New Release Book Review: The Waterhole by Lily Malone

I have no idea how this post didn’t get finished when I started writing it well over a month ago, but I’m glad I can finish it now.

I was excited to hear Lily Malone had a new novel coming out, a departure from her usual genre this new rural crime novel has a much darker feel.

Lily has definitely managed to capture the feeling of small-town Cowaramup on the south coast of Western Australia.

This novel had some seriously unlikable characters, though one does redeem himself later on in the novel. I liked the characters of the two police officers and felt for Detective Marley West who has to prove himself to everyone because his grandfather was an extremely corrupt police sergeant who ruled the town for decades before.

Told between three different timelines dating back to 1966, we slowly discover past secrets, and there are plenty until the many secrets expose the truth behind the human bones discovered in what used to be a waterhole.

I’m looking forward to more dark crime fiction by Lily Malone and definitely looking forward to seeing more of Detective Marley West and hoping he can sort his life out a bit.

With thanks to the author for providing me with a digital copy of this novel in return for an honest review.

New Release Book Review: Wood For the Trees by Ian Belshaw

I don’t know quite what to say about this novel. If I hadn’t been reading it as a review book for Beauty and Lace Bookclub, I would have put it down several times over and not picked it back up. I enjoy poetic, descriptive writing, but this novel was saturated with it to the point I skimmed where I could, but it was hard as in a paragraph of description there might be one sentence that was important to read.

The story of a man aiming to be a modern-day bushranger and the police officer that pursued him sounded like a great premise for a story, and it was, but I think this would have faired far better as a short story, without the extraordinarily poetic prose, that at times made me wonder if I even understood what the author was trying to convey. He did do a great job of describing the landscape however and I could clearly see the vast Australian plains and the rough Australian bush.

I had a hard time really connecting to the characters, I felt a lot of the time that I was just being told a story, rather than experiencing the story, then there would be times where I was engaged with the characters only to lose the flow as the writing changed and I was thrown back out again.

I got to the end of the novel and was upset by the ending, that I’d made my way through this plethora of words and it ended the way it did, I guess it was a good ending, but for me a disturbing one, that didn’t leave me feeling any hope or joy whatsoever.

I’m sure there will be plenty of people who will thoroughly enjoy this tale of caution.

Thanks to Beauty and Lace Bookclub and Shawline Publishing Group for providing me a copy in return for an honest review.

New Release Book Review: White Throat by Sarah Thornton

This was a great second novel in the Clementine Jones series. Talk about full-on, especially the last quarter or so, I wasn’t sure how Clementine was going to get out of the situation she’d gotten herself into this time. But it seems Clem has nine lives, and no matter how many people she upsets or what she gets herself into, she comes through, albeit a little battered and bruised.

I was pleased that Torrens was in the book again, the friendship between them is good, even though I’m not entirely sure their friendship has survived this time, I’m keeping my fingers crossed if there’s a book #3, that they can work things out. They both have a lot to teach each other.

Clem once again goes all out, determined to uncover who murdered her friend, Helen, despite the police deciding it was a suicide. So much big corporate corruption, developer corruption, mining corruption, there were so many people who would have wanted Helen out of the way, but who actually did the deed.

I enjoyed learning about the white-throated snapping turtles, very interesting creatures, an animal that is listed as endangered, like so many these days, hopefully, the author can bring some attention to this turtle.

There was plenty of action and intrigue throughout while Clem does her thing and Torrens has her back once again. I enjoyed this even more than book one.

Thanks to NetGalley and Text Publishing for a digital copy of this novel in return for an honest review.

20backlistin2020 Book Review: Lapse by Sarah Thornton

Another #20backlistin2020 read, I’m not going to make the 20 unfortunately, but here’s one more that I’ve caught up on and it was a really good read.

In the small town of Katinga Clementine Jones is hiding out from something that happened in her recent past. We are fed little bits about this event through the novel, but it isn’t until the end we find out the whole story. But we know that it’s something pretty bad and that is why Clementine wants to stay under the radar.

Clem has taken on the job of coaching the local footy team, a team that has lost for years. Everyone has high hopes she can get them to the finals. While Clem is a hard taskmaster, the guys respect her and she seems to be able to get the best out of them, even affecting them in their personal lives. While I enjoyed this part, the decisions that Clem makes throughout while she’s hunting for answers to why her lead player, Clancy has quit, seem to me to show that it’s all surface-level involvement.

I really did get annoyed with her, many times, for the decisions she makes throughout. Ones that bring danger, not just to herself, but to others around her who haven’t asked to be pulled into her one-woman, one mindset hunt for the truth.

