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13581470363339796352noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8273911883856580200.post-41580588343169712182018-09-25T12:56:00.000+09:302018-09-25T12:56:00.856+09:30Review: DARK WATER, Robert Bryndza<ul><a href="https://britishguyinslovakia.files.wordpress.com/2017/08/dark-water-final.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="535" height="320" src="https://britishguyinslovakia.files.wordpress.com/2017/08/dark-water-final.jpg" width="213" /></a>
<li>this edition published by Sphere in 2016</li>
<li>ISBN 978-0-7515-7148-6</li>
<li>352 pages</li>
<li>#3 in the Erika Foster series</li>
<li><a href="https://robertbryndza.com/dark-water-pre-order-now/">author website</a></li>
</ul>
<b>Synopsis</b> (<a href="https://robertbryndza.com/dark-water-pre-order-now/">author website</a>)<br />
<br />
Beneath the water the body sank rapidly. She would lie still and undisturbed for many years but above her on dry land, the nightmare was just beginning.<br /><br />When Detective Erika Foster receives a tip off that key evidence for a major narcotics case was stashed in a disused quarry on the outskirts of London, she orders for it to be searched. From the thick sludge the drugs are recovered, but so is the skeleton of a young child.<br /><br />The remains are quickly identified as seven-year-old Jessica Collins. The missing girl who made headline news when she vanished twenty-six years ago.<br /><br />As Erika tries to piece together new evidence with the old, she discovers a family harbouring secrets, a detective plagued by her failure to find Jessica, and the mysterious death of a man living by the quarry.<br /><br />Is the suspect someone close to home? Someone doesn’t want this case solved. And they’ll do anything to stop Erika from finding the truth.<br />
<br />
<b>My Take</b><br />
<br />
Twenty six years after she disappeared on her way to a friend's birthday party only a few houses away from home Jessica Collins' skeleton is discovered in a flooded quarry only a mile from her home. The quarry had been searched without success during the search for Jessica. Eventually the police charged a paedophile living nearby but he had an alibi and successfully sued the police for damages. The case remained unsolved and the detective in charge had a breakdown and took early retirement.<br />
<br />
Detective Erika Foster determines that she will solve this case once the skeleton is identified, but is advised by her seniors that this is a poisoned chalice. It is a cold case that could really end up going nowhere. She is determined to investigate every possible avenue, going right back to the beginning.<br />
<br />
Once she interviews what remains of Jessica's family, someone else begins to watch Erika and to make sure her investigation fails.<br />
<br />
Some very interesting characters. Most readable.<br />
<br />
I think I'll be looking for another in this series. <br />
<br />
<b>My rating</b>: 4.6<br />
<br />
<b>About the author</b><br />
<i>My books have sold over 2.5 million copies, and have been translated into 28 languages. In addition to writing crime fiction, I have published a bestselling series of romantic comedy novels. I am British and live in Slovakia.</i> <br />Kerriehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13581470363339796352noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8273911883856580200.post-88239738733126768382018-09-23T12:47:00.003+09:302018-09-23T12:47:55.988+09:30Review: ODD CHILD OUT, Gilly Macmillan<ul><a href="https://www.littlebrown.co.uk/assets/LittleBrownBookGroup/img/book/210/isbn9781405539210-detail.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="230" data-original-width="230" src="https://www.littlebrown.co.uk/assets/LittleBrownBookGroup/img/book/210/isbn9781405539210-detail.jpg" /></a>
<li>this edition published by <a href="https://www.littlebrown.co.uk/books/detail.page?isbn=9781405539210">littlebrown.co.uk</a> 2017</li>
<li>ISBN 978-0-349-41294-8</li>
<li>382 pages</li>
<li>source: my local library</li>
</ul>
<b>Synopsis</b> (<a href="https://www.littlebrown.co.uk/books/detail.page?isbn=9781405539210">publisher</a>)<br />
<br />
