All the Reviews

Thud!, Terry Pratchett

Followers of the Discworld series will be aware that the Battle of Koom Valley looms large. It's referenced frequently in the Ankh-Morpork Watch sub-section of the series, and it's all about the relationship between the trolls and the dwarfs. As it says in the blurb - "That was where the trolls ambushed the dwarfs, or the dwarfs ambushed the trolls. It was far away. It was a long time ago." But it's always there bubbling along under the surface and if Commander Sam Vimes doesn't sort out the murder of just one dwarf, it's all going to kick off again, right on his doorstep, and ... Read Review

Crimechurch, Michael Botur

A brutal novel full of horrible people doing horrible things, leaving themselves no obvious path forward or out, CRIMECHURCH isn't going to be to everyone's taste. So dark, so populated by downtrodden, desperate people I'm not even sure you could call this noir - there's something breathtaking, relentless, unapologetic about the pace here that kind of doesn't feel noirish - it just, well, feels desperate.

The title is obviously a reference to Christchurch, and it's more than a bit startling for a non-New Zealand reader to think that a city renowned for its beauty (and ... Read Review

The Security, Scott Butler

The Security (firm) are a highly specialised team of personal bodyguards, renowned as the best in the business. Until their clients' personal lives start to be exposed, leaving the team trying to protect themselves, while trying to find out who it is that knows a lot of their own secrets, let alone those of their clients. THE SECURITY (novel) is about what happens to the rich and famous when their secrets leak, it's also about what happens to such a highly specialised firm, who rely on their reputation, when they appear to be the only link between the affected clients.

... Read Review

The Spy Who Came In From the Cold, John Le Carre

Number 3 in the George Smiley series, probably the best known of the lot, just before listening to the audio of this we watched the Richard Burton / Claire Bloom movie version again after discovering  it on one of the streaming service subscriptions in one of those late night, can't be bothered going to bed hunts for something to distract.

Here this series definitely heads into espionage thriller territory, away from the slightly more crime thriller stylings of the first two. Having said that, this is thoughtful, considered, introspective espionage thriller, not just ... Read Review

Death Count, S.L. Beaumont

The first in a series flagged as the Kat Munroe thrillers, DEATH COUNT introduces Forensic Accountant Kat. She's renowned in that role, one of the best at chasing down fraud, identity theft, scams, money laundering and illegal money making schemes. She also lives with the shock and life changing consequences of serious injury, after losing a hand in a car accident, her boyfriend at the time drunk, driving the car which injured Kat so badly, and killed her friend. There are aspects of that crash and this case which intertwine unexpectedly for Kat and for DS Adam Jackson - a man with ... Read Review

Red Edge, Des Hunt

Des Hunt was a science and technology teacher for many years, interspersed with periods of curriculum development both in New Zealand and overseas, and he's an author that seems need little or no introduction to readers in his native land. RED EDGE is, however, the first of his books I've been fortunate enough to read, pitched at a young audience, his aims of fostering interest in the natural world and children's surrounding obvious.

Obvious without being preachy or overblown I'd hasten to add, RED EDGE introduces many of it's themes and concepts through the eyes of the ... Read Review

She Who Was No More, Pierre Boileau and Thomas Narcejac

This year I promised myself a read through of the entire Pushkin Vertigo series, starting out with SHE WHO WAS NO MORE by Pierre Boileau and Pierre Ayraud (aka Thomas Narcejac), originally published in 1952. Collaborating as they did on mainly police stories I found the idea that Boilea was responsible for the plot and Narcejac the atmosphere and characters particularly intriguing. Both of which aspects really delivered in this novel - the story of an unfaithful husband, his ambitious doctor lover Lucienne, and his passive, stay at home wife Mireille. Lucience and Fernard Ravinel ... Read Review

For Reasons of Their Own, Chris Stuart

Set in a fictitious location in Melbourne, timed to coincide with one of those blazing hot, drought and bushfire plagued summers, FOR REASONS OF THEIR OWN is a debut novel introducing DI Robbie Gray and her new to town offsider Mac, a young Aboriginal policeman who has been moved out of the NT after turning whistleblower about the treatment of young detainees in a notorious prison. (That aspect of this book is definitely going to ring some very unpleasant bells for Australian readers).

The discovery of a dead body in a swamp on the edge of Melbourne sets off a chain of ... Read Review

Blood on Vines, Madeleine Eskedahl

The opening novel in The Matakana Series, New Zealand based, Swedish born author Madeleine Eskedahl has set this story in one of the true gems of NZ locations, one that obviously means a lot to her. Matakana is a picturesque small town, increasingly devoted to wine growing, farmers markets, roadside stalls, close enough to Auckland to be a tourist destination, but with more than enough people turning it into a lifestyle home location as well.

Making the action in BLOOD ON VINES even more of a contrast between the idyllic location, and a series of violent murders, starting ... Read Review