The Children of the King

London in 1940 and there is fear in the country that invasion by the German army is imminent. France is already under German control. Will England be next? Thousands of children are being sent from London to the countryside, and in some cases overseas, where it is hoped that they will be safe if the Germans start bombing England. Cecily Lockwood, aged 12 and her 14 year old brother, Jeremy, leave London with their mother to stay with their uncle at Heron Hall. The train taking the family to the north of England also carries many other children, evacuees from London. One of these evacuees, ten year old May Bright, is chosen to stay with the family.

While exploring the area, May and Cecily discover two boys dressed in strange clothes among the ruins of nearby Snow Castle. Later Cecily's Uncle Peregrine begins to provide installments of a legend from the area involving the life of Richard III and the political unrest and battles occuring in England at the time. Peregrine asks them to remember that the story, as well as the current events occuring during the war, is about Power.

Themes throughout the book include the effects of war on families and individuals, the class differences in England and that events from the past, especially the quest for power, keep occuring throughout the ages. The story about the Lockwood family is interspersed with chapters about events that may have happened 460 years earlier. Peregrine is careful to point out to the children that the full facts of what happened at that time are not known.

The Children of the King by Sonya Hartnett is the set book for English in my grand-daughter's year 8 class in 2023. The book contains many opportunities for discussion, particularly as the quest for political power over other countries continues today . 

The book was first published in 2012, the year that Richard III's body was discovered buried in a carpark. Therefore one of many of the legends about Richard III, that his remains were thrown in a river, has now been disproved. 

Exiles

In Exiles by Jane Harper, Aaron Falk is visiting friends in the wine region of South Australia where he has agreed to be godfather to their young son. The baptism had been postponed for twelve months when Kim, a family member, disappeared leaving her young baby in her pram in a car park. Kim was still missing a year later.

Six years earlier Dean Tozer had been killed in a hit and run accident while walking his dog near a reservoir. His body was found six months later but the case was never solved.

Aaron is a member of the Australian Federal Police investigating financial crime. Two of the guests at the house are also policemen so the inability for the local police to solve the disappearance of one person and the death of another in a small rural community is a topic of discussion. 

The Marralee Valley Food and Wine Festival is being held providing the opportunity to canvass whether anyone has new evidence, particularly regarding Kim's disappearance. Kim's daughter, Zara, and Dean's son, Joel, have joined forces to try and discover what happened to their parents and why.

As family members arrive for the baptism, Aaron tries to analyse who may be withholding relevant information. He and another policeman, Greg Raco, go over what is known in an attempt to discover new information. They come to the conclusion - We see what we expect to see. Someone knows what happened and has misdirected police. What is the true story and what really happened to Kim?

Jane Harper has provided a slow moving description of a family living in a small rural community. The novel explores family dynamics and the unease that can exist in family relationships. The environment also has a powerful influence in the novel.

In Marralee Aaron renews his frienship with Gemma Tozer and is faced with a life changing decision. Another Australian novel well worth reading.

Shortlisted for the 2023 Australian Book Industry Awards - General Fiction

The Death of Remembrance

The tenth volume in the DCI Daley series by Denzil Meyrick does not disappoint. In The Death of Remembrance events encountered in the past of Jim Daley and Brian Scott in Glasgow impact once again on their lives in the small community of Kinloch.

Brian Scott has started drinking again and finds himself in a brawl in the local pub. This results in his suspension from the police force while his conduct is investigated. Later, Brian remembers that he recognised a person from his past in the pub that night - Hugh Machie who had been involved in a Glasgow crime syndicate. Unfortunately, when he tells James Daley about seeing Machie the report of the sighting is ignored due to Brian's condition at the time.

Shreya Dhar is sent to Kinloch to assist DCI Daley while Brian is out of action. She is also interested in investigating Ian Macmillan. a Canadian who may have criminal links. Hamish is convinced that Macmillan was behind the death of his friend Annie and informs James Daley of his visions. 

Chapters in the book include flashbacks to the Glasgow crime scene from the late 1970s and its connections to the police force. References to some of these events have occurred in earlier books but more detail is provided in this novel. With Hugh Machie being the last of the syndicate alive what remembrance is going to remain of the reign of the Machie family.

Like the other books in this series of tartan noir, a feature of the novel is the description of the characters, their strengths, weaknesses and challenges as well as the community of Kinloch.

Dashing through the Snowbirds

Christmas is fast approaching so why not read a Christmas themed crime book and enjoy the company of Meg Langslow and her family and friends once again. Dashing through the Snowbirds is the 32nd book in the Meg Langslow Mystery series and the sixth book in the series with a Christmas theme.

Just before Christmas a team of Canadian forensic genealogists arrive at Caerphilly to work on a project with the Mutant Wizards, a company owned by Meg's brother. The Canadians are resident at Meg and Michael's home as well as some members of Meg's extended family. It is therefore full house. Meanwhile Meg's father is working on a surprise for the family, the construction of an an ice rink in a nearby paddock.

Unfortunately the leader of the Canadian team has a number of enemies and when he is found murdered there are many possible suspects to be investigated. Fortunately all is resolved so that all the family can enjoy a white Christmas with enough snow for sleigh rides by the end of the book. Donna Andrews has provided another fun read for the Christmas season.

Three Pines

Last night I watched the first two episodes of Three Pines, a television series based on the novels by Louise Penny. The first two episodes were based on the second novel in the series, A Fatal Grace also published under the title Dead Cold.

When C C de Poitiers is murdered at Three Pines, Chief Inspector Gamache and his team discover that she has many enemies as they investigate her murder. Set in Quebec in Canada in the middle of winter the two TV episodes that tell the story also investigate the fate of a young indigenous girl who has disappeared. The episode gradually introduces the viewers to some of the main characters in the books including Armand Gamache, Jean Guy Beauvoir, Isabelle Lacoste, Ruth and the other characters that inhabit the village of Three Pines. No doubt we shall see more of them in coming episodes.

