Crucifixion Creek

Harry Belltree is a detective in the NSW police force. Previously he served as a member of the Australian armed forces in Afghanistan where he saw many deadly events so to some extent becomes immune to the violence that he encounters working in homicide. But Harry is still troubled by the death of his parents in a car crash three years earlier. His wife, who was also in the car, is now blind. Harry knows that this was no accident and is determined to find out who is responsible.

Meanwhile a number of events have occurred in / near Crucifixion Creek and when Harry meets a journalist, Kelly Pool, who is looking for leads for stories he occasionally provides her with leads for stories. Harry is officially restricted in the investigation as his brother-in-law is one of the victims. However he sets out to carry out his own unofficial investigation into what turns out to be a minefield of corruption.

Crucifixion Creek by Barry Maitland is the first book in the Belltree Trilogy. It is a fast paced, often violent, crime thriller that is easy to read and difficult to put down.

Tales of the unexpected

Between 1979-1986 nine series of the television program Tales of the Unexpected were screened on television, later in the evening. Episodes in the television series were based on short stories written by British author, Roald Dahl. Sixteen of the short stories appear in this book. Larger collections of Dahl's short stories have also been published.

Contents include Taste - Lamb to the slaughter - Man from the south -My lady love, my dove - Dip in the pool - Galloping Foxley - Skin - Neck - Nunc Dimittis - The landlady -William and Mary - The way up to heaven - Parson's pleasure - Mrs Bixby and the colonel's coat - Royal jelly - Edward the Conqueror. 

Written as one would expect from Roald Dahl, the stories contain a mix of humour and the macabre with a usually unexpected twist at the end. Although some of the stories appear a little out-dated they provide an easy entertaining read, especially when there is not enough time to read a novel.

I borrowed this book from the library when my grand-daughter was given a list of short stories to read to learn how writers create tension in their stories. 'Lamb to the slaughter' and 'The landlady' were two of the stories on the list.

Killing Moon

Harry Hole had retreated to the United States where he attempts to forget the past by drinking himself into oblivion. But Harry cannot stay out of trouble and when a friend is captured by debt collectors he agrees to take on a job in Norway provided that there is enough money to pay his friend's ransom.

Harry is hired by a business tycoon to help police solve the crime for which the media is blaming him. Two girls who had recently attended the same party have disappeared and eventually are discovered, dead. Who is behind the killings and why? 

Killing Moon by Jo Nesbo is number 13 in the Harry Hole series. The story, as well as murder, includes addiction to drugs and alcohol, drug dealing, child molestation, sexual activities, friendship as ongoing themes. Different sections of the story are interwoven throughout the novel which also includes a series of red herrings to mislead the reader and numerous twists and turns that multiply towards the end of the book. It is indeed a great read and difficult to leave before finishing the novel.

The Librarianist

Bob Comet is a retired librarian living alone in a house inherited after the death of his mother. He spends most of his time reading and going for an occasional walk. On one occasion he comes across an elderly woman standing still gazing at a display in a Seven / Eleven. Bob notices that she is wearing a lanyard which includes the name of the home where she lives so he guides her back to where she belongs. Bob is shown around the home and decides that he may be able to help as a volunteer. 

Gradually Bob gets to know the residents on his regular visits to the home. Then an event occurs that triggers Bob's memories of past events in his life - growing up in the 1940s including a time when he ran away from home, and his relationship with Connie and Ethan.

The Librarianist by Patrick deWitt is a book about self discovery and about relationships. It is about evaluating the events of the past in order to understand life in the present.  This story of the relationships of people sometimes on the edge of society is told with quiet humour.

Demon Copperhead

The winner of the 2023 James Tait Black award for fiction is Demon Copperhead by American author, Barbara Kingsolver. The writing of this book was inspired by Charles Dickens' novel, David Copperfield published in 1850 which traces the life of the main character as he struggles to grow up and survive during difficult times in Victorian England. He gradually learns that despite the difficulties that he faces there are people who will try to help him.

In Demon Copperhead Damen's father dies before his birth and his mother attempts to bring him up in a community of poverty in Virginia. This had been a mining area but by the beginning of the twenty-first century the mines are closed and the people who remain in the area struggle to survive. Much of the population, including Damen's mother, are addicted to a variety of substances and when Damen becomes an orphan he becomes a victim of a foster care system where boys spend time with adults who are only interested in the money they receive for fostering a child, not helping a child in need.  

As in David Copperfield there are people prepared to help Damen but he is not always ready to accept assistance when it is offered. This is a story of poverty, unemployment, drug and alcohol addiction, death and a failed foster care system, but at the end it also a story of survival against all odds.

