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Dead Man Singing, Frances Housden02/07/2020 - 2:54pmAs the blurb puts it - could a rock-star's first big hit have predicted his death? First in what looks like it's going to be a series DEAD MAN SINGING introduces Detective Joni Johns and private investigator Frankie Buchanan who find themselves investigating the death of rock star Jim Munro. Johns because it's her job and Buchanan when he's hired by the members of Munro's band - We Own the Night. Only problem is that Johns is the person responsible for ending Buchanan's police career, so needless to say there's a bit of tension there. Given the reference to the first big ... Read Review |
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Spiked, Bruce Melrose02/07/2020 - 2:49pmWhen it comes to knowing anything at all about sport, if it's not cricket, then I'm the last person you want on your trivia team (and then only if you're really short of subject matter experts). The author of SPIKED, on the other hand, seems to know a lot about this environment, particularly when it comes to the Olympic games - and all the behind the scenes rivalries, and the internecine carrying on. SPIKED is a bit of an unusual crime novel in that it's set very much within the world of professional rivalry in amateur sport (I think the Olympics are still "supposed" to be amateur ... Read Review |
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Fauna, Donna Mazza01/07/2020 - 1:39pmIn the near future, a child is created using the DNA of three parents; mother Stacey, father Isaac, and a long deceased ancestor of mankind. This child will not be able to hold a passport, live a normal life, or even be issued with a birth certificate. She is Fauna. Stacey and Isaac, a young Western Australian couple, prepare to embark upon the perilous journey into parenthood for the fourth time. They have agreed to partner up with LifeBlood, a clinical research company that offers financial incentives for parents to create and nurture a genetically modified child. ... Read Review |
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Take Down, Carol Tate29/06/2020 - 3:17pmFlagged as the first book in the Kiwi Falls Series, TAKE DOWN is part crime, part thriller, big part violent erotica that comes with a trigger warning for abuse, torture and sexual assault. From the blurb: "Lily Cartwright has been trained to obey and protect her criminal father, but deep insider her anger grows. The chains of duty shatter when she learns of her father's plans to marry her to a sociopathic killer. Now she must decide just how far she's willing to go for freedom and justice." Alongside Lily's story is that of Jason Jae: ... Read Review |
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The Safe Place, Anna Downes29/06/2020 - 3:08pmThe London life of a young actor can be one of flopped auditions, money scrounging, crummy rentals and the occasional spot of couch surfing. Emily Proudman has just lost her day job as well as her agent, so at this point is absolutely open to all opportunities that could save her from yet another begging phone call to her parents. The Safe Place is a reminder that when an offer appears too good to be true, it requires closer scrutiny. Bang in the nick of time Emily receives an enticing proposition from her former boss, the gorgeous multi-millionaire Scott Denny, that may ... Read Review |
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A Cold Wind Down the Grey, Wendy M. Wilson23/06/2020 - 1:13pmA COLD WIND DOWN THE GREY is a novel based on a true crime story from the days of early white settlement in New Zealand. As per the blurb opening: Greymouth, New Zealand, 1866: The Burgess gang is heading towards town, and a young surveyor from one of the country's leading families has vanished. Inspector James is preparing for trouble. Greymouth is a gold-mining town, constantly inundated by flooding, and somewhat over-supplied by pubs - 57 in a year sprang into being, accommodating hordes of miners, alongside a hefty number of gold thieves and general ... Read Review |
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The Ultimate Community, J. Meverington17/06/2020 - 12:42pmPart of "The Community" series, which is made of up THE SECRET COMMUNITY, THE ETERNAL COMMUNITY (I may have the order of these slightly squiffy sorry) and THE ULTIMATE COMMUNITY. This one is the story of Alice Parker - who I believe is a character from the earlier novels. This is most definitely one of those series that you probably need to read in the correct order, as there was much in this outing that really needed some context for this reader who struggled to put everyone and everything together at points. Page turning thriller in style, with terrific pace covering ... Read Review |
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The Reluctant Gunmen: A story of the O.K. Corral and much more, Giovanni Rex16/06/2020 - 2:50pmI'm not going to pretend for a moment that I've the slightest idea what's going on with the Inspector Giovanni 'Rex' Matsuko series, of which The Reluctant Gunmen is book number 5 (and I've read a couple of the earlier ones as well). I'm not even sure I can describe them, except to say it's sort of tongue in cheek, wacky, stream of consciousness stuff told in sort of first person, with shifting timelines and subject matter with no obvious or strong story arc (to my eye at least, but I could be missing something), that gets weirder and weirder in a sort of fun, not quite ... Read Review |
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Soul Music, Terry Pratchett16/06/2020 - 12:59pmBook 16 of the Discworld series and Death's granddaughter Susan is starting to realise that her Grandfather is a bit different. Even more surprising is the idea that she might be expected to take on the family business in the event that Death is .... distracted. Meanwhile the Discworld is discovering "Music with Rocks In" and it likes what it's listening to. Or the money that it seems to be attracting, or the glamour. Or something. Susan and Death are an interesting family combination and Susan a no-nonsense, get on with it sort of Governess that anybody should be pleased ... Read Review |
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Men At Arms, Terry Pratchett16/06/2020 - 11:57amBook 15 of the Discworld series and my self-appointed challenge of listening to the entire series for start to end is proceeding apace. Granted part of that is because Covid-19 lockdown has meant I'm spending a lot more time driving around doing errands, hence my listening time has doubled, but mostly it's because I'm really loving this. Sure some of the books are slightly better than others (and I still love the Witches ones in particular), but even a poor Discworld novel is still a delight to listen to. In this outing The Watch is pushed to it's very limits as Ankh- ... Read Review |
