Book reviews from CloggieDownunder

Cornish Clouds and Silver Lining Skies

by Ali McNamara

Cornish Clouds and Silver Lining Skies is a book in the St Felix series by British author, Ali McNamara. After almost two years of leave due to illness, meteorologist Sky Matthews is eager to get back to work, and is a bit put out when Met Central sends her to a tiny island near St Felix in Cornwall. On arrival, though, she finds Aurora, linked to the mainland at low tide by a causeway, to be quite lovely.

The house she'll be sharing with meteorology student on work experience, Talia, is lovely: the place has been spruced up, the pantry has been stocked by the friendly caretaker, Fisher McMurray, and all the equipment she needs has been delivered. Her young Yorkie-Russell, Fitzy loves the place, and Sky decides it might all work out OK.

But then, collecting her assistant from St Felix station the next day brings an unwelcome surprise in the form of TV Weather presenter, Sonny Samuels (call me Jamie). Sharing the house with this admittedly-good-looking but way too flirty man puts her nose right out of joint. He's supposed to help them collect data on a puzzling weather phenomenon, and he's not even a meteorologist! Thank goodness Talia knows what she's doing.

Sky finds the Sonny persona that Jameson Samuels projects when in public to be far too nosy, and irritating in the extreme. Jamie, she has to admit after a while, seems to be a nice guy, but she has no intention of telling him anything as he tries to probe into her life: if he or Talia know about her illness, they are sure to treat her differently. But is her insistence on keeping this secret fair? And will it backfire on her?

Meanwhile, both Sky and Jamie experience some unusual cloud formations that seem to be associated with things not weather-related; Fisher's grandfather, known for his alternative, unscientific methods of weather prediction, tells them of the legend of Cornish sorceress, Zethar; and Jamie's experience during a freak storm piques their interest in the tunnels once used for smuggling.

McNamara gives the reader a delightful little community of mostly friendly souls, some of whom are quick to recognise Sky's situation, and have sound advice to offer about learning to accept help offered and being grateful that people care enough to offer it. It gives Sky a different perspective. The author's own experience with Sky's illness, ME (a form of chronic fatigue) lend her work an obvious authenticity. The weather aspect is kept fairly basic, and the tunnel mystery has the pages turning faster as the exciting climax approaches. Both informative and feelgood.

"Storm Child

Storm Child is the fourth book in the Cyrus Haven series by award-winning Australian author, Michael Robotham. A relaxing Sunday at the seaside in late August takes an awful turn when the bodies of refugees begin washing up. The sight of Cyrus Haven carrying a dead child from the water dredges up memories that Evie Cormac has been avoiding, sending her into a catatonic state that requires hospitalisation

Of the twenty souls aboard the little boat, seventeen are dead, two young women are missing, and the only known survivor is a fourteen-year-old Albanian boy. While Cyrus is busy chatting to an angry black lawyer in motorcycle leathers, a recovered Evie happens upon the teen in his hospital room and is able to communicate in her native language. Both he and the lawyer claim this isn't a tragic sinking of an inadequate vessel, but a deliberate act by men on a fishing trawler who rammed the boat multiple times. And one of the missing women is the teen's older sister.

The whole situation triggers Evie's recall of her own experience entering the UK, but Cyrus is wary of pushing it too far. When they are apprehended, Evie's vague recognition of one of the men on the offending fishing trawler sends Cyrus to Scotland to learn more about this man. And naturally Evie refuses to be left behind. That turns out to be no picnic: they encounter some very nasty types intent on serious harm; there are guns and someone almost drowns.

Exploring the refugee situation, philanthropy, and modern slavery, this instalment is topical and thought-provoking. Robotham delivers a tightly plotted story sprinkled with enough misdirection to keep the reader guessing and the pages turning right up to the heart-thumping climax. There's plenty of dark humour and the banter is often entertaining, but there are also characters with a jaw-dropping disregard for human life.

Once again, the narrative alternates between Evie and Cyrus: the situation brings back many of Evie's memories that provide readers with her backstory, while Cyrus has several occasions recalling the wise words of his teacher, Joseph O'Loughlin. With most questions answered by the final pages, and one or two surprises, it feels like their story might be complete, but more of Cyrus and Evie will always be welcome. Unputdownable. This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Hachette Australia & New Zealand

Lucy By the Sea

by Lucy By the Sea

Lucy By The Sea is the fourth book in the Amgash series by best-selling, Pulitzer Prize winning American author, Elizabeth Strout. In early 2020, Lucy Barton's ex-husband, parasitologist William Gerhardt is deeply concerned about the new virus spreading around the world. He urges his daughters to leave New York City for somewhere safer. Chrissie and her asthmatic husband, Michael readily take his advice, heading to his parents' house in Connecticut.

Becka and Trey are resistant, opting to stay. Lucy feels sure he's overreacting, but allows him to sweep her up and drive them both to a vacant house his friend, Bob Burgess is managing in the little town of Crosby in coastal Maine. They self-isolate for two weeks. Initially, Lucy isn't impressed by the house or the town, where out-of-towners, especially New Yorkers, are not welcome.

Gradually, the idea of working from home, masks and social distancing is accepted. They spend their time walking, and have books, games and puzzles at their disposal. Lucy starts off rather petulant, her priorities a bit skewed, and is often vocal about it to William: "I hate this kind of thing" to which he calmly replies "Lucy, we're in lockdown, stop hating everything." But she does find herself worrying about those friends and acquaintances left behind in NYC, and those essential and emergency workers she sees on the TV news who are exposed daily to the virus.

Lucy observes "Even as all of this went on, even with the knowledge that my doctor had said it would be a year, I still did not… I don't know how to say it, but my mind was having trouble taking things in. it was as though each day was like a huge stretch of ice I had to walk over. And in the ice were small trees stuck there and twigs, this is the only way I can describe it, as though the world had become a different landscape and I had to make it through each day without knowing when it would stop, and it seemed it would not stop, so I felt a great uneasiness", something that will resonate with many who experienced the pandemic.

After a while, Lucy finds herself taking pleasure in nature: sunsets, a robin's egg, dandelions, the view of the islands, thunderstorms, sea creatures, autumn colours. Separated from their former lives, it's a time of reflection, connection and reconnection: they get to know some neighbours, volunteers, and Bob and his wife. They share worries over their daughters, and discover things about themselves.

Initially blocked, when she observes some teens and a policeman while they are out on a jaunt, "I wondered, What is it like to be a policeman, especially now, these days? What is it like to be you? This is the question that has made me a writer; always a deep desire to know what it feels like to be a different person." She begins writing again.

And Lucy finds some empathy for certain reviled protestors: "I suddenly felt that I saw what these people were feeling. They had been made to feel poorly about themselves, they were looked at with disdain, and they could no longer stand it." Strout gives her characters palpable emotions, wise words and insightful observations. While Lucy admits to self-interest leading her to do something of which she's not proud, she also details the compassion she encounters. And of the many kindnesses Lucy mentions, some from unexpected quarters, outstanding for her is William, infinitely kind, perceptive and resourceful. Olive Kitteridge gets a mention as an acquaintance of someone she meets.

Strout's writing, its quality, style and subject matter, is reminiscent of Sebastian Barry with shades of Anne Tyler. Strout writes about ordinary people leading what they believe are ordinary lives (although there are definitely some quirky ones doing strange things amongst them, and life in a pandemic is far from ordinary) and she does it with exquisite yet succinct prose. Such a moving, powerful read.

Where the Crawdads Sing

by Delia Owens

Where The Crawdads Sing is the first novel by award-winning, best-selling American wildlife scientist and author, Delia Owens. In 1952, when she is almost seven, Miss Catherine Daniella Clark, known to everyone as Kya, watches her mother leave. She doesn't return, and her older siblings, fed up with their abusive, alcoholic father, quietly slip away, one by one, leaving her to deal with her Pa, Jake Clark in their North Carolina marsh shack on her own.

They form an uneasy alliance: Pa is often gone for days at a time, and Kya learns to look after herself, conceal her mother's absence from nosy Barkley Cove shopkeepers, hide from truant officers, and appreciate the beauty of the marsh and its creatures. Things get more difficult when she's ten: Pa goes off and doesn't return, meaning the sporadic cash he gives her from his disability cheques dries up and she has to fend for herself if she doesn't want to give herself up to the authorities. Which she doesn't.

She does have Pa's boat, can travel the marsh waters to the estuary, pick mussels and oysters to trade. She covers the fact that Pa is gone, trying to stay under the radar, but there is a boy for whom she keeps an eye out: Tate Walker was kind to her once, shares her love of the marsh, and doesn't feel dangerous like some do. She's unaware that some others are looking out for her, concerned about her welfare and surreptitiously providing some of what she needs.

By the time she's fourteen, she's adept at fending for herself and staying under the radar. Her interest in marsh flora and fauna is boundless; she collects and sketches specimens, and when Tate offers to teach her to read and write, she's able to record what she knows and observes. Abandoned by everyone in her family, she's wary of giving her love, but takes a chance with Tate. Then he goes off to college to study the thing they're both interested in, and breaks his promise to return.

Kya is absorbed in her study of the marsh, but still lonely, until Chase Andrews begins to take an interest in her…

In late October 1969, Sheriff Ed Jackson is alerted of the death of a local by two young boys who have caught sight of the corpse near an abandoned fire tower. Chase Andrews, star quarterback, town hotshot and favourite son of Barkley Cove, has been dead some ten hours, and when the Sheriff and Deputy Joe Purdue examine the scene, they are mystified: there are no tyre tracks or foot prints anywhere near the body. It looks like Chase fell from the tower, but neither are there fingerprints.

There's plenty of speculation in the town: despite being married to Pearl, Chase was known for his tomcatting, so perhaps he fell foul of a jealous husband? But Barkley Cove is a small town, and enough people knew of his regular visits to the Marsh Girl that suspicion falls on Kya.

Owens gives the reader a dual-timeline coming-of-age tale, a love story, a murder mystery and a courtroom drama, all enclosed in some gorgeous lyrical prose. Her vivid descriptions really evoke the setting, the peace and beauty of the marsh, and the era, while there is enough intrigue to keep most readers guessing about the young man's fate until the final reveal. Moving, heart-breaking and beautifully written, this is an outstanding debut.

Tell Me Who You Are

by Louisa Luna

Tell Me Who You Are is the fourth stand-alone novel by award-winning American author, Louisa Luna. During the twenty years she has been a psychiatrist, Dr Carolne Strange's patients have confided many unusual things in the safe space she provides in the basement of her Brooklyn Brownstone, but what her newest patient, Nelson Schack tells her is certainly unique: in virtually the same breath, he says that he is going to kill someone, and that he knows who Caroline really is.

It's not until Detective Makeda Marks and her sidekick, Detective Miguel Jiminez come to her door to question her about the disappearance of journalist Ellen Garcia that she decides it merits breaking patient confidentiality to mention part of Nelson's statement. Ellen Garcia included Dr Caroline in a highly critical article on doctors, and any of those targeted might hold a grudge. Some days after putting out her recycling on the kerb, Ellen is very surprised to come to in a dark basement, thirsty, hungry and afraid.

Dr Caroline (as she likes patients to call her) doesn't reveal the extent of her communication with Ellen. Nor does she mention a well-publicised incident from her youth: Caroline really wants the police to focus on Nelson, rather than looking at her, as they seem to want to do…

In 1993 in Glen Grove, Wisconsin, Gordon Strong has just lost his brewery job, something that contributes to a downward spiral that involves drinking to excess and a paranoid delusion that his wife is having an affair with their neighbour, Chuck Strange. When his control finally breaks, and he murders his family with a pair of garden shears, then hangs himself, the only survivor is the neighbour's teenaged daughter, on a sleep-over with her best friend.

Luna easily evokes her era and setting, and the reason that her main protagonist seems initially to live up to her name becomes clear as the story progresses. It is told over two timelines and from three perspectives: Caroline Strange, Ellen Garcia and Gordon Strong.

None of the characters are particularly nice people: Caroline's nicknames for her patients seem to contradict the care she professes to feel for them; Gordon is clearly a lazy, entitled chauvinist, a toxic male; and, while she's an innocent victim who in no way deserves what happens to her, Ellen does lack journalistic integrity. It gradually becomes clear that the reliability of at least two of the narratives is questionable, which serves to keep the reader thoroughly invested in the outcome. Often blackly funny, Luna's latest is a cleverly-plotted page-turner. This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Farrar, Strauss & Giroux.

The Night House

by The Night House

The Night House is a stand-alone novel by best-selling Norwegian author, Jo Nesbo. It is translated by Neil White. Fourteen-year-old Richard Elauved is fairly new in Ballantyne, having moved in with his Aunt Jenny and Uncle Frank after his parents died suddenly and traumatically. At school, he's in the pariah class or, as the boy he calls Fatso tells him, the piranha class, but the lovely Karen Taylor, smart, pretty, and quite the rebel, is inquisitive about him.

When his classmate, Tom, also in the pariah/piranha class and last seen with Richard near the river in the Mirror Forest, goes missing, the police eventually decide that Richard is responsible. No one will believe that Tom was sucked into the telephone receiver in the phone box on the edge of the forest when they prank-called a random phone book entry, Imu Janasson. Karen is less sceptical that the rest, though, or at least she believes that he believes that is what happened.

Then another classmate goes missing shortly after being in Richard's company. After what happened when he and the boy went to the vacant house in the middle of the Mirror Wood, Richard is convinced that there's an evil presence there. Police interrogations are unsatisfactory, and lie detector tests have them concluding that he is a hardened psychopath. He's sent to a youth correctional facility. Things just get more bizarre from there.

Initially, Richard quite an unlikeable protagonist, a nasty bully whose pranks have some grisly results that put him on the wrong side of the law. Is he a reliable narrator? Is he telling us the truth about his classmates' deaths, or was he hallucinating? Or is it all a cover for his nastiness?

Nesbo gives the reader a story within a story within a story, and each one has echoes of the others. One has very much a classic teen horror story feel, often blackly funny, and the whole has some excellent twists and surprises.

He gives his characters some wise words and insightful observations: "Sometimes if you tell a lie enough times. It becomes a bit true anyway" and "You should never trust your memory. It only ever gives you what it thinks you need" are examples. An excellent psychological thriller.

Sanctuary

by Garry Disher

Sanctuary is a stand-alone novel by award-winning, best-selling Australian author, Garry Disher. Grace is a thief, and she's very good at it. She started as a pre-teen, was taught by the best, and knows her stuff, what she can offload quickly, and for how much. And three vital things she has learned: know when (and how) to walk away, keep it simple, and always have a plan B.