Three Pines puts a darker lens on Louise Penny Series - Crime Reads

Episodes 3 and 4 are based on The Cruellest Month, the third novel in the Armand Gamache Mystery series by Louise Penny. Armand Gamache and his team investigate the disappearance of a man last seen in the former home for indigenous children in Three Pines. They eventually locate his body hidden in the basement of the former school. The history of mistreatment of children attending the school is uncovered as police investigate the murder. Armand and Isabelle continue their investigations (from the previous episodes) into the disappearance of an another girl.

Episodes 5 and 6 are based on A Rule Against Murder, the fourth novel in the Armand Gamanche Mystery series. Armand Nad his wife are celebrating their wedding anniversary at a hotel when a body is found. The hotel is owned by members of the Morrow family. Meanwhile investigations continue into the disappearance of the missing indigenous girl, Blue. The young man who has been helping Isabelle Lacoste with the enquiries is found dead.

Episodes 7 and 8 are entitled The Hangman. A man visiting the village is found hanged in the nearby forest. He had previously accused residents of Three Pines of hiding a secret. When the bodies of two young people are found in the forrest, Armand and his team discover police involvement in their deaths.

Three Pines was a gripping series to watch however the portrayal of the residents of Three Pines, a focal point of the novels, was missing from the television series. Aspects from plots of the early novels were included with the running story of the mistreatment of indigenous Canadians - a plotline created for the television series. The series was worth watching but to fully appreciate the atmosphere of the community of Three Pines you need to read the novels.

Going Rogue

Going Rogue by Janet Evanovich is number 29 in the Stephanie Plum series. Stephanie arrives at the office to discover that Connie is not there and is not answering Stephanie's calls. Connie's mother confirms that Connie left for work so where is she? Lula arrives and does not know where Connie is either. Then Stephanie receives a call demanding that a coin given to Vinnie as collateral for bail be handed over in return for Connie who has been kidnapped. The man who originally owned the coin has been murdered and Vinnie has lost the coin. The hunt is therefore on to locate the coin and to to find those responsible for kidnapping Connie.

Assistance in the hunt is provided by Lula, Grandma Mazur, Ranger and and his team and also Morelli. Lots of action, lots of humour throughout the book as the Stephanie and Co. hunt for the kidnappers and also persuade a few bail absconders to apply for a new trial date. Another entertaining read from Janet Evanovich.

The Museum of Modern Love

The Museum of Modern Love by Heather Rose is a work of fiction based around an exhibition, The Artist is Present, at the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 2010. For seventy-five days Marina Abromovic sat in a chair facing a member of the audience while other audience members watched. People queued for hours for the experience of silence with the artist.

In the novel the author examines the lives and reactions to the exhibition of a group people facing loss and or challenges in their lives. It shows how art in its various forms can affect people's lives and perhaps reconsider their actions. It is also a story about love.

 Wikipedia article about Marina Abramovic

The Book-seller's Apprentice

Set in 1871 The Book-seller's Apprentice by Amelia Mellor is the prequel to The Grandest Bookshop in the World.  Twelve year old Billy Pike has to find a job to help his family pay the bills. He replies to an advertisement for the job as a book-seller's apprentice at Coles book stall in Paddy's Market in central Melbourne. Mr Cole wants to employ someone around sixten but agrees to give Billy the opportunity to work with him. 

Billy meets a young girl his own age, Kezia Nobody, who warns Billy about the dangerous Obscurosmith who frequently visits the market tempting people to make a deal with him. For much of the book Billy and Kezia work together to defeat the Obscurosmith and prevent him from threatening people working in or visiting the market.

There are lots of descriptions of the stalls and some of the entertainers who frequent Paddy's Market which really was the location of the first Coles book-selling enterprises. But this is basically a book of fantasy with lots of magic, lots of riddles and also tension as Billy and Kezia race aginst time to defeat the Obscurosmith. Written for children 10 + years it is a fun book for teenagers and adults to read as well.

Shortlisted for the 2023 Australian Book Industry Awards - Book of the Year for Younger Children 7-12 years.

The winner of the 2023 ARA Historical Novel Prize – Children and Young Adult (CYA) Category.

The Marriage Portrait

Tradition in wealthy Renaissance families was that shortly after the wedding a portrait should be made of the bride. The Duke of Ferrara arranges for a well known painter to make such a portrait of his new wife. Fifteen year old Lucrezia di Cosimo had married Alfonso II d'Este, Duke of Ferrara, in 1560 and left her family in Florence to live in Ferrara. She was allowed to take Emilia with her as her maid. Lucrezia loves to draw and paint and also explore the world outside her home but she soon discovers that she is expected to remain inside. Her main role as Alfonzo's wife is to produce a son and heir for the family. It is not long before Lucrenzia discovers that there are two sides to her new husband - one charming and caring; the other sinister and cruel. She also learns that she must not disobey her husband. A year after her marriage, Lucrezia begins to fear that her husband plans to murder her.

The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O'Farrell is a work of fiction loosely based on the true relationship between Lucrezia di Cosimo and Alfonzo II D'Este. A year after their marriage Lucrezia was found dead and her husband was suspected of murdering her. In this novel the author paints a graphic picture of the life of young women brought up in ruling families during the Renaissance.

The Three Lives of Alix St Pierre

In 1943 Alix St Pierre is recruited to join the OSS (Office of Strategic Services), an American intelligence agency. She is sent to Bern in Switzland from where she works with partisan groups in Italy. Alix is American but spent a year at finishing school in Switzerland before returning home to work in advertising agencies. Her parents died when she was thirteen so she has had to learn to be independent to survive. She is also fluent in several European languages which is why she was appointed to the position in Bern.

Then one of the operations she was supervising was sabotaged resulting in the deaths of all but one of the men taking part in the secret mission. Years later Alix is still trying to come to terms with this disaster and her part in it.

In 1946 Alix works in Paris for Christian Dior, publicising his first fashion collection. She has become aware that she is being followed as events from the past haunt her again. In order to live a 'normal' life she must learn to trust again and accept help from others. Only then can she decide her future.

