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Charity Ends At Home, Colin Watson23/03/2021 - 5:56pmThere could be an argument made to the effect that I've currently got too many series revisits going on - what with this, the Flaxborough Chronicles, my rerun right through the Discworld novels, a restart of the Smiley series by Le Carre, and whatever else I've started and forgotten about in recent months. I've never forgotten this Flaxborough Series though - it's always been my kickstart reading again go to series, and this time around it started as that, and has continued as just a sheer pleasure to re-read even after however many dozens of times I've read them already. ... Read Review |
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Monstrous Regiment, Terry Pratchett19/03/2021 - 2:50pmDiscworld 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 |
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The Wee Free Men, Terry Pratchett19/03/2021 - 2:49pmThe quest to work my way through the audio versions of the entire Discworld catalogue is up to book number 30 with The Wee Free Men, the first of the Tiffany Aching series, a young adult(ish) witchy set of books that are simply and utterly wonderful. Fun and entertaining, it was also a perfect time to revisit the history of the Picts and wonder yet again at the range and breadth of Terry Pratchett's novels, and the way he can weave so many threads together to create such wonderful stories. This line from the blurb sums it up: "The not-quite-teen set will delight in the ... Read Review |
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Barrenjoey Road, Neil Mercer & Ruby Jones18/03/2021 - 3:22pmAbout 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 |
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Lightseekers, Femi Kayode17/03/2021 - 4:00pmI've always been a bit of a fan of whydunnit's, and LIGHTSEEKERS intrigued right from the moment it arrived with the line in the blurb "He's an investigative psychologist, an academic more interested in figuring out the why of a crime than actually solving it.". Dr Philip Taiwo has recently returned from the US to Nigeria, a man who is more than a bit lost. A loving father, and good son, he is a conflicted husband, convinced his wife, who instigated their return to Lagos, is having an affair, based solely on something briefly glimpsed, never discussed with her. His wife, ... Read Review |
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The Devils You Know, Ben Sanders15/03/2021 - 1:12pmIf 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 |
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The Spiral, Iain Ryan18/02/2021 - 4:52pmInventive and brutal, there are good reasons why Iain Ryan’s third novel is being talked about. Full review at Newtown Review of BooksRead Review |
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The Schoolgirl Strangler, Katherine Kovacic08/02/2021 - 4:50pmTHE 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 |
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Shore Leave, David Whish-Wilson29/01/2021 - 4:07pmSHORE LEAVE is the fourth novel in the Frank Swann series. Frank's an ex-cop, now private investigator in 1970's / 80's Perth and Fremantle. In this outing it's 1989 and the Yanks are in town, and with the arrival of a huge US nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, there are lots of sailors on shore leave around, making for a busy time for the local pubs, clubs and brothels; two dead women and an AWOL sailor suspect. Swann finds himself involved in the murder investigation when asked by US Navy Master-At-Arms Steve Webb (the ship's head cop for want of a better description) ... Read Review |
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I Am Malala, Malala Yousafzai16/01/2021 - 4:04pmWell 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 |
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Dead Bishop's Don't Lie, André K. Baby21/12/2020 - 4:04pmI must admit that thrillers with a religious scenario are not the sorts of books that I seek out, so DEAD BISHOPS DON'T LIE by André K. Baby would not be a book that I'd normally give a second glance. When offered by the author for review purposes, I did stop and think about it, and there was something about the blurb of the book that appealed. Probably the "caustic investigator" idea - being a declared fan of the less than perfect central protagonist. Set in the European environments of Switzerland, Italy and Russia, with a touch of the exotic in the Caribbean, the ... Read Review |
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Night Watch, Terry Pratchett18/12/2020 - 5:33pmListening 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 |
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Tin Man, Sarah Winman14/12/2020 - 5:41pmRead this for our f2f bookclub, one I'm sure will appeal to lots of readers, with it's exploration of emotion, past and present.Read Review |
