All the Reviews

FALLEN by Lucie Morris-Marr has the sub-heading "The inside story of the secret trial and conviction of Cardinal George Pell". I freely admit to being interested in what happened with the mistrial, the trial that found Pell guilty of five counts of child abuse, the sentencing hearing, the appeal, and what will happen now that his legal team have sought leave to appeal to the High Court, so it was that sub-heading that made me want to read this book. I'm acutely aware that these events, this trial, and the history of the church have massive ramifications, equally I'm aware of comments ... Read review

Never let it be said that a hefty spot of irritation with all the "will they / won't they" marriage twaddle and the constant repetition of Agatha Raisin's personal appearance stops me from sticking with the audio of this series.

Goodness knows why, I suspect I've just got into the habit, although I will admit I do rather like Penelope Keith's reading style, and these are nothing if not exactly brain teasers so they've become the standard backdrop to wrestling with the sewing machine or yet another long haul drive to the supermarket.

In this outing Agatha has ... Read review

This young adult novel from NZ author Denis Wright explores the manner in which dangerous cults can target, and draw vulnerable people into their grasp. In this case, Lucy Sorrenson is the daughter of a father who still thinks he's the only teenager in the household. She lives with him and her grandfather - a stronger, more positive man in her life, although now his grip on reality is slipping and Lucy feels like the only grown-up in the place. Until the opening night of her school play, and a strange woman who comes to give her a message from "the Master".

Interesting ... Read review

There are plenty of books around that read a bit like a script in the making, and a lot of them don't work. And then there's BLOOD RIVER that reads like a script in the making, a most unusual crime fiction novel that works. Oh boy does it work. Tony Cavanaugh is the author of the stonkingly good Darian Richards novels so it shouldn't come as much surprise that BLOOD RIVER is good, but it came as considerable surprise just how damn good it is.

Set in different time zones, centred, in the main around the stories of two very different women, the novel starts out in 1999 when ... Read review

Bill Bateman, author of the Vince Hanrahan series, was a rural based GP himself, and that shows. Both in his affection for the town, the people and the depiction of the day to day life of the slightly harried GP, but mostly in the way that some presentations are never quite what they seem and a bit of determined digging is often required. YOU'RE NEVER THE SAME is the second book in this series, following on from HARD LABOUR which came out in 2017.

Vince was a big-shot OBY/GYN in Melbourne until one disastrous patient outcome saw him banned from specialist practice, exiled ... Read review

The fourth novel in the DCI Jim Daley series by Denzil Meyrick, THE RAT STONE SERENADE is set, as always, around the rural town of Kinloch on Scotland's West Coast. A place that is not unused to cold, wet weather, although the monumental snow storm that covers the landscape in this outing is a little more unusual - because of the heaviness of the snow, and the length of the storm itself. This might not stop DCI Jim Daley; his trusty sidekick DS Brian Scott; Daley's off and on-again love interest PC Mary Dunn and their new boss, when they are called upon to investigate some truly ... Read review

SHARKS WITH LIPSTICK is a satirical romantic mystery written by Hinemura Ellison and Ted Hughes. Satirical it definitely is, as you'll get from the blurb - with the concept being that there's a Big Super Ministry as part of the government, where it seems employees spend more time playing their own form of politics than they necessarily do getting any actual work done. Aside from the trials of the workplace, there's also a train that takes workers to and from Wellington to outlying country destinations, and you get to know a lot of the characters in this novel on that train journey. ... Read review

Didn’t know you were in the mood for a legal thriller?  Legal thrillers can be terrific reading sorbets when you are longing for a bit of law and order in your crime fiction reading. BEYOND REASONABLE DOUBT fits the bill in spades.

Elliot Rook always knew that one of the knockabout lads from his home town would seek him out later in life. This was always going to be problematic.  Elliot was, after all, up to all sorts of no good right along with them as a youth, when being young was a drug all of its own.  When a young woman is murdered in Rook’s home town, the eyes of ... Read review

The TRESPASSERS CLUB is a great little book for young kids - probably around the 10-13 age group (she says desperately trying to sound like she'd know). It's a combination of action and adventure, with a really strong lead female character in Laura, and an extremely believable plot about a teenage runaway and an old house. What starts out as a game for Laura turns into something more complicated for her and Jacob and everything about this lovely little novel works. Great fun, perfect reading for kids with that combination of action and a moral challenge that's nicely understated. ... Read review