One Last Dram Before Midnight

One last dram before midnight is a collection of seven short stories by Denzil Meyrick, author of the DCI Daley series of crime books. Four of the stories I had read previously as e-books or as a novella while the last three were prepared for this book.

Dalintober Moon was originally written as a fundraiser for the restoration of Dalintober Beach and published as an e-book. When a body is revealed on the beach by the tide DCI Daley is called in to investigate and discovers the story of a long-held family feud.

Empty Nets and Promises is set in the 1960s when fishing in seas near Kinloch was a major industry. However, this season there are few fish to be found. A young Hamish and his skipper, Sandy Hoynes specualte on the cause and devise a plan to resolve the situation with almost drastic results.

Two One Three and Single End are two stories set in Glasgow in the early days of Jim Daley's career in the police force. Two One Three is about Jim Daley's introduction to the CID and also to Brian Scott. In Single End Brian Scott finds himself in serious danger when revisiting associates from his past.

The three new stories are One Last Dram before Midnight, a story revolving around a jet necklace usually held in the local museum but about to go on short-term loan to London, The Silent Man, the hunt for an elderly man who has disappeared while Strangers examines reactions of the Kinloch community when a family of refugees arrives in their midst. 

All in all an interesting, readable and often humorous collection of stories throwing new light on the DCI Daley series and the characters in the community of Kinloch.

The Brisbane Line

Sergeant Joe Washington is in Brisbane in 1943 with the American Army. His role is to investigate crimes committed by American soldiers in the town but he has been warned not to interfere with investigations by the Australian police. He is currently investigating the disappearance of items from American stores, probably to be sold on the black market.When an American soldier is found murdered he becomes involved in that investigation as well especially as the Australian detective who is meant to be leading the investigation appears to be creating a cover for the potential murderer by arresting another person.

This is a work of fiction but J P Powell in her book, The Brisbane Line, has vividly described life in Brisbane when the Americans came to town and the mistrust that occurred between many Australians and members of the American Army. This book also provides an insite into the beginnings of the literary publication, Meanjin, and characters include literary figures including Judith Wright and Thea Astley. Frank Bischof, another character, was in the police force at the time and eventually became Police Commissioner until his sudden retirement when charges of police corruption were raised.

A number of other novels have been written about life in Brisbane during the Second World War including Meet me at Lennons.

Black Tudors: the untold story

Black Tudors by Miranda Kaufmann was written to dispel the myth that black people only migrated to England in the twentieth century. Using historical records she pieces together the stories of ten people of African origin living in the UK during the Tudor and early Stuart reigns. 

John Blanke, a trumpter; Jacques Francis, a salvage diver; Diego, the circumnavigator with Drake; Edward Swarthye, the porter; Reasonable Blackman, the silk weaver; Mary Fillis, the Moroccan convert; Dederi Jaquoah, the Prince of River Cestos; John Anthony, Mariner of Dover; Anne Cobbi, the Tawny Moor with the Soft Skin and Cattelena of Almondsbury, Independent Singlewoman are the ten case studies chosen. These are only a sample of the Africans living as free people in England at this time but their stories combine to explain attitudes to Africans as part of the general community at the time and their place in British history.

The book is based on Miranda Kaufmann's studies for a PhD and was also used in a Future Learn course - Black Tudors -  run by Miranda Kaufmann which I did earlier this year.

Moonlight and the Pearler's Daughter

Eliza Brightwell and her family come to Western Australia from England in 1886 when Eliza is 10. Her father wants to try his luck in a new enterprise so he decides to settle in Bannin on the coast to try his hand, with his brother, as a pearler. Most of the events in the book occur ten years later.

In Moonlight and the Pearler's Daughter, Lizzie Pook has based the setting of her book on settlements such as Broome and the conditions of the pearling industry that existed at the time. The characters and plot though are purely fictional.

When the fleet of pearling boats returns to harbour for shelter from the approaching wet season, Eliza's father's boat returns without her father aboard. Her brother, who was also on the ship, says that he does not know what has happened to her father. Local residents are convinced that he must be dead and the local policeman decides that an Aboriginal crew member must be responsible, even though he was not aboard that ship when Eliza's father disappeared. Eliza is convinced that her father is still alive and with the assistance of Alel and Quill she sets out on a lugger determined to find him.

In places the book can be described as bleak as the author describes the drunkedness and drug taking that many of the crew members of pearling luggers indulge in when onshore. Violence abounds as well as superiority complex among some white settlers in regard to people of other nationalities, plus general racism especially towards Aboriginal people. A group of white women in the town have formed their own exclusive group to which Eliza has no wish to join. 

However Eliza does have the friendship of Min, Axel and Quill and is determined to live her own life in her own way, ignoring those who want her to conform.

The Torrent

Northern New South Wales is well known for periods of heavy rain resulting in flooding and unfortunately it is not unusual for people to lose their lives, especially when trying to cross flooded rivers. 