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Doom Creek, Alan Carter09/12/2020 - 2:05pmIn this current political climate, the rise of the ugly, radicalised individual is all too real, and the reflection of this in quiet, idyllic New Zealand somehow more shocking. Drafted originally before the appalling Christchurch mosque shootings in 2019, Alan Carter has chosen to (in his words from the acknowledgement) foreshadow the the inevitable consequences of toxic ideology and the ready availability of military style weapons. Likewise for the rural Australian location that I live in, he comments that you can't help but be aware that guns are everywhere, but luckily for us and ... Read Review |
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Death Mask, Kathryn Fox23/11/2020 - 12:48pmThe fifth Dr Anya Crichton book from Kathryn Fox, DEATH MASK combines Anya's forensic physician role with an exploration of professional sport and sexual misconduct. Sexual misconduct is too mild a description really - this book explores the very murky world of mob-behaviour, gang rape, drug abuse, violence and professional sport. Set mostly in America, the behaviour is something that Australian's are also more than aware of, the poor behaviour of many professional sports people hitting the headlines here with distressing regularity. Nobody is going to be all that ... Read Review |
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Into the Void, Christina O'Reilly19/11/2020 - 2:02pmA crime debut from New Zealand author Christina O'Reilly, INTO THE VOID is a short novel with considerable promise. Introducing DSS John (Archie) Baldrick, DC Ben Travers and the rest of their investigation team whilst presenting the reader with a well crafted plot all in 158 pages is quite an undertaking but O'Reilly manages it without letting go of character development, plot, intrigue or pace. The story revolves around the sudden disappearance of banker Richard Harper who appears to have run out on a desperately ill wife, and a pregnant girlfriend. The only glimmer of ... Read Review |
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Welcome to Ord City, Adrian Deans18/11/2020 - 1:01pmWhatever your expectations of WELCOME TO ORD CITY, like me, you may find them rapidly disappearing into puffs of smoke as this story advances. Puffs of smoke that got pretty dense at points, this is not a novel for the partially committed reader, it will require concentration as there's a lot of perspective switches, a largish cast of characters, and a hell of a lot going on. Blurbed as a satirical crime thriller, this is futuristic social commentary where the viewpoint is bleak(ish), the setup uncomfortably believable, and the action and outcomes soberingly ... Read Review |
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Lonelyheart 4122, Colin Watson16/11/2020 - 5:51pmLONELYHEART 4122 sees the introduction of Miss Lucilla (Lucy) Teatime to the mayhem that is Flaxborough and the series is all the better for her presence. Originally published in the late 1960's, this is a time of matrimonial agencies (and is now a good time to admit I was getting Carry on Loving flashbacks... ), although there's considerably more subtlety in the wordplay and characterisations in these novels than was ever attempted in those movies (and no connection whatsoever!). Anyway, pre-Tinder and like "apps", matrimonial agencies, seemingly run by happily married ... Read Review |
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The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents, Terry Pratchett16/11/2020 - 11:25amThe first young adult novel in the Discworld series, THE AMAZING MAURICE AND HIS EDUCATED RODENTS is a spin on the classic Pied Piper theme with a lot of talking rats, their sidekick (also talking) cat Maurice, and a young boy called Keith. Part money making scheme, part survival strategy, as you'd expect from a Discworld novel there's entertainment to be enjoyed, and some very brilliantly constructed messages to be had along the way. Highly recommended if you have kids, although this is number 28 in the Discworld series, it would be a pitch-perfect opening to get them ... Read Review |
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Over My Dead Body, Dave Warner22/10/2020 - 4:46pmTo be honest, I took one look at the blurb for OVER MY DEAD BODY and wondered whether or not it sounded ... quite right (well to be brutally honest, I thought to myself, it sounds as daft as a brush), but if there's one thing I've learnt in quite a lot of years of crime fiction reading, it's expectation and outcome are out the back having a bloody good argument most of the time. Reading the Author Note at the back of this book is probably something that would be advisable for any readers having an insurmountable WT moment with this one - understanding the thinking and the ... Read Review |