Wow… She Lied First by Dinuka McKenzie is a great read! It’s obvious McKenzie (well, her characters) are keeping secrets and perhaps fooling themselves (and potentially us), making them consciously or unconsciously remain in denial, but at the same time this book goes in an unexpected direction and flips everything we think we know…or that we’ve assumed.
The Gardens by Emma Babbington is a suspenseful read. There’s no sinister undertone so it’s not a thriller as such but a mystery to be picked apart which Babbington does artfully though a cold case police investigation and Jess, a middle aged woman trying to find out what happened to her 18 year old half-sister Nina who went missing over 30 years earlier. The discovery of bones in the garden of the pair’s childhood home at Willow Gardens makes Jess think they’ve finally learned Nina’s fate, or if they’re not Nina’s, that they’re somehow linked to her disappearance.
The Missing by Fleur McDonald is the second in a loosely linked series based in Kalgoorlie. I don’t tend to get review books from McDonald’s new publisher so only belatedly read both only weeks apart. We met a few of the characters here in The Prospect though I really only remembered Jack, a police officer who (grudgingly) took a demotion to accompany his journalist partner to a new job. Interestingly she is still recovering from injuries sustained from events in that book and back in the city, whereas Jack has opted to stay in Kalgoorlie. Here McDonald also introduces the very likeable Angie who’s recently moved there to take up a promotion, here leading the case of a teenager who disappeared after a party.
The Prospect by Fleur McDonald is a newish direction for the West Australian author. Her two Dave Burrows series’ were go-tos for me but she moved publishers to one whose books I don’t seem to get for review so I missed this one until I came across it in a second-hand bookstore. It does however feature characters we’ve met in her previous series (though I didn’t remember anything specific about them). And here, when we’re first (re)introduced to Zara and Jack they’ve recently moved to Kalgoorlie following journalist Zara inadvertently revealing details of a source and tanking her career and meaning Jack – previously a police detective back in South Australia – having to return to uniform duties and trying not to resent Zara as a result.
The Surf House by Lucy Clarke is an intriguing read set in Morocco. And who knew Morocco even had surf beaches? My geographical ignorance means I’d always pictured it as desert-like and land-locked, not the type of place where you’d find retreats on hilltops overlooking surf beaches! It’s certainly a world away for Bea, a young English model who has become disillusioned with her profession and life in general.
I very much enjoyed We Are All Guilty Here by Karin Slaughter so was even happier when I discovered it’s actually labelled North Falls #1. Slaughter does such a great job developing the characters and their lives, so it makes complete sense not to waste fabulously rounded creations on just one book. In fact, part-way through the novel it felt a bit like I was really embedded in the lives of the Clifton family and community of North Falls as if we’d been hanging out for years. It meant I was somewhat surprised when just over a third of the way through I discovered the unfolding plot (where I was happily ensconced) had been in the past and we move forward twelve years into the present.
The Unquiet Grave by Dervla McTiernan sees the return of detective Cormac Reilly along with his partner Peter Fisher, who I recall featured prominently in the last book in the series The Good Turn. Here McTiernan again throws in several plots for the price of one, mostly unconnected but all as intriguing as the main investigation involving a body in a bog. And no, NOT a typo with me erroneously typing BOG instead of BAG, and… also not something I have the chance to say often! (Also googles ‘bog’ to check exactly what it means.)
The Last Illusion of Paige White by Vanessa McCausland is a thought-provoking read from the Aussie journalist-turned-author. I’ve read three of McCausland’s previous books and she seems to enjoy unpicking or examining relationships between friends and families. Here we meet Jane, a journalist who returns to her childhood hometown after a former best friend dies. We learn however, though the pair were once close, events from the past split them apart but also left Jane wondering if they really did have anything in common after all.