Two best friends. One terrible event.<br /><br />Abdi Mahal and Noah Sadler have been inseparable since they met. They've stuck together, even when their peers have excluded them. But when a horrifying incident leaves Noah in a coma and fighting for his life, Abdi is too traumatised to say anything about what happened.<br /><br />DI Jim Clemo, freshly returned to work after an enforced leave of absence, is tasked to investigate. And against a backdrop of a city where racial tensions are running high, he must determine what really happened to drive two teenage boys into a situation so desperate.<br /><br />Everything rests on one of the boys talking.<br /><br />But one can't talk.<br /><br />And one won't. <br />
<br />
<b>My take</b><br />
<br />
This is the second novel featuring DI Jim Clemo but the first I've read.<br />
<br />
It is set in the author's home city of Bristol.<br />
<br />
The action of the novel takes place over the period of a week and the story is told from several points of view with often only the content or tone to indicate who the narrator is.<br />
<br />
Abdi and Noah are 15 year olds who have been inseparable since they began secondary school. Noah has health issues and has spent a lot of time in hospital. His father is a photographer who spends a lot of time away. Abdi is Somali, his father is a taxi driver, his mother does not speak English, and his sister is at tertiary college. Noah's mother is not convinced his friendship with Abdi is the best he can do, but Noah is very dependent on him.<br />
<br />
On the night when the story starts Noah's father has a photographic exhibition which both boys attend. Some of the photographs are of Somalian refugee camps and Abdi finds them upsetting. After they get back to Noah's place the boys go out, at Noah's instigation, unknown to his parents, and this sets off a train of events with dreadful consequences.<br />
<br />
This novel has a number of thought provoking themes: relationships in the work place, journalists who use events to enhance their own careers, the effects of ill health on families and those who are afflicted, the search by teenagers for identity and rites of passage.<br />
<br />
<b>My rating</b>: 4.5<br />
<br />
<b>About the author</b><br />
<br />
Gilly Macmillan grew up in Wiltshire, and was pleasantly surprised when her family moved to California when she was a teenager. She studied History of Art at Bristol University before doing an MA in Modern British Art at the Courtauld Institute of Art. Her career path has included working at the Burlington Magazine, the Hayward Gallery and teaching photography at a sixth-form college in Swindon. Her favourite job was working in a café opposite Keplers bookshop in Menlo Park, CA. She currently lives in Bristol with her husband Julian and their three children. Kerriehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13581470363339796352noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8273911883856580200.post-71781576506202836012018-09-20T14:56:00.003+09:302018-09-20T15:02:07.791+09:30Review: BRING ME BACK, B. A. Paris<ul><a href="https://d1a37ygoufymvg.cloudfront.net/resized/width-298/path-assets/covers/v2/9780008244873.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="463" data-original-width="298" height="320" src="https://d1a37ygoufymvg.cloudfront.net/resized/width-298/path-assets/covers/v2/9780008244873.jpg" width="205" /></a>
<li>this edition published in 2018 by <a href="https://www.harpercollins.co.uk/9780008244873/bring-me-back/">HQ, Harper Collins Publishers</a></li>
<li>ISBN 978-0-008-26894-7</li>
<li>338 pages</li>
<li>source: my local library</li>
</ul>
<b>Synopsis</b> (<a href="https://d1a37ygoufymvg.cloudfront.net/resized/width-298/path-assets/covers/v2/9780008244873.jpg">publisher</a>)<br />
<br />
Finn and Layla: young and in love, their whole lives ahead of them. Driving back from a holiday in France one night, Finn pulls in to a service station, leaving Layla alone in the car. When he returns, minutes later, Layla has vanished, never to be seen again. That’s the story Finn tells the police. It’s the truth but not the whole truth.<br />
<br />
Twelve years later, Finn has built a new life with Ellen, Layla’s sister, when he receives a phone call. Someone has seen Layla. But is it her or someone pretending to be her? If it is her, what does she want? And what does she know about the night she disappeared?<br />
<br />
<b>My Take</b><br />
<br />
An intriguing plot with plenty of mystery for the reader to work on.<br />
<br />
