Candice Fox Archives - Debbish Archive

Book review: Fire With Fire by Candice Fox

Sunday, February 12, 2023 Permalink

It’s no secret I’m a huge fan of Aussie writer Candice Fox. Her series (Eden Archer; Crimson Lake; and Harriet Blue) gave us some quirky, often-annoying, but endearing characters I’ll long remember. I enjoyed her 2022 release The Chase but struggled a bit as we were given a number of leads and I didn’t connect as much as usual and my attention (and affection) was diluted. I was pretty much alone in my thinking though as the book won the Ned Kelly Award for Best Crime Fiction.

Fox’s latest, Fire With Fire, delivers on multiple fronts and she’s introduced some fabulous characters I very much hope to meet again. Fox is a great storyteller but I believe the magic in her work comes through the characters she creates and manages to humanise within such a short amount of time… building on that with each outing and offering them a story arc that doesn’t necessarily involve growth and evolution but rather everything from redemption to revenge.

Book review: 2 Sisters Detective Agency by James Patterson and Candice Fox

Friday, October 1, 2021 Permalink

2 Sisters Detective Agency by James Patterson and Candice Fox is the sixth collaboration between the prolific US author and Aussie crime fiction writer Fox. I very much enjoyed their Harriet Blue detective series as well as The Inn, which I’d hoped may become part of a series as I liked some of the characters it introduced.

I always wonder how they manage the paired writing (though a friend and I are attempting to also do just that) but most of the books reflect both styles… Patterson’s short sharp chapters that keep you turning the pages, and Fox’s eccentric characters and smart blunt prose.

Book review: The Chase by Candice Fox

Monday, April 19, 2021 Permalink

I adore Candice Fox’s writing and am a huge fan of her many series and two standalones (The Inn and Gathering Dark – both of which may, of course, still become part of a series). Fox manages to create eccentric, weird or even slightly sociopathic characters that are eminently likeable. Protagonists AND antagonists we come to care for deeply. She has a natural yarn-spinning ability. I’ve seen her speak at events and met her so I know she’s quick-witted and kinda irreverent and this is reflected in her writing.

I’ve had her latest release, The Chase, for a while but held off on reading it as I’m participating in a blogging tour that kicks off today. With yours truly. My brother visited at Easter so I kindly let him have a shot at this book first and he read it in a day and really enjoyed it. And I’ve seen nothing but good reviews, which bodes well for Fox’s latest.

Book review: Gathering Dark by Candice Fox

Monday, March 30, 2020 Permalink

I’m always sad when Candice Fox ends a series, but I should know I don’t need to wallow for long as she’s always back with the next big thing. I wasn’t entirely ready for her Crimson Lake series to be over (and perhaps it isn’t?!) but I was able to take solace in the fact she was working on something new. I note this isn’t officially called number 1 (#1) but I’m crossing several limbs it is as I really liked the characters she introduces here.

Book review: The Inn by James Patterson and Candice Fox

Monday, July 29, 2019 Permalink

The blurb for this bills it as a ‘standalone’ novel. However… I’d be surprised if this doesn’t become a series – assuming it’s well-received that is.

Patterson and Fox establish an excellent cast of characters (though they also kill off a few!!!) – and it feels like we’re on the precipice of getting to know some of the mysterious guests of the inn more. And I’d certainly like to do so.

Book review: Hush Hush by James Patterson and Candice Fox

Monday, May 6, 2019 Permalink

I missed the first book in this series (Never Never) but have adored both Fifty Fifty (2017) and Liar Liar (2018). In those reviews I comment on what I think is Candice Fox’s influence or role in the creation of the lead character as I really (really) like Harriet Blue, our enigmatic but troubled lead.

Fox excels in creating amazingly complex (not to mention annoying but likeable) characters and has done the same in her Crimson Lake and Eden Archer series. Of course the short chapters and pace of the novel reflect the style for which James Patterson is known.

Book review: Gone By Midnight by Candice Fox

Monday, January 21, 2019 Permalink

It has to be said up front… THIS IS MY FAVOURITE BOOK (YET) IN THIS SERIES. Which is saying something as I’ve enjoyed both others (though loved the first Crimson Lake a tad more than the second, Redemption Point).

This has absolutely everything. Fox’s writing is intelligent but easily devoured. I’ve seen/heard her speak and she’s got that ability to spin a yarn in a way that sucks you in; and before you know it you’re enchanted, not just by the story but by the way she tells it. By the words she uses and phrases she shapes into an addictive version of reality from which you have no desire to escape.

Book review: Liar Liar by James Patterson and Candice Fox

Friday, July 27, 2018 Permalink

I was a latecomer to this series, joining for the second installment, Fifty Fifty and adored it. I used to be a James Patterson fan (way back when) and while not altogether convinced that quantity equals quality, I love that he’s partnering with other authors and giving some the attention that deserve (like Australia’s Candice Fox, for example) but might not have otherwise got. Internationally at least, in Fox’s case.

And this series’ Harriet Blue feels as if it has Fox’s fingerprints (I was tempted to say paw prints, but am pretty sure I went down that analogous route in my previous review) all over the fabulous creation.

Book review: Redemption Point by Candice Fox

Thursday, January 25, 2018 Permalink

It’s no secret that I am a huge fan of Aussie author Candice Fox. I love her work and very much appreciate her dry and whip-smart wit.

Two of my favourite (11) books of the year last year were hers and I was particularly excited by the appearance of Crimson Lake – the first in a new series after the popular Eden, Hades and Fall series.

Redemption Point is the second book set in the fictional far north Queensland community of Crimson Lake. And again Fox not only offers up some amazing characters, but also firmly plants readers in the humid dense rainforest and the murky crocodile-infested waters of my home-state’s isolated and often unwelcoming far north.