So when, at a Brisbane Stamp Expo, she spots someone who has reason to hold a grudge against her, she clears off, quick smart, heads south, changes her name, gets a different car, stays under the radar: she's done this many times before. By the time she gets to the Adelaide Hills, though, she realises she's tired of it: "All I want is a normal life," is what keeps running through her head. But for someone like her, is that even possible?

In Battendorf, she spots a "help wanted" sign in Mandel's Collectibles: she could do that, she's good with antiques and vintage items. Her new boss is nervy, but gives Grace free rein, and the little shop does well. What Grace only learns much later is that Erin Mandel is hiding from a very toxic ex.

Going straight is harder than Grace realised, especially when there such rich pickings to be had under the cover of a buying trip to the Barossa. Is that to be her undoing? Or is it the humanity she can't help showing in a critical moment, in combination with the appearance of said ex?

Once again, Disher effortlessly evokes his setting and his plot is intriguing enough to keep the pages turning. His characters are well-rounded and thoroughly credible: some are utterly despicable, one engaging in a particularly heinous scam; others, the reader will soon enough be hoping, even wishing, will elude capture: Grace for her courage and compassion, Adam for his conscience.

With Disher's work, the reader often faces the dilemma: devour the novel quickly, because it's so good and so hard to put down, or draw it out, because you don't want the pleasure of it to end. This is brilliant Aussie crime from an author who never disappoints. This unbiased review is from a copy provided by Text Publishing.

The Lost Man

by Jane Harper

The Lost Man is a stand-alone novel by award-winning, best-selling Australian author, Jane Harper. In outback Queensland, Nathan Bright and his teenaged son, Xander abandon the fence-mending chore on his own property to return to the family's holding when they learn that Nathan's younger brother is dead.

Cameron Bright was meant to meet the youngest Bright brother, Bub, at Lehmann's Hill for a repair job on Wednesday. Instead, he lies dead against a remote gravestone in the blistering mid-December heat, his car, replete with food and water, parked nine kilometers away. His brothers are mystified.

Sergeant Ladlow, a city-trained stand-in for their local cop, Sergeant Glenn McKenna, asks about Cameron's mood over the previous weeks: it's clear he believes Cam walked away from his car intending to end his life, although how he could have attained that distance in the heat is a puzzle.

With just days until what will be a very subdued Christmas, the family gathers at the homestead, stunned at the news, incredulous, asking each other when they last saw Cam and was there any sign that this was in his mind.

A few things niggle at Nathan: that the two British backpackers employed as hands seem wary of police; the very particular way Cam's car keys were placed in his car; that their farm manager, Harry Bledsoe located the car so easily; and Bub's light mood in the face of such a grave situation. And Xander draws Nathan's attention to the thorough preparations Cam made for the planned repair, hardly the actions of a man intending suicide.

The presence of Cam's wife (now widow), Ilse is also distracting: there is a history between them, and despite his avoidance, the attraction is still there. Nathan's self-imposed exile, born of the same incident that saw him ostracised by the entire community of Balamara, means that he has missed a lot of what has transpired at his family's home. Over the next few days, the funeral and Christmas, what he sees and hears gradually reveals exactly what has happened.

Harper easily evokes the outback setting and the prevalent community attitudes. She gives the reader a tale that features isolation, loneliness and suicide risk, as well as domestic violence, coercive control and sexual harassment. Fans may note that the events of Harper's first novel in KIewarra, The Dry, intersect with the story at a certain point. Brilliant Aussie slow-burn crime fiction.

What Happened To Nina?

by Dervla McTiernan

"When Nina grew up and they started dating, I'd seen hm around our house, but I'd never truly looked at him. I'd never felt the need to. Because I'd known him his whole life. I thought that made him safe. I thought he was a nice boy who was in love with my daughter."

What Happened To Nina is the second stand-alone novel by award-winning, best-selling Irish-born Australian author, Dervla McTiernan. When, after blowing off her work responsibilities at the family inn to vacation with her boyfriend, Nina Fraser doesn't return as promised, and her mother, Leanne is at first irritated. But, once she and husband Andy learn that Simon Jordan has returned home alone, some days earlier, they are more concerned.

Simon's story is sort of credible, but some aspects of Nina's reported behaviour are out of character for the twenty-year-old they know so well. And, despite their perception of him as a good guy, as he is the last person to have seen her, they can't help being sceptical.

From the prologue, it's quickly clear that Simon Jordan is a toxic male, subjecting Nina to violence, gaslighting and coercive control. But like many of that breed, he can also expertly charm. Soon enough, it's also apparent just how entitled he feels, and how dangerous he is.

Contact with Nina's friends yields nothing, so Vermont State Police Detective Senior Sergeant Matthew Wright gets involved. Novice Offcer, Sarah Jane Reid is available to assists and his gamble quickly pays off as she proves to have initiative and useful insight. A press conference gets a mixed reaction online and produces little. And in trying to get information and cooperation from the Jordan family, they hit roadblocks at every turn.

Determined to protect his son's reputation (and thereby his own), ostentatiously wealthy industrialist Rory Jordan hires a PR company to manage their public image. Their strategy involves victim blaming, hoax sightings of Nina in Boston, and online rumour-mongering. Soon, online trolls are having a field day heaping suspicion on Leanne and claiming that Andy is a paedophile. It all helps to muddy the waters around Simon's involvement.

A search of the Jordans' vacation property reveals some anomalies that don't gel with Simon's story, and Wright is determined to learn the truth. But it's all too little for the Frasers: Leanne despairs that she will never find out what happened to Nina, and that prompts Andy to take radical action.

McTiernan gives the reader a well-described setting, credible characters, and a clever and topical plot, proving, once again, her prodigious talent for crime fiction. This might be her best yet. This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Harper Collins Australia.

The Two Deaths Of Ruth Lyle

by Nick Louth

The Two Deaths of Ruth Lyle is the first book in the Detective Jan Talantire series by award-winning, best-selling British author, Nick Louth. Just as she's thinking her dating app might have got it right with Adam, Detective Inspector Jan Talantire has to abandon the date to attend a grisly murder scene. The victim, in her sixties, has apparently already been dead over forty-eight hours when the inexperienced constable arrives and unintentionally contaminates the scene.

"A blood-drenched woman was lying spreadeagled but fully dressed on a kitchen table, with six inches of a crude iron crucifix protruding from her chest."

With the CSI team busy elsewhere, Jan processes the scene with what she has available, even improvising to help get a time-of-death estimate. But things quickly get strange when one of her older colleagues points out that the woman, whose belongings identify her as Ruth Lyle, has the same name, manner and date of death as a sixteen-year-old girl murdered in the same place, fifty years earlier. A copycat killing?

If that's not puzzling enough, fingerprints and DNA at the scene and on the weapon have Jan and her team questioning whether the original weapon (surely secured in police evidence?) has been used in this crime. And when they learn that the youth jailed for the murder in 1974 has been released some months earlier, they wonder if this is a copycat, or a repeat.

Hindering their investigation is the fact that, fifty years on, they can't locate the physical evidence: has it been stored somewhere, or discarded? The case files, too, are difficult to locate: not digitised; maybe stored amongst a mess of cardboard boxes full of old files in a storage facility; maybe thrown out. And then the pathologist delivers a bombshell about this Ruth Lyle discovered during the autopsy. And another when the dental expert offers his opinion: curiouser and curiouser!

Jan is lucky to have a very competent team at her disposal, although the roadblocks they encounter are frustrating, especially when higher-ups interfere, but they do some excellent detective work. At a certain point, though, "She was looking at the end of her career. She had ignored her boss, gone out on a limb to make a high-profile arrest, and now it was all rebounding horribly upon her."

This first instalment features name changes and stolen identities, blackmail with Polaroids, theft of evidence, drugs, reputation-destroying secrets, phone tracking, and a huge volume of fingerprint and DNA analysis. There's enough intrigue to keep the reader guessing right up to the final reveals. Louth easily evokes his setting, and his characters and dialogue are thoroughly credible. More of this cast will be eagerly anticipated. This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Canelo Crime.

Kinfolk

by Sean Dietrich

Kinfolk is the fifth novel by American author Sean Dietrich. The first time that Jeremiah (Nub) Taylor encounters Minnie Bass, it's just after Thanksgiving 1972 and, from the hospital bed opposite his, she's disturbing his sleep as she comforts herself with a song her mama used to sing to her. Nub is there recovering from his drunken crash into the town's water tower.

Not long after, he learns that Minnie, 6'5" but only fifteen, is a middle school dropout who works as a cook at the Waffle House. How, then, does a sixty-two-year-old divorced alcoholic whom many in the town of Park, in the tiny county of Ash, Alabama, see as white trash, decide to apply to foster this unfortunate teen?

Before she sank into alcoholism and took her own life on that fateful Thanksgiving, Celia Bass always told Minnie that the father she never knew died a hero in the Korean war when, in fact, Clarence (Sugar) Bass is just then being released after serving a fifteen-year sentence for manslaughter at the Draper Correctional Facility some miles to the south.

An accidental shooting during a robbery gone wrong isn't going to help "the Organization" forget that Sugar Bass has $813,000 of their money, so he has a tail the moment he hits town. And the Organization's wrath might be directed at family members if Sugar remains reticent about the location of the money.

High school biology teacher, widow and mother of teenaged Charlie Jr, Emily Ives has just been given an adverse diagnosis by her inept GP, and is trying to come to terms with her own mortality before she shares the news. But she is distracted, and a little chagrined, by the news that the father who abandoned her as a girl for his love affair with alcohol is planning to foster a fifteen-year-old girl.

It's true that he is a good man: "He was whip-smart, for starters. And he was heart-stoppingly sincere. His greatest quality, however, was that he had the audacity to be himself, for better or worse", but what qualifies her alcoholic parent to do this?

Nub understands he will have to be sober "He knew it meant that he would have to face the jaggedness of life without alcohol to round its edges" and he realises, after some weeks that way "It had been a long time since he'd felt the hotness of his own anger without alcohol to dull its spiked edges."

Dietrich really does have a talent for creating a wonderful cast of characters who easily find their way into readers' hearts. They are a flawed bunch but he gives them wise words and insightful observations: when Nub eventually shares with Minnie the one thing they have in common, a parent ending their own life, she tells him "When someone shoots themself, they kill a lot more than just them."

Dietrich has a marvellous turn of phrase: "Benny crept down the hall toward the cabinet. He opened the door so slowly that Nub celebrated four birthdays." Childbirth, concerts, a housefire, an exploding mobile home, a hospital shooter and at least three near-death moments all feature and, even though the plot is at times heart-breaking, there's plenty of humour, especially in the dialogue: "Benny," said Nub. "Don't take this the wrong way, but you're kind of embarrassing me." "Thanks. That means a lot coming from a professional."

A feel-good ending is always welcome: "Minnie had come to believe that life was not about finding miracles, or happiness, or success, or purpose, or about avoiding disappointment. It was about finding people. People are what make life worth it. People are the buried treasure. People who understand you. People who will bleed with you. People who make your life richer. Your people. Your kinfolk." This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Harper Muse.

The Dishonest Miss Take

by Faye Murphy

The Dishonest Miss Take is the first novel by British author, Faye Murphy. Nineteen-year-old Clara Blakely, wrongly accused of murdering the cartographer whose biography she was writing, Lord Balthazar Forgo, is unexpectedly released from custody when an assassin claims responsibility. Her name dragged through the mud by the press, she is determined to find the assassin and discover who took out the contract on the map man so they can exonerate her to the press.

Still under obligation to perform ten thousand hours of Community Service for past crimes which saw her dubbed Miss Take, she departs Dippenwick for London where she will patrol with The Hero Brigade's Community Squadron of functionables.

Functionables have acquired a function, it is theorised, from the chemicals pumped into the air, water and land by factories. Functions vary widely; in Cara's case, she is a pain reliever, who can take on another's pain; she can also pass it on to someone else.

When the Finishing School (for assassins) declines to identify Forgo's killer, Clara takes an unusual step to draw out the young woman she later learns is Morgan Murdur, an undergraduate assassin at the Finishing School. Morgan has a function she doesn't immediately share but, after a few more encounters, she reveals to Clara who paid her.

In her search for this person, Clara stumbles on forgery and corruption, and the source of a monster known as the Dirt Man who is taking innocent lives on the streets of London. Morgan introduces her to some other assassins, but it's when she realises that Morgan has a crush on her that she gets distracted from her purpose: to expose the aristocrats putting the city in danger.

While the era and setting are mostly Victorian London, the dialogue and social issues definitely belong in the twenty-first Century, even when they're a weird mix of both as in: "kid I had once picked up for propping horses on bricks and stealing their shoes" and "turn her into a human-sized kebab" and 'Sorry we buried all those people alive, that's our bad.'"

Clara's internal banter with a mind-reader is quite interesting, and the way the functionables use their functions is imaginative. Clara falls into a vat of toxic waste, poses as an assassin, falls off a roof, and comes to appreciate Morgan's functionable pigeon, Victor, before the final action-packed climax in which there's a bloody battle between some unexpected opponents. If you go with the flow, this impressive debut novel is a fun read. This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and BHC Press

The House At Sea's End

The House At Sea's End is the third book in the Ruth Galloway series by award-winning British author, Elly Griffiths. Trace and Irish Ted lead a team of archaeologists conducting a survey on coastal erosion when one of them stumbles across what turns out to be a mass grave in a ravine under the cliff below the home of MEP Jack Hastings: six skeletons with bullet wounds, hands bound behind their backs.

Dr Ruth Galloway, back at work now that Kate is five months old, helps with the rush job to remove them before the tide takes them. The autopsies determine that the men were likely executed; Ruth estimated the remains are less than a century old, aged between 21 and 40; her tests reveal they were probably from Germany. A German journalist turns up on Ruth's doorstep and gives them names.

DCI Harry Nelson has a historic multiple murder case on his hands, and something that the Hastings matriarch says sends him looking for members of the local Home Guard, one of whom is the grandfather of his Superintendent, Gerald Whitcliffe. These men would be his best chance for information about the deaths. It turns out, though, that of these old men, High Anselm, who alerted the journalist to the murders, has died recently, apparently of a stroke.

Archie Whitcliffe, when Nelson talks to him, says a few cryptic things, including something about a blood oath, things that cannot be later clarified when the man dies that night. His carer says his enigmatic last word was Lucifer, and Nelson is not convinced he died a natural death, which has him also wondering about Hugh Anselm's demise.

As Nelson and the soon-to-be-married DS Judy Johnson search for elderly Broughton residents who might recall the events of almost seventy years previous, as they page through old parish bulletins and sort through Hugh Anselm's papers, a body washes up on the beach, and it isn't an accidental drowning or a fall from the cliff. It is beginning to look like someone wants the circumstances of the deaths to remain secret.

