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 Last Death of the Year by Sophie Hannah is the latest release in the reimagined world of Hercule Poirot – made famous of course by Agatha Christie… who killed him off in Curtain: Poirot’s Last Case. As a result these are set earlier in his career and here he’s partnering with Inspector Edward Catchpool. Incidentally I did wonder if Hannah has to scour Christie’s novels to make sure Dame Agatha hadn’t already had Poirot on a case on NYE 1932/22 or in another location that would preclude him being on a Greek Island as 1933 dawned.
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 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.
The Close-Up by Pip Drysdale is a twisty tale from the Australian author whose previous books I have enjoyed and who I recently met in person at BAD Sydney Crime Writers Festival. We’re offered a likeable but certainly flawed lead in Zoe whose narration is akin to second person, as if she’s talking to us. It works well as we’re drawn into her world very quickly. It’s purely by chance that she reconnects with Zach, who she knew briefly (but intimately) three years before. Given what happens next she rues that chance meeting, but Zoe herself admits it’s not just the allure of Zach that attracts her, but the fact that he (and his world) become her writing muse, so there’s more than her heart (and life) on the line.
There was something about Our Holiday by Louise Candlish that reminded me of the very popular (novel and tv series) Big Little Lies. Perhaps it was neighbourhood / school politics playing out similarly in a small coastal community popular with wealthy holiday-makers. There’s certainly a pervading simmering tension present – between parents and their children, couples and families as well as unrest between the locals and the ‘blow-ins’ who’ve snapped up all of the best land and houses and priced permanent residents out of the rental and home-buying market.
Detective Kate Miles is back in Tipping Point by Dinuka McKenzie, the third book in the series featuring the likeable detective balancing her job and life with her husband, two kids and various relatives who seem to come to the attention of police far more than she’d like.