All the Reviews

The Black Tongue, Marko Hautala

Somewhere between horror, folk lore and social commentary, set deep in the quiet back waters of northern Finland, THE BLACK TONGUE is a book that will stay with you for a lot of reasons.

Not being much of a fan of horror stories, it's hard to explain why this book appealed in the first place. Perhaps it is that concept of Scandinavian folk lore, to this reader's mind a kind of ramped up Grimms' Fairy Tales. Perhaps it was simply the idea that there is always an unexplained lurking evil - the boogie man or the bunyip - that's designed to keep kids in line and give them a ... Read Review

A Donation of Murder, Felicity Young

A DONATION OF MURDER is book number five in this excellent historical series from WA based author Felicity Young. Built around the central characters of Forensic surgeon Dody McCleland and her love interest Chief Inspector Matthew Pike, there are some important historical aspects to these two, their working lives and their relationship. For a start that relationship would be frowned upon because of their work together so it's secret, but it's also most unusual that McCleland is a qualified doctor at that point in history. That's why she is working in Forensics, and doing some private ... Read Review

Sheila, Robert Wainwright

There's a slightly obvious reason for being attracted to this novel, way outside my normal reading preferences. The story of a young Australian woman who arrives in England just before the outbreak of the First World War, ends up in Egypt working with injured soldiers during that war, marries a Lord, returns to England and promptly inserts herself into the upper echelons of English Aristocracy, right up to the Royal Family themselves, becoming good friends with the young Princes, and ultimately having an affair with the future George VI.

It's a piece of social history, ... Read Review

Only Daughter, Anna Snoekstra

ONLY DAUGHTER has two perspectives. The first is that of Bec Winter who disappeared in 2003 and the second is that of her current day doppleganger, a "homeless by choice" young woman. The imposter settles quickly into Bec's life with loving parents, two younger brothers and friends who have been mourning the loss of the vivacious sixteen year old version of Bec for over a decade. Was she really missed? Who knows the truth? It's the opportunistic and not malicious insertion into the Winter family by the imposter which makes this novel interesting. The imposter is someone outside of the ... Read Review

Katherine of Aragon, Six Tudor Queens, Alison Weir

The two biggest challenges with writing historical fiction need to be overcome from the get-go. It is necessary to engage the reader from that first chapter so that they are not constantly running off to fact check. So the first challenge is adhering (or appearing) to the constraints of historical accuracy. 

Author Alison Weir has done a sterling job at building upon the facts of King Henry VIII's first wife that we (at least feel) we already know.  None of what we read here is overblown; Catalina's/Katherine's story is a fascinating one and the re-telling of it has that ... Read Review

The Falls, B. Michael Radburn

Emotion, reaction, damage and recovery are at the core of B Michael Radburn’s dark thrillers. 

In 2011 The Crossing arrived in the Australian crime fiction landscape, combining aspects of the supernatural with the story of Taylor Bridges as he dealt with the extremes of grief, guilt and loss after the disappearance of his young daughter. Radburn’s second book, Blackwater Moon (2012), is part crime fiction, part thriller, again presenting men in the extremes of emotion. The benefits of men mentoring boys, and friendship and guidance from ... Read Review

Tell the Truth, Shame the Devil, Melina Marchetta

Sometimes a book just simply drops out of nowhere straight into the best of the year list with minimal fanfare. TELL THE TRUTH, SHAME THE DEVIL is undoubtedly going to remain one of the best things I've read this year for a whole lot of reasons.

The publisher website has this summation:

"With its cast of unforgettable characters, social insight and wry wit, Tell the Truth, Shame the Devil is an irresistible novel about human identity, lost children and the nature of real love."

Nails it really. TELL THE ... Read Review

Roger Rogerson, Duncan McNab

Even if you've only had a very fleeting interest in the goings on of one of Australia's most (in)famous cops, then ROGER ROGERSON is going to be an extremely intriguing read. Whilst it's the story of the man, and the myth that developed around him, it's also an important reminder of how that sort of myth building can skew law, order and society behaviour. For all the "bit of a rogue / hail fellow well met" persona that Rogerson built around himself, he shouldn't be a bit of a celebrity, or a figure of gentle affection for anybody and this book shows you exactly why.

McNab ... Read Review

Never Never, James Patterson & Candice Fox

James Patterson has been working with a number of crime writers recently, producing these co-authored books, so it's hard not to read each one playing a sort of "who wrote what" game in your head. Candice Fox, as Australian's all know, is the author of a brilliant series of crime fiction books of which the first (Hades) won the best first novel, and the second  ... Read Review