In The Three Lives of Alix St Pierre Natasha Lester has written another work of historical fiction set during World War II. Although a work of fiction much of the story is based on fact. This is explained by the author in the notes at the end of the book. Fashion again features strongly, especially descriptions of some of the dresses in Dior's first collection in February 1947.

Relationships is a dominant theme throughout the book, particularly power generally granted to men over women in their ordinary lives. Alix knows that this is not how she wants to live. Once again Natasha Lester has written another thought provoking historical novel set during the Second World War.

The Bullet that Missed

This book arrived at the library the day before we were to set out for the National Over-70s Cricket Championships in Launceston. A book set in a retirement village with a group of older characters solving cold cases and preventing murders was the perfect book to take on such a holiday.

The Bullet that Missed is the third book in the the Thursday Murder Club mystery series by by Richard Osman. Once again Elizabeth, Joyce, Ron and Ibrahim investigate a cold case - a ten year old mystery  into what happenened to television journalist, Bethany Waites, whose body was never found after her car was found in the sea at the bottom of a cliff. 

But Elizabeth and her fiends are also in danger from another source. Elizabeth has been receiving mysterious, threatening messages. She is later instructed to kill a specific target or be killed. How can she protect her friends?

The four members of the Thursday Murder Club recruit additional helpers to assist them in their investigations. Meanwhile romance is in the air for Donna and Bogdan and between Pauline and Ron. This book is another enjoyable, amusing addition to the Thursday Murder Club series.

A Keeper

Elizabeth Keane returns to Ireland after the death of her mother, primarily to check on the family home which will need to be sold. But when she discovers a box of letters in a box in her mother's wardrobe, Elizabeth becomes aware that her past may be very different from what she has been told. Then the family solicitor asks her to come and see him about a codicil in her mother's will. Elizabeth realises that while she is in Ireland she needs to investigate her family story. Alternate sections of the book provide the backgound to Patricia Keene's story.

A Keeper By Graham Norton is largely about relationships and the effect that grief can have on a family. Norton also explores how parents being over protective of their children can lead to unforseen consequences.

Botany Bay the story of the convicts transported from Ireland to Australia 1791-1853

Around 45,000 Irish convicts were transported to Australia between 1791 and 1853. Most of them were transported in the 212 convict ships which sailed mainly from Dublin or Cork. In Botany Bay, Con Costello provides some of the background to the story of these Irish convicts - what were the conditions in Ireland at the time, trial of prisoners, imprisonment and transportation and what the convicts could expect in their new land. My special interest is in the convicts involved in the 1798 uprising in Ireland which is covered in chapter 2.

The Tilt

Cadell Tilt is a mysterious place. Nell Buchanan returns to her home town on the Murray River when a skeleton is discovered after a river regulator has been breached. This is obviously not a recent death and the chances of solving the case is not great. However, as Nell and Ivan Lucic investigate they uncover crimes dating back to the Second World War when the area was a camp for Italian Prisoners of War. More bodies are discovered, possibly from different time periods. 

As Nell investigates she learns more about her family. She also begins to supect that family members may have been involved in the mysterious deaths. This is not just an investigation of past crimes. During the investigation, Nell inadvertently discovers that another crime is being planned in the area.

The telling of the story alternates time periods from the present day, 1973 and events that occurred in the early 1940s. It covers several generations with members of the families still living in the area. It becomes apparent that there have been cover-ups but why?

The Tilt by Chris Hammer is an absorbing Aussie Noir crime novel. This is one book that once you start reading it you will want to continue reading to the end of the novel. There is also a family tree at the end of the book if you want to check the interconnections of the characters in the story. I really enjoyed reading this book.

Books by Chris Hammer in this blog.

Shortlisted for the 2023 Australian Book Industry Awards - General Fiction

In the Midst of Winter

It is the middle of a very cold winter in New York when Richard Bowmaster's car runs into the car in front of him. He gives his details to the young driver and goes home. Later Evelyn Ortega appears at his house asking for help. She speaks little English so Richard calls a neighbour, Lucia Maraz, who speaks Spanish to asist him when communicating with Evelyn.

In the Midst of Winter by Isabel Allende tells the stories of the lives of these three different people and how they came to be in New York that winter. The reader learns of the former lives of the characters as Richard and Lucia seek ways of assisting Evelyn who borrowed her employer's car without permission and then found a body in the boot.

Isabel Allended began writing the novel in 2015 when Donald Trump was promising to build a wall to prevent illegal entry into the USA from countries to the south. Evelyn is an illegal immigrant and much of the book deals with her experiences - why she was forced to leave her country and the challenges that she faced into getting in America. Lucia also left South America looking for a new life while Richard had lived in South America for many years before returning north. This book is primarily a moving story about people who are attempting to escape danger and tragedy to rebuild their lives.

The Diplomat

When Edward Degraves returned home to Melbourne after five years in London he was not sure what his future held. He and Gertrude fled to London after their involvement in the theft of the Weeping Woman from the National Gallery of Victoria in 1986. In London they managed to exist from the money paid by creating paintings attributed to a fake artist and through taking drugs. Before returning to Australia, Edward spent time in detox. Once out of detox he discovered that Gertrude was dead and that thieves had stolen most of their belongings. All he had left was cash and a quantity of drugs from their last sale and the urn containing his wife's ashes. He now had to confront family members and try to explain what happened. He also had to sell the heroin he had brought back to Australia.

The Diplomat by Chris Womersley is a study of how Edward copes with grief and regret as he begins the new challenges of  living without Gertrude and drugs. The book also has chapters which show the life led by Gertrude and Edward in London and how Edward found himself in his present situation. 

Gertrude and Edward were also characters in Cairo by Chris Womersley and The Diplomat continues the story of those characters. Like Cairo the novel also focuses on suburbs of inner Melbourne, in this case Brunswick and St Kilda, the location of the Diplomat Motel in Ackland Street.

The Shadow Killer

In 1940 Britain occupied Iceland to deter Germany from invading the country. In 1941 the defence of Iceland was transferred to the Americans who at the time were not involved in the war. The Shadow Killer by Arnaldur Indridason is a sequel to The Shadow District.