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The Wife and the Widow, Christian White15/06/2020 - 5:18pmSecond novels are tricky beasts loaded with expectations, particularly when they come on the heels of recent stellar debuts. Australian author Christian White has written another confidently executed work of family drama and generational intrigue that will take up a just a few hours of your life, likely spent dedicated to polishing The Wife and The Widow off in one go. Deciding to surprise her husband as he disembarks from a London flight, Kate is alarmed when her husband does not appear with all the other passengers. He is not answering calls, his employer has no clue ... Read Review |
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Shepherd, Catherine Jinks15/06/2020 - 3:00pmIn essence a chase novel, Shepherd is also a confidently pitched work about something just a little different. There’s not a lot written that is set in this time, being the settler years of Australia, so that alone is something of a literary hook and grab for a young reader to pick up this book. Featuring the voice of a young convict sent out to work in the remote New South Wales outback, Shepherd tells a fine tale of how inner grit and resourcefulness can be applied to any situation, however unfamiliar. A poacher’s son, twelve year old Tom Clay is well used to tripping ... Read Review |
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Riptides, Kirsten Alexander03/06/2020 - 2:43pmAustralians who grew up during the era in which Riptides is set may recognize a heck of a lot of their own experiences; the long road trips on rubbish roads, the relentless heat, Bali (even as it was back then), perhaps even turning on the TV at Christmas time to news of the devastation wrought upon Darwin by Cyclone Tracy. Having managed to guilt her pleasure seeking brother Charlie back from Bali to visit their widowed father at his farm, Abby should have been a bit leery of giving the wheel over to someone who had just come off an international flight. The drive out ... Read Review |
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Lokahi's Triangle and Kanaloa's Betrayal, J.M. Calverley01/06/2020 - 2:23pmLOKAHI'S TRIANGLE and KANALOA'S BETRAYAL are book 4 and 5 in the Detective Reef Kahili series respectively. Set in Hawaii these books are about as close to a travelogue love letter to a location, it's people and it's culture that crime fiction can get without forgetting to be crime fiction. Littered with references to food, places, good looks and people this is most definitely not a series for fans of noir, but if you're looking for something on the lighter, airier, edging towards romance side, then Detective Reef Kahili and his sidekick Kalani Rogers could be just the ... Read Review |
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Dear Child, Romy Hausmann26/05/2020 - 1:39pmIt is difficult to read of women’s lives being micromanaged by their domestic captors to the point of scheduled toilet breaks, and of young children being raised entirely behind closed doors. These are hard novels to take on. If you are reading this because you have heard Dear Child compared to ‘The Room’, you will however find quite a different kind of novel here. To her husband, she is Lena, and to the children, she is Mama. Mama is a fragile lady who often has the shakes and can sometimes be a bit forgetful. Sometimes Mama might forget to say thankyou, or neglect ... Read Review |
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You Yet Shall Die, Jennifer Barraclough25/05/2020 - 3:39pmGood idea at the heart of this novel from NZ author Jennifer Barraclough. Hilda is a reclusive, single woman, living in a ramshackle cottage on the North Kent marshes with her rescue cats. Her father has recently died, and her brother Dunstan is struggling with that death, the breakdown of his own marriage and financial problems. When a young woman arrives on Hilda's doorstep announcing she is their half-sister, the love child of their now dead father, Dunstan doesn't cope - already on the verge of collapse, he turns to desperate measures. Which leads Hilda to seek the truth behind ... Read Review |
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Frozen Summer, Ian Austin25/05/2020 - 1:12pmThe third novel in the Dan Calder series, the title FROZEN SUMMER is the nickname Calder's girlfriend has given to a cold case that he's slightly obsessed with - and not just because he's the only suspect.... Following on from THE AGENCY and THE SECOND GRAVE, this series is one that you'd likely to be best to have read from the start. Calder's background is quite complicated, as is the story of his relationship with girlfriend Tara, and his moving between New Zealand and his native England. The author of this series, Ian Austin, does have a background in UK and NZ law ... Read Review |
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Small Gods, Terry Pratchett15/05/2020 - 12:36pmBrutha is the Chosen One. His god has spoken to him, admittedly while currently in the shape of a tortoise. Discworld does religion and it does it with style, panache, some affection, a lot of tongue in cheek, plenty of skewering and some subtly pointed out absurdities.
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Lords and Ladies, Terry Pratchett15/05/2020 - 12:02pmThe fourth of the Witches sub-set of Discworld, Magrat Garlick is getting married to the King of Lancre. Provided Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg can stop the return of those nasty, conniving elves from the magical realm of Fairie. There are laugh out loud moments in this one that were just fabulous, crop circles, problems with wedding dresses, and what exactly happens on your wedding night (a book was thoughtfully acquired by the King on that particular subject), and the Lancre All-Comers Morris Team got drunk on a fairy mound and have got troubles enough of their own ... Read Review |
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Would She Be Gone, Melanie Harding-Shaw14/05/2020 - 12:30pmA Novella in the "Censored City" series, WOULD SHE BE GONE packs a big punch in a short, sharp delivery. A dystopian future awaits, where the Librarian Algorithm enforces censorship of stories and words that could cause trauma or crime (not a future I can get on board with at all). In this world Detective Virginia Wright goes undercover in the criminal world of performance poetry to hunt down a suspected ring of illegal open-access ereader suppliers. Fragile since the death of her mother, separated from her family on purpose, her world falls apart when they are arrested for literary ... Read Review |