Twelve years ago Layla disappeared after an argument with Finn on the way back from a holiday in France. But what Finn told the police about what happened that night was not the entire truth. The story then jumps from the night of the argument in 2006 to the current time in 2018.<br />
<br />
In the chapters in Part One, Finn is the narrator, and the chapters switch rhythmically between "Now" and "Before". Now it appears that Layla may have returned, confirmed by a sighting, a trail of Russian dolls, and text messages on Finn's phone. At first Finn is not sure who is sending the text messages and begins to think they must be from Layla. We always know whose voice it is, but just to make sure we don't get lost, each chapter heading shows the narrator's name.<br />
<br />
Part Two introduces Layla's voice in alternate chapters, with Finn's thoughts in the other chapters.<br />
<br />
It is an interesting structure but towards 250 pages I began to get impatient for the plot to conclude.<br />
My brain was working overtime to rationalise the plot strands, to come up with a scenario that fitted all strands. When I finally got to the end, I discovered I was partly right and partly not. I guess that is the sign of a good story.<br />
<br />
The other thing that the reader has to take into account is the significance of the title, something we often neglect. This was a title with acute meaning.<br />
<br />
<b>My rating</b>: 4.5<br />
<br />
<b>About the author</b><br />
<br />
New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of Behind Closed Doors, B. A. Paris, grew up in England but has spent most of her adult life in France. She has worked in finance and as a teacher. She has recently moved back to England.Kerriehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13581470363339796352noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8273911883856580200.post-84260438660278573832018-09-07T08:59:00.002+09:302018-09-07T08:59:21.398+09:30Review: THE PARIS SECRET, Karen Swan<ul><a href="https://panmacmillan.azureedge.net/pml/panmacmillancorporatesite/media/panmacmillan/cover-images/karen-swan/__thumbnails/9781447280699the%20paris%20secret_6_jpg_262_400.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://panmacmillan.azureedge.net/pml/panmacmillancorporatesite/media/panmacmillan/cover-images/karen-swan/__thumbnails/9781447280699the%20paris%20secret_6_jpg_262_400.jpg" width="209" /></a>
<li>this edition published 2016 by <a href="https://www.panmacmillan.com/authors/karen-swan/the-paris-secret">Pan Macmillan</a></li>
<li>ISBN 978-1-4472-8029-3</li>
<li>406 pages</li>
<li><a href="http://www.karenswan.com/">author website</a></li>
</ul>
<b>Synopsis</b> (<a href="https://www.panmacmillan.com/authors/karen-swan/the-paris-secret">publisher</a>)<br />
<br />
<br />
Not every door should be opened . . .<br /><br />With stunning locations and page-turning tension, The Paris Secret is an intense and gripping tale from bestselling author Karen Swan, perfect for fans of Santa Montefiore.<br /><br />Somewhere along the cobbled streets of Paris, an apartment lies thick with dust and secrets: full of priceless artworks hidden away for decades.<br /><br />High-flying fine art agent Flora from London, more comfortable with the tension of a million-pound auction than a cosy candlelit dinner for two, is called in to assess these suddenly discovered treasures. As an expert in her field, she must trace the history of each painting and discover who has concealed them for so long.<br /><br />Thrown in amongst the glamorous Vermeil family as they move between Paris and Antibes, Flora begins to discover that things aren’t all that they seem, while back at home her own family is recoiling from a seismic shock. The terse and brooding Xavier Vermeil seems intent on forcing Flora out of his family’s affairs - but just what is he hiding?<br />
<br /><b>My Take</b><br />
<br />
Here is another of those novels that sits on the outer boundary of crime fiction. Certainly crimes have been committed, long ago, perhaps even the biggest crime against humanity of all. But this novel is about whether a family will benefit from the aftermath of those crimes, or is what has happened in the past, in this instance, not what it seems?<br />
<br />