My father once told me that when reading a book you should read at least forty pages before deciding to go no further. I seriously thought of giving up on this book, especially in the early chapters, but once the author concentrated on letting the main character tell his story in real time, instead of providing description of his environment and early years, I decided to keep reading and did finish this long story. 

The book is only 546 pages but I am sure that it would have been more readable at 300 pages. There is only so much repetition of misery until, in my opinion, it becomes too much. However the many good reviews of this novel show that other readers have a different opinion.

Birder, she wrote

When Meg and her grandmother set out to help a neighbour locate a long forgotten cemetery on his property they also find a recently dead body at the location. As the victim has managed to upset many people in the community Meg and other members of the community assist the police in discovering the murderer. 

The visit of a journalist writing a story about Meg's grandmother for a women's magazine adds further complications to Meg's life as does her father's attempts to establish a beehive in Meg's garden. Mayor Shiffley has also asked beg to investigate complaints from new residents known as the NIMBYS.

Humming birds and bees feature prominently in the thirty-third book in the Meg Langslow Mystery series. Another amusing, relaxing read.

Lenny Marks gets away with murder

Although Lenny Marks gets away with murder by Kerryn Mayne is a crime novel it primarily deals with the conflicts faced by a school teacher, now in her thirties, as she attempts to deal with the mental and physical damage she encountered as a child so she can learn to better relate to the people and situations that make up her life today.

At the age of eleven Lenny was separated from her mother to live first with her grandmother and then with foster carers. Lenny's last memory of her stepfather were the words this is all your fault. During the novel the real events are revealed as Lenny gradually remembers pieces of the story of her childhood and discovers the truth.

Although the novel deals with family violence and the effects of such violence, it is also a study of learning to understand and come to terms with past events in order to live a 'normal' life. It is also about learning who are your real friends and accepting their help.

The Escapades of Tribulation Johnson

The Escapades of Tribulation Johnson by Karen Brooks is definitely a rollicking good story set in Restoration England. With the name of the main character being Tribulation the reader can be reasonably sure that chaos will follow her.  When Tribulation is banished from the family home she moves to London to live with her cousin Aphra Behn, a playwright, writer and one time spy.

In London, the only way that Tribulation can initially earn her living is working in the theatre as an actress or as a prompter. Because she has connections many of the members of the theatre company are jealous and it is not easy for her to become accepted. 

Political unrest abounds in London in 1679. Charles II is back on the throne but there is much discussion regarding who his successor should be. Catholic and anti-Catholic sentiments abound threatening the lives of ordinary people. This is also a time when women are not allowed to assert themselves and give their opinions. Young ladies are expected to be demure and obey the men in the family. As an aspiring writer Tribulation must publish her work as anonymous or use a pseudonym for her own protection.

The theatre scene in London is the setting for much of the book. This work of historical fiction is set out in the style of a play with five acts and scenes within each act. Most of the chapters are narrated by the fictional character of Tribulation Johnson interspersed with occasional chapters by an observer. 

Many of the characters were people living at the time however other characters, including Tribulation, are purely fictional. The novel therefore provides a fictional account of a historical time period. A list of characters at the back of the book indicates characters who are real and those who are fictional.

Online articles about Aphra Behn

Aphra Behn - The British Library

Aphra Behn - Encyclopedia Britannica  

Aphra Behn - Poetry Foundation

The Air Raid Book Club

When Gertie Bingham and her husband, Harry, opened the Bingham Bookshop they did not envisage the impact that this venture would have on the local community. Set mainly during the Second World War, The Air Raid Book Club by Annie Lyons shows the importance of community for survival and the role that books might play in contributing to this sense of community.

When Gertie is first asked by a friend if she will provide a home for a Jewish refugee from Germany she refuses. Gertie is still grieving over the death of Harry and is considering selling the bookshop. She does not need another responsibility. But then she changes her mind and Hedy becomes an important part of her life. 

The experiences of Gertie and her neighbours during the horrors of The Blitz and the subsequent raids cause Gertie and her friends to look for a distraction and, for them, the obvious answer is books. The monthly book club which had been a feature of the shop was transferred to the air raid shelter during times of danger. Discussing books they had read helped those in the shelter to become lost in another world for a short time before they had to face the danger caused by the German bombs.

The novel also focuses on the experiences of refugees such as Hedy whose families remain in occupied countries and also of loved ones fighting overseas in the armed forces. What is happening to them? Will they ever see them again?

The Air Raid Book Club is another welcome addition to recent novels on the experiences of families during war.