Read for our November f2f bookclub, the gathering was small but intense. Amazing the impact this book had on our small group - male and female alike. Enlightening, tough going sure, but profoundly worthwhile reading.Read review
Followers of the Discworld series will be aware that the Battle of Koom Valley looms large. It's referenced frequently in the Ankh-Morpork Watch sub-section of the series, and it's all about the relationship between the trolls and the dwarfs. As it says in the blurb - "That was where the trolls ambushed the dwarfs, or the dwarfs ambushed the trolls. It was far away. It was a long time ago." But it's always there bubbling along under the surface and if Commander Sam Vimes doesn't sort out the murder of just one dwarf, it's all going to kick off again, right on his doorstep, and ... Read review
I was really reminded, listening to the 3rd in the Tiffany Aching sub-series of Discworld, just how good Terry Pratchett's female characters are. In WINTERSMITH it's Tiffany Aching, a 13 year old girl, witch, slayer of demons, friend of the Wee Free Men and battler of the Wintersmith himself.
The Wintersmith takes male form when smitten by Tiffany, but really he is winter itself, snow, gales and ice, with a crush that makes him want to keep her in his gleaming frozen world forever. Tiffany, being 13 is becoming aware of just how tedious boys can be, but this "boy", is ... Read review
A brutal novel full of horrible people doing horrible things, leaving themselves no obvious path forward or out, CRIMECHURCH isn't going to be to everyone's taste. So dark, so populated by downtrodden, desperate people I'm not even sure you could call this noir - there's something breathtaking, relentless, unapologetic about the pace here that kind of doesn't feel noirish - it just, well, feels desperate.
The title is obviously a reference to Christchurch, and it's more than a bit startling for a non-New Zealand reader to think that a city renowned for its beauty (and ... Read review
Brilliantly constructed for the upper age range of YA readers, A TRIO OF SOPHIES reads like a perfect tale for teenagers - female and male. Engaging and cleverly plotted, there's a depth to the characterisations and the manner in which some very current day issues are explored.
Many of us have been in the situation where our name was obviously popular at the time we were christened, and you suddenly find yourself in a school class, or social situation with an urgent need for a system of distinction. In this case, it's a trio of Sophies (Sophie A, Mac and Twiggy) who all ... Read review
The Security (firm) are a highly specialised team of personal bodyguards, renowned as the best in the business. Until their clients' personal lives start to be exposed, leaving the team trying to protect themselves, while trying to find out who it is that knows a lot of their own secrets, let alone those of their clients. THE SECURITY (novel) is about what happens to the rich and famous when their secrets leak, it's also about what happens to such a highly specialised firm, who rely on their reputation, when they appear to be the only link between the affected clients.
... Read review
Second in the Smiley series - this is another one of those sets of books that I waited too long to revisit. As mentioned in my review of the first novel, it was the tone and style of Le Carre's narration of AGENT RUNNING IN THE FIELD that tweeked my interest and when listened to in that downplayed, controlled manner, they really work. Helped by the narrator of recent listens being Michael Jayston. His tone and style makes for really enjoyable listening.
The second novel in the series really reminded me of the subtle differences between these and standard spy fiction, ... Read review
Number 3 in the George Smiley series, probably the best known of the lot, just before listening to the audio of this we watched the Richard Burton / Claire Bloom movie version again after discovering it on one of the streaming service subscriptions in one of those late night, can't be bothered going to bed hunts for something to distract.
Here this series definitely heads into espionage thriller territory, away from the slightly more crime thriller stylings of the first two. Having said that, this is thoughtful, considered, introspective espionage thriller, not just ... Read review
Before proceeding any further, it's worth repeating the trigger warning from the blurb for DIETVALE:
"Contains torture and rape. The retribution is both swift and brutal."
The story, in a nutshell, is one of recently divorced Marilyn, who, in an attempt to regain some control over her life, heads off to a remote, expensive health spa popular with "B" list celebrities and wealthy wives, where it turns out that daily enemas and kale salads are far from the worst possible thing that could happen.
It's worthwhile remembering that there is a dark, ... Read review
The first in a series flagged as the Kat Munroe thrillers, DEATH COUNT introduces Forensic Accountant Kat. She's renowned in that role, one of the best at chasing down fraud, identity theft, scams, money laundering and illegal money making schemes. She also lives with the shock and life changing consequences of serious injury, after losing a hand in a car accident, her boyfriend at the time drunk, driving the car which injured Kat so badly, and killed her friend. There are aspects of that crash and this case which intertwine unexpectedly for Kat and for DS Adam Jackson - a man with ... Read review
A most unexpected combination of noir and comic/cartoonish stylings, SHOOTING MESSENGERS is the opening salvo in a series tagged as Quake City Investigations. Launching pretty well straight into the action, readers are introduced to two main investigating characters - PI Danny Ashford and Investigative reporter Deepa Banwait who find themselves working together to solve what looks like a random serial killer - although all of the victims are postal workers or couriers (hence SHOOTING MESSENGERS).