A family's lawyers are contacted by some burglars to say that they have found a long untouched apartment. A junior clerk not well versed in the protocols to be followed in this case contacts the family and events escalate from there. He has sent them the key to the wrong apartment.<br />
<br />
The family is controlled by a matriarch, her husband long dead. He has left instructions that the apartment is not to be opened by the family until after his wife's death. So, the family employs a fine art agent to explore and document the contents of the apartment which appears to be scores of painting and other art treasures untouched for over 70 years.<br />
<br />
The author says the story is based on a newspaper report about a similar situation that has occurred in Paris.<br />
<br />
There is a lot of human interest in this story particularly about how the younger members of the family will cope with their family's history about which they have, until this point, known nothing.<br />
<br />
Very readable.<br />
<br />
<b>My rating </b>4.4<br />
<br />
<b>About the author</b><br />
Karen Swan began her career in fashion journalism before giving it all up to raise her three children and a puppy, and to pursue her ambition of becoming a writer. She lives in the forest in Sussex, writing her books in a treehouse overlooking the Downs. Her books include Christmas at Tiffany’s, Summer at Tiffany’s, The Perfect Present, Christmas in the Snow, Christmas on Primrose Hill, The Paris Secret and The Rome Affair. Kerriehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13581470363339796352noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8273911883856580200.post-26925206001312483262018-09-02T12:09:00.000+09:302018-09-02T12:09:43.269+09:30Review: THE CELTIC STONE, Nick Hawkes<ul><a href="http://www.rhizapress.com.au/images/books/adultfiction/thecelticstonesmall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.rhizapress.com.au/images/books/adultfiction/thecelticstonesmall.jpg" data-original-height="361" data-original-width="250" height="320" width="221" /></a>
<li>this edition published by <a href="http://www.rhizapress.com.au/12-books/adult/34-the-celtic-stone">Rhiza Press 2015</a></li>
<li>ISBN 978-1-921632-64-8</li>
<li>250 pages</li>
<li>winner of the <a href="https://www.omegawriters.org/caleb-prize-winners-2014/">Caleb Prize 2014</a> for faith inspired fiction</li>
<li><a href="http://nickhawkes.net/">author web site </a></li>
</ul>
<b>Synopsis</b> (<a href="http://www.rhizapress.com.au/12-books/adult/34-the-celtic-stone">publisher</a>)<br />
<br />
Chris Norman’s dreams of being a commercial pilot are shattered when he crashes his light plane in central Australia and is badly wounded. His life hangs in the balance, a balance that is swayed by the intervention of an Aboriginal man. He leaves Chris with a mysterious and incongruous legacy, a Celtic cross made of stone.<br /><br />Partly blinded and in deep grief at no longer being able to fly, Chris finds his way to the inhospitable islands off the West Coast of Scotland where he seeks to unravel the secrets of the Celtic stone.<br /><br />A blind Hebridean woman, shunned by many in the local community, becomes his reluctant ally, along with a seven year old boy who is as wild as the storm tossed seas that surround the islands.<br /><br />Chris must overcome his grief to find answers to his questions. But the threat of murder lingers ....<br />
<br />
<b>My Take</b><br />
<br />
This is one of those books that I place on the margins of crime fiction: but there is murder, there is mystery and there is crime.<br />
<br />
I bought the book recently at a book launch held at our local library by the author to celebrate his third book.<br />
<br />
There's something a little old fashioned about the plot and style of this book - it reminds me of some of the books I read decades ago. Having said that though, I am not denigrating it. I really enjoyed the story. At the book launch Nick Hawkes said he favoured happy endings and this novel certainly works towards that. It is a stand-alone and its characters are engaging and, as the Caleb Prize might warn you, there is an underlying theme about the meaning of life.<br />
<br />
The setting ranges from South Australia to the Scottish Hebrides and they are places which the author appears to know and love.<br />
<br />
If you are looking for some very readable, feel-good, crime fiction then this might just hit the spot for you.<br />
<br />