In this instalment, as well as digging up bones and lecturing students, Ruth endures (rather than enjoys) a hen party, solves a secret code, attends a wedding, irretrievably loses her mobile phone, is criticised for her mothering, and almost drowns. There's both a naming ceremony and a baptism for baby Kate, a Bosnian archaeologist comes for a short stay, and Nelson gets the kiss of life. The final body count, if a historical suicide is included, runs to an even ten. And with lots of speculation going on, the secret of Kate's paternity looks to be on thin ice. The fourth book, A Room Full Of Bones, is eagerly anticipated.

A Lonesome Place For Dying

by Nolan Chase

A Lonesome Place For Dying is the first book to feature Ethan Brand by award-winning Canadian-born author, Sam Wiebe, writing as Nolan Chase. On the morning he's due to take over from Police Chief Frank Keogh in the Washington State border town of Blaine, someone has left on Ethan Brand's doorstep a heart (too large to be human) and a printed note telling him to leave. Ethan is not inclined to leave his home town: he heads off to work.

Before he can even be sworn in by the mayor, he's out by the railway line near Mo's scrapyard, examining the body of a young woman. She has been stabbed, but there's nothing to identify her, nor any sign of how she got there.

There are quite a few candidates potentially responsible for the gory warning (which soon escalates to a death threat), including a disgruntled suspended cop, rivals for the position of chief, criminals whose activities he has curtailed, and a romantic indiscretion, but Ethan has to put that aside to focus on solving the murder (and proving his suitability as chief).

While he has a handful of conscientious and competent officers who between them manage to give the Jane Doe a name and find other evidence, Ethan is frustrated that his two senior officers are squabbling rather than working as a team.

Diligent investigation uncovers an impersonation, another murder and a missing person. As well, there's a white-suited character in town who looks and acts very much like a hit-man: who is paying him and who might be his target? Ethan is convinced the local drug smugglers, the McCandless family must be involved.

Ethan is an interesting protagonist, a lawman with integrity, insight and intelligence, and a few quirks (his chess game with the diner waitress, his fondness for the blue-eyed coyote, his rapport with various locals, his naivete with the non-binary journalist) that will endear him to the reader.

Chase gives the reader cleverly-plotted crime fiction with a few twists and surprises, a dramatic climax and a very satisfactory resolution. He easily evokes his setting, and Jerry Todd's cover is striking. Chase has set up the town and its inhabitants with plenty of scope for further books in this location, and more of this cast would be most welcome. This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books.

Life, Loss, and Puffins

by Catherine Ryan Hyde

Life, Loss and Puffins is a novel by award-winning American author, Catherine Ryan Hyde. Rumaki Evans is five when her mother describes her to someone as freakishly smart. What Ru hears is freak. She later tells people that was when her childhood ended. Ru has an eidectic memory and hyperthymesia, and is mostly bored at school, always smarter than her classmates, no matter how many grades she skips.

She's so smart that, at thirteen, she is offered a full ride scholarship at a prestigious college. Her mother isn't going to let her go there: it's way too far to commute, but it's her Grandma Mimi's dying wish, and the student advisor finds a family with whom she can board. Paula Gulbranson will provide meals and treat her like family, and her seventeen-year-old son, Gabriel will drop her off at Wellington on his way to the State University.

With his painted nails and eye make-up, Gabriel is different, an outsider himself, but from the moment they meet, he and Ru connect as friends and remain so all their lives. College might not be quite the solution Ru was hoping for, but her astrophysics teacher is able to provide some perceptive answers to things that have troubled her, and a way to approach life.

But when her mother suddenly sickens and dies, Ru is faced with the prospect of living with the aunt she can't stand, in Kentucky, a long way from her only real friend. She realises that, as a minor, she won't have a choice, but decides if she can't stick around near Gabriel under the radar, she'll run away, live a bit of life, before she's forced to conform.

Ru makes a College List, a list of three things she wants to do, see, experience, before she returns to her education. Gabriel jumps on board, offering to drive her across the country for star-gazing at the country's darkest place, seeing the Aurora Borealis (where they are the only humans on eighty square kilometers of nothing). and meeting an Atlantic Puffin.

As they travel the country, they meet, help, and are helped by, a number of people, and Ru comes to understand more about herself: "All these years thinking I'm so smart, but only about stuff that isn't very useful when you're trying to have a life. It's like I know all this stuff but all of a sudden none of it seems very important", an observation that strikes a chord with this reviewer, whose mother would comment about her intelligence "Marianne's brains are not for domestic use."

Do things fall into place too easily for this pair? Maybe, but Ru notes that "Life has this way of letting these perfect events drop into their perfect slots at just the right moment. But there's a catch to that kind of living. You have to be doing it right" and the pair is not averse to hard work or being generous and are game for new experiences.

Acceptance of people as they are is a big theme in this novel. Ryan Hyde always manages to warm the heart and uplift the soul; she often provokes serious thought but also provides humour. This time, she includes one of her own passions, astronomy, in the plot. Her characters easily endear themselves to the reader, and have wise words and insightful observations. Ryan Hyde never disappoints. This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing.

The Girl In the Dark

by Zo! Sharp

The Girl In The Dark is the second book in the Blake & Byron Thrillers series by British author, Zoë Sharp. Six months after their first encounter in Derbyshire, Blake Claremont is quite annoyed when former Detective Superintendent John Byron almost ruins the cover she has spent weeks crafting. Blake has been detained during a raid on homeless people living in a derelict Limehouse building, and Byron is genuinely concerned for her welfare.

Blake explains that she is searching for a teen named Kensy, who was in the care of Shannon Clifford until she died. Shannon helped Blake survive the streets when she was a teen, and her death was poorly investigated, perhaps because the Limehouse police may bear some responsibility for it. In his new role as Special Investigator for the Independent Office for Police Conduct, Byron assures Blake he will look into her death.

Blake can't let it go, though: it was Shannon's last wish that she look after Kensy. And Shannon was also worried about homeless teens going missing. Some of those rough sleepers that Blake encounters are very suspicious of Kinfolk, a charity fronted by a celebrity chef and her husband, a breakfast show host with political ambitions.

The organisation seems to target the especially vulnerable homeless, those wary of the police (like the young woman who witnessed Shannon's death), those on the run, or those with something to hide, offering food, shelter and work, and help accessing their entitlements. But is it all above board?

Sharp's protagonists are appealing: smart, talented, but also flawed, and it is interesting to see them developing as the series progresses. Their dialogue is snappy and often entertaining. The wary, often quirky, rough sleepers, and other support cast, are believably portrayed, but it doesn't do to get too attached to all the characters as, a bit in the manner of Mick Herron, Sharp tends to kill off quite a few of them, some in a very grisly manner. Blake does seem to keep putting herself in danger: will Byron ever get used to it?

This second instalment is cleverly plotted with plenty of action to keep readers captivated right up to a nail-biting climax (or two). It features topical themes: exploitation of the homeless as slave labour, black kitchens, and the unsympathetic attitudes of government and police to rough sleepers. More of this cast in the third instalment will be very welcome. Brilliant British crime fiction. This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Bookouture.

Eleven Huskies

by Philipp Schott

Eleven Huskies is the third book in the Dr Bannerman Vet Mystery series by Canadian veterinarian and author, Philipp Schott. Shortly before he is due to go there on a family canoeing trip, veterinarian and part-time sleuth, Dr Peter Bannerman is called to Dragonfly Lodge to examine some very unwell huskies.

When he arrives, he learns that a float-plane has gone down on the lake that morning, with the loss of three lives and, as he puzzles over what is ailing the dogs, the RCMP report that the pilot was shot, making this a triple murder. As he organises transport to New Selfoss for the sickest dogs, apparently poisoned, he wonders who might have wanted to harm John Reynolds's prize-winning dogs, coming up with theories that range from credible to utterly outlandish as he uncharacteristically indulges in wild speculation with no basis in fact.

Before returning home, he observes the interplay between Lodge staff, notes a pre-dawn canoe crossing the lake, and is shot at when he visits an old friend at the Dragon Lake First Nation settlement. He can't help wondering who might have been the target of the plane crash: aside from the pilot, there were a flashy entrepreneur and a local indigenous politician on board; and, not believing in coincidence, he wonders if the poisoning is somehow related.

A few days later, Peter arrives for his trip, this time accompanied by his wife, Laura, his RCMP brother-in-law, Kevin and Kevin's partner, Stuart, and of course his champion scent dog Pippin. And while Kevin is on vacation, he and Peter can't help discussing both of the so-far-unsolved mysteries, postulating that everyone at the Lodge, staff and guests, are potential suspects.

In this instalment, Schott subjects his characters to a terrifying ordeal when a natural disaster cuts short their canoeing trip, gives Laura's seemingly bumbling brother a chance to shine, deprives Peter of a classic locked-room denouement, and has Pippin using his sensitive nose on three occasions, one of which saves the lives of four people.

Peter eventually figures out who the killer is: "This process was always mysterious to him. His mind would meander somewhere that was pleasant but felt irrelevant, and then it would leap across a void to an unseen path that had been running in parallel all along. He wished he understood it so he could harness it properly, but at least it existed at all." Or does he?

As usual, the prologue is from the perspective of the creatures requiring Peter's veterinary expertise, and there is a preview of the fourth book in the series, Three Bengal Kittens. This is an entertaining and very enjoyable cosy mystery series, and more of quirky Peter Bannerman, Pippin, and their support characters, is eagerly anticipated. This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and ECW Press

Everyone Who Can Forgive Me Is Dead

by Jenny Hollander

Everyone Who Can Forgive Me Is Dead is the first novel by British editor and author, Jenny Hollander. Thirty-two-year-old London -born Charlotte Colbert loves living in New York City, loves her job as editor-in-chief of the Chronicle's Sunday supplement, C, and is engaged, soon-to-be-married, to publishing heir, William Goodman West III, aka Tripp. She has good staff, and regular contact with her family and her best friend in England.

She also has regular sessions with her therapist, Dr Noor Nazari because, nine years earlier, as a student at the feted School of Journalism at Carroll University, she survived what the media soon dubbed Scarlet Christmas. Three students died, others were injured, and Charlie has only an incomplete memory of what happened. And as long as certain triggering topics are avoided, Charlie stays on an even keel.

But then KBC anchor, Stephanie Anderson reveals plans to make a movie about the ordeal her twin sister Cate faced during Scarlet Christmas, and Charlie fears that the lies she told about what happened will be exposed. Maybe she needs to remember what really happened?

As the story progresses, it becomes apparent that Charlie isn't the only one who lied, that she is an unreliable narrator, and that the author is withholding significant facts to keep the reader guessing. This does cause the story to drag a little as intrigue morphs into frustration. It is cleverly plotted, there are several twists, some more predictable than others and, for a journalism student/editor, the protagonist (or is it the author?) does have a disappointing deficit in the command of personal pronouns. Nonetheless, an impressive debut. This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Little, Brown Book Group UK.

Very Very Lucky

by Amanda Prowse

4.5★s Very, Very Lucky is the sixteenth stand-alone novel by award-winning, best-selling British author, Amanda Prowse. After the funeral for Mary, his wife of sixty-two wonderful years, Thurston Brancher begins making preparations. He gets his solicitor to draft a new will; he subtly sounds out his niece to care for his Jack Russell, Rhubarb; the phone will be cut off just before Christmas; and he considers methods, deciding that a strong rope over a beam in the barn will be the best. Because, in his eighties, life without Mary isn't worth living.

Emma Fountain's life is full. She has a widowed, still-grieving, disabled mother with a talent for criticism, bigotry and what seems like passive aggression, a teenaged son not coping with the social aspect of school, another son tempted by the luxuries his school-mates can afford, a hard-working husband trying to provide for them all, and a daughter wanting to showcase a normal family for her new boyfriend. Her life is mad, chaotic and hectic with not one minute to herself: the chore cycle never ends while other people's needs take up her emotional and physical reserves.

Her part-time job at the green-grocers is actually a welcome escape from the pressure, and getting together with her best friend Rosalind is source of support, entertainment and joy in her life. But in the week from hell, she learns something very disturbing about the carer paid to look after her mother, one son's anxiety seems to be escalating while the other has his sights set on an expensive school trip, her best friend reveals an adverse diagnosis, and her daughter brings some shocking news.

It's in the middle of all this that Emma and Thurston, both feeling fragile, encounter one another and find an immediate rapport. They're both a little surprised to be able to confide in each other so freely: it's not until later that the irony of Thurston's advice to Emma, when she confides sometimes wanting to run away, strikes him, while Emma eventually takes on board something else he says: "You can't do everything, and you can't fix everything. Sometimes, you need to ask for help."

Prowse peppers her novel with wisdom and insight, and serves it up with plenty of laugh-out-loud humour: the chilli dinner and its aftermath is particularly hilarious. Prowse gives the reader some marvellous descriptive prose: "His throat was narrow, vocal cords tight, and lyrics of hope and love were no more than lies on his tongue. This another facet of his loss. Another strand to the blanket of sorrow woven in a unique way for whoever wore it" and "You look like you have words queuing up to jump off your tongue" are examples. Readers may wish to know that some of her characters are quite free with expletives, but this is a heart-warming and uplifting read. This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing.

The Janus Stone

by Elly Griffiths

The Janus Stone is the second book in the Ruth Galloway series by award-winning British author, Elly Griffiths. The audio version is narrated by Jane McDowell. As Head of Forensic Archaeology at the University of North Norfolk, Ruth Galloway is called in by U of Sussex's Dr Max Grey when a dig at Swaffham produces a small skeleton minus its skull, buried under a doorway: an offering to one of the Roman gods, Janus or Terminus?

She's surprised when DCI Harry Nelson turns up there: she hasn't yet told him she's three months pregnant with his child. Ruth knows she will have to reveal her pregnancy before it becomes too obvious, and justifiably dreads the reaction of some.

Soon after, Ruth attends a demolition site at the request of the field archaeologist, when another small skeleton is found, again minus skull, again buried under a doorway, where a children's home existed more than thirty years previous. Ruth calls in DCI Harry Nelson in case the bones prove to be more recent than Iron Age, as the burial looks more modern. The developer, Edward Spens is building seventy-five modern units, and is displeased when Nelson puts the work on hold citing a possible murder investigation.

Nelson's sidekick, Sergeant Clough is convinced that in any home run by Catholic nuns and priests, there's bound to be abuse, possibly foul play, but interviews with former staff and residents show no evidence of this. What might be significant is the mysterious disappearance of siblings Martin and Elizabeth Black, in 1973.

