All the Reviews

A Disappearance in Fiji, Nilima Rao

In the author's notes at the back of A DISAPPEARANCE IN FIJI, Nilima Rao provides background to the thinking behind this novel, including the structure of the Indian indentured servitude program, established by the British overseen, Indian government, coming into its own when slavery was abolished. Why am I not surprised that this was yet another example of utter bastardry, arranging for Indian workers, desperate to improve their lives however marginally, to be sent to places like Trinidad, Jamaica, and Mauritius on fixed period contracts with working and living conditions that were ... Read Review

A Deadly Game, Laraine Stephens

The third novel in the Reggie da Costa series, DEADLY GAME is set in 1920's Melbourne featuring the celebrated, well groomed crime reporter da Costa, and the brave, and very determined Ruby Rhodes.

da Costa has a habit of gathering beautiful woman in his life, with problems and complicated lives of their own. None of which stops da Costa looking upon a lot of them (except perhaps the one he should be looking towards) as potential love interests. Needless to say, this never quite works out as he'd hoped. A DEADLY GAME introduces him to Rhodes, a quiet, studious museum ... Read Review

Terry Pratchett: A Life With Footnotes, Rob Wilkins

Took me a while to start reading this (published in 2022), mostly because this book, of all the books around Terry Pratchett, will mean knowing something personal about the man behind the genius. Written by Terry's long-time assistant, and very good friend, Rob Wilkins, this is an emotional (inspiring / hilarious and frequently brutally honest) walk through exactly that. At the heart of the writing genius was a gloriously grumpy, irascible, kind and funny human being, with a capacity for vision and thought that was utterly astounding.

Wilkins came into Terry's life as a ... Read Review

The Signatory, Stuart Black

THE SIGNATORY is a thriller set in and around an Australian advertising agency, leaving this reviewer wondering if there's an argument that crime fiction set in the corporate / business world is under-represented. On the face of it, perhaps an unlikely setting, but then again, there are more than reasons to think that there's villainy in day to day business, even if its not strictly illegal.

The story of THE SIGNATORY revolves around Sam Pride - who has just sold his start-up company to a US conglomerate for large piles of money. His life is looking good - young, married ... Read Review

Beachdaze, TW Lawless

Book six in the Peter Clancy series, set in the world of investigative journalism, BEACHDAZE sees Peter back in Australia, out of the day-to-day newspaper game and up to his elbows in neighbourhood dispute from the moment he sets foot in his new home.

Readers of the earlier books in the series will find the idea that Clancy has given up the high-octane world of investigative journalism in swinging London slightly surprising. He got there via an interesting route, starting out his reporting days on the old Truth newspaper in Melbourne, Australia (denizens of the state of ... Read Review

Wild Place, Christian White

"Why do good people do bad things?" is an interesting question, explored fully in WILD PLACE by Christian White.

Set in the heart of Australian suburbia, during the height of the summer of 1989, seventeen year old Tracie Reed vanished one night. Her parents in the middle of a fraught divorce, Tracie's behaviour had changed in the leadup and despite her mother's protestations to the contrary, police have basically dismissed her as a runaway. Part of the local neighbourhood watch, Tracie's high school English teacher, and neighbour, starts digging into her disappearance, ... Read Review

Crows Nest, Nikki Mottram

This latest offering of Australian rural noir contrasts urban and small-town sensibilities from the perspective of a child protection officer.  Full review at Newtown Review of Books.

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The Death of John Lacey, Ben Hobson

As I was reading this novel, I was finishing the autobiography THIS MUCH IS TRUE by Miriam Margolyes in audio form and I was struck by the coincidence of some of the things that she says most powerfully and pointedly, about dehumanisation, the utter and abject cruelty of "Empire" and the way that it empowered, and continues to empower, entrenched racism. Add to that the question from Songlines: the Power and Promise, edited by Margo Neale - "What do you need to know to prosper as a people for 65,000 years?" - and you have a review of THE DEATH OF JOHN LACEY. 

Nobody, for ... Read Review

The Honjin Murders, Seishi Yokomizo

First published in 1946, the story is set in the winter of 1937, in the Japanese village of Okamura. Steeped in both the culture and sensibility of the time, THE HONJIN MURDERS is a classic of Japanese crime fiction, a locked room murder in the style of the Golden Age of crime fiction worldwide.

The grand, and influential family Ichiyanagi, are preparing for the wedding of the eldest son. It should be an auspicious event, but there is disquiet. The bride is the daughter of a fruit farmer, a lower class than the groom's Honjin family. Honjin is the Japanese word for an ... Read Review