<b>My rating</b>: 4.3<br />
<br />
<b>About the author</b><br />
<br />
Nick was a research scientist for twelve years before training as a pastor and leading a number of vibrant churches. He is currently Pastor of Rivergate Christian Community in South Australia.<br /><br />Nick is a guest lecturer at two theological colleges, gives daily devotions on Christian radio and is a popular speaker both in Australia and abroad. He is an eloquent and passionate apologist for the Christian gospel<br />
Kerriehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13581470363339796352noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8273911883856580200.post-64090901857174781212018-09-02T11:25:00.000+09:302018-09-30T11:30:48.814+09:30meme: New to me authors - July to September 2018I have read 20 new-to-me authors in the last 3 months.<br />
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<br />
<ol>
<li><a href="http://paradise-mysteries.blogspot.com/2018/06/review-seven-sisters-lucinda-riley.html">4.5, THE SEVEN SISTERS, Lucinda Riley</a></li>
<li><a href="http://paradise-mysteries.blogspot.com/2018/06/review-agatha-christies-true-crime.html">2.2, AGATHA CHRISTIE'S TRUE CRIME INSPIRATIONS, Mike Holgate</a></li>
<li><a href="http://paradise-mysteries.blogspot.com/2018/07/review-witness-nora-roberts.html">4.4, THE WITNESS, Nora Roberts</a></li>
<li><a href="https://paradise-mysteries.blogspot.com/2018/07/review-guilty-wife-elle-croft.html">4.4, THE GUILTY WIFE, Elle Croft</a></li>
<li><a href="https://paradise-mysteries.blogspot.com/2018/07/review-twist-of-faith-ellen-j-green.html">4.4, TWIST OF FAITH, Ellen J. Green</a></li>
<li><a href="https://paradise-mysteries.blogspot.com/2018/07/review-president-is-missing-bill.html">4.8, THE PRESIDENT IS MISSING, Bill Clinton & James Patterson</a></li>
<li><a href="https://paradise-mysteries.blogspot.com/2018/07/review-ballad-for-mad-girl-vikki.html">4.3, BALLAD FOR A MAD GIRL, Vikki Wakefield</a></li>
<li><a href="https://paradise-mysteries.blogspot.com/2018/07/review-dead-letters-cite-dolan-leach.html">4.4, DEAD LETTERS, Caite Dolan-Leach</a></li>
<li><a href="https://paradise-mysteries.blogspot.com/2018/07/review-midnight-at-bright-ideas.html">4.4, MIDNIGHT AT THE BRIGHT IDEAS BOOKSTORE, Matthew Sullivan</a></li>
<li><a href="https://paradise-mysteries.blogspot.com/2018/08/review-then-she-was-gone-lisa-jewell.html">4.4, THEN SHE WAS GONE, Lisa Jewell</a></li>
<li><a href="https://paradise-mysteries.blogspot.com/2018/08/review-three-little-lies-laura-marshall.html">4.5, THREE LITTLE LIES, Laura Marshall</a> </li>
<li><a href="https://paradise-mysteries.blogspot.com/2018/08/review-bannerless-carrie-vaughn.html">4.4, BANNERLESS, Carrie Vaughn</a></li>
<li><a href="https://paradise-mysteries.blogspot.com/2018/08/review-woman-in-window-j-finn.html">4.6, THE WOMAN IN THE WINDOW, A. J. Finn</a></li>
<li><a href="https://paradise-mysteries.blogspot.com/2018/08/review-bodies-from-library-lost-classic.html">4.5, BODIES FROM THE LIBRARY, Tony Medawar (edit)</a></li>
<li><a href="https://paradise-mysteries.blogspot.com/2018/08/review-need-to-know-karen-cleveland.html">4.5, NEED TO KNOW, Karen Cleveland</a> </li>
<li><a href="https://paradise-mysteries.blogspot.com/2018/09/review-celtic-stone-nick-hawkes.html">4.3, THE CELTIC STONE, Nick Hawkes</a></li>
<li><a href="https://paradise-mysteries.blogspot.com/2018/09/review-paris-secret-karen-swan.html">4.4, THE PARIS SECRET, Karen Swan</a></li>
<li><a href="https://paradise-mysteries.blogspot.com/2018/09/review-bring-me-back-b-paris.html">4.5, BRING ME BACK, B. A. Paris</a> </li>
<li><a href="https://paradise-mysteries.blogspot.com/2018/09/review-odd-child-out-gilly-macmillan.html">4.5, ODD CHILD OUT, Gilly Macmillan</a></li>
<li><a href="https://paradise-mysteries.blogspot.com/2018/09/review-dark-water-robert-bryndza.html">4.6, DARK WATER, Robert Bryndza</a> </li>
<li><a href="https://paradise-mysteries.blogspot.com/2018/09/review-wife-between-us-greer-hendricks.html">4.4, THE WIFE BETWEEN US, Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen</a> </li>
</ol>
<br />