In Reykjavik in August 1941 the body of a man is found in a basement flat. He had been shot, execution style, with a military firearm. Detective Flovent investigates and discovers that the murdered man is not the owner of the flat. So, who is he and why was he murdered? A military policeman, Thorson, working for the American army assists with the enquiry as it is suspected that the murderer may have connections with the armed forces.

Themes occuring in the novel include possible espionage for the Germans, an illegal experiment conducted on young boys at a school, the mistrust of many Icelanders towards the military occupiers - especially in regard to their involvement with Icelanic women - and the mistrust of the military hierarchy of the Reykjavik police investigation. Flovent and Thorson encounter danger and prejudice as they endeavour to discover the truth.

The Wrong Woman

Vince Reid is a private investigator returning to a community he had left under a cloud many years previously. There has been a car accident resulting in the death of the passenger and the hospitalisation of the driver. An insurance company has hired Vince to investigate whether it really was an accident. Eshana Stiles was the driver of the car. She is in a coma when Reid arrives in town.

The story unfolds via alternate stories - Reid telling the story in present time while Eshana's story reveals past events leading to the time of the crash. Both stories are told by the protagonists. The reader gradually learns of the events in the lives of both Reid and Eshana.

 The Wrong Woman is set in Manson, a small country town in the USA. When Reid arrives in Manson he learns that two teenage girls are missing and soon wonders if there are connections between the disappearances and his case. Then a twist in the story leaves Reid questioning why he has really been asked to investigate the car crash.

The Wrong Woman is written by New Zealand born author, J P Pomare who now lives with his family in Australia. He has written a number of novels including The Last Guests.

1989

Ten years on and Allie Burns is working in Manchester as the northern news editor of the Sunday Globe, a newspaper in a chain of publications owned by Ace Lockhart. Her partner, Rona, is working as a freelance journalist. Meanwhile Allie investigates many of the main stories occuring in 1989 including the memorial service for those killed in the Lockerbie bombing, the Hillsborough Disaster and the search for a cure for HIV and AIDS in England and Scotland. The imminent break-up of the Soviet block into independent states is also a theme of the book.

When Allie investigates a story concerning a clinical trial with AIDS patients conducted by a drug company initially in England but then in East Germany, she heads off to Germany to find the full story and danger. Later, Ace Lockhart is found dead at his island retreat. Allie uncovers a story about Lockhart's past that leads to her learning about how and why he died and she must decide how much of the story should be revealed.

1989 by Val McDermid is a novel about corruption on a number of fronts. It also reminds us of major historical events that occurred in that year and still impact our lives today.

Round up the usual peacocks

Meg's mother is busily organising the wedding for her son, Rob, with the assistance of the bride's mother and all the family members that she can convince to help her. Meg. of course, has a long list of things that her mother wants her to do but everything changes when her nephew, Kevin asks for Meg's assistance. 

Kevin and his friend, Casey, have started a podcast focussing on local cold cases. However when someone tries to unsuccesfully run down Casey in a car, Kevin is worried that they will try again. He asks for Meg's help to find the perpetrator. Meg's mother reluctantly agrees that Meg should help Kevin in order to avoid any drastic events at the upcoming wedding. Kevin has decided that three of the cold cases podcasts are the most likely to have caused someone to retaliate and he provides Meg with the transcripts as well as links to the actual podcasts.  

Meg's mother wants peacocks to feature in the gardens for the wedding but the family peacocks are molting so Meg is also assigned the task of borrowing some peacocks with feathers for the event. This creates a range of additional problems.

Much of the book involves Meg's investigation of three cold cases, with the assistance of friends, but events involving wedding preparations also feature in the book. Round up the usual peacocks by Donna Andrews is the thirty-first book in the Meg Langslow series and it does not disappoint. Meg's family is certainly not a conventional group of people and there are plenty of laughs for the reader.  Another enjoyable cosy mystery from Donna Andrews.

Black River

A murder during the summer holidays at a private boys' school in Parramatta is investigated by a team of police from Sydney including Detective Sergeant Rose Riley and Detective Chief Inspector, Steve O'Neill. There are similarities in the case to the recent murder of two other women. Was the 'Blue Moon Killer' responsible? When Rose finds journalist, Adam Bowman, in the school grounds she escorts him off the premises but later decides that he may be able to assist the police. Adam had been at the school as a young boy and working with the police brings back memories of the past.

Black River is the first novel by former journalist, Matthew Spencer. Great detail is provided as the police team investigates the case with the assistance of a forensic psychiatrist, Wayne Farquhar. As the investigation continues Adam Bowman is convinced that the nearby river is the key to solving the crime. This is a novel that I wanted to keep reading to discover what happens next. Yet another excellent Australian crime novel.

The Grasse Grudge

Simmy and Christopher return to the Lakes District after a week's holiday abroad. But the holiday feeling does not last long when a business associate of Christopher asks for his help. When Christopher discovers Jonathan's body, Christopher becomes the main suspect. Simmy works with her friends, Ben and Bonnie, to solve the crime and clear her fiance's name, but there is the feeling that he has not told them the full story.

The Grasmere Grudge by Rebecca Tope is set in England's Lake District. One of the features of this series of books (this is number 8 in the Lake District Mysteries) is the descriptions of locations within the Lake District, many that we visited in 2011. 

In this book it soon becomes obvious that many people hold a grudge against the murdered man and are not sorry that he is dead. Although the book is easy to read, events in the plot appear to become confused and after a time some of the characters become annoying. It is not a bad book but not one of the best cosy mysteries that I have read.

The Shadow District

When an elderly man is found dead in his flat, suspicious circumstances are not suspected until the post mortem. Retired detective, Konrad, agrees to assist in the enquiry, especially when newspaper cuttings were found in Stefan Thordanson's (Thorson) flat referring to a murder that had occurred during the war when Konrad was a young boy.

