Three Reasons for Revenge

Set in Melbourne, Three Reasons for Revenge by Dervla McTiernan is an enthralling crime thriller that begs to be read to the final page with few interruptions. When Detective Sergeant Judith Lee interviews Alexis Turner, a young woman who comes to her with the story of a psychologist  who sexually assaulted her, Judith is not prepared for the drama and danger that is to follow.

The story revolves around three parcels that are delivered to three different people. Initially the parcels appear innocent but before long chaos has ensued for the recipient followed by the deaths of two people and the arrest of a third for murder. Judith realises that ten years ago she interviewed a young woman with a similar story and obviously wants to investigate.

This is very much a character driven novel though different locations in the city of Melbourne and other parts of Victoria feature  throughout the story. There are lots of twists and turns as Judith gradually unravels the convoluted threads being laid by the murderer and events of the past become events of today. Three Reasons for Revenge is definitely a good book to read when you have plenty of time to enjoy reading and can become thoroughly involved in the events of the story as they are revealed.

What Rhymes With Murder?

Frida and Ben have a six month old son, Finn, who they both love dearly. But Frida has trouble adapting to motherhood and is constantly afraid that something might happen to Finn. She sees a psychiatrist regularly and knows that she must make an effort to leave the house and explore the outside world again with her son. However it is not easy.

Then she decides to attend the Baby Rhyme Time session with Finn at their local library. Finn appears to be enjoying the session and Frida begins to relax and chats to some of the parents until there is a scream and a body is discovered in the library. Things like this should not happen in suburban East Melbourne. When Frida tries to work out what actually happened she discovers that a number of other library users also have opinions about how Beatrice died.

What Rhymes With Murder by Penny Tangey is primarily an amusing cosy crime novel that also has a serious side as it also touches on themes of abortion, post-partum depression, anxiety and women’s rights.  The novel follows the attempts of an eclectic collection of amateur sleuths as they investigate the cause of how and why a body landed on the floor of the library. Eventually they join forces in their investigation and, as well as discovering what happens, new friendships are formed.

What Rhymes With Murder is an easy to read crime novel which includes references to parts of East Melbourne that will be familiar to many readers. I suspect that there may be sequels to this book in the future.

Corners of Melbourne

Robyn Annear has written a number of books relating to the history of Melbourne. She is an avid user of Trove and this book results from searching records about Melbourne up to 1899 with the limiter 'at the corner'. This produced a range of incidents within a series of broad themes, many of which appear in this book of anecdotes. The subtitle for the book, Corners of Melbourne, is The great Orange-peel panic and other stories from the streets. Most of the stories revolve around corner locations in the city of Melbourne as well as suburbs such as Collingwood, Fitzroy, Carlton and West Melbourne.

Themes covered in this book include accidents that occurred when people slipped on discarded orange and other fruit skins on the flagstones recently laid in Melbourne, accidents that occurred with horses in overcrowded streets, drinking taps and horse troughs, public urinals rather than small lanes used as toilets, street stalls, speakers on a range of topics on street corners, pick pockets, 'entertainers', card readers etc., hoardings with advertising signs and a variety of entertainment set up on land near street corners. 

One chapter covers larrikins, a term first used in the press in 1870 to describe groups of young men (sometimes women) who congregated together in the streets at night and caused havoc. Some would go on the rampage and damage private and public property. The limited police force had difficulty handing the situation. Reading this chapter made me think that not much has changed considering the behavior of some young people today.

Robyn Annear has written an interesting account of lesser known aspects of life in Melbourne in the nineteenth century.

The Vandiemonians: from penal settlements to Marvellous Melbourne

Ian Morison has used his family story to record part of the early history of Australia. The story starts with the arrival of the first family members, James and Anne Hortle, who travelled with the Third Fleet arriving at Port Jackson in 1791. James was a member of the New South Wales Corps and he and his growing family decided to settle in the colony. In 1804 James and his family accompanied Lieutenant Colonel Paterson to found the new settlement at Port Dalrymple (Launceston). Around the same time another expedition was being organised from London to create a settlement at Port Phillip. This expedition was led by  Colonel David Collins of the Royal Marines. Richard Pitt applied to travel with the party as a free settler. His wife and eldest son decided to stay in England but Richard and his three younger children left England at the end of April 1803. The ships arrived at Port Phillip in October 1803 where unsuccessful attempts were made to establish a settlement. On 30 January 1804 most of the settlers were relocated to a new settlement on the Derwent River - Hobart Town.

Ian Morison describes what it was like living in the two settlements at the north and south of Van Diemen's Land over the ensuing years. The two families are united when Elizabeth Hortle and Philip Pitt marry and settled at Green Ponds. Attempts were again made to settle Port Phillip in 1835 and many from Van Diemen's Land took up land across Bass Strait. The Gold Rush of the 1850s saw many changes in the new colony. Salome Pitt, daughter of Elizabeth and Philip, married Alexander Morison in November 1851 Alexander was a preacher with the Colonial Missionary Society until becoming a minister of the new Independent Church in Melbourne.

The time frame of the book covers the period up to 1880 and, as well as telling the family story, the book provides good background information on what it was like living in the various settlements. There are citations for notes in each chapter at the back of the book as well as well as a bibliography and index.              

Little big town

The subtitle of this book, A Photographic journey through Melbourne's Little Streets and Laneways, describes this work by photographer, Jamie Murcia. Murcia has included a collection of photographs of the lanes, cul de sacs plus the 'little' streets that run parallel to the main streets in the Melbourne grid. The majority of the photographs were taken at night and many explore the effect of light in these locations, street art, culture and subculture and parts of the city many of us never see. A different look at Melbourne.