But post-mortem evidence eventually proves the bones too old to be children's home residents, and Nelson's investigation heads in a direction that is uncomfortable for some, not that that will stop him probing where he sees fit. He is distracted, though, when he learns that he is to be a father for the third time, and not quite sure how he feels about that.

Meanwhile, Ruth has the decidedly uncomfortable sensation that someone is watching, someone apparently fixated on her, who starts leaving vaguely sinister messages and objects both at the digs and on her doorstep. Nelson's reaction is to assign DC Judy Johnson to watch over her. But after she has done some research into the former residents of the Woolmarket house, Judy needs to revisit her interview with Sister Immaculata: the ageing nun must know more than she's told so far…

Griffiths uses Ruth and Harry as her main narrators, with occasional passages from the perspective of an anonymous person apparently making blood sacrifices to appease the gods. The plot is believable, the archaeology interesting and the characters, not all of whom are what they seem, are quite convincing for all their flaws and quirks.

It is certainly refreshing to read a female protagonist who is not slim and gorgeous. There are twists and red herrings to keep the reader guessing right up to the final chapters, and a nail-biting climax in which Ruth fires a gun. Returning to this cast in The House At Seas End is eagerly anticipated.

Mothtown

by Caroline Hardaker

Mothtown is the second novel by British poet and author, Caroline Hardaker. David Porter is ten years old when he sees his grandfather, Frank for the last time. Dr Francis Porter is a researcher of multiverses working in the Superstring Theory and Dark Matter studies area of the University of York's Department of Physics. He never returns from his annual mid-winter expedition in search of his doorway to salvation, and David's father tells his family that Frank died in hospital. But that feels wrong to David.

David and Grandad shared a secret language of clicks and bumps and hums, as set our in their copies of the Verbatinea. And now, at Grandad's house, the Key Verbatinea, Grandad's yellow duffel bag and his favourite scratchy orange jumper with the brass sparrow button, are missing. David is certain that Grandad must still be out there somewhere, and the longer he's absent, the more certain he is that his grandfather found his doorway.

People are already accustomed to people going missing, something dubbed The Modern Problem, The epidemic. The disappearing. The eloping. The exodus, and friends and family members become door-steppers, carrying photos and searching, posting "Have you seen…" bills everywhere. Are the piles of bones and feathers the remains of those gone? Those depressed souls who don't make that exodus from their lives but feel misfit, are often gathered by smiling Blue Pilgrims, stashed in Blue Houses, neatly erasing the problem for authorities?

David's family are uneasy about his focus on Frank's work and his father seems determined to obstruct his search, but David knows that Hidden Worlds, the book Frank wrote, will lead him to the doorway. Because David knows he doesn't belong in this world either.

We are told that a talented author will show rather than tell, but there's not really enough of either here, and the disjointed feel is not just a product of the dual timeline narrative: characters seem to turn up haphazardly, things happen which seem like they ought to be significant to the plot, but connections are never made, and resolution is lacking.

Is David (definitely an unreliable narrator) turning into a bird? A moth? In the end, who knows, or cares! The misuse of personal pronouns grates, and parts read like a fever dream or the paranoid ramblings of a deluded person, becoming rather tiresome. This is a tale that might appeal to fans of dystopian sci-fi. This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Angry Robot

The Stellar Debut Of Galactica Macfee

by Alexander McCall Smith

"Bertie wanted only that people should be kind to one another; but they never were. That was not the way the world was, and sometimes, as he thought about it, his small soul, composed as it was of pure goodness, felt overwhelmed by the nature of the world in which he was obliged to live."

The Stellar Debut of Galactica MacFee is the seventeenth book in the popular 44 Scotland Street series by Scottish author, Alexander McCall Smith. The audio version is narrated by David Rintoul. Fans will welcome another update in the lives of the residents of 44 Scotland Street, their families, friends and associates.

Does Irene Pollock's part-time return to Edinburgh spell the end of fun for Bertie? Luckily, Stuart's mother, Nicola is still very much in the picture Irene almost doesn't make it back when she partakes in cold water therapy on her own. As Irene is being sized up for the role of a fisherman's wife in Peterhead, back in Edinburgh Nicola Pollock guiltily enjoys composing an obituary.

Seven-and-a-half-year-old Galactica MacFee arrives in Miss Campbell's class from Stirling: the very self-assured daughter of snobbish Georgina and her neurologist husband. Galactica seems to have her life neatly mapped out, and has a criticism for everyone she meets. Bertie watches her interaction with the imperious Olive and her loyal lieutenant Pansy: trouble on the horizon!

While walking Cyril in Drummond Place Gardens late in the evening, a case of mistaken identity sees Angus Lordie privy to confidential information from a whistle-blower. In lives that sometimes lack drama, it's hard to reject such tidbits about possible city amalgamations, and car ferries that can't reverse and have doors at only one end.

An innocent remark from young Finlay sees Fat Bob vowing to lose weight. A personal trainer assures him they will achieve their goal, but will he really have to give up Big Lou's mouth-watering bacon rolls? An incident during his fitness regime results in a loss of dignity and consciousness, and another bizarre side effect.

Bertie makes a case for the reintroduction of wolves in Glasgow, and when his best friend, Ranald Braveheart MacPherson's birthday party, with Galactica, Olive and Pansy in attendance, ends in disaster, when Bertie's denial of his engagement results in an unpalatable outcome, escape to that favourite city seems the best option.

While Matthew and Elspeth consider themselves to be exceedingly lucky to be alive and living where they do, Elspeth does wonder if this, triplets and domesticity, is to be her life. Matthew and Bruce are tempted to invest in a project promoting Pictish History awareness, and are excited to uncover a stone tablet with Pictish writing. Feeling lonely, Bruce realises that he has nobody and "it's your own fault for being in love with yourself for so long."

Characters muse on or discuss plenty of topics: politically correct terminology on steroids; discuss stand-offishness to Glasgow in Edinburgh; that discourtesy and aggression seem to be infecting public life; novels aimed at specific gender readers; rules about Icelandic names for children; xenoglossy; the detrimental effects of sleep deprivation; and the possible amalgamation of Glasgow and Edinburgh.

Matthew and Angus opine on conceptual art. Big Lou sympathises with the Scottish nudists: "…if you were a nudist, and you lived in Scotland, wouldn't you complain? Temperature, rain, midges…" Matthew decides that "snorl" is one of those Scots words of which the general sense was completely, even if you had never encountered the word before and had no idea what it meant. As always, Sister Maria-Fiore dei Fiore di Montagna offers aphorisms at every opportunity, often banal and sometimes blindingly obvious, but which are kindly tolerated by all who hear them.

Tradition, about which Angus states "the safest thing to do is to continue it until it is shown to cause harm to others or to impede defensible progress", states that the final pages offer the reader a thoughtful poem. It's no surprise that this serial novel, with its gentle philosophy and often tongue-in-cheek humour, is still hugely popular after twenty years, and more instalments are eagerly awaited. This unbiased review is from an audio copy provided by NetGalley and Bolinda Audio.

Don't Forget Me

by Rea Frey

Don't Forget Me is the sixth novel by award-winning, best-selling American author, Rea Frey. Three months after her husband, Tom Winslow left their Cottage Grove home, Ruby Knight is enjoying a quiet early morning row on the lake when a man's body pops to the surface. She calls 911 and retreats to her friend and neighbour's cottage.

Detective Katherine Ellis canvasses the neighbourhood, and the body, which is without teeth or hair, with fingerprints scrubbed and throat slit, is identified as Tom. But Ruby doesn't recognise it as her husband. With formal ID to be established via DNA, Ruby tells Ellis "You think if the man is Tom that I killed him? And what? I was able to drag him toward the lake with nobody watching, then somehow sink and secure his body to the bottom? And then, when he magically resurfaced, I called the cops to report it? That seems completely rational."

In the months since Ruby left her job as a trauma nurse in a busy city hospital, sold her beloved little East Nashville bungalow (for a surprisingly good price), and uprooted their seventeen-year-old daughter, Lily to move to Tom's dream home, Ruby has tried to fit into this new life. She lacks the enthusiasm to decorate, but has posed for a local artist, resumes her own painting hobby, and joins Murderlings, the neighbourhood true-crime club run by a popular podcaster who lives next door.

There's a lot that Ruby doesn't reveal when interrogated by Detective Ellis: that Lily is inexplicably missing; the parlous state of her marriage; and the childhood she'd rather forget. But she vehemently denies any guilt over the body in the lake, whether or not it's Tom. And if it is Tom, who killed him? Someone to do with his work as a criminal defence attorney? Or someone in Cottage Grove?

Discussion on Cottage Grove's online forum gets quite heated when the body surfaces, lots of opinions about suspects and guilt. This addition to the dual timeline narrative provides an extra layer of intrigue as the reader tries to guess which alias belongs to whom. And as more townspeople are picked off, the discussion gets all the more frenzied.

Her dissociation, her repressed memories and her selective honesty all tell the reader that Ruby might be a not-entirely-reliable narrator, while the less-than-accurate blurb is a little misleading, but this is such a gripping thriller with so many twists that it might be wise to pre-book a chiropractic appointment before starting. Definitely a page-turner. This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer.

The School Run

by Ali Lowe

The School Run is the third novel by Australian journalist and author, Ali Lowe. It's late-October in the coastal Sydney suburb of Pacific Pines as parents and pre-teens gather at St Ignatius' Boys' Grammar School's Gala Day to vie for a place in the next year's enrolment. Iggy's is private, exclusive, and offers prestige, sporting excellence, a university place in the bag, and of course the International Baccalaureate, which guarantees a boy's acceptance to universities around the world: before the final selections are made, desperate parents go to untold lengths to see their sons admitted into this enviable fold.

Estella Munro has a daughter just about to graduate from Iggy's sister school, Asher, and twin sons that she's determined will go to St Ignatius', so she's not happy that her new neighbour on Ocean View Parade, Kaya Sterling has a young son who will be competing for a spot. Kaya claims to be the widow of a former Iggy's school captain, but admits she's an atheist, so her son's baptismal classes are clearly a ruse. But there's something that Estella doesn't know about Kaya.

Estella's best friend, Rebecca Lloyd also has a son hoping to enrol at Iggy's, and a daughter just finishing Asher but, unlike Estella, she ha a close, friendly, supportive relationship with her daughter. Her business, Cakes by Bec, is going very well, but she dreads emails from a certain sender, surely spam, except that the sender seems to know too much about her.

And then, on the evening of the Gala, along the road that leads between town and Iggy's, the School Run, a young man is hit by a car.

Lowe cleverly constructs her plot so that the identity of the victim is not revealed for quite some time, while the list of potential drivers seems to grow with every chapter, keeping the reader enthralled and the pages turning. Each of the main protagonists, and a few of the support characters, have secrets: in the aftermath of the Gala Day, there are even more secrets, and a number of them face dilemmas where doing the right thing wars with protecting their child.

Lowe easily evokes her setting and era, although, with the story set in or after 2023, attitudes to teen pregnancy, common sanitary products and mobile phones twenty-five years earlier are a few anachronisms that jar. Her characters are credible, their dialogue natural, and their reactions not unexpected. But she does throw in a few red herrings and twists to keep in interesting. Outstanding Australian crime fiction. This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton.

Cleaner

by Brandi Wells

"I do more than mindlessly clean. I watch over everyone, help them manage their days. I shuffle important work to the top of their inboxes, leave snacks so their blood sugar won't drop, and help course-correct by weeding out the duds. I can easily spot someone who isn't a good fit here, someone who's going to waste the company's time and resources before moving along to something they think is bigger and better. It's best to oust these people as quickly as possible."

Cleaner is the first novel by American author, Brandi Wells. The unnamed protagonist is the night time cleaner of a city building that houses the employees of an unnamed company. The employees, too, are unnamed: sometimes given an initial; sometimes dubbed according to some characteristic that the Cleaner gleans from what is on and in their desks and, if their password is handy, their computer files and their emails.

Thus: Yarn Guy (spools of yarn in his bottom drawer); Mr Buff (travel-sized containers of different protein powders); Sad Intern (bottle of probiotics, some B12 and a book on how to master your feelings); The Vomiter; Good Influence; Scissors Guy (a stash of borrowed scissors); Porn Guy (exchanging lewd gifs). There's L. the security person, M. the delivery person, C. the CEO.

The Cleaner imagines interactions between the employees, and her own potential future encounters with them. She draws conclusions about them from what she finds and conjures up lives for them. She does what she can to mentor them, to make them all a better, more productive employees, all without actually meeting any but the Sad Intern in real life.

She worries about the company's downsizing, wonders if there's some creeping illness affecting the business. Then she makes a disturbing discovery about the CEO, and it has her concerned: "All I want is for the company to run smoothly, but I've had to deal with not just his mismanagement but his burgeoning personal life. I wouldn't have to do any of this if he weren't hurting the company, trying to sever me from these people who clearly need me. I haven't invested all this time and work for nothing."

Clearly, the narrator isn't entirely reliable. She feels heavily invested in the company and employees who are basically unaware of what she gets up to. "I go home and think about all my employees, everyone still left on the fourth floor, and how I can protect them." She carries out petty acts of sabotage on those she deems unworthy, or endows little rewards and encouragements for those she feels need/deserve them, many of which are blackly funny. And exactly who deserves either praise or punishment changes with a word, a gesture, a blink of the eye. A laugh-out-loud funny, crazy, entertaining debut. This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Headline Wildfire.

Plot Twist

by Breea Keenan

Plot Twist is the first novel by Scottish journalist, poet and author, Breea Keenan. Glasgow primary school teacher and aspiring children's author, Becca Taylor is dealing with feelings of profound grief and betrayal. At her best friend Rae's funeral, she learns that the ex-boyfriend she could never forgive had been about to marry Rae. alternating

The best way to sort out her head, Riley O'Connell suggests, is to spend the summer in a small Irish village working on their books together. Becca met Riley, a published romance author with a very full-on four-year-old, an even more impatient agent, and a bit of second-novel writer's block, through a social media writers' group. Impulsive, drunk-made arrangements see her on the ferry to Rathcliffe.

But when she arrives, she discovers that "Riley – the yoga-loving, long-skirted, clean-living, romance writer I'd envisaged – was not a she at all. Riley was a he. A tall, broad-shouldered, messy-dark-haired, green-eyed, athletic, manly-man." She can't stay, surely? But Riley counters: it's not the nineteen forties, and there's a spare room in Bellinder Cottage, the setting is gorgeous, and little Ivy begs her to stay.