Saying that, she was was persistent once she set her mind to things, no matter who she might upset or what danger might follow.

The corruption she uncovers goes deep and the things people will do to get what they want, make the mind boggle.

While Clem spends her time trying to uncover the truth, she tries to hold onto her own secrets.

Racism is rife in the town, I was saddened by this fact, and the way the indigenous people were treated, knowing this happens often in real-life makes it worse, when will it stop.

This was a fast-paced read where I questioned Clem’s decisions but respected her tenacity to ultimately try to make things right for Clancy. There are some frantic moments where you will wonder, has she gone too far.

I’m currently reading book #2 White Throat, Clem is on the hunt once again to uncover a crime.

Thanks to NetGalley and Text Publishing for a digital copy of this novel in return for an honest review.

20backlistin2020 Book Review: The Night Whistler by Greg Woodland

Not too much of a backlist novel, but still one I’m glad to finally have read.

What a great crime read this novel was, and surprisingly not set in Tasmania. Instead, this is set in the New England region of NSW in 1966. The cover alone has plenty of sinister feels about it and the author does a great job of depicting the setting.

There was plenty of suspense throughout, as demoted former detective Mick Goodenough (pronounced Goodno) tries to uncover who might be making threatening phone calls to the Humphries’ residence along with trying to figure out who is killing pets and if it’s more sinister than just animals.

Mick is thwarted at every turn by corrupt, incompetent, and lazy colleagues and he really struggled to make headway in the cases.

The star of the story though is young Hal Humphries who finds the body of the dog that’s been killed and who is determined to play Sherlock and figure out who is calling his house, a person they’ve named The Whistler.

There’s plenty of people doing the wrong things in this small town, where racism is rife. I changed my mind several times about who had done which crimes, and it’s near the end where the perpetrator is pushed too far that things become clear.

If this is Greg Woodland’s debut novel, I’ll definitely be looking out for his next one.

Thanks to Netgalley and Text Publishing Company for a digital copy of this novel in return for an honest review.

Book Review: The Bluffs by Kyle Perry

I’m not sure how I felt about this novel. I wanted to love it, I’d read so many great reviews, and while it had me turning pages and reading too late into the night, there were things that just didn’t work for me.

in another novel set in Tasmania, with the disappearance of four girls on a school camping trip, the hunt is on to find them. There was a crime years previously involving the disappearance of four girls then too. A legend call The Hungry Man is tied into the disappearances.

Told from three different characters perspectives, the lead cop Con, a drug dealer, Murphy whose daughter is one of the missing girls, and a teacher Eliza Ellis.

This was a small town with some serious problems, police corruption, bullying, drugs, sexual abuse of minors to name a few.

Kyle Perry does a great job with the setting, though all these crime novels are definitely making me reconsider visiting Tassie. The characters too are well written. The issue I had was that there were so many twists and it started to feel completely unbelievable. I knew one of the characters was involved for quite a while, little things that just didn’t feel right. But it really got to a point where I started thinking, seriously? Is this where it’s going now.

The story was well told, but there was just too much going on with too many characters, too many backstories, and too many things I found unrealistic.

Overall I enjoyed it, just not as much as I’d been hoping for.

Book Review:The Great Divide by L.J.M Owen

This novel should come with a warning ‘don’t pick up to read a couple of chapters before bed’ 189 pages later and at 12.30am I had to force myself to put it down

***note, I ended up finishing this at 2am because I stupidly thought I could read just one more chapter 🤣🤣🤣🤣

As you can guess, I thought this was a brilliant read. The writing and characters drew me in and kept me reading, determined to find out who was behind the crime and the mysteries and why.

I really liked Detective Jake Hunter who has transferred to Tasmania from the mainland because of some personal issue that he is running from which we slowly uncover as the story progresses. He was a smart guy and liked to do things by the book at the same time as trying to fit in with his new colleagues and the new community.

The original crime, the murder of an old lady, Ava O’Brien who ran a home for orphan girls or ‘the bad girls home’ as it is widly known in the community, is by far the least of the crimes that have been committed. As Jake starts to delve into the background of Ava O’Brien he begins to uncover some seriously disturbing finds to do with the home and the young girls who lived there.

A couple of the girls from the home still live in the village, one suffering from mental health issues. as their stories are uncovered and truths are brought out into the open during Jake’s hunt for the murderer, I found it hard to understand how people could do the things they did to these girls.

Jake has to deal with a pretty incompetent Constable Murphy and a Sergeant who doesn’t play completely by the rules and seems to undermine his investigation whenever he can. Jake doesn’t give up though and I really enjoyed the way he followed each lead whereever it went, determined to uncover the truth. I liked Dr Meena Gill who was extremely switched on and worked well with Jake.

