Debbish

Book review: And The Corpse Wore Tartan by Stuart MacBride

February 1, 20262 min read

And The Corpse Wore Tartan by Stuart MacBride is apparently officially the second in the ‘Steel and Tufty’ series, though MacBride points out it’s the first to solely feature DS (demoted from DCI) Roberta Steel who’s a regular in the Logan McRae books penned by the Scottish author. MacBride tells us he started this as a novella just before the first Covid lockdown so it’s simmered for a while before becoming a short novel. I’ve only read one of two of the Logan McRae series and didn’t remember Roberta (Robbie to her wife Susan, who features prominently here). And it has to be said, Robbie is certainly an acquired taste. If she were male she’d certainly be considered lecherous and/or lascivious and I was kinda horrified on Susan’s behalf how outwardly pervy Robbie is toward other women in her presence.

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Book review: Papercut by Rachel Taff

January 27, 20263 min read

Papercut by Rachel Taff features a woman who found infamy as a teenager, committing murder to escape a cult. It’s a heavily textured read, set twenty years later as Lucy continues to ‘live off’ the proceeds of her memoir and appearances at ‘true crime’ events. She’s keeping secrets however, telling us she’s worried they’ll come out and Taff sets this up so readers are in suspense wondering what [those secrets] are or – in my case – how bad they