I have to admit that at the start of this novel I really had absolutely no ... Read review
Des Hunt was a science and technology teacher for many years, interspersed with periods of curriculum development both in New Zealand and overseas, and he's an author that seems need little or no introduction to readers in his native land. RED EDGE is, however, the first of his books I've been fortunate enough to read, pitched at a young audience, his aims of fostering interest in the natural world and children's surrounding obvious.
Obvious without being preachy or overblown I'd hasten to add, RED EDGE introduces many of it's themes and concepts through the eyes of the ... Read review
A new collection of 17 short stories, 4 of which are previously unpublished, THE LADY WITH THE GUN ASKS THE QUESTIONS would be the perfect introduction point for anyone new to the Phryne Fisher series, or for those of us looking for a bit of diversion in unusual times.
It's hard not to warm immediately to a world in which the cocktails are perfect; Phryne's hair even more so; the cars, houses and clothing spectacular; and the murders so frequent a moment's pause would have you wondering how there were any later day generations to be going on with. But, as with Midsomer, ... Read review
This year I promised myself a read through of the entire Pushkin Vertigo series, starting out with SHE WHO WAS NO MORE by Pierre Boileau and Pierre Ayraud (aka Thomas Narcejac), originally published in 1952. Collaborating as they did on mainly police stories I found the idea that Boilea was responsible for the plot and Narcejac the atmosphere and characters particularly intriguing. Both of which aspects really delivered in this novel - the story of an unfaithful husband, his ambitious doctor lover Lucienne, and his passive, stay at home wife Mireille. Lucience and Fernard Ravinel ... Read review
If, like this reader, you're a bit twitchy about "legal" crime fiction, then PRIVATE PROSECUTION could be just the book for you. As the blurb puts it:
"This is a pacy, darkly comic whodunnit with a twist - Andrew knows who did it but the clock is ticking and he has to prove it before he gets himself taken out."
Now I will admit there's something very compelling about Andrew Deacon, when you can't help but avoid the sneaking suspicion that this self-declared "spoilt-brat" shouldn't be as likeable as he is. Deacon is a ... Read review
Set in a fictitious location in Melbourne, timed to coincide with one of those blazing hot, drought and bushfire plagued summers, FOR REASONS OF THEIR OWN is a debut novel introducing DI Robbie Gray and her new to town offsider Mac, a young Aboriginal policeman who has been moved out of the NT after turning whistleblower about the treatment of young detainees in a notorious prison. (That aspect of this book is definitely going to ring some very unpleasant bells for Australian readers).
The discovery of a dead body in a swamp on the edge of Melbourne sets off a chain of ... Read review
Small towns, big secrets, inter-generational trauma, unquestioned deaths, fractured families, kids moving away and never returning, all the sorts of things that sound so very familiar to many of us who grew up in rural Australia from more recent history, back, unfortunately, for generations.
James Brandt comes from one of those small towns, on the NSW / Queensland border, where the families that live in and around have been there for many generations. In his own case, grandparents, aunt, uncle and cousins, his parents and his own sibling all live on the same farm, in ... Read review
The opening novel in The Matakana Series, New Zealand based, Swedish born author Madeleine Eskedahl has set this story in one of the true gems of NZ locations, one that obviously means a lot to her. Matakana is a picturesque small town, increasingly devoted to wine growing, farmers markets, roadside stalls, close enough to Auckland to be a tourist destination, but with more than enough people turning it into a lifestyle home location as well.
Making the action in BLOOD ON VINES even more of a contrast between the idyllic location, and a series of violent murders, starting ... Read review
A while ago another much admired true crime writer mentioned the name Frederick Deeming to me, and kindly sent me a short synopsis about the man's background, and the theory that he could be the notorious Jack the Ripper. Prior to that time I confess to never having heard of him, or the crimes that were definitely committed by him, so when THE DEVIL'S WORK appeared on my horizons I was mightily intrigued.
Styled as what I'm calling narrative true crime (facts intertwined with story telling), Garry Linnell has drawn out a story of the man, his movements, and his crimes, ... Read review
CAVE DIVER is an action-packed, seat of the pants styled thriller, with huge villains, big threats and a single flawed protagonist trying to save the day. It recently won a Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Prize, along with an Adventure Writers Competition Clive Cussler Grandmaster Award and is one of those books that readers of thrillers are going to love, or hate, depending mostly on whether the high-octane pace, and action packed pages do enough to distract you from some things that kind of feel a bit flat for this reader - a fan of big, wild ride thrillers normally.
The ... Read review