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Murder Most Malicious, Kitty Jackson10/07/2018 - 3:11pmSet in the early twentieth century in mannered and beautiful Dunedin, New Zealand there are plenty of similarities between the stories of Mr Mancini and the delightfully idiosyncratic Hercule Poirot. A cerebral solver of crime, his collaboration with the acerbic Detective Haynes is a nice pairing, and then there is his sounding board, and escaper of tyrannical sisters, neighbour and dog lover. An interesting piece of historical crime fiction, MURDER MOST MALICIOUS is entertaining reading. Great characters, a lovely sense of the time and place, and a good plot into the ... Read Review |
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Death on D'Urville, Penelope Haines10/07/2018 - 11:55amBook One in the Claire Hardcastle series DEATH ON D'URVILLE, the second book STRAIGHT AND LEVEL was released in 2017. Operating out of Paraparaumu airport in New Zealand, Hardcastle is a commercial pilot and flying instructor, which gives the author an opportunity to play with a number of recurring themes including women working in what's traditionally been a male dominated industry, people with the sorts of nerves of steel required to fly and stick their nose into tricky investigations and the complications of dealing with (and being) an alpha personality type; as well as the freedom ... Read Review |
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Red Herring, Jonothan Cullinane09/07/2018 - 2:00pmHistorical crime fiction with a political basis, Jonothan Cullinane's RED HERRING is set in 1950's Auckland during a time of confrontation between workers and the government. Based on the waterfront it's fascinating how this sort of pitched battle resonates in difficult places, across different decades. At that time the external threat was Communism, the battleground New Zealand's place in the world - especially as a reliable supplier of farm products "home" to England, still in the thralls of post-War austerity. But battle lines have been clearly drawn and vocally drawn: unions and ... Read Review |
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The Ruin, Dervla McTiernan07/07/2018 - 3:31pmYou’ve heard a fair bit of buzz about this novel? There’s an excellent reason for that! THE RUIN is a ripper of a read and remarkably polished for a debut novel. Additionally, it is impressive as series entries face a much harder task in engaging instantly the fickle minds of crime readers. The series read is (happily) prolific in the crime fiction sphere. There is a huge demand for police procedurals in particular and this rides largely on the strength of that immediacy of engagement with the cast of characters. The reader needs to be sold as quickly as possible, and this is ... Read Review |
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The Choke, Sofie Laguna04/07/2018 - 3:41pmJustine Lee is a little girl surrounded by males. Justine's mother abandoned the family many years ago, and her father Ray is in and out of his children's lives, leaving the main responsibility for raising Justine and her brothers to their grandfather. When Ray is around his criminal involvement is something that Justine, in particular, struggles with. She retreats to her sanctuary in The Choke on the Murray River to hide from the world, and seeks solace in the company of her Pop's chooks. In both places there's no judgement, no demands and no brutality. Set in two ... Read Review |
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Lifting, Damien Wilkins04/07/2018 - 2:42pmLIFTING is one of those books that is charming, slightly eccentric, sad, happy, and wonderfully engaging. Set primarily within the walls of the oldest department store in New Zealand, Wellington's Cutty's is an institution that's been marked for closure. Non-New Zealander / Wellington readers will be forgiven if you can't help but feel this is a real place, renamed for the purposes of fiction, as there is so much about the store and it's history, and the affection that the staff and customers have for it that feels real, and very heart-felt. For those on this side of the ditch there's ... Read Review |
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The Innocent Wife, Amy Lloyd03/07/2018 - 4:46pmTHE INNOCENT WIFE plays out largely as a detached relation of one woman’s desperate need to belong and be part of something larger. It is possible to read the entirety of this book and not find a single character that you care enough about to wish a happy outcome. That’s quite a feat. Perhaps this lack of soft focus was intentional, to create a work where the reader is driven forward for reasons other than a sustained emotional investment. Depicting without apology the train wreck that our modern culture has become, THE INNOCENT WIFE is an uneasy read of shame and ... Read Review |
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My Husband's Lies, Caroline England03/07/2018 - 1:28pmThere is much to like about MY HUSBANDS LIES. We have an intimate view over the shoulders of four people who thought that they would be together forever, but in reality, time has been gradually easing them apart. It’s a long time for a group of school friends to stay at this level of closeness, and you do get the feeling that this closeness has caused the differing levels of arrested development in all four. It’s a little claustrophobic, and no one’s bad behaviour goes unnoticed. The majority of this book will have you sharply curious as to what will happen to the fab ... Read Review |
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Our House, Louise Candlish31/05/2018 - 1:10pmOUR HOUSE takes a new slant on modern crime and it is that twitchingly horrifying to know that this sort of thing can actually happen. Your homeowner’s hackles will be well and truly up and ready to attack. OUR HOUSE melds a modern relationship drama with a suspense thriller plot that plays out simultaneously with the discoveries of Fi as she tries to figure out what the hell has taken hold of her (cheating) husband. What happened to Bram that he would sell his own children’s home out from underneath them? Where has he gone? The absolute unfairness of what is ... Read Review |
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The Māori Detective, D.A. Crossman28/05/2018 - 2:12pmMajor earthquakes aren't new in Christchurch, but the last really big one left massive destruction, dislocation and death in its wake. As a setting for a crime novel that time and place make enormous sense, giving an author the chance to delve into a society in flux, and the reality of endings and new beginnings for its citizens. D.A. Crossman has used that time and setting to imagine a new beginning for ex-cop Carlos Wallace who is dealing with a full hand of changes. Dead wife, lost job and a return home to New Zealand. On the upside the unexpected inheritance of a ... Read Review |