The Shadow District by Arnuldur Indridason, published originally in 2013 then translated into English to be published in 2017, is set in two time frames as the muder of Thordanson is investigated as well as the murders of two young women in the 1940s. 

Thorson and Flovent are the two officers investigating the war-time crimes until they are forced to discontinue the investigation. Their main suspect died in a car accident when he was attempting to escape police custody. However Thorson knows that something had been missed. As Konrad investigates the circumstances of Thordanson's death he becomes convinced that the death is connected to events that occurred 70 years earlier. The files relating to the murders have disappeared. Why and who has ordered the cover-up?

Much of the book is set in Reykjavik during the Second World War when Iceland was initially used as a base by British troops and then by Americans. Distrust of the American forces by much of the population is evident in the novel, especially when American soldiers fratenize with local women. Iceland is also about to become a republic, severing ties with Denmark. This historical background provides another dimension to the story.

Ambleside Alibi

Persimmon Brown (Simmy) has moved to Windermere to establish a florist shop. When she is requested to deliver a bunch of flowers to an elderly lady in Ambleside from a granddaughter the lady did not know existed, Simmy is unaware of the hostility that will be incurred by this simple task, not to mention that  her life will be in danger.

Ambleside Alibi is the second book in the Lake District Series by Rebecca Tope involving Persimmon Brown. Each title in this series is set in part of the Lake District, a picturesque part of England. The author has also written a series of crime novels set in the Cotswolds.

In this series Simmy helps the police with their enquiries assisted by her young shop assistant, Mel, and Ben, a seventeen year old student who wants to study forensic archaeology. When an elderly lady is murdered Simmy is able to provide an alibi for the main suspect. However this also brings Simmy to the attention of the murderer who attempts to eliminate her. The plot in this cozy mystery becomes convoluted in places but eventually all is revealed.

Lying beside you

Lying Beside You is another excellent crime novel in the Cyrus Haven series by Australian author, Michael Robotham. 

Cyrus, a forensic psychologist, is called in to assist in a police investigation when an older man is murdered and his daughter disappears. Her body is later found in a drain. A short time later another woman disappears from a hotel where Evie is working. Investigations show that the two women once worked together as nurses with a third woman who was attacked eight years previously. The man arrested for that attack has just been released from prison but the nurse who was originally attacked is beginning to doubt that Mitch was the person who attacked her.

Elias, Cyrus' brother is given occasional day release from the psychiatric home where he was imprisoned twenty years earlier after mudering his and Cyrus' parents and two sisters. Cyrus has agreed to allow Elias to stay with him with some misgivings. He is also concerned as to how the presence of Elias will affect Evie who also lives at the house.

Evie continues to have problems relating to other people, especially people her age, and continues to have flashbacks to events in her past. However she does strive, sometimes reluctantly, to follow Cyrus' advice and also uses her ability to be able to identify when someone is lying to assist Cyrus in his investigations.

How events from the past affect the thinking and reasoning of people in the present is one of the book's themes as well as providing a study as to how some people attempt to cope with grief many years after the event.

Stone Town

Stone Town by Margaret Hickey is the sequel to Cutters End published last year. Twelve months have passed and Detective Sergeant Mark Artri has returned to Booralama, the small rural town where he grew up in outback South Australia. Mark and his wife are divorced and he is living in his late mother's former home.

One Friday night three teenagers discover the body of property developer, Aidan Sleeth, in the bush. Two detectives arrive from Adelaide to investigate the case but it is soon obvious they are more interested in investigating the disappearance of Detective Sergeant Natalie Whitsed who was thought to have been in the area near Stone Town, close to Booralama. Then Mark is alerted by police headquarters in Adelaide that one of the detectives is thought to have connections with a cime syndicate. A short time later a young cyclist is knocked from his bike in a hit and run incident.

Mark knows the area and the people well and it is soon obvious that the death of Aidain Sleeth has connections to a move to purchase local land for property development, a lucrative activity. 

As he investigates the the cases Mark comes to a better understanding of the importance of community and the support of neighbours prevalent in the small town and the role and the esteem in which his mother was held in Booralama. 

As well as being a crime novel set in an outback Australian environment Stone Town is about the necessity of accepting and understanding grief in order to move on with life.

Treacle Walker

Alan Garner's new novel, Treacle Walker, has been nominated for the short list of the 2022 Booker Prize. I first discovered the work of Alan Garner when I worked as a children's librarian in the late 1960s and early 1970s. I later introduced his children's books to my children and last year my grandson and I read Weirdstone of Brisingamen. I have also read Alan Garner's adult novels.

Treacle Walker is another work of folk tale and fantasy which also explores time and dimensions. Joseph Coppock is a young boy whose vision of the world is flawed due to a lazy eye. His good eye is covered by a patch in an attempt to strengthen the problem  eye. Joe is also recovering from an illness. He wiles away his time reading comics (especially Knockout), collecting birds' eggs and playing with his marbles. Joe' favourite strip in Knockout is Stonehenge Kit the Ancient Brit whose characters Kit, Whizzy the Wicked Wizard and the Brit Basher make appearances in this novel. One constant in Joe's life is that each day Noony, the train passes his house at noon.

One morning the rag-and-bone man, Treacle Walker, appears and he and Joe swap a pair of Joe's old pyjamas and a sheep bone for an old jar which once held cure-all ointment and a donkey stone. A friendship develops between Joe and Treacle Walker. When Treacle Walker allows Joe to play his special musical bone it sounds like a cuckoo, a bird that Joe has wanted to find, and the whistle's call is answered by the call of a cuckoo outside. Joe's quest to locate the cuckoo leads him to pool of water where he meets Thin Amren, a bog creature.

Throughout the novel Joe experiences the intertwining of real and magical encounters, at times through the illusion of a mirror world.

Treacle Walker is a short novel - 150 pages - and readers of other Alan Garner books will recognise illusions to events and objects in some of his other works and also to events in the author's early life. This adds another dimension to the novel but Treacle Walker can lead readers into the fantasy world of Alan Garner without this previous knowledge. This is a book to read slowly and enjoy.