What follows is a delightful romance that starts off predictable, then takes a few surprising turns before the obligatory happy ever after. Some well-worn romance tropes come into play: friends who become lovers, lovers who become friends, exes turning up to put a fly in the ointment, being forced to share a room, and grand gestures. An impressive debut. This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Headline Publishing

True North

by Randall Devallance

True North is the second novel by American author, Randall DeVallance. Barely a year after starting at True North, Salvatore Slocomb is surprised, early one Monday morning, to be plucked from the sales floor to step into the role of CEO. Sal is dubious about his ability to fulfil the duties expected of him, but True North's founder and CEO, Burt Leathers promises that the brief orientation he provides will be all Sal needs. By Wednesday, he's sitting behind the CEO's desk, wondering what he actually needs to do.

But Sal doesn't know the reason Leathers has installed him there: Burt is taking the death threat from a disgruntled customer quite seriously, and figures that he's safer with some randomly-chosen expendable in his chair. Except that Sal isn't quite as randomly-chosen as Burt might think. Burt knows less about Sal, and how he might behave, than he realises. In fact, there are some vital facts that neither of them knows…

It all has to do with the time, thirty years earlier, when Burt Leathers had the enlightening experience that eventually led him to create the motivational system, True North (available for $49.99 plus P&P) which includes a quality compass to help you find your true direction in life. And while some customers might swear by True North's results, Don Bagley isn't one of them. An officious customer service employee has stuck by company policy and refused him a refund, and he's very angry.

A string of unlikely but highly amusing coincidences quickly makes it apparent that the best idea is to don your disbelief suspenders and enjoy the ride. Some of DeVallance's characters are quirky and appealing; others lean more to irritating, silly, or even obnoxious. Colleen Frink's "would you rather" scenarios are comical and reminiscent of Jeffrey Lu in Jasper Jones.

DeVallance gives the reader some marvellous descriptive prose: "They shuffled through the halls, subdued and disoriented, like bees through a hive that had just been doused with smoke" and "She batted her eyes, her lashes stirring the air around them like a pair of Japanese fans" are examples. The ending isn't exactly "happy ever after" but is very fitting all the same. Short but very entertaining. This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Beacon Publishing Group.

Mrs Sidhu’S ‘Dead and Scone’

by Suk Pannu

Mrs Sidhu's Dead & Scone is the first novel by BBC scriptwriter, Suk Pannu. Regular listeners will recognise Mrs Sidhu from his series, Mrs Sidhu Investigates. After a faux pas during an important wedding, Sidhu's Fine Catering Services is suddenly unpopular, and Mrs Sidhu is reduced to using her exceptional catering skills on producing bulk aubergine bhajis for freezing and sale in Mr Varma's cash & carry shops.

Any wonder that the call from Sienna Sampson at the Benham House Retreat telling her that Dr Stephen Eardley (aka Dr Feelgood, Mrs Sidhu has one of his self-help books) has an emergency that requires her talents, she takes the pots off the burners and hops in her Nissan Micra to find out what's needed. Which turns out to be chef for the annual fete, as the woman who volunteered to do them, therapist Dr Wendy Calman, hasn't turned up.

Interest piqued by overheard conversations, Mrs Sidhu walks around to her cottage, only to find a rather grisly sight: Dr Calman, throat slit, a pot of jam on the stove, boiled dry, scones in the oven burnt to a crisp, and a trail of coins leading to the garden. DCI Leslie Barton, whom she has helped with a few previous cases (although he might state it differently) is fixated on the Retreat's gardener as the culprit but, from a few other clues, Mrs Sidhu discounts this. But proving his innocence might prove challenging…

Before the true perpetrator is revealed, there are ancient symbols and a curse associated with standing stones, a residential development, raffle tickets, a stalker, several secrets and lies, a surprise revelation from an Indian aunt, an enlightenment cult, and four more deaths. Mrs Sidhu is good at getting the wrong end of the stick.

In the later chapters, DCI Barton summarises: "What you need to understand about Mrs Sidhu is that there is not a bad bone in her body. She's an extraordinary woman, whose first and only instinct is to help people who are in trouble. But I think we can all see that she has a problem. A severe problem. She's nosy to the point of obsession, she's irritating, and she never listens to anyone. Not only that, her imagination is so wild that she allowed a person with a fragile a grip of reality to convince her of the existence of a cult here in Benham village."

While this is a somewhat enjoyable cosy mystery: it does have plenty of red herrings and a good twist, it might appeal more to readers already familiar with the protagonist, who may care to read more of this cast. This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Harper Collins UK.

Chai Time At Cinnamon Gardens

by Shankari Chandran

Chai Time At Cinnamon Gardens is the third novel by Australian author, Shankari Chandran. It won the 2023 Miles Franklin Award, and the audio version is narrated by Rachael Tidd. Some forty years after Maya Ali, her husband Zakhir and their twins, Anjali and Siddharth arrived in Sydney, Maya is herself resident in Cinnamon Gardens, the nursing home they restored together with their friend, Cedric Furholmen. It's true that they now care for many Sri Lankan-born residents, but the mix of nationalities and faiths for whom they cater is quite diverse.

The residents enjoy a varied cuisine, partake of many different activities, and have the care and attention of dedicated staff sensitive to their needs and qualified medical professionals like their geriatrician, Nikki Barton. Since Zakhir disappeared, presumed dead back in Sri Lanka, over a decade earlier, Anjali has been the manager of the care facility.

And while they are not unfamiliar with some racism, of late the racially-motivated violence, attacks on both property and persons, seems to have escalated in the Westgrove area against those identifiably South Asian. One of the nursing home's multi-skilled staff, Ruben has been the ongoing target of a trio of violent teens, and racist graffiti keeps appearing on the facility's walls.

Meanwhile, Nikki's husband, acting Councillor Gareth Barton for Westgrove City Council and loyal Democratic Alliance Party member, is discovering that his selection for the party in the upcoming elections is not a foregone conclusion: expensive data analysts have concluded that the area's changing demographic means the electors like Gareth but won't vote for him. What can he do to make himself more appealing to this changing community?

He and Nikki and their son Oscar are dealing with a heartbreaking loss, but it has split them apart rather than bringing them closer. Guilt and anger battle with grief, and when his life begins to fall apart on multiple levels, he fixates on an issue that sees him making what seems like a vexatious complaint which, in today's social media obsessed world, quickly has far-reaching and tragic consequences.

Flashbacks to earlier times fill in the back stories: Maya describes Zakhir courtship of her in Jaffna, what led them to emigrate, and early days at Westgrove; Ruben details events in Sri Lanka during the colonisation and cultural seizure of the Tamil homeland by the Sri Lankan army; master gemologist Uncle Saha recalls the pogrom that cost the lives of many Tamils; and Anjali recalls her father's passionate objection to colonialism.

There's a parallel between Maya writing popular Australian-themed crime fiction under a pen name to fund the nursing home, and Chandran employing the Sydney Nursing Home setting to raise awareness of Tamil history and pique the interest of those who might not normally choose to read about it.

The story also explores refuge, opportunity, privilege and entitlement in relation to white populations and refugees. There are plenty of wise words and Chandran gives Nathan an insightful analogy about dealing with grief: "He's reorienting his world - not to fill the void but to carry the void with him. Like trying to work out the best way to carry an awkward and heavy bag, he's setting it against his body and then adjusting it so it's easier to carry." An informative, moving and thought-provoking read.

And Then She Fell

by Alicia Elliott

4.5★s And Then She Fell is the first novel by award-winning, best-selling Canadian Mohawk editor and author, Alicia Elliott. At twenty-six, Haudenosaunee woman Alice Dostator is married to Steve Macdonald, a white man, has a six-week-old daughter, Dawn, is living off reservation in the city of Toronto, and is still grieving the loss of her mother, when she once again begins hearing voices. It's not the first time, but as a teen, she blocked them out with alcohol and pot.

Now, she's having difficulty connecting with her baby, is getting very little sleep, and is expected to behave in a manner that makes her an asset to Steve's attempt to get tenure in the anthropology department. She's getting nowhere with her writing, a retelling of the Haudenosaunee Creation Story that she now regrets telling Steve about, regrets telling anyone about.

What she's hearing, and seeing, has her worried: her mom said her grandma was crazy; but her Aunt Rachel assures her that Grandma was a medicine woman, spoke to spirits and saw the future. And this respected elder said that Alice has the gifts to see what others can't. Her cousin Tanya talks about portals and gatekeepers, and the voices are telling her it's important to complete her writing, although other voices aren't so positive.

It's quickly clear from her auditory and visual hallucinations, her out-of-body experiences, her delusions, and her paranoia, that Alice is not a reliable narrator. She second-guesses her own thoughts and reactions, is increasingly unsure whom she can trust, and feels the need to keep her thoughts secret even from those closest to her. Or is what she's seeing, hearing and feeling, real?

Elliott's depiction of post-partum mental illness is highly credible and, informed as it is by her own experience, brims with authenticity. The novel explores white attitudes to Natives, the racism that is often unconscious or unintentional, motherhood, and Mohawk myth and legend. While more likely to resonate with Canadian readers, this is a cleverly written, interesting and thought-provoking read. This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Allen & Unwin.

The Book Of Beginnings

by The Book Of Beginnings

"I have often thought we spend too much time obsessing about finding, "the one", and we forget that a best friend can be a lifelong love. There is a fundamental truth, comfort and joy in having a best friend."

The Book Of Beginnings is the second novel by British author, Sally Page. Heartbroken when she realises her boyfriend of six years doesn't love her, thirty-nine-year-old Jo Sorsby sees her mother's request as an opportunity to avoid James and his new girlfriend in Northumberland. Jo's Uncle Wilbur has gone into respite care, and his hardware-cum-stationery shop in a little alleyway off Highgate High Street needs a caretaker.

Taylor's Supplies is where Jo would spend a few wonderful weeks each summer during her childhood, and was the source of her passion for stationery, so being there brings back fond memories. Living in the flat above the shop, the next few weeks see Jo meeting the tattooed optometrist and the Spanish tattooist whose shops share the alleyway. And if one of them is extremely attractive, well, she reminds herself that she's not in the market for romance. Is she? And anyway, her time in the shop is temporary…

Encounters with quirky customers are interesting: the notes they write when testing her fountain pens prompt discussion and are worthy of her pinboard. A friendless schoolboy who loves fountain pens and chess, a policeman unhappy with his handwriting, a beautiful young woman recalling an Italian penfriend: Jo manages to helpfully direct their course. One enthusiast advises her on inks.

But it's some of the regular or repeat customers, of which there are increasingly more, who have her truly intrigued. Soberly dressed Malcolm Buswell knows her from her childhood visits, buys and fills notebooks, and is writing a book, but remains reticent about the subject matter.

Ruth Hamilton is a vicar mysteriously absent from her parish whose remarks are perceptive and astute, and something she says spurs Jo on to try to repair the disconnect with her best friend by taking up one of her fountain pens, selecting the right paper, and writing a proper letter. Is she seeking forgiveness for something she tries to avoid thinking about?

As the story progresses, firm friendships form and Jo finds herself going for a December swim at Hampstead swimming ponds to commemorate a Spitfire Girl, contributing to an intriguing literary project and, eventually reconnecting with her best friend. The new friendships have profound effects on each of them, allowing them to reveal their troubling secrets.

Eventually, "Jo knows what it is that Ruth brings to people. What she carries as a precious gift, along with her bottle of wine, to the sick, the dying, the bereaved, the frightened. It is not her belief in God. It is hope." Will Jo lose these precious new relationships when her stint at Taylor's ends?

There's plenty of wisdom and insight in this tale, but also a good dose of humour. Always direct, Reverend Ruth occasionally comes out with delightful surprises: "'On the way here, I walked behind a young man smoking a really powerful spliff. I was so annoyed,' she says. 'He went so quickly that I had to walk really, really fast to keep up with him.' She breathes in deeply, smiling, 'And now,' she concludes, with a sway from one foot to the other, 'I'm feeling rather mellow.'" Funny, moving, heart-warming. This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Harper Collins UK.

The Mystery Writer

by Sulari Gentill

The Mystery Writer is the third stand-alone novel by award-winning, best-selling Australian author, Sulari Gentill. When Theodosia Benton arrives at her older brother, Gus's home in Lawrence, Kansas, having abandoned her law course in Canberra, she's not sure of the reception she'll get. But Gus doesn't let her down: he's thoroughly understanding and happy for her to stay.

They will, together, decide what and when to tell their feral parents but, meanwhile, Theo finds Benders Bar/Café, an accommodating and friendly spot where she can pursue her dream: to write a novel. She's not the only writer taking advantage of the indulgent staff, and eventually she and Dan begin chatting about writing, with the older man offering much appreciated feedback and advice.

Only after some months does she learn that Dan Murdoch is an internationally acclaimed bestselling author, and the attractive, expensively-tailored woman who occasionally joins him is his agent with the coveted Day, Delos and Associates. Just as her manuscript is nearing completion, their mentor/mentee relationship takes a turn, one Theo cautiously welcomes, but which is unfortunately short-lived.

That Gus Benton is a junior partner in a respected law firm when Theo finds Dan is his kitchen with his throat slashed is fortunate for her, but less so for him. His partners are none too pleased with the publicity that results when Theo seems to be the only suspect on whom the police are focussing. When Gus's house is besieged by press and Dan Murdoch fans, they are lucky to have a bolt hole with a friend.

An unexpected development after Dan's death is the approach by his agent, who tells her that Day, Delos & Associates is interested in Theo's novel. Veronica Cole explains their exclusivity requirements, should Theo sign with them, and Theo is a little taken aback by the level of control they insist on having. Is a writer not entitled to a private life?

Theo later observes: "The public's interest in the lives of writers had increased with the accessibly afforded by social media and the web in general, but that very accessibility was dangerous. Online friendship was a fickle thing. Loose comments, failed jokes, or simple flares of temper could unleash a contagion of outrage and condemnation. It was no longer enough to write a good book; authors had to be photogenic, witty saints as well."

While she remains under suspicion, and the whereabouts of Dan's last manuscript are a mystery, and the killer remains at large, a flash of inspiration has Theo planning out a new novel, the concept of which she shares with a select few, something that might later turn out to be very important.

Several chapters are prefaced by the observations of a doomsday prepper, or comments on a forum that seem to come from conspiracy theorists, and Theo's later close encounters with some of them are rather alarming. Before matters are finally, and very satisfactorily, resolved, Theo is stalked, there are two more murders, Theo, Gus and his friend are interrogated multiple times, evidence is planted, and there's a police shooting that ends quite badly for one of them.

Once again, Gentill gives the reader a cleverly plotted tale with some excellent twists before the final reveal. Her characters have depth and appeal, and several aspects of her protagonist give this novel somewhat of an autobiographical feel. Another page-turner! This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press.

