All the Reviews

Deadly Intent, Laraine Stephens

The second in the Reggie da Costa Mystery series from local author Laraine Stephens, DEADLY INTENT is set in Melbourne, in October 1923.

In this outing, heavy rains have battered Melbourne, and local crime reporter Reggie da Costa finds himself at the centre of a story when he discovers that a trunk, hidden away in what became a flooded basement, contains the decomposing remains of a wealthy widower. Cornelius Stout has been missing for two years, and it doesn't take long for da Costa, and his sidekick in this outing - teacher Dotty Wright - to uncover other missing ... Read Review

The Final Call, Jen Shieff

A sequel to THE GENTLEMEN'S CLUB and THE VANISHING ACT, THE FINAL CALL is set in 1979 (10 or so years after THE VANISHING ACT) located in Remuera New Zealand, where Rita Saunders is the boss at The Gentlemen's Club, a high class brothel. Rita's more than a madam to her girls though, and the brothel is more than just a house of prostitution, Rita's girls are comfortable, protected as much as she possibly can and as safe as they can be in a country where prostitution was illegal up until the early 2000's.

Switching the concentration a little in this book, Carmel O'Sullivan ... Read Review

Missing, Presumed Dead, Mark Tedeschi QC

Mark Tedeschi AM QC was, until 2019, the Senior Crown Prosecutor, and the head of Chambers of the Crown Prosecutors for New South Wales. He's now a private barrister, but in 35 years with Crown Prosecution he has prosecuted many high-profile trials in Australia, some of which have involved the worst of the worst murderers and offenders this country has ever seen.

MISSING, PRESUMED DEAD is the story of the disappearance of two women in particular - 74 year old Dorothy Davis and 39 year old Kerry Whelan, both of whom had the great misfortune to come into contact with one of ... Read Review

Tall Tales and Wee Stories, Billy Connolly

I'm a massive fan of anything Billy Connolly does, says, narrates or writes. Having seen him perform live, he writes very much as he talks, and his musings, wanderings, and sometimes dragging things to a conclusion are all reflected in this whimsical collection of odds and ends, many of which those who have followed him for many years will already know.

But as he says, he's been asked many times to write down some of his best known tales from his stand-up days and always resisted until now as the stories had a life of their own. Having now retired from live stand-up it sort ... Read Review

A Runner's Guide to Rakiura, Jessica Howland Kany

Started this book with absolutely no idea what I was going to get, got through the first quarter with no idea what was going on, ended the whole thing thoroughly enjoying every word of it.

Maudie is the central character of this novel, a millenial New Yorker who, on assigment to cover Aotearoa New Zealand's southern-most running trails, takes herself to Rakiura Stewart Island. She's erratic, impulsive, and very American when she first arrives in the eccentric, self-sufficient, laid back community that captures her heart and energy. Despite a sense of constant "otherness" ... Read Review

Power Play, Julia Banks

Read for a f2f bookclub gathering (which somewhat "ironically" was severely hampered by the constant need of a few of the male members to talk about other things over the top of those of us trying to discuss the book....), this was worth the time taken.

It's been a book that has been on my radar for quite a while, wanting to get some perspective of why, at this point in history, a successful woman would be attracted to running for the Liberal Party in the first place - which question wasn't really answered. It was somewhat startling to sense a certain level of "surprise" in ... Read Review

Folded, Tina Clough

The 3rd book in the Hunter Grant series, FOLDED sees Hunter and Dao reluctantly pulled into the darkweb and dangerous human traffickers.

After office-worker Grace finds a series of calls for help, folded in tiny origami shapes, dropped outside a high-rise city apartment building on her way to and from work, followed by a physics textbook with tiny writing between the lines, she turns to a work friend for help instead of the police, and then disappears herself. Which leads to the work friend, Linda, asking Hunter and Dao for their help. Initially reluctant, Hunter and Dao ... Read Review

The Lady in the Van, Alan Bennett

Very readable, very engaging, very short little tale about a woman who starts off like a bit of a "classic English eccentric" but ends with quite a sad story.Read Review

Death at the Belvedere, Sue Williams

The fourth book in the Cass Tuplin mystery series, set in the dryland farming areas of Victoria, somewhere sort of north west of Bendigo (I think), in the fictional town of Rusty Bore, with a takeaway that always makes me think of Wycheproof. (There's nothing whatsoever in these books that makes you think Rusty Bore is anything other than completely fictional and I've no idea why that's been in my head since the opening novel..., but I digress.)

Which I think is probably encouraged by reading the Cass Tuplin series - she of (as it turns out in this novel), "a lot of ... Read Review