Discover <a href="https://paradise-mysteries.blogspot.com/2018/09/new-to-me-authors-july-to-september-2018.html">the other new authors</a> others have readKerriehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13581470363339796352noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8273911883856580200.post-83198554778109596412018-08-30T15:32:00.000+09:302018-08-30T15:32:16.277+09:30Review: NEED TO KNOW, Karen Cleveland<ul><a href="https://www.penguin.co.uk/content/dam/catalogue/pim/editions/518/9780593079591/cover.jpg.rendition.460.707.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="700" data-original-width="460" height="320" src="https://www.penguin.co.uk/content/dam/catalogue/pim/editions/518/9780593079591/cover.jpg.rendition.460.707.png" width="210" /></a>
<li>This edition published by Penguin Random House UK 2018</li>
<li>source: my local library</li>
<li>ISBN 978-0-5930-7960-7</li>
<li>292 pages</li>
<li><a href="https://www.penguin.co.uk/authors/karen-cleveland/1081227/">Read an extract</a> </li>
</ul>
<b>Synopsis </b>(<a href="https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/1114876/need-to-know/">publisher</a>)<br />
<br />
Perfect husband. Perfect father. Perfect liar?<br /><br />Do you really know who you kissed goodbye this morning?<br /><br />You get to work. Make a coffee. Turn on your computer.<br /><br />Your task: break into a Russian criminal's laptop and find proof that he's concealing five deep-cover agents - seemingly normal people living in plain sight.<br /><br />You’re in. Five faces stare back at you.<br /><br />One of them is your husband.<br />
<br />
From Amazon:<br />
Vivian Miller. High-powered CIA analyst, happily married to a man she adores, mother of four beautiful children. Until the moment she makes a shocking discovery that makes her question everything she believes. <br />She thought she knew her husband inside and out. But now she wonders if it was all a lie. How far will she go to learn the truth? And does she really . . . <br />
<br />
<b>My Take</b><br />
<br />
This story was a real page-turner.<br />
<br />
Vivian Miller is a CIA analyst who discovers that, for the last 10 years, her husband has been lying to her. She knows what she should do, but if she does, then he, or she, face years of imprisonment. The longer she delays, the deeper the quandary, and the worse the consequences for her family. And does the infiltration of US intelligence go much much deeper than anyone likes to admit?<br />
<br />
Very engrossing read, perhaps not totally credible, but then the author has herself been a CIA analyst.<br />
<br />
<b>My rating</b>: 4.5<br />
<br />
<b>About the author</b><br />
<br />
Karen Cleveland spent eight years as a CIA analyst, focusing on counter-terrorism and working briefly on rotation to the FBI. She has master's degrees from Trinity College Dublin and Harvard University. She lives in northern Virginia with her husband and two young sons.Kerriehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13581470363339796352noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8273911883856580200.post-9697813128164865592018-08-20T16:34:00.001+09:302018-08-20T16:34:51.176+09:30Review: THE WOMAN IN THE WINDOW, A. J. Finn<ul><a href="https://d1a37ygoufymvg.cloudfront.net/resized/width-298/path-assets/covers/v3/9780008234157.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="458" data-original-width="298" height="320" src="https://d1a37ygoufymvg.cloudfront.net/resized/width-298/path-assets/covers/v3/9780008234157.jpg" width="208" /></a>
<li>this edition published by <a href="https://www.harpercollins.co.uk/9780008234157/the-woman-in-the-window/">Harper Collins UK</a></li>
<li>ISBN 978-0-00-823416-4</li>
<li>427 pages</li>
<li>source: my local library</li>
</ul>
<b>Synopsis</b> (<a href="https://www.harpercollins.co.uk/9780008234157/the-woman-in-the-window/">publisher</a>)<br />
<br />
What did she see?<br /><br />It’s been ten long months since Anna Fox last left her home. Ten months during which she has haunted the rooms of her old New York house like a ghost, lost in her memories, too terrified to step outside.<br /><br />Anna’s lifeline to the real world is her window, where she sits day after day, watching her neighbours. When the Russells move in, Anna is instantly drawn to them. A picture-perfect family of three, they are an echo of the life that was once hers.<br /><br />But one evening, a frenzied scream rips across the silence, and Anna witnesses something no one was supposed to see. Now she must do everything she can to uncover the truth about what really happened. But even if she does, will anyone believe her? And can she even trust herself?<br />