In The Torrent by Dinuka McKenzie, Detective Sergeant Kate Miles is asked to review a case where a man recently drowned in a fast flowing river. He and his wife had tried to cross a river ford in their car which was consequently swept downstream. The two passengers ended up in the water. The wife was able to escape but her husband did not survive the ordeal. The coroner's report was accidental death by drowning. Some months later a decision is made to reinvestigate the case to ensure that proper procedures were followed in the initial investigation.

Kate and her team are also investigating a robbery at a McDonald's store where a staff member was attacked. The three offenders wore masks making identification difficult but it is believed that they attend a local secondary school. The girl who was attacked is the daughter of a local councillor who places additional pressure on the investigating team by going to the press.

These two cases are passed on to Kate and her team in the week before she is due to go on maternity leave. As well as trying to solve the case she also needs to bring her replacement officer up to speed.

I really enjoyed reading this fast paced book. Fortunately this is a long weekend so I was able to spend the time reading without interruption.  The Torrent is Dinuka McKenzie's first novel. The second book in the Detective Kate Miles series is due to be published next year.

Violetta

 

Violetta was born in 1920 during the Spanish Flu pandemic and in 2020 sets out to write an account of the family story for her grandson. The book is set in an un-named country which is probably Uruguay. Violetta's family was well off but her father concentrated on the next deal instead of ensuring that the family finances were safe. Consequently the family fortune was lost during the 1930s depression and they had to relocate to an isolated part of the country to start a new life.

The novel, Violetta, by Isabel Allende is the story of a family struggling to survive through difficult political times including dictatorships and political interference from other countries. It is also the story of women gaining control of their lives instead of being constantly under the power and the will of the men in their lives. Violetta has a series of relationships, some of which she recounts. Violetta is determined to earn and keep her own money in order to survive. As she ages Violetta reaccesses what is truely important in her life.

This is a compasionate story of a woman's struggle to survive, despite the odds; the power and importance of family and the struggle of the population of a country trying to determine a better life.

The Winter Dress

In 2014 divers discovered the remains of a chest in a ship that sank off the coast of the Dutch island, Texel, in the 17th century. When the contents were examined the most surprising find was a silk dress. Who had owned it, how had it ended up on a sunken ship and how had it survived all those years under water? In this work of historical fiction Australian author, Lauren Chater, has imagined a possible story about the survival of the dress which she intertwines with a story of textile historian Jo Baaker's attempt to solve the mystery.

In The Winter Dress, alternating chapters tell the story of Anna in 1651 and Jo.  Anna lived in Amsterdam where she works as a washer-woman, a very different life from the life she was born into before her father lost his money. Then she was offered a position as a companion the the artist Catharina van Shurman (possibly based on Anna Maria van Shurman, a Dutch artist, engraver and poet). One of the few possessions that Anna owns is a beautiful silk dress once owned by her mother. Anna wears the dress when she accompanies Catharina to important social functions and meets people who have escaped Cromwell's England.

Jo Baaker was born on Texler but after the death of her parents moved to Australia. When Bram, a childhood friend on Texler, contacts her to tell her of the find that he and some other divers had made she agrees to immediately travel to Texler to examine the dress. As well as having the opportunity to try and discover the long forgotten story of the find, Jo also is able to finally come to terms with the memories of her previous life with her family at Texler.

A list of suggested Book Club questions is provided at the end of the book.

More information:

'Perfect' 17th century dress rescued from the sea displayed in Dutch expo - 9 News

The Little Wartime Library

The Little Wartime Library by Kate Thompson is a work of fiction based on actual events. Bethnal Green's first permanent library opened in 1922 financed by Andrew Carnegie. Then in September 1940 a bomb crashed through the roof of the building destroying the library. The Bethnal Green Underground was half completed at the start of the war but when the bombing of London began the local community took possession of the underground area. Tiers of bunks were installed where those whose homes had been destroyed could stay and a small underground community evolved including a nursery, theatre space and a library.

The characters in the book are fictional but the novel conveys the local community spirit that existed in that time of danger when so many people not only lost their homes and possessions but also members of their families in London, as well as those fighting overseas.

Clara Button was the children's librarian in the old library but she is now in charge of the underground library, assisted by close friend, Ruby Munroe. Together, with the assistance of many of the library patrons, they provide a service for those who need a distraction from what is occuring above ground. In the novel we meet a range of characters, including the children who swarm to the library for storytime each evening. The novel examines what reading and libraries mean to people.

But the war is never far away and the reader is constantly reminded of not only the impact of recent events on a close knit community but also devastation of the war overseas and its affects on families at home.

Throughout the novel the importance of books and libraries is stressed and at the beginning of each chapter there is a quote from librarians who comment on the importance of libraries and of reading. At the end of the book the author includes a history of the real Bethnal Green Library which was recently closed to become a COVID-19 Vaccine Trial Centre. During recent years library services have been reduced or removed from many communities in the UK and a campaign was launched to ensure that Bethnal Green Library would reopen again. At the back of the book there is also a detailed section on the campaign to save public libraries and a detailed bibliography providing information about books about libraries as well books mentioned in the novel.

The Little Wartime Library is definitely one of the best books that I have read this year.