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.