This was a great murder mystery novel and I can’t wait to read the next book in the series, well, I hope there is to be a next book, the epilogue certainly left it open for one.

Another novel set in Tasmania that I’ve read this year, I must get there one day, mind you with the amount of crime that seems to happen there, I’m not sure if it’s safe to do so.

New Release Book Review: The Survivors by Jane Harper

The last book of Jane Harper’s, The Lost Man was a 5⭐ read for me, as was her first book The Dry, I haven’t read Force of Nature, but I’m going to guess it’ll be up there in the ratings. Her newest novel certainly didn’t disappoint, in fact, I think this is my favourite yet. If I didn’t get so tired in the evening and work didn’t get in the way, I think I’d have ploughed through this novel in one sitting.

I don’t read a lot of the mystery/crime/thriller genre, but this is one author whose books will be on my go-to list.

Set in Tasmania, as so many books have been this year, the setting is a small town on the coast, this was a departure from the stark, dry outback.

This novel had me guessing until nearly the very end who had done it and why, and I didn’t guess either right. Jane Harper is very good at delivering red-herrings, with twists and turns coming at you from every angle.

It starts with a crime the night we meet our characters, but it weaves in an accident and an unsolved crime from 12 years before. There are plenty of guilty seeming characters, though a motive is never really established, you still believe they could possibly be guilty.

As with all small towns, there’s plenty of gossip and secrets that come out of the woodwork when something terrible happens and fingers are pointed in every direction, which says small towns haven’t always got each other’s backs.

This was a great read with an ending I wasn’t expecting.

Thanks to NetGalley and PanMacMillan for a digital copy in return for an honest review.

New Release Book Review : Deadman’s Track by Sarah Barrie

OMG what a roller-coaster of a terrifying ride this novel took me on.

With at least two bad guys on the loose, there was plenty for the characters in this book to be worried about.

Tess was a great character, full of spirit, brave and sure of herself for the most part.

Aaron was a truly horrible character right from the start and any scene that he was in had me wanting to put the book down, sure things were going to turn out badly. His behaviour was classic of an abusive partner and I hated the way he treated Tess.

I loved Jared, the local police officer, he had a big job to do trying to keep up with escalating burglaries.

When Tess lets herself get roped into taking a group of teens out on a trek for a week, I was perplexed at her change in behaviour, because she had been so adamant it wasn’t a good idea, and I knew it wasn’t going to end well, but even I had no idea just how badly things were going to go.

There are several different threads going on during this novel, all becoming tangled up together by the end and not in a good way.

This was a great read and despite the terrible things that happen throughout this novel, I’d love to go trekking in Tasmania at some point, I just hope the bad guys are busy elsewhere when I do.

Thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin Australia for a digital copy of this novel in return for an honest review.

Published date 8th July 2020

New Release Book Review: The Good Turn by Dervla McTiernan

This is the third crime novel in the Cormac Reilly series, I thoroughly enjoyed the first two novels The Ruin and The Scholar, but with book #3 The Good Turn, Dervla McTiernan has claimed a spot as one of my favourite crime writers. The Good Turn was a great read, I was hooked from the start. I think knowing Cormac and his coworkers’ backstory really helped make a difference in how much I enjoyed this book. I really do recommend you read them in order because the characters’ personal lives play a big part in this book.

When a call comes in about a child abduction, everything that could go wrong for Cormac and his team does go wrong. Cormac ends up suspended, something his boss has been angling for since day one. Garda Peter Fisher is sent to a small town and placed under his overbearing police officer father’s jurisdiction as well as having the threat of prosecution hanging over his head.

From the start of the series, Cormac was not a welcome member of the Galway station and he hasn’t won over too many people since he’s been there. He is also damn sure there is some major corruption within the system and with his suspension, he not only sets out to save Peter from the threat of prosecution but is determined this time to uncover the people behind the corruption. What he uncovers goes way deeper than he could have imagined and leaves him with very few people to trust.

We meet Anna and her daughter Tilly who are staying with Peter’s grandmother and who seem to be hiding from something. Peter starts to wonder whether his father is on the up and up and after several incidents, he sets out to find out exactly what is going on. This leads to more trouble for Peter, but he’s been taught by Cormac and is unwilling to let things be despite any trouble he may be facing.

As Cormac and Peter try and uncover secrets and save themselves from unemployment, they find out way more than they bargained for. There were so many twists in this novel and even when some of my guesses were right, there were plenty of things that I got wrong.

I highly recommend The Good Turn for lovers of crime fiction and thank NetGalley and HarperCollins AU for my digital copy in return for an honest review.

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