<br />
<b>My Take</b><br />
<br />
This book is layered like an onion, and we spend most of the reading time working out why Anna, a child psychiatrist, has become agoraphobic. Compounding her problems is the fact that she has become a heavy drinker (in the eyes of her neighbours a drunk) and she mixes her medication with alcohol with the result that she loses track of time, and seems to suffer from hallucinations. She watches her many neighbours through the lens of her camera but rarely takes photos.<br />
<br />
Anna spends much of her time watching old black and white movies, mainly thrillers, but she often dozes off in them and then confuses their scripts with her actual life.<br />
<br />
There are lots of mysteries to solve in this story. When Anna thinks she has seen a murder committed she calls the police but even the sympathetic detective and his colleague eventually suggest that she is deluded.<br />
<br />
A very good read.<br />
<br />
<b>My rating</b>: 4.6<br />
<br />
<b>About the author</b><br />
<br />
A. J. Finn is an American author, born in New York. Finn is a pseudonym for Daniel Mallory. He is an Oxford graduate and former book critic.<br />
A. J. Finn has written for numerous publications, including the Los Angeles Times, the Washington Post and the Times Literary Supplement. Finn’s debut novel, The Woman in the Window, has been sold in thirty-nine territories worldwide and is in development as a major motion picture from Fox. A native of New York, Finn lived in England for ten years before returning to New York City.Kerriehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13581470363339796352noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8273911883856580200.post-11476236007888122822018-08-11T11:29:00.001+09:302018-08-11T11:29:44.278+09:30Review: BANNERLESS, Carrie Vaughn<ul><a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51RMKE9PD9L._SX329_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="331" height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51RMKE9PD9L._SX329_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg" width="212" /></a>
<li>this edition published 2017 by Mariner Books</li>
<li>source: my local library</li>
<li>ISBN 978-0-544-94730-6</li>
<li>274 pages</li>
</ul>
<b>Synopsis</b> (<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Bannerless-Carrie-Vaughn/dp/0544947304/">Amazon</a>)<br />
<br />
A mysterious murder in a dystopian future leads a novice investigator to question what she’s learned about the foundation of her population-controlled society.<br /><br />Decades after economic and environmental collapse destroys much of civilization in the United States, the Coast Road region isn’t just surviving but thriving by some accounts, building something new on the ruins of what came before. A culture of population control has developed in which people, organized into households, must earn the children they bear by proving they can take care of them and are awarded symbolic banners to demonstrate this privilege. In the meantime, birth control is mandatory.<br /><br />Enid of Haven is an Investigator, called on to mediate disputes and examine transgressions against the community. She’s young for the job and hasn't yet handled a serious case. Now, though, a suspicious death requires her attention. The victim was an outcast, but might someone have taken dislike a step further and murdered him?<br /><br />In a world defined by the disasters that happened a century before, the past is always present. But this investigation may reveal the cracks in Enid’s world and make her question what she really stands for.<br />
<br />
<b>My Take</b><br />
<br />
This novel couples crime fiction with science fiction in a dystopian view of America in one hundred years' time. Much was lost during The Fall, when political, social and technological chaos resulted from some sort of cataclysm. The population has been decimated by pestilence and the large cities have gone along with most of their populations.<br />
<br />
An interesting read. Investigators Enid and Tomas have been sent to a nearby community to investigate a serious death reported by one of the community leaders. The man has already been 4 days dead by the time they arrive, and nobody wants to give them any information. It appears Ariana, the community leader who has requested the investigation actually has another agenda altogether.<br />