Treacle Walker by Alan Garner a phenomenal late fable - The Guardian 30 October 2021  

Treacle Walker by Alan Garner - the book of a lifetime - The Guardian  1 November 2021

The critic and the clue: tracking Alan Garner's Treacle Walker - Strange Horizons 5 September 2022

Knockout - UK  Comics Wiki

Stonehenge Kit the Ancient Brit - Yesterday's newspapers

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The Miniaturist

Petronella Oortman is eighteen when she marries the successful merchant Johannes Brandt and moves to his family home in Amsterdam in October 1686. Her vision of a happily living in a rich househouse soon disappears when Nella is introduced to her new environment and realises that her prescence is not welcome. She rarely sees her husband who is always involved in his business interests and her husband's sister, Marin, ensures that Nella knows her place in the house. The saving grace is the occasional support from the two servants, Cornelia and Otto.

Then Johannes presents Nella with a wedding present - a large cabinet with nine rooms representing their house. Nella sets out to furnish the rooms of the house with the help of the Miniturist who creates the required minature items. But when strange events begin to occur in her life Nella begins to wonder whether the Miniaturist has powers to warn her of future events or whether the Miniaturist is controlling the events that occur in the house.

Petronella Oortman did live in seventeenth century Amsterdam and did have a large doll's house which she decorated. The doll's house is now in the Rijks Museum. However the rest of the story is fiction based on life in Amsterdam during the second part of the century. Amsterdam was a city of trade and merchants, especially those involved with the VOC - Dutch East India Company. The power of the church was also paramount and this affected the lives of the population, especially those who chose to live a different lifestyle.

A three part television series based on this novel was released in 2017.

More about the doll house of Petronella Oortman:

Hidden women of history - Petronella Oortman and her giant dollhouse - The Conversation.com

Petronella Oortman - Wikipedia

 The true story behind the cabinet doll house in the Miniatruist - Town & Country

A Shock

Set in Camberwell, London, A Shock by Keith Ridgway is a collection of inter-connected short stories usually involving people from the LGBT community. Most of the stories appear to be independent but characters from different stories appear throughout the book and often reveal part of a previous story from a different perspective. The Party and The Song are two such examples. The interwoven stories form a novel. This book won the 2022 James Tait Black Award for Fiction.

The Body in the Library

Recently when watching Pointless, one of the answers on the board was The Body in the Library by Agatha Christie, a title that I knew well but hadn't read, so I borrowed a copy from the library. The book was first published in 1942 and features Miss Marple as one of the characters. Needless to say Miss Marple does solve the crime before the police work out who committed it.

Colonel and Mrs Bantry wake one morning to be told by their staff that there is a body of a young woman lying on the floor in their library. The police are immediately called and Dolly Bantry also contacts her friend, Miss Marple, for her assistance. There is a long list of suspects, especially when it is discovered that the victim had been befriended by Conway Jefferson who had ammended his will leaving her a large sum of money. Then the body of another young girl is found in a burned out car in a quarry. The police and Miss Marple work together to solve the mystery.

An A-Lost for Death

An A-List for Death is the second book in the Poppy McGowan series by Pamela Hart. When visiting her Aunt Mary, Poppy is asked to check on Mary's neighbour, Daisy, who had said that she would visit Mary that morning. When Poppy entered Daisy's appartment she discovers Daisy unconcious in the bathroom. Initially it is thought that Daisy had had a fall but Poppy is not convinced and when Daisy's family arrive on the scene Poppy begins to ask questions.

Poppy finds herself in the media when she is photographed talking to rock star, Nathan Castle (Jonathan Montgomery - Daisy's son), and the tabloids have a field day. Shortly afterwards the photographer is found murdered and Poppy's boyfriend, Tol, is a prime suspect. Then there is the box of poisoned chocolates.

Poppy tries to find out who is responsible for these crimes as well as carrying out her work researching children's television programs for the ABC, ensuring that the renovations on her home are finished and trying to raise money so that she can spend time on an archaeological dig in Jordan with Tol. She also has to decide how she really feels about Tol who leaves for Joran in three weeks.

Pamela Hart has written another action packed, amusing Australian mystery with lots of twists and turns. I look forward to reading the next book in this series.

The Diamond Eye

Reading historical fiction often provides an insight into a little known aspect of history - in this case the story of a Ukrainian born sniper in the Soviet army fighting against Hitler's forces as they attempt to invade Russia. Apart from the fact that the sniper has registered 309 official kills, the sniper is a woman, Mila Pavlichenko. Much of the information in The Diamond Eye by Kate Quinn is based on Mila's autobiography which is interwoven with a fictional account of what also may have happened, especially when Mila was part of a Soviet delegation visiting the USA in an attempt to obtain more support for the Soviet war effort.

At 15 Mila married Alexi Pavlichenko, perhaps the biggest mistake in her life. However the union did produce a son, Slavka. Mila has discovered that she is an excellent sharp shooter and decides to join the army as a sniper to protect her son and her family. Eventually her abilities are recognised, reluctantly by many in the army hierarchy, and she soon earns the respect of her fellow soldiers. 

Meanwhile Alexi, who has refused to sign the divorce papers, joins the army as a surgeon. He is very good at his line of work but he is also a control freak and when news of Mila's talents  begin to become know he wants to share the limelight.

Once in the USA Mila meets Eleanor Rosevelt and her husband as she and the Soviet delegation embark on their promotional tour of America. However Mila soon realises that she is being followed and that  her skills may be required to save her own life.

"Lady Death" of the Red Army - Lyudmila Pavlichenko

Eleanor Rosevelt and the Soviet Sniper - Smithsonain Magazine

Lyudmila Pavlichenko - Wikipedia

Brunswick Street Blues

Brick Brown lives with her adopted uncle at his hotel, the Phoenix, in Brunswick Street, Fitzroy. Brick had been abandoned as a baby, spent time in foster care before Baz adopted her. She works part-time in the pub which is a centre for blues music. During the day Brick works for the local council in the PR Department which she hopes will provide the opportunity for her to obtain background about Council's involvement in some shady real estate dealing in the area. Then Baz disappears and Brick with the help of friends investigates.