Red Side Story

by Jasper Fforde

In Red Side Story, the second book in the Shades of Grey series, Welsh author Jasper Fforde returns the reader to East Carmine, somewhere on the island that used to be Britain, sometime in the far dystopian future when all fauna including humans are bar-coded, people live in a chromatic hierarchy, graded according to colour perception, have no night vision, and live by to centuries-old dogma entailing ridiculous rules, often circumvented by shrewd loopholery.

The scarcity of spoons affords them their own postcode and gives the owner the right to procreate, wearing gloves is forbidden, along with the use of acronyms, and enquiry is frowned upon. The quickly-fatal Mildew takes out the old, the broken, the lazy, and the independent thinkers. The technical Leapbacks ensure that much that is useful is also illegal.

Eddie Russett's recent Ishihara test rates him with the highest red perception in the village, which ought to afford him a prestigious position, and sees him, to his dismay, engaged to a pregnant-to-him Violet deMauve, but with a murder trial hanging over him and his true beloved, the seditious Jane Brunswick, (formerly Grey) after their recent expedition to High Saffron, it's a moot point.

Jane, though, is determined to undermine the power of the ruling Collective, with Eddie ever ready to do her bidding. Sent to the ghost town of Crimsonolia to search for spoons, they take the opportunity to do some research and, after narrowly escaping an ambush, are shocked by what they coincidentally learn. "It's not unusual," they are later told, "for residents with an inquisitive mind to achieve a limited degree of unnecessary awareness. Most people are sensible, ignore it, and live on." Not Eddie or Jane!

Surprise testimony at their disciplinary hearing results in an upheaval in the ruling Prefects, and brings the threat of a Supervisory Swatchman who will administer the Mildew when Eddie's father demurs. Things go horribly wrong for the village while a team from East Carmine are away in Vermillion attending the Jollity Fair, and when things get dangerous for the survivors, Jane and Eddie have to think outside the box if they are to survive.

As always, Fforde's plot is highly original, very clever and Douglas-Adams-level imaginative. He is inspired when it comes to hilarious names (people, towns, flora and fauna, technological advances and euphemisms). Readers will recognise in Chromatacia the absurdities of our own bureaucracies, politics and everyday life. Fforde has a finger firmly on society's pulse.

Each chapter is prefaced by an extract from either the Great Munsell's Book of Harmony, or Ted Grey's memoir, Twenty Years among the Chromatacians. There's plenty of wordplay in this wonderful social & political satire, an abundance of laugh-out-loud moments, and caution with liquids whilst reading is advised due to possible ambush by some of the witty dialogue. While the resolution is satisfying, room is left for more of Eddie and Jane: let's hope Fforde doesn't make fans wait another fourteen years for the next entertaining flash of colour.

The Women Who Wouldn't Leave

by Victoria Scott

The Women Who Wouldn't Leave is the third novel by British journalist and author, Victoria Scott. After two years of hell that forced her to give up her London PR job, twenty-nine-year-old Connie Darke has retreated to her childhood home at Number three, Roseacre Close in Stonecastle, Worcestershire, to live with her mum, Ellen. Connie's routine now involves pre-dawn walks, resisting Ellen's exhortations to get out and about, then days in bed with vodka and Gilmore Girls on Netflix. Anything to avoid the world.

After more than six decades at Number four Roseacre Close, ninety-year-old Matilda Reynolds has a routine too: up with the rooster (Brian), feed the girls (Jennifer, Ruth and Helen), her many cats, and Eddie and Clarrie, the goats, tend her veggie garden, open one of the many tins of food she has handily stacked for a meal, repeat in the evening.

Then a mishap with those food tins sees Matilda in hospital and a reluctant Connie feeding her animals. "Close up, the goat smelled slightly sweet, if anything, and as she patted its coarse brown hair, she felt her breathing slow and her soul swell. This was how she felt when she was out walking in the fields, she realised. It was a peace she had never experienced in London, and it was why she had come back here. There was undoubtedly solace to be found in nature. Natural things didn't argue with her, or abuse her, or shut her down."

Of course social services poke their noses in, and the reclusive elder with a hoarding problem faces relocation: what will happen to her animals, to her life? She can't ever reveal the true reason she can't leave.

Connie is surprised to find herself not only doing what she can to help, but asking other nearby neighbours to lend a hand. In the process, she discovers that the assumptions she made about the people living in Roseacre Close were mostly wrong and sometimes unkind. And both Connie and Matilda realise that they perhaps have more in common with each other than they realise: "They were both incredibly stubborn, instinctively insular, and, she thought, rather damaged."

For one "her daily routine was a brilliant brick wall she'd constructed to keep her memories at bay. But being in here, devoid of any purpose, meant that chinks of light were beginning to break through that wall, and she was deeply unsettled by that" while for the other "the forcefield she had worked hard to erect around herself was vulnerable, and she knew that if she shared too much of her past, she might damage it."

The immediate threat is averted with some generous help from neighbours who are handymen, plumbers and electricians, while Connie manages to make the inside liveable without disturbing too many of Matilda's precious things. But Matilda is uneasy about the unnamed man who accompanied Mrs Social Services on the inspection: with good reason, it eventually transpires…

It soon turns out that all of the council's tenants in Roseacre Close have a fight on their hands if they don't want to be tossed out when a greedy developer enters the scene. But neither Connie nor Matilda is willing to give up easily, and a combination of traditional and modern methods see their protest gaining media attention.

That attention is a problem for Connie, who has tried to stay under the radar. If her secrets come out, the friends she has made are sure to abandon her, and she couldn't blame them! Can this small community take on local government and big business, and win?

Scott gives the reader a topical, moving and heart-warming read. This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Aria and Aries.

The Rotting Whale

by Jann Eyrich

The Rotting Whale is the first Hugo Sandoval Eco-Mystery by American documentary filmmaker, screenwriter and author, Jann Eyrich. Some unclear 4am voicemails from his marine biologist daughter, Ava have Hugo Sandoval concerned enough to call in his best friend, T. Ray Harrison.

As Special Inspector of Port Projects for San Francisco and, formerly, the city's well-respected building inspector, Hugo has an important meeting with developer Water Rock Partners which he can't postpone, but T. Ray is a PI (and forensic building contractor) who can head up north without delay to find out what's going on.

Even though Carmen, now sadly (for Hugo) sixteen months his ex-wife, is at the meeting in her capacity as the developer's attorney, Hugo doesn't mention their daughter's call: he hopes to sort out the problem, which apparently involves a beached blue whale, himself.

Put in charge of the whale stranding by the North Coast Marine Institute, Ava Sandoval steers her truck and her Airstream trailer, fully equipped for marine research, onto the headland on the Dillon Ranch below which the whale lies on the sand. Nate Dillon, beach salvage artist, grandson of formidable Dillon matriarch Cate, and recent beau of Ava, has cleared her a spot.

Meeting out of the way, Hugo grabs the go-bag prepared by his ever-efficient PA, Sara Dunne, and heads north. In Fort Bragg, the nearest town to Chicken Cove, where the whale and her calf lie, he meets up with T Ray to learn that the stranding may be the least of their problems. T Ray, finger on the pulse, as always, brings Hugo up to speed on local issues.

Ava, full of respect for Hugo's integrity, assures Nate he can be trusted. Nate reveals the red tag just placed on his late father's beach cottage, where no defects are apparent, although the missing thresholds and floorboard gaps are a mystery, as is the cache of weapons Jack Dillon had amassed. Also perplexing is the fact that the mother whale appears to have been towed away before being washed up again, away from her calf.

In between admiring Fort Bragg's wonderful old town hall and developing a real affection for the area, Hugo and T Ray's chats uncover: the pub owner nervous that his dodgy disabled access will threaten his licence; cash-strapped ex-lumber mill workers disgruntled about restricted access to valuable submerged timber logs; a dairy farm no longer under crippling debt; and the sheriff concerned about illegal cannabis crops.

How all these puzzle pieces interlock (if indeed they do) keeps Hugo thinking; Hugo keeps Sara busy with research questions; and it all keeps the reader guessing until the final, satisfying reveal.

Hugo, with his trademark Borsalino fedora, is an interesting character whose dedication to his city has cost him his marriage. But can that situation be redeemed? The reader can't help hoping things will turn out well.

Eyrich gives her protagonist some likeable, if quirky, support characters, and her evocative depiction of both the city and the small town make apparent her personal connection. A very entertaining debut novel and more of this appealing cast will be most welcome. #2, The Blind Key is eagerly anticipated. This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Sibylline Press

Hunter

by Tana French

After some two years fixing up his dilapidated house near Ardnakelty in the west of Ireland, ex-Chicago cop, Cal Hooper is settling in, happy with the contrast to city life: "being boring is among Cal's main goals. For most of his life, one or more elements always insisted on being interesting, to the point where dullness took on an unattainable end-of-the-rainbow glow. Ever since he finally got his hands on it, he's savoured every second."

His renovation is coming along, the villagers seem to tolerate him, Lena Dunne regularly shares his bed, and Trey, now fifteen, is building her furniture-restoring skills under his watch. His discreet, low-key care has a positive effect on her academic performance and her social acuity. For Trey, Cal's place has peace, while at home "Their mam is silent, but it's not a silence with peace in it. It takes up space, like some heavy thing made of rusted iron built around her"

Then her four-year-absent father, Johnny Reddy turns up. Cal sizes him up: "a type he's encountered before: the guy who operates by sauntering into a new place, announcing himself as whatever seems likely to come in handy, and seeing how much he can get out of that costume before it wears too thin to cover him up any longer."

Johnny invites a select few farmers to hear about a scheme guaranteed to put money in their pockets: a wealthy Londoner they are soon referring to as a Plastic Paddy, who claims a connection to the village, has a tale from his granny of gold in the ground. The Reddy family's poor reputation ensures that many start out sceptical, but meeting the very posh Cillian Rushborough convinces them they can pull it off.

The likelihood of actual gold being low, Cal is quickly convinced there's more to it all than what Reddy is saying: just who is scamming whom?

"The main talent Cal has discovered in himself, since coming to Ardnakelty, is a broad and restful capacity for letting things be. At first this sat uneasily alongside his ingrained instinct to fix things, but over time they've fallen into a balance: he keeps the fixing instinct mainly turned towards solid objects, like his house and people's furniture, and leaves other things the room to fix themselves."

Against his usual instincts, Cal gets involved, if just to keep an eye on where things are going, to make sure there's no backlash on Trey when things go pear-shaped, as they inevitably will.

Each processing events in their own way, Trey and Cal and Lena aren't sharing all they know, out of misguided concern or uncertainty, each trying to protect or not worry the other. Each acts according to their own agenda, sometimes at crossed purposes. Trey sees the opportunity for a kind of justice she's longed for to be served. And then, one of the new arrivals is murdered…

Once again, French provides a slow burn tale in which readers can immerse themselves in gorgeous descriptive prose such as: "the fields sprawl out, a mosaic of varying greens in oddangled shapes that Trey knows as well as the cracks on her bedroom ceiling" and "Summer air wanders in and out of the window, bringing the smells of silage and clover, picking up sawdust motes and twirling them idly in the wide bars of sunlight" and "This barely even feels like a conversation, just a series of stone walls and briar patches."

Also: "The house got a fresh coat of butter-coloured paint and some patches to the roof a couple of years back, but nothing can paper over its air of exhaustion. Its spine sags, and the lines of the window frames splay off-kilter. The yard is weeds and dust, blurring into the mountainside at the edges"

The dialogue as written easily evokes the Irish brogue, while the banter is often blackly funny: at one stage, Cal is surprised to find himself engaged, and the pub scene is very entertaining. The quirky cast from the first book, including those smart and amusing rooks, still appeal, and the reader's investment in the main protagonists is amply rewarded.

This instalment is cleverly plotted with enough turns in the story to keep the reader thoroughly intrigued. While this sequel can be read as a stand-alone, there are some spoilers for the first book, and why would one deny themselves the pleasure of reading that one first? Brilliant Irish crime fiction. This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Penguin UK.

The Girl With the Green Eyes

by J M Briscoe

The Girl With The Green Eyes is the first book in the Take Them Back series by J.M. Briscoe. In 1995, Julia D'accourt drives her nine-year-old genetically engineered daughter, Bella, to Cumbria, to the lab at the Aspira Research Centre where she was made. Beautiful Bella, she complains, uses her unnaturalness to manipulate others. "Take her back!" she demands of Dr Frederick Blake. He does.

In October 2018, having realised that her cover is blown, the thirty-two-year-old woman posing as Professor Elodie Guerre collects her daughter from school and they drive, with much complaint from nearly-teenaged Ariana, to a safe cottage somewhere on the Cornwall coast.

She knows that a team from the Aspira Research Centre will be on their trail. And possibly another, even more dangerous person. The mother in her needs to balance the need for caution with scaring her daughter too much, but she is unaware that Ri has a second mobile phone, until it is too late.

The dual-timeline narrative is related by several characters, detailing what happens to young Bella in Cumbria, the shocking incident that precipitated her withdrawal from the ARC and, thirteen years on, her flight with Ri to Cornwall and what ensues..

Possibly a product of the slow drip-feed of the story via The Pigeonhole, but this reader isn't tempted by the cliff-hanger ending to continue the series. Speculative science fiction that will appeal to some. This unbiased review is from an e-copy provided by BAD PRESS iNK and The Pigeonhole.

Sisterhood

by Cathy Kelly

Sisterhood is the twenty-second novel by best-selling Irish author, Cathy Kelly. When, soon after her fiftieth birthday party, Lou Fielding takes off to Sligo, and then Sicily, with her younger sister, Toni, her daughter Emily isn't worried: it's about time her mother took time for herself. Lou's disorganised husband, Ned assumes she'll soon forgive him for forgetting to buy her a gift.

Her sculptress mother, Lillian, though, is quite put out that her normally biddable daughter isn't at her beck and call to see to the menial chores with which she, as a creative, shouldn't have to bother. And her ungrateful employers at Blossom Flowers are just about frantic that Lou isn't answering her phone when a wealthy client is expecting Lou's personal attention and the young business-degreed new hire hasn't a clue.

They have all taken her for granted, a situation for which Lou does bear some responsibility: she tended to make her own needs so minuscule that nobody remembered them. "Why did she feel that she had no right to bother other people with her problems when they had no problem bothering her with theirs?"

There are seven years between Lou and Toni, and nobody would have even guessed they were sisters. Toni is utterly self-contained and confident, while Lou could fit her self-confidence in one of the tiny, enamelled pill boxes their aunt Gloria collected. Toni has a wildly popular TV show, she also mentors as part of the Women in Business charity. It wasn't that Toni was an absent sister, but she had a big life and, by contrast, Lou felt her own life was small.

