All the Reviews

First released in Australia in November 2020, DEATH IN DAYLESFORD is the 21st Phryne Fisher book, set in Victoria's Spa Country - between Daylesford and Hepburn Springs, in an area that's all too real, with some fictional places built into this story, as is the tendency with this very engaging series.

The first of Phryne Fisher novel was published in 1989, so this is one of the really long-standing, fictional crime series in Australia, relying heavily on a tone and style set way back then, and a central character that is memorable, frequently funny, and always very ... Read review

"Suddenly, condemned arch-swindler Moist von Lipwig found himself with a noose around his neck and dropping through a trapdoor into...a government job?"

GOING POSTAL is the 33rd Discworld Novel, and the first to feature Moist von Lipwig, conman, swindler, thief, very nearly dead man, Post Master General. As the blurb puts it "By all rights, Moist should be meeting his maker rather than being offered a position as postmaster by Lord Vetinari, supreme ruler of Ankh-Morpork. Getting the moribund Postal Service up and running again, however, may prove an impossible task, what ... Read review

From the Blurb: Tiffany Aching, the boldest heroine ever to swing a frying pan against the forces of evil, is beginning her apprenticeship in magic. She expects to work hard, learn spells, and become a witch. She doesn't expect to find herself doing chores, caring for the careless, and trying to outthink an ill-tempered nanny goat. There must be more to witchcraft than this!

Right now, right at this particular time in my life, and the state of the world, it's hard not to wish for more heroine's swinging frying pans, but that aside, the Tiffany Aching series, is really an ... Read review

Discworld number 31 and again I'm reminded just how wide ranging the references are in Terry Pratchett's series. In this case the novel takes its name from the 16th century tract The First Blast of the Trumpet Against the Monstrous Regiment of Women by Protestant John Knox, arguing against the female Catholic sovereigns at the time. Pratchett's novel is the story of an ongoing war that is draining a kingdom of people to fight it, the madness of leaders and efforts put into the propaganda war, as opposed to the actual fighting war (both of which, to be fair, are utterly ... Read review

About 3/4's of the way into BARRENJOEY ROAD, in the week starting 15th March 2021, I did wonder if it was possible to physically explode from rage whilst simultaneously feeling so desperately desperately sad that so many young women have been raped, and sometimes murdered in this country, and it constantly looks like nobody in authority gives a shit. (And honestly, if you're going to get all po-faced over a bit of language in a review of an account of an appalling travesty of justice in this country (in a long list of appalling travesties of justice against women, people with ... Read review

If you're new to Ben Sanders work then you've got some catching up to do. Starting out with the Sean Deveraux books -  THE FALLEN (2010) and BY ANY MEANS (2011) - Sanders announced himself as a purveyor of hard-boiled, American based, whatever it takes crime fiction, part hard-man, part lone-wolf, part sad guy against the world; always crash or crash through. From there he created the Marshall Grade series - AMERICAN BLOOD (2015) and MARSHALL'S LAW (2017) - both of which used the same sort of style, with a character that fitted into the hard-boiled, gun obsessed, blood soaked American ... Read review

THE SCHOOLGIRL STRANGER is a true crime book written by author Katherine Kovacic, as a result of something she encountered while researching Australian history for one of her earlier fictional novels (all of which are well worth reading if you've not had the luck to encounter them already).

This book is about the murder of four young girls in 1930s Victoria, Australia. Keeping the stories of the girls themselves foremost in the narrative, Kovacic uncovers the police struggle to identify potential suspects, especially in the time before quick communications, easily ... Read review

Well worth reading. Great insight into such an impressive, focused and committed young woman. With personal touches that remind you of the pain of being a displaced person.Read review

Listening to the audio book of NIGHT WATCH by Terry Pratchett, I couldn't help but wonder if Sir Samuel Vimes had done something to annoy his creator. He's happily married, awaiting the very imminent birth of his first child with his formidable wife Lady Sybil, when a short chase of an utterly unrepentant criminal and murderer sees a stray lightening bolt hurtling him back in time to when he was young. All of a sudden he's very much on his own, despite the presence of a few people who come to know Sir Samuel much better by the end of this book. He's single-handedly leading the fight ... Read review