Brunswick Street Blues by Sally Bothroyd is an extrememly readable, amusing, crime novel set in inner Melbourne in 2007. Australian Rules Football features along with the Spring Racing Carnival and the Melbourne Cup. Much of the action takes place with Brick and Mitch Mitchell evading the bad guys through the lanes of inner Melbourne. There is an array of zany characters who assist Brick in her quest to locate her uncle, discover more about her early life and find out what is really happening in her neighbourhood. This book was definitely an entertaining read.

Dirt Town

In a small outback town in Australia a young girl disppears. Detective Sergeant Sarah Michaels arrives in Durton, referred to by the locals as Dirt Town, to investigate. Esther was last seen by her friend, Ronnie, on her way home from school. No-one has seen Esther since and there is much speculation in the local community. Everyone knows everybody and many of the residents have grown up in Durton. As the story is revealed so are some of the many secrets of the past.

Haley Scrivenor, the author of Dirt Town, uses a number of voices to tell the story and sometimes different people tell the story from a different viewpoint. Ronnie and her friend Lewis are two of the main voices along with Constance (Esther's mother) and Sarah plus a voice referred to as We (the other children in the town).

This crime novel is very much a study of a community imploding as well as the breakdown of family and other relationships.

In the USA Dirt Town was published as Dirt Creek.

Shortlisted for the 2023 Australian Book Industry Awards - General Fiction

The Rising Tide

A reunion of students held every five years on Holy Island (Lindisfarne) turns into a location for murder. The group first met on the island when they were in 6th form at school, fifty years earlier. Each year Philip Robson, Ken Hampton, and his wife, Louise, Annie Laidler and Rick Kelsall stay at Pilgrim's House for the weekend, go for walks, attend a meditation session at the chapel each evening, eat, consume lots of alcohol and reminisce. 

Rick had recently lost his television job when he was accused of sexual assault by a young intern. However he now had a new project which he revealed to his friends at the retreat - he is going to write a novel based on the events at the first reunion when one of the group drowned while attempting to cross the causeway at high tide. Next morning he is found dead in his room.

When Vera and her team go to the island to investigate they soon discover that there are many secrets to uncover involving an extended range of people associated with the victim, not just those on the island. Vera also wants to know more about the death that occurred forty-five years earlier as it may have a bearing on the present case as well as the assault allegations brought against Rick. As the investigation continues a second murder occurs and Vera and her team discover that they are also in danger.  

The Rising Tide by Ann Cleeves is another excellent installment in the Vera Stanhope series (number 10). The atmospheric setting along with a collection of well drawn characters add to the suspense of finding the murderer before more people die.

This book formed the basis of an episode of Vera shown in Australia the week before Christmas 2023.

The Nurses' War

In 2017 I did some research on Janet Muir Gaff, a nurse during World War I. I later used the research for an assignment for the unit, Families at War as part of the Diploma of Family History run by the University of Tasmania. Since then I have read a number of other books relating to nurses during the First World War.

The Nurses' War by Victoria Purman is a novel based the experiences of nurses at Harefield House (No. 1 Australian Auxillary Hospital) set up as a hospital for Australian soldiers. Cora, Gertie, Leonora and Fiona are four Australian nurses who arrive at Harefield as the transformation from large house to hospital begins to take place. Initially the hospital complex is established to accommodate 150 soldiers however it is not long before 1,000 soldiers are being cared for at the hospital in the temporary accommodation set up in the grounds of the house. 

The nurses have all had experience working in hospitals in Australia but they are not prepared for the horrors that they encounter as the wounded soldiers arrive. Jessie lives in the nearby village where she works with her mother as a seamstress. As the numbers of wounded rapidly increase at the hospital, Jessie offers to help and becomes a valuable member of the team. 

This is the story of how the nurses and other medical staff cope, not just with providing medical care but also in maintaining morale and hope among the wounded men and also the other staff. The novel provides an insight into the suffering and futility of war, not just on the soldiers but also on family, friends and those who care for them.

This is a moving story of friendship, dedication and heartbreak providing an understanding of the effects of war, not just on those actively involved but on the community as a whole.

Cold Cold Bones

Number 21 in the Temperance Brennan series, Cold Cold Bones by Kathy Reichs is this time set in North Carolina. Tempe's daughter, Katy, has returned to civilian life after a number of years in the army including tours of duty overseas. Tempe is worried about her daughter's mental health as she works out what she wants to do in the future. Currently Tempe is working on cases as a forensic anthropologist for the Mecklenberg County Medical Examiner. Her partner, Andrew Ryan, is working on a case overseas.

After Tempe has spent the day helping Katy move into new accommodation they return to Tempe's home where they find a small parcel on the doorstep. It is a human eye. This is the first of a string of events suggesting that someone is copying past crimes that Tempe has previously investigated.With the help of detective Skinny Slidell Tempe investigates the back cases trying to discover the link to determine who is targeting her. Then Katy disappears.

This is a fast moving, readible crime novel with many twists and turns as Tempe, Slidell and Ryan investigate why Tempe is being targeted and who is the perpetrator of the crimes.

Crossing the Lines

Crossing the Lines by Saluri Gentill, published in the USA as After She Wrote Him, is a crime novel with a difference. In 2018 Crossing the Lines won the Ned Kelly Award for crime fiction.

Madeline (Maddie) d'Leon is a writer of crime novels living with her husband, a doctor, in a NSW rural town. Madeline is best known for a series of crime novels featuring a female protagonist but she wants to write a stand-alone crime novel. She wants to write something different. This time, in her new crime novel, her protagonist is a writer of literary fiction, Edward (Ned) McGinnity. Edward McGinnity is also writing a new novel and decides that the protagonist should be named Madeline d'Leon.