But now, Toni has problems of her own: a husband who has betrayed her trust, but not in the usual way; and a nasty businessman who has recorded an angry tirade that amounts to career suicide. She needs time to think about what to do, and distraction when it gets a bit overwhelming, and their quest in Sicily is just the ticket.

And Sicily? That's because of the shockingly insensitive revelation Lillian made at the party about Lou's parentage. Just to add a little more spice to the trip, they acquire a very appreciative hitchhiker who gives them a youthful perspective on life's problems and joys.

Kelly certainly has the knack for producing a lump in the throat, of making the jaw drop at some of the behaviour of her characters, and of providing laugh out loud at some of the dialogue. Her characters are mostly appealing and she gives them wise words and insightful observations. Lou eventually notes: "People treated you how you allowed them to treat you" and understands that "Her mother was very successful at only worrying about what she cared to worry about", while Toni tells her "There were no princes in life – women needed to rescue themselves and they helped each other." Topical, moving and thought-provoking. This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and the publisher.

Rapture In Death

by J D Robb

Rapture In Death is the fourth book in the popular In Death series by American author, J.D. Robb. Her three-week honeymoon with Roark is cut short when the apparent suicide of a crew member at his still-under-construction off-planet resort on Olympus sees Lieutenant Eve Dallas donning her cop hat. Jack Carter can't believe that his brilliant roommate, audiotronics tech Drew Mathias would take his own life.

Back in New York, the next case Eve and her new aide, Officer Delia Peabody catch is the death of notorious lawyer, S.T. Fitzhugh, a very bloody scene involving an antique knife and a bathtub. Eve isn't convinced it's suicide but firm alibis clear any possible suspects, and the autopsy reveals a brain anomaly which, it turns out, he has in common with Drew Mathias and a politician who threw himself off a building while Eve and Roark were away.

There is nothing to link the three, except their use of a new VR unit and program. When Eve finds herself at the scene of yet another inexplicable suicide, she is determined to find the who and why of it before Commander Whitney makes her wrap up the cases as suicides.

It's no doubt a gamble to write novels set some six decades into the future when the author doesn't know (but might hope) that they will still be read thirty years on, especially when a lot of tech is involved. Thus, Robb does predict music and voice tech, but about three decades late; ditto the proliferation of AI.

Her regular characters in this series already have plenty of appeal, the banter between them is always fun, and there's plenty of action leading up to an exciting climax (or two) before the final reveal. As might be expected for a newly married couple, Eve and Roark do go at it like rabbits. This speculative crime fiction series is entertaining and addictive: Ceremony In Death is eagerly anticipated.

One Of the Good Guys

by Araminta Hall

Of The Good Guys is the sixth novel by British journalist, editor and author, Araminta Hall. The audio version is narrated by Elliott Fitzpatrick, Olivia Vinall and Helen Keeley. At forty-three, Cole Simmonds has quit London for a job as a wildlife ranger and a cottage on the Sussex coast. After two months, he meets Lennie at the Christmas drinks do, learning she has been living in the coastguard cottage nearby since September.

He confesses he is still feeling fragile about the break-down of his seven-year marriage, some six months earlier, still confused about his wife Mel's nastiness, still lamenting having to leave their lovely flat. "But it's always that way, isn't it? Men are expected to be the ones to leave. As if men don't have an inner life or as much of an emotional connection to spaces and things as women do. Which means, when it comes down to the messy process of splitting up, it's the women who get to be coddled and cared for, even if they're the one who's f**ked it up."

After further encounters, he sees a potential relationship forming with Lennie, whom he prefers to call Leonora. It's also around this time that two young women are doing a walk, #walk4women, along the south coast, wild camping as they try to raise money for a domestic violence charity, Safe Space UK. Cole's interaction with them when they ignore signs and barriers is an awkward, angry one that they capture on their phones. And then the girls go missing, and there's lots of conflicting opinion on social media about what they are doing, and their likely fate.

Cole has always tried to be kind and gentle with everyone; he is very charming; he truly believes he's one of the good guys. It's fairly soon apparent from the way he describes their marriage, though, and from Mel's perspective on that same relationship, that his charm hides a manipulative tendency, a deep-seated toxic masculinity within him of which he seems completely unaware:

"It's strange how men are asked to be sensitive and understanding now, but when we really are, when we say how we're truly feeling, women don't actually like it. I think, subconsciously, they want us to hold their hands and understand their emotional contradictions, but they also still want us to be strong, to bang our chests with our fists and protect them from shit… it was all so … confusing because I want nothing more than to support and empower women, but surely that doesn't mean I should lie on the floor and let them walk all over me."

While Cole moans: "I know, historically, it's been hard to be a woman but, my god, it's hard to be a man right now", Mel's friends observe: "The bar is so low for men. All they have to do is a bit of bloody washing up, or ask how you're feeling, and everyone thinks they're the second … coming." There aren't really any likeable characters in this tale, but their opinions do bear serious consideration.

As well as three straight narratives (that are perhaps not entirely reliable), Hall uses email, text, tweets, press articles, transcripts of radio and TV interviews, WhatsApp chats, and blog posts to convey the mood and opinions of the online community and the general public. This is a story that examines the arguments on many sides of some very topical issues: gender and the dynamics of power, BDSM, consent, domestic violence, and ownership of embryos. Sound effects in the audio version add authenticity to this compelling and thought-provoking read. This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Gillian Flynn Books/Zando audio

Exiles

by Jane Harper

Exiles is the third book in the Aaron Falk series by award-winning Australian journalist and author, Jane Harper. A year after he was meant to become godfather to Greg and Rita Raco's baby son, Henry, Aaron Falk is returning to the Marralee Valley Annual Food And Wine Festival, the scene of a disappearance that postponed the baby's christening.

On the first day of the Festival, a year earlier, thirty-nine-year-old Kim Gillespie went missing, leaving behind a husband, a teenaged daughter, and a six-week-old baby. Now, there's an appeal from seventeen-year-old Zara, Kim's husband Rohan and ex-boyfriend Charlie, to any who were present twelve months earlier, for even the most insignificant scrap of information that might help to reveal what happened to the beloved wife and mother.

As he and KIewarra cop Greg wander the venue before the appeal, Aaron gets a feel for who was where, including himself, although he is a little distracted by a potential encounter with a certain woman, as he was a year earlier. Many of those they speak to express regret at not having said or done something at the time while, strangely, those who knew Kim deny speaking to her on the evening she vanished.

While local sergeant, Rob Dwyer, absent at the time, along with others, wonder if Kim might have left voluntarily, Zara is convinced that her mother would never have chosen to leave her husband and daughters, and especially would never have left baby Zoe alone in the Festival's pram bay. Some believe she may have drowned in the nearby reservoir, but Zara's friend, Joel is certain that she did not come to the reservoir via the route where he was stationed.

Greg Raco shows Aaron the comprehensive file he has made on Kim's disappearance, having quietly checked for himself the alibis of everyone who knew Kim, and feels in his gut that something is amiss, but what? He and Aaron walk the perimeter, suggest theories, but come up blank.

For young Joel, the Festival stirs different unhappy memories: his father, Dean, accountant for many Marralee businesses, was killed in a hit-and-run at a dangerous reservoir spot known as The Drop, six years earlier. The driver was never found. Aaron reluctantly agrees to look over footage of the scene.

Having chatted more than once to most people who knew Kim, Aaron is left wondering if this depressed woman ran away, took her own life in the reservoir, or if her fate was a more sinister one. It's Greg Raco's five-year-old daughter, Eva who finally, unwittingly, crystallizes the niggling thought that has danced in Aaron's subconscious.

Harper effortlessly evokes the small Australian country town, and her characters are typical of those one might encounter there. Her clever plot has enough intrigue and distraction to keep the reader guessing right up to the final reveals. Falk's inner monologue and his dialogue with various characters cement his appeal, and reinforce his integrity. This is another excellent example of Aussie Crime Fiction and, whether or not it features Aaron Falk, more from Jane Harper will be eagerly anticipated.

Butter

by Asako Yuzuki

Butter is the first novel, of several award-winners by Japanese author, Asako Yuzuki to be translated into English by Polly Barton. After many frustratingly unsuccessful attempts to visit convicted serial killer, Manako Kajii in the Tokyo Detention House, a suggestion from a good friend finally gains Shumei Weekly journalist, Rika Machida, access to this enigmatic woman.

Kajii gained notoriety when, over a period of six months in 2013, three of the wealthy men she found via an online dating service, on whom she lavished attention with gourmet meals, and who handed over large sums of cash, or funded lessons at the exclusive all-women cooking school, Le Salon de Myuko, all died, apparently by suicide or accident.

Kajii was convicted after a misogyny-tinged trial that seemed to ignore alibis and evidence, and two years on, is awaiting retrial. It felt to Rika that Kajii was tried for her appearance (not young, not beautiful, too fat) and her attitude to men, wanting "'a mature man, with the capacity for both emotional and financial generosity", and attacking her concept of chastity. "A woman who didn't hide the fact that she used her sexuality as a weapon was met with such fierce scorn, and even a kind of terror."

Rika's clever request for the recipe that Kajii fed her last victim results in conditional approval for a visit: nothing at all about her trial or conviction may be discussed. Instead, Rika comes away with a recommendation for a very simple dish that requires top quality butter, a commodity currently scarce due to the widespread occurrence of mastitis in cows. She's still hopeful that at a later visit she may be permitted an interview.

Meanwhile, Rika, with "taste buds are like a child's. I'm perfectly happy with convenience store bento boxes and curry from cheap restaurants" tries the recipe and is hooked. "Soon enough, just as Kajii had said, the melted butter began to surge through the individual grains of rice. It was a taste that could only be described as golden. A shining golden wave, with an astounding depth of flavour and a faint yet full and rounded aroma, wrapped itself around the rice and washed Rika's body far away." Eventual further visits net recommendations for other dishes, and eating establishments to try.

Rika wonders if "To make something yourself that you wanted to eat and eat it the way you wanted – was that the very essence of gratification?" But her best friend, Reiko Sayana observes that Rika seems to be in thrall to Kajii: "You don't try to see anything she hasn't shown you", and Rika admits to herself that she has doubts about Kajii's guilt, although thinking that her victims displayed "the excessive self-pity felt by lonely men" feels a lot like victim-blaming. Was she losing her powers of judgement?

Some of Kajii's opinions, though, seem valid: "Japanese women are required to be self-denying, hard-working and ascetic, and in the same breath, to be feminine, soft and caring towards men. Everyone finds that an impossible balance to strike, and they struggle desperately as a result." But Kajii disabuses Rika of the notion they might become friends: "I don't want friends. I don't need friends. I'm only interested in having worshippers.'

Reiko is fascinated with her interactions with Kajii, while continuing to express her concerns over Rika's mental and physical health, which does give her pause, but Rika is unaware of what her best friend is up to behind the scenes. Will Rika get her exclusive interview? Will the true fate of those men be revealed?

Yuzuki's tale takes several unexpected turns over the twelve months leading up to, and beyond Kajii's retrial, and examines the status of women in Japan, and the expectations to which they are subject. Her varied cast of support characters includes a childless housewife, a boyfriend with a girl-band fetish, an industrious mother, opinionated colleagues, a well-known older editor who mentors, and a dairy farmer. Not one of the significant characters has a conventional loving childhood and youth: each is carrying emotional baggage, grief or guilt, creating problems in their relationships, be they romantic or filial.

The only thing missing from this intriguing story is a few detailed recipes: as they consume it, readers will be hungry; those familiar with Japanese cuisine won't be the only ones salivating. An interesting and entertaining read. This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Harper Collins Australia/ 4th Estate

The List Of Suspicious Things

by Jennie Godfrey

The List Of Suspicious Things is the first book by British author, Jennie Godfrey. It's about two years since Mavis Senior's mum, Marion stopped talking, now spending her days in the armchair or her bedroom. In that time, Dad's sister, Aunty Edna has come to help out, Maggie Thatcher has become Prime Minister (and Aunty Edna has plenty to say about that), and Sharon Parker, at first sort of co-opted, has become her best friend.

The other thing is the murders: young women are being brutally killed by the man everyone calls the Ripper, and the police don't seem to be getting any closer to catching him. When twelve-year-old Miv hears Dad and Aunty Edna talking about moving away from Yorkshire, away from it all, she dreads the idea of losing everything familiar, including her best friend. She reasons that, if she could investigate, work out what the police are missing, and catch the killer, they would be able to stay.

Miv is a fan of the Famous Five books and, following Aunty Edna's example, she buys a notebook and, after carefully studying the newspaper reports about the murders, starts listing the suspicious things she observes around her. Sharon is a bit sceptical that they can catch him, but indignance at the way the victims are described in the press gets her over the line.

Everyone in their small Yorkshire town, Bishopsfield, comes under scrutiny, but dark-haired, dark-eyed men with moustaches, especially if they "aren't from around here", drive a certain car, or have a certain accent, qualify for entry into Miv's notebook. The pair check out places suitable for hiding a body and where the Ripper might find his victims. When the press mention "hiding in plain sight" and "the women in the Ripper's life" the range of people they feel need watching expands.

After each new killing, "the streets themselves felt unsettled, as though the news had seeped into the bricks and mortar of the town. Whispers of the news seemed to be all around us: women were outside their houses in small groups, muttering his name, their eyes darting around as if he might appear at any moment."

As they investigate suspicious behaviour and gradually eliminate various suspects, they learn quite a lot about the people of their town: some of it sad, some of it surprising, some of it disturbing. When Sharon's enthusiasm for their project wanes, she tells Miv "I don't know if any of the people we know are suspicious or whether they're just trying to live their lives." Miv realises "a growing awareness that behind every grown-up was a story I knew nothing about."

In trying to catch the Ripper, they discover that Bishopsfield harbours: some right-wing thugs who like to intimidate; an arsonist; sexists, racists and xenophobes; a paedophile. There's infidelity, domestic violence, bullying and cruelty, alcoholism, divorce and suicide.

But they also encounter plenty of ordinary people leading ordinary lives: people grieving losses, trying to cope with life's challenges, keeping secrets and telling lies, showing concern and kindness and care. The pair make assumptions and jump to conclusions; there are few narrow escapes and some tragic deaths; new bonds of friendship are formed and there are budding romances.

Godfrey's debut is somewhat reminiscent of Joanna Cannon's The Trouble With Goats And Sheep, but this is by no means a copy of that. Her descriptive prose is marvellous: "though Aunty Jean's hearing was less than sharp, her other senses were razor-like, and she would have smelled my inattention like a hunting dog."