<br />
<b>My Rating</b>: 4.4<br />
<br />
<b>About the author</b><br />
<span id="author_biography">Carrie Vaughn is the author of the New York
Times bestselling series of novels about a werewolf named Kitty. She
also writes for young adults (her novel STEEL was named to the ALA's
2012 Amelia Bloomer list of the best books for young readers with strong
feminist content), the Golden Age superhero series, and other
contemporary fantasy stories. She's a contributor to the Wild Cards
series of shared world superhero books edited by George R. R. Martin,
and her short stories have appeared in numerous magazines and
anthologies. She's a graduate of the Odyssey Fantasy Writing Workshop,
and in 2011, she was nominated for a Hugo Award for best short story. </span>Kerriehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13581470363339796352noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8273911883856580200.post-36767438609150103222018-08-03T16:35:00.001+09:302018-08-03T16:35:25.662+09:30Review: THEN SHE WAS GONE, Lisa Jewell<ul><a href="https://www.penguin.co.uk/content/dam/catalogue/pim/editions/374/9781784756253/cover.jpg.rendition.460.707.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="704" data-original-width="460" height="320" src="https://www.penguin.co.uk/content/dam/catalogue/pim/editions/374/9781784756253/cover.jpg.rendition.460.707.png" width="209" /></a>
<li>this edition published 2017 by <a href="https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/1112109/then-she-was-gone/">Century (Random House)</a></li>
<li>ISBN 978-1-78-089542-7</li>
<li>424 pages</li>
<li>source: my local library</li>
</ul>
<b>Synopsis</b> (<a href="https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/1112109/then-she-was-gone/">publisher</a>)<br />
<br />
She was fifteen, her mother's golden girl.<br />She had her whole life ahead of her.<br />And then, in the blink of an eye, Ellie was gone.<br /><br />Ten years on, Laurel has never given up hope of finding Ellie. And then she meets a charming and charismatic stranger who sweeps her off her feet.<br /><br />But what really takes her breath away is when she meets his nine-year-old daughter.<br /><br />Because his daughter is the image of Ellie.<br /><br />Now all those unanswered questions that have haunted Laurel come flooding back.<br /><br />What really happened to Ellie? And who still has secrets to hide?<br />
<br />
<b>My take</b><br />
<br />
Ellie disappeared on her way to the library. No CCTV to help, house to house searches revealed nothing. The police thought she had run away, and eventually the discovery of her bag with some clothes seemed to confirm that. Four years after her disappearance someone burgled the house, as if Ellie had come back to retrieve some belongings.<br />
<br />
In the aftermath of Ellie's disappearance Laurel's marriage collapsed, her brother and sister left home, and Laurel's husband Paul found a new woman.<br />
<br />
I did have some doubts about the credibility of parts of the plot but that did not prevent me from either enjoying or finishing the book.<br />
<br />
Lisa Jewell really is an author that I read need to read more books by.<br />
<br />
<b>My rating</b>: 4.4<br />
<br />
<b>About the author</b><br />
<br />
I've been here in one form or another for A Very Long Time Indeed.<br /><br />My first book, Ralph's Party, came out in 1998, when I was still a young person and when some of you may not yet have been born. Since then I have written and published another fourteen books, from the 'curry and flatmates' novels of the nineties and noughties like Thirtynothing, One Hit Wonder, A Friend of the Family and Vince & Joy, to more serious 'themed' novels like After The Party (marriage), The Making of Us (sperm donation) and The House We Grew Up In (hoarding) to my more recent domestic thrillers, like The Third Wife, The Girls, I Found You and Then She Was Gone. <br /><br />I live in London with my husband, two daughters, two hairy cats, two nervous guinea pigs and a very lovely auburn dog. I write every day, a minimum of one thousand words, in a cafe, with no access to the internet, in two to three hour sessions. It's a very good life. <br />
<br />
Kerriehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13581470363339796352noreply@blogger.com0