As the reader follows the writing of the two books, the plots become to some extent merged as main characters begin to take on a life of their own and intereact with the thoughts and even lives of their authors. The reader is left wondering who is the actual author and who is the protagonist? As she writes this new novel Madeline attempts to include more background and an understanding of her characters as occurs in literary fiction while Ned discovers that as events unfold his literary work is becoming a crime novel. The relationship between Madeline and Edward begins to expand outside the writing of the books.

At one stage (page 31) when Edward is asked about his new story he replies: "It's an explanation of an author's relationship with her protagonist, an examination of the tenuous line between belief and reality, imagination and self, and what happens when that line is crossed."

Later he adds: "The story's about what goes on in her head and how powerful that becomes."

This exploration on the writing of novels is interwoven with solving a crime and a study of relationships. The reader needs to allow plenty of time to read and enjoy this stand-alone novel by the author of the Rowland Sinclair series.

Dancing with the Enemy

Set on Jersey in the Channel Islands in 1940 when the German army takes over the island, the story is told from the perspective of Dr Hugh Jackson who decides to remain on the island to tend to his patients, teenager, Tom Gaskell, who with two friends attempts to escape from the island and ends up being a prisoner of the Germans, and Xanthe Maxwell, a young doctor from Australia who visits Jersey in 2019. Xanthe becomes interested in the history of Jersey during the Second World War when she reads Dr Jackson's diary and meets Bob Blampied who lived in Jersey during the German occupation.

Dancing with the Enemy by Diane Armstrong shows the affects of German occupation of this small island on the citizens of Jersey and how they struggled to survive. It shows how people react in different ways to extreme stress - some risking all to help others while some protect themslves by reporting neighbours to the enemy or working with them. It is a study of survival, loss and of hope. 

While learning of this period of Jersey's history, Xanthe finds family connections to the island and also decides, with the assistance of Daniel, how she wants to approach the next stage of her life.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society is a story of the affects of German occupation on the neighbouring island of Guernsey.

The Woman in the Library

Australian author, Hannah Tigone, is writing a crime novel set in the Boston Public Library. Due to COVID-19 restrictions she is unable to travel to America so an American agrees to read her draft chapters and send any background information that might be required.

The story that Hannah is writing concerns four strangers - Freddie, Marigold, Whit and Cain - who are sitting at the same table in the library when a woman's scream resonates throughout the reading room. Some time later a woman is found dead in an adjoining room.

Freddie, an Australian author on a writing scholarship, decides to base her next book on the events surrounding the scream they heard in the library. Cain is also an author and they soon bond as they discuss writing. Whit is a law student who would rather be a writer while Marigold is a psychology student. The murder forms a bond between the four strangers as they try to find out what really happened, especially as members of the group become suspects.

The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill is a stand alone crime novel by the author of the Rowland Sinclair series. This book is a story within a story but is also the reverse of a locked room senario - this time the crime occurred in an open room in a busy building. As the story unfolds we learn more about the main characters, especially their back story. This is a fast paced crime novel with many twists and turns until the perpetrator of the crime is revealed.

Memorial

Memorial by Bryan Washington is another novel nominated for the James Tait Black Award to be announced in August 2022.

Mike is an over-weight Japanese American chef who works in a Mexican restaurant. His partner, Benson, is a black American with HIV who works in after school care. They have been together, on and off, for four years. Both men have issues with their familes, especially with their fathers. They are also not sure where their relationship is heading.

When Mike discovers that his father is dying in Osaka he decides to go and see him and support him until the inevitable happens. Meanwhile Mitsuko, Mike's mother, arrives from Tokyo and stays with Benson while Mike is away. When Mike returns and announces that he plans to return to Japan to continue to run the family business for a while, he and Benson must decide whether Benson will go with him.

The story is told in three parts - part one and three from Benson's perspective and part two providing Mike's viewpoint. Narrative, without quotation marks is used for much of the book which is OK once you get used to it. There is also a great deal of profanity which does become monotonous.

Gradually we learn about the lives of these two men and about their insecurities. The issues with their disfunctional families are also revealed as the two men gradually decide how they want to live their lives. Attitudes to race as well as to sexual preference is also a theme in the book.

The Murder Rule

The Murder Rule is a stand alone novel by Dervla McTiernan whose first three books were set in Ireland featuring the detective Cormac Reilly.  

The Murder Rule is set in the USA with the main character being Hanna Rokeby who has been accepted as a volunteer on the Innocence Project at the University of Virginia. The project investigates the cases of prisoners who insist that they have been wrongfully convicted and have spent many years in gaol. 

Hanna is primarily interested in the case of Michael Dandridge gaoled for the rape and murder of a young mother. Many years earlier she had read her mother's diary in which she described a relationship she had with Tom Spencer in 1994. She also described how she was raped by Toms' friend Mike Dandridge. Hanna therefore becomes involved at the Innocence Project not to clear Mike but to ensure that he remains in prison.

The chapters in the novel, recounting events fom Hannah's perspective as well as others involved in the investigation in 2019, are initially interspersed with sections of Hanna's mother's diary. As the story evolves it becomes obvious that all is not as it at first appears. Who is telling the truth? What part of the story can really be believed?

Police corruption in a small town and the need sometimes to use unorthodox methods to find the truth are themes in this book about obtaining justice for all. Hannah must also find out who she really is and how she wants to live her life.

The murder rule in the title of the book is the concept existing in parts of America that people should be fully legally responsible for acts they didn't commit, or didn't indend to commit. This concept of felony murder results in many innocent people being sent to gaol.

Libertie

Libertie by Kaitlyn Greenidge is one of the nominations for the James Tait Black award to be announced in August 2022.

Libertie and her mother in America as free women. The story starts during the American Civil War when families and individuals fleeing from persecution arrive in the small community where Libertie and her mother live. Libertie's mother is a doctor and has been assisting refugees for some time. Libertie's mother is also determined that Libertie should also become a doctor and that they should form a mother- daughter medical practice. However Libertie knows that this is not the life she wants to live.

The novel deals with Libertie's struggle to determine who she really is and what she really wants from life. The relationship between mother and daughter is an important theme of the book along with race relations and how people from various walks of life view people who look different or have different beliefs.