She gives her characters wise words and insightful observations. Omar, the Pakistani shop-keeper: "He heard talk about everyone in the shop, so often he wondered if people knew he could speak English, the things they would say to each other in his presence."

Omar on surviving grief: "I suppose what I do is try not to think too far ahead,' he said eventually. 'If I'd considered for a second that I had to live months, or even years, without her . . .' Omar stopped for a moment and cleared his throat. 'I'm not sure I could've . . . kept going. But if I only think about the day in front of me, sometimes the hour, or even the minute, then I can do it. I can keep living."

And Miv on adults: "I had already discovered by then how much people would reveal when you stayed quiet" and "Adults were always doing this in my experience, saying one thing and meaning another, the truth a blur in between" and "I was used to grown-ups having conversations that left the important things unsaid, they happened in my family all the time." This is a brilliant debut and more from Jennie Godfrey is eagerly anticipated. This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Random House UK Cornerstone.

The Untimely Resurrection Of John Alexander Macneil

by Lesley Choyce

The Untimely Resurrection Of John Alexander MacNeil is the second book by Canadian author, Lesley Choyce to feature John Alexander MacNeil, and is set ten years on, still near the town of Inverary on the isle of Cape Breton. Living alone in his rundown Deepwater farmhouse, John Alex is ninety when his breathing (and loud snoring), then his heart, stop one night, but his sheer cussedness and strong stubborn streak wills it to restart. This results in a confrontation in his kitchen with Death, who looks like a cross between Mel Gibson and Russell Crowe, and is puzzled as to how it happened.

John Alex isn't sure it did. He goes to see one-hundred-year-old Flossie Henderson who reasons that "What you believe to be real is real … or at least might as well be real." He talks to his good friend Sheila LeBlanc, who recommends a visit to the new doctor in town. John Alex is shocked to find that Dr Holbrook looks exactly like Death, although he denies ever having met John Alex.

When Death does return to the farmhouse, still looking exactly like the doctor, he says that he's intrigued by John Alex's resurrection. He explains that everyone has a circle, an affinity group, tells John Alex who comprises his, and offers what John Alex sees as an unacceptable ultimatum.

"One of my favourite pastimes since I turned ninety, I must admit, was napping. I had learned that here was a hobby for which you did not have to study at length, read any how- to books, or look up on the damn internet to figure out. If they included napping in the Olympics, I would say, I could possibly win a gold medal. Finally, here was something I was good at."

But napping will have to wait. Circumstances bring him in close contact with each surviving member of his circle: concerned for him, Sheila stays over at John Alex's home; Emily and her serious sensitive, intuitive and weird ten-year-old daughter, Evie come to stay; the reclusive island-dwelling son of an idealistic hermit friend needs a safe place to heal; an apologetic meth addict, vowing to reform, joins them. Coincidence? Or Death's doing?

Choyce easily sets his Nova Scotia scene; interesting vignettes describe characters with depth and appeal and some endearing quirkiness; he gives them wise words, gentle philosophy and insightful observations. All against a background of the country's southern neighbour going more than a bit crazy with their new leader, and reports of a nasty Chinese flu …

Before we reach the final page, there's a well-meaning kidnap, an assisted suicide, the fire bombing of a meth lab, a midnight flit, a case of corona virus within John Alex's circle, a puzzling suicide, and a few incidents that have John Alex, and others, wondering about his mental state, and these topical themes are all handled with sensitivity and humour.

Choyce's descriptive prose is often gorgeous: "I studied the dust motes drifting in the sunlight like it was a micro ballet" and "my brain corrugated with a million thoughts about what was and what wasn't the right thing to do" are examples.

His protagonist is delightfully self-deprecating as "I was a little surprised that Sealy was getting impatient with me, but I guess I was working too hard at being the stubborn old goat I aspired to be" and "You sure you know what you are doing?" "Of course not," I answered. "Never did. Life just throws stuff at me. That's the way it's always been. And I make a decision — almost always a gut decision, and not always the correct one, I admit" demonstrate.

While there are likely spoilers for the first book, this one can easily stand alone and, for those familiar with that book, will be a welcome update on the cast. Heart-warming and uplifting This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Fernwood Publishing.

Please Write

by J Wynn Rousuck

Please Write is the first novel by American theatre critic and author, J. Wynn Rousuck, and is presented in letters. Initially, it's Winslow, a very proper Boston terrier who lives in Baltimore with Pamela, a theatre critic, and Frank, a landscape architect, who writes to inform Grandma Vivienne of an interloper in their happy one-dog household. Grandma Vivienne, it gradually becomes clear, is the alter-ego of Pamela's mother, a recently widowed teacher living in Cleveland Heights, Ohio.

The interloper, a stray brought home by Frank, possibly a West Highland Terrier/Jack Russell Terrier mix, is eventually (and appropriately) named Zippy. Grandma Vivienne begins writing to Zippy, over the three years that follow, encouraging her to learn to read and type (with help from an ever-patient Winslow), sending treats, toys, reassurance and helpful advice on how not to annoy Pamela or Winston, whose footnotes to Zippy's replies usually detail Zippy's transgressions, and bemoan his poor success in mentoring the new pup.

To begin with, the letters deal with incidents in and around the household, with Zippy expressing joy, confusion, indignance, fear and annoyance, depending on the subject: treats, time-outs in her crate, perceived unfair punishment, misunderstood expressions, or baths, to name but a few. With two rounds of Puppy Kindergarten, Zippy's correspondence improves markedly, although her behaviour, less so: chewing of electrical cords, designer boots, and Winslow's favourite jumper takes some effort to correct.

Winston's (and Zippy's, as she becomes more adept) comments also reveal a potential problem in Frank and Pamela's marriage. Reported absences turn out to be due to Frank's unfortunate addiction, and mean that Pamela needs a lot of comfort: fortunately, both Winslow and Zippy gladly step up. This family does suffer its share of trauma…

Lots of topics provide humour: a mouse in the kitchen; camp; agility trials tryouts; and a letter to the new President suggesting a presidential dog, among other things. Pamela tries her hand at children's fiction, a book starring Zippy, the first chapter of which gets very positive reviews from both the star and Winslow, while Pamela's mother delights them both with seasonal treats, and the suggested cookbook catches the interest of a publisher.

Zippy, by this time quite articulate, has suggestions for recipe names: "Zippy even thinks you should name a recipe for Winslow. Something Zippy doesn't like. Something with broccoli." Dog owners will be delighted with the many recipes included in the letters.

Any reader familiar with Richard Glover's book, Love, Clancy, will enjoy the style and format, and while there is plenty of humour, the problems the humans face are relatable and not unrealistically solved for a happy ever after ending. In fact the most hard-hearted reader may shed a tear at the last line. This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Bancroft Press.

The Mistress Of Bhatia House

by Sujata Massey

The Mistress of Bhatia House is the fourth book in the Perveen Mistry series by award-winning, best-selling British-born American author, Sujata Massey. At Bhatia House for a fund-raising tea in aid of a proposed hospital for women, Perveen Mistry witnesses a heroic act by the family's ayah that saves the life of the young heir to wealthy widower and stone merchant, Sir Dwarkanath Bhatia's fortune. Both the boy and his ayah sustain burns, but Dr Miriam Penkar, the future hospital's medical director, is on hand to help.

A few days later, having inexplicably fallen out of favour with her sister-in-law Gulnaz and her new baby, Perveen seeks to escape the Mistry home by attending to a chore at the bail court. Her wish to further occupy her afternoon is granted when she spots the ayah in a line of prisoners. Sunanda Chavda has been arrested on what Perveen believes is a trumped-up charge, and she is determined to help the courageous young woman.

This is mid-1922, and women are not allowed to speak in court, so she almost gets herself into trouble trying to speak for Sunanda, but she can and does pay her bail. As Sunanda is homeless because of the shame the charge will bring on her family, Perveen takes her home to await trial and tend her infected burns in the servant's cottage and, while her mother is sympathetic, her father foresees complications, both legal and with the extended family.

To give her client the best chance, Perveen will have to engage a barrister, and depose witnesses, but will the Bhatias pay their employee's legal fees? She is dismayed by their response, and something about the whole situation has her wondering if there's more to Sunanda's story than she's telling. And then, Dwarkanath Bhatia dies of poisoning…

In the background of all this is Perveen's developing relationship with former ICS agent, Colin Sandringham, now living in Bombay. She wonders if her acquaintance of Dr Penkar might provide the means to allow her to engage more intimately without disgracing her family. She is a little concerned at the political aspect of the work he has been offered, though.

In an action-packed tale that features wrongful imprisonment, arson, unfair dismissal, corruption, a shooting, and fraud, all leading up to a nail-biting climax, Massey deftly demonstrates the powerlessness of women in this era, even as progressive thinkers are striving to make changes to improve their welfare.

Once again, Massey gives the reader a tale filled with rich everyday historical minutiae, making the detail of custom and ritual easy to assimilate, while providing a plot that will keep the reader guessing until the final pages.

While it could be read as a stand-alone, familiarity with the regular characters and their backgrounds certainly enhances the reader's enjoyment. There are several unresolved situations that promise further instalments, and more of this fascinating historical crime fiction is most definitely welcome.

The Socialite's Guide To Death and Dating

The Socialite's Guide To Death And Dating is the second book in the Pinnacle Hotel Mystery series by American author, S K Golden. Evelyn Murphy, daughter of the owner of the Pinnacle Hotel in New York City, has already, some weeks earlier, solved one murder when she and her beau/assistant, Malcolm Cooper (Mac) come across a body in a car in the Pinnacle's parking garage.

Judge Cliff Baker is found in the driver's seat of his cherry red Cadillac Coup de Ville with a needle in his arm, but Evelyn notes no track marks on his skin. When the police turn up, they assume a heroin overdose, but Evelyn isn't convinced: why would a man with a successful career and a young, pregnant wife take such a risk. Even more puzzling is the frightened, scantily-clad young woman locked in the trunk of his car.

Dealing with Detective Hodgson is difficult enough, but when his younger colleague, Detective McJimsey decides to arrest Evelyn for the murder, she calls in the big guns: the attorney general and the chief of police see that she is released pronto.

Mark Murphy is annoyed with his daughter's recent activity, but is even more disturbed by the company she's keeping. Mac is a former bellhop, way below her station, and he issues Evelyn an ultimatum: break it off with Mac or be disinherited, and therefore penniless. He makes his dislike for Mac plain, and it is reciprocated when Mac stands up to him about his treatment of his daughter. Evelyn diagnoses overtiredness and defers further discussion until the next day.

But less than twenty-four hours after Judge Baker is found, there are three corpses: a dead judge, a dead prostitute and a dead maid; and Mark Murphy is in the hospital recovering from an attempt on his life. Worse still, Mac has been arrested for the murders. Evelyn is determined to get him out on bail and find the real killer, but Daddy has her money tied up tight, even her mother's inheritance.

As she questions the Pinnacle staff, the Judge's widow and his family, and those who knew the dead women, the list of potential suspects grows alarmingly: the valets are disgruntled with Mark Murphy's budget cuts and his anti-union stance; the widow's stepson seems a bit too friendly with his very regnant step-mother; and the doctor is too conveniently on the spot.

At first appearance, Evelyn seems to be exactly what her father describes: a spoiled, stupid socialite, whom some will see as nosy and entitled. When she gives priority to shopping and getting her hair and nails done, she does seem ditzy and shallow. Her father criticises her generosity: "…tipping that boy a dollar. A dollar, Evelyn, for opening a door? A quarter, at most, will do." The lift boy opened the elevator doors, and Daddy swept inside. My mouth fell open, staring after him aghast. "But Daddy, I can't carry loose change! I'll jingle!" And her fixation on a particular red lambskin Archambeau handbag seems frivolous, but perhaps her perspective gives her different insights.

Evelyn suffers from anxiety and agoraphobia, and is trying to overcome her fear of leaving the Pinnacle, where she has lived her whole life. Raised by a nanny since her mother was murdered when she was six, and with a father who parented her with his wallet, it's no wonder she needs an analyst, although Dr Sanders ideas do seem quite advanced for 1958.

While this is the second book in this cozy mystery series, it easily stands alone; there's plenty of humour and melodrama; there's already a cute dog, Presley, and now a cat, Monroe; and the final pages promise an interesting third instalment when Laurence Hodgson and Evelyn try to track down Gwen Murphy's killer. Amara Jasper's narration of the audio version really enhances the reading experience. A very entertaining cozy. This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books.

A Lonesome Blood-Red Sun

by David Putnam

A Lonesome Blood-Red Sun is the second book in the Dave Beckett series by best-selling American author, David Putnam. In 1984, Deputy Dave Beckett is working as a patrol cop out of Hesperia Station, catching crooks, unofficially mentoring rookies, covering for PTSD-affected colleagues, failing to stay under the radar of brass that dislike him, and hoping the standard of his work will count towards becoming a homicide detective. He has a case with a perpetrator still at large, one whose victim haunts him, one that he wants to follow up.

On top of that, his marriage has broken up, he's reconnected with the father who left when he was young, and he's trying to generously support his ex and their daughter financially. Despite a brutal divorce, he still has feelings for his ex, but those are tested when a pretty young Deputy from Victorville Station begs for his help. Together, he and Jimmie Poe make surprise arrests in two cases deemed "go-nowhere". Unfortunately, this time Dave's penchant for immature pranks blows back onto Jimmie.

Four years on, Dave's dubious methods for getting arrests has seen him relegated to Bone Detective, investigating the finds in the desert around San Bernadino, a popular place for body disposal. His preoccupation with arresting a drug-dealing murderer leads to a delay in following up a bone find. When he does, checking with neighbours in the area leads to a grisly find: the true fate of sweet Jimmie Poe, presumed to have abandoned her deputy job a few years earlier. But will his captain let him take part in the investigation?

The author's former career as a policeman certainly informs his work and the first part sometimes reads more like a memoir than a novel: a string of incidents that tend to paint the protagonist as impulsive and rather arrogant, if effective. The bullying, petty jealousies and use of questionable methods ring true, as does the unprofessional behaviour of some of his colleagues and the tacit approval of his immediate superiors, given his success rate.

There's plenty of good detective work in this police procedural, and lots of action building up to a nail-biting climax and ending with and a hefty body count, but there are unresolved issues, unexplained but significant incidents, and the major unresolved issue from the previous book is summarily dismissed with a few short lines. This ARC does have quite a lot of spelling errors and continuity issues that have, hopefully, been corrected for the final print version. Still very readable American crime fiction. This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Level Best Books.