The River: a journey through the Murray - Darling Basin

In March I read a copy of Chris Hammer's non-fiction book, The Coast, where he wrote about locations on the eastern coast of Australia. In The River: a journey through the Murray - Darling Basin Chris Hammer records journeys he made in the summer of 2008-2009 to parts of the Australia's important river system. 

As well as the two main rivers in the river system there are many tributaries and river basins that cover a wide area of eastern Australia including southern Queensland, much of New South Wales, northern Victoria and part of South Australia. The importance of the rivers, and water in general, to people living in and working the land in those areas is one of the themes discussed, especially with the controversy about the implementation of irrigation systems in some regions.

As the author's discovery tours took place towards the end of a long drought that affected much of Australia resulting in the implementation of severe water restrictions, the important topics of water supply and water management feature throughout the book. During Chris Hammer's travels we also learn about the history of the regions he visits and how many of the regions have had to adapt or are changing. He interviewed a variety of local residents, each with a view of what was wrong with the rivers and water supply making it obvious that one solution will not please everyone.

As with The Coast, many of the regions visited are places I have visited and also where family members have lived on properties in the past. However this is a book that any Australian should read for an overview of an important part of our country and the country's river systems.

Additional information: 

Millennium Drought (River Murray 2002-2010) -  Dept for Environment and Water

The Drought That Changed Us - ABC 

Son of Nobody

When Canadian scholar, Harlow Donne, has the opportunity to continue his studies at Oxford University he grabs the chance though it means leaving his wife and eight year old daughter, Helen, at home in Canada. When carrying out his research in the library he discovers an excerpt from an Ancient Greek manuscript which appears to be part of an account of the Trojan Wars that differs from Homer's account in The Odyssey and The Iliad. This account appears to be provided from the viewpoint of an ordinary soldier -  Psoas, Son of Nobody. Donne spends the rest of his time in England looking for other clues in order to investigate this alternative version of the story.

 In Son of Nobody, Yann Martel has structured his novel so that the excerpts of the story that Donne discovers are gradually revealed to the reader on the top of some of the pages of the book. A horizontal line divides each page and, in the section below the line, Donne adds footnotes providing explanations and additional information to some of the content. Notes in this section also reveal the deteriorating relationship between Donne and his wife as well as his relationship with his daughter to whom he dedicates the Greek poem he is discovering.

Son of Nobody is a story of parallels illustrating the effects of separation due to war and work plus family relationships as Donne investigates a new telling of a mythical world.

Some reviews: 

Son of Nobody (review) - The Guardian  (20 April 2026)

Ancient texts and marital breakdown: Yann Martel's Son of Nobody descends into implausibility (review) - The Conversation 

 Son of Nobody (review) - Open Letters Review

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.

Dark Desert Road

Australian author, Tim Ayliffe has written a suspenseful novel about a sovereign citizen community in the Riverina district of New South Wales. Dark Desert Road is the story of police officer Kit McCarthy who has been told to take leave as she recovers from working with traumatised children for three years. Kit then receives a message from her twin sister, Billie, who she hasn't been in touch with for ten years. The message is brief - Billie is in danger and she has a child. Kit knows that she must locate her sister and nephew - now.

Sovereign citizen communities have been in the news during the past few years and much of the action of the novel is set in such a community as members wage their war against the government and practically everyone else who does not share their beliefs. Motor bike gangs also feature prominently in the novel as they attempt to avenge the death of one of their members. Kit's father is in prison and is not impressed that he has a daughter who is a police officer. However he is proud of the daughter who married a former US soldier who shares his views that the laws of the land do not apply to sovereign citizens. Despite putting her life in danger Kit is determined to locate her sister and the child she has never met. 

Dark Desert Road is a fast moving thriller that explores bonds in a family that has imploded plus the break-down of society and the rule of law in some communities. Once started, this is crime novel is a book that is difficult to put down until the conclusion is 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.

The Gambler

Private Investigator Vince Reid is on another case when a family friend asks him to investigate why a young girl was murdered. The person who shot Katie was also shot dead and the case is closed but it is not known why anyone would want to kill her.

During the investigation Reid discovers a gambling scam which might be behind the crime, but how could this involve Katie? He also finds links to another murder committed twenty years earlier. What is the connection to the two cases?

The Gambler by New Zealander J P Pomare, who now lives in Australia, is a fast paced crime novel set in America. The story is primarily told from the perspective of Reid who is investigating the case, Katie the victim and Barbara who pulled the trigger along with occasional links to the earlier crime. It is another crime fiction novel well worth reading.

The Celts: search for a civilization

History tells us a lot about the Greek and Roman empires. However they were not the only peoples living in Europe and western parts of Asia at that time. A general term for many of these, often different, groups of people is Celts but who were they and where did they come from?

Alice Roberts in The Celts: search for a civilization sets out to discover who the people we refer to as Celts really were and any cohesion that might exist between different groups of Celtic people. Existing knowledge about the Celts comes from references to them in Greek and Roman works. The Greeks and Romans each had a written language which provided their viewpoint on the world around them. However to the Greeks and Romans the Celts were inferior peoples, often considered invading savages.

In this book Alice Roberts sets out to explore what is known about the lives of the Celts through past and continuing archaeological excavations, historical information about these people, the ethnic and biological studies as well as linguistic investigations. Although similarities are often found there are also differences between Celtic peoples in parts of Europe.

In later chapters the author investigates recent theories that some of the earliest Celtic settlements may have been in Portugal and not eastern Europe. The settlements near the Mediterranean coast and the Atlantic Ocean were centres for trade throughout Europe, including Britain and Ireland, from earliest times. Peoples from these regions could have merged with people in countries they visited for trade. It is also believed that Celtic peoples crossed over into Britain via Scandinavian counties.

We will probably never know the full history of the various Celtic groups but study can still be done investigating archaeological finds, bones, art, and other clues to the lives of these people in our history and in the ancestors of Celtic groups today.