Ultimo Press Archives

Book review: Something He Did by SK Lynch

October 7, 20263 min read

Something He Did by SK Lynch came at an interesting time in my life and gave me pause. Again and again. It’s centred around an incident (car accident involving a brief moment of road rage… well, rage masking a whole heap of other emotions) which changes the lives of those involved… with neither party knowing its effect on the other.

My mother has been in hospital for almost six weeks following a fall. It’s been stressful as she now needs to leave her home of 62 years and go into an aged care facility. Long story short… the stress has manifested in me via alternating anger or weepy tears. I’m becoming angry at the drop of a hat. I’ve sworn and treated people horribly, only to apologise later. I’m incredibly wound up, but it’s no excuse.
(Apologies for the long blurb… akin to someone telling their life story in a recipe blog before sharing the actual recipe!)

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Book review: Happy Woman by Abby Corson

May 9, 20264 min read

Happy Woman by Abby Corson is an interesting and clever read. For much of the book it’s a study in family relationships, personalities and whether a leopard can really change their proverbial spots. It also veers, towards the end of the novel, into one of suspense or mystery with Corson throwing in several twists… just when we think we know where this is heading.

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Book review: The Redline by Adrian Hyland

January 16, 20262 min read

The Redline by Adrian Hyland is the third in the series featuring small-town cop Jesse Redpath. I hadn’t realised when I started but the lead characters felt familiar so I checked and could see I’d read the second book in the series.

And. I. Made. The. Exact. Same. Error. In. Judgement! I don’t know what it says about me but again… I’d assumed the lead character (our narrator) was male. I did it with The Wiregrass as well! Of course once I read that review I remembered elements of the previous book (particularly regarding Jesse’s love interest). This doesn’t have quite the same sense of ‘place’ at its predecessor but it’s a multi-layered complex whodunnit.

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Book review: Left Behind by Martine Kropkowski

September 28, 20253 min read

I was particularly keen to read Left Behind by Martine Kropkowski as it’s set on my doorstep… on K’gari (prev. Fraser Island)*. I’ve only visited the resort on the eastern side of the island in recent years but my step-grandmother owned a couple of huts at a place called Yidney Rocks on the western side of the island. We went over often when I was young, visiting the island’s many landmarks… now instagrammers’ fodder. So there was much I enjoyed about this, wondering about missing tourists and trying to guess at the source of underlying tensions.

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Book review: Five Found Dead by Sulari Gentill

September 2, 20253 min read

Five Found Dead by Sulari Gentill is the latest standalone from the Aussie author whose literary-themed novels I’m very much enjoying. This book is a bit of a cross between Benjamin Stevenson’s Everyone on this Train is a Suspect – in that there are many potential (highly qualified) suspects on the train in question… most of them involved in law enforcement in some way; and Agatha Christie’s good ol’ Murder on the Orient Express… as this IS set on the Orient Express and therefore the quintessential locked room mystery as no one can get off or on. Without giving away too much Gentill also borrows from another of Christie’s other novels*… to achieve the aforementioned locked room (or even more extreme) locked CARRIAGE mystery.

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Book review: Don’t Say His Name by Rachel Givney

August 13, 20252 min read

Don’t Say His Name by Rachel Givney is a great read that I whipped through in one sitting. (Thank god for air-fryer dinners because my pre-dinner bath/read went longer than expected.) I’m not a fan of supernatural-themed novels but, though this novel is soused in folklore, it’s more about it being manipulated which is often the case and more palatable for pragmatic logic-lovers such as moi!

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Book review: We’re Not Us Without You by Christine Keighery

May 11, 20252 min read

I read We’re Not Us Without You by Christine Keighery in one sitting so it certainly kept me intrigued and it’s paced in a way that keeps you turning the pages. I ended up a little disappointed however as ultimately it felt predictable given where I assumed it was headed was indeed how things played out. I suspect part of my antipathy is because I’ve read a number of similar books which offer a little more complexity – more layers when dealing with cults or communes, their leaders and their motivation.

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Book review: Catching the Light by Joanna Horton

April 19, 20253 min read

Catching the Light by Joanna Horton was an enchanting read that I didn’t want to put down. It’s a little outside my beloved crime fiction / thriller genre but in reality I realise many of my favourite books of the last few years are books like this – those that draw you in, keep you suspended as the story unfolds, before releasing you. Books you remember or plotlines that come to mind at random times weeks, months or years later. This is a beautifully written slow burn of a novel featuring prickly characters and complicated relationships.

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