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The Three Deaths of Magdalene Lynton, Katherine Hayton25/05/2018 - 6:24pmTHE THREE DEATHS OF MAGDALENE LYNTON is the first in a new series from New Zealand author Katherine Hayton, followed by THE SECOND STAGE OF GRIEF and THE ONLY SECRET SHE KEEPS. The last of these, THE ONLY SECRET SHE KEEPS, has been long listed in the 2018 Ngaio Marsh Awards which will come as no surprise if you've been lucky enough to follow the evolving story of Ngaire Blakes. The central character in this series, Detective Ngaire Blakes, really works. A flawed, grumpy, complicated woman, frustrated at being stuck behind the police station reception desk recuperating ... Read Review |
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The Forger's Wife, John Lang23/05/2018 - 5:18pmGrattan Street's Colonial Fiction project is an outstanding idea, with 4 titles now available (https://grattanstreetpress.com/capf/(link is external)), starting out with a reprint of John Lang's THE FORGER'S WIFE from the early 1850's. Originally a serialised novel in Fraser's Magazine, this imprint comes with the observation that it is Australia's first detective novel. A note on the author to start out, John Lang was, according to ... Read Review |
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The Blackhouse, Peter May23/05/2018 - 1:40pmPeter May's Lewis Trilogy isn't a new undertaking, originally published in 2009, but it's one of those series I've had flagged in my audio book queue for a long time, and recently I've been fortunate enough to have a lot of available listening time and a desire for something that was dark, atmospheric and delivered in my favourite of all accents. The trilogy is based around policeman and child of Lewis Island, Fin MacLeod. Born and raised on Lewis, he was the boy who left for a university education in Edinburgh. Raised in part by an aunt, his parents having died in a car ... Read Review |
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Before I Let You Go, Kelly Rimmer19/05/2018 - 2:15pmBEFORE I LET YOU GO goes down the path of teaching, not preaching, and the colossal unfairness of addiction is empathetically portrayed here in what it is a very entertaining read. This is a book you will knock off in just a few seatings as you get caught up in wanting to see Annie through to the other side, and for both sisters to receive a happy ending that is as far away from their frightening shared childhood as possible. The back history of the two sisters is mostly narrated by journal entries of Annie, whose writing knack has never left her during the ‘lost’ years of addiction ... Read Review |
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The Child Next Door, Shalini Boland03/05/2018 - 3:59pmThe fear factor of the baby monitor interference is deliciously creepy and so from the very first chapter of THE CHILD NEXT DOOR we know that we are in for a fun ride. Author Shalini Boland has the gift for the quick hook and jerk and it is employed here successfully once again in her latest domestic thriller. It is nerve wracking to read of a new mother who is dealing with the enormity of her child possibly being snatched and the necessity of doing such things as turning her house into a fortress to protect her child. Kirstie is surrounded by people but very much alone. ... Read Review |
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Now We Are Dead, Stuart MacBride28/04/2018 - 1:55pmWhen I read this back in January I posted a review. Or at least I thought I did. Imagine my surprise when I found it here in the draft queue. Whoops. NOW WE ARE DEAD is a spinoff from the Logan McRae series featuring the glorious DS Roberta Steel. I say glorious in a "slightly ironic / well of course she's a bit gross but she's unapologetically over the top about everything / has a heart of gold / seriously / if you can't handle your women strong, forceful, and a bit sweary what are you doing reading Stuart MacBride books - especially one about Roberta Steel" way. ... Read Review |
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Let Me Lie, Clare Mackintosh23/04/2018 - 1:08pmThe take home. Clare Mackintosh has created a terrific character here in retired Detective Murray who takes on Anna’s ‘case’ of looking into the death of her mother. Really hoping the author will give her creation another outing as Murray was fabulous to meet and is someone that deserves his own mystery series for sure. The side storyline of his sacrifice in looking after his mentally ill wife is gorgeous and the absolute highlight of the novel. It’s a little unexpected treasure to find in a modern domestic mystery novel. Now onto the rest. LET ME LIE does have a lot ... Read Review |
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Agatha Raisin and the Murderous Marriage, M.C. Beaton17/04/2018 - 5:19pmI'm dangerously close to od'ing on these as I'm starting to feel like I could quote the upcoming lines before they are uttered. Still these sorts of books are the ones I turn to when I'm doing something else that really requires concentration. They are more than a bit silly, weirdly obsessed with the way that people look, and very samey after a while. Perhaps don't binge listen like I've been doing as the repetitiveness really stands out, but on the whole, really good for people looking for something less confrontational that many crime fiction listens. (And don't expect these to ... Read Review |
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The Perfect Girlfriend, Karen Hamilton16/04/2018 - 4:11pmTHE PERFECT GIRLFRIEND is perfectly compulsive reading that will literally take you places. Was it wrong, when reading this thriller novel, to want to hear more about what it is to be a flight attendant? Apologies to the author for this take-home but this aspect of the book was very interesting! The character Juliette kept this reviewer completely under her spell for the entire length of the book. Juliette is utterly credible and fully fleshed out as a force of nature whose grand plans won’t be denied. Going along on Juliette’s completely rational ride to glory is a ... Read Review |
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The Family Next Door, Sally Hepworth15/04/2018 - 3:40pmTHE FAMILY NEXT DOOR reinforces the notion that despite being constantly surrounded by people, you can often feel alone. Deep suburbia provides such a huge source of material and is finally in drama fiction being recognized for that richness. There is a lot going on in this book, and it’s a little heartbreaking when you realize that the male characters are largely oblivious to the density in what is going in the lives of their spouses. Husbands and wives are almost living two different paths, one with the thought burden, and one living largely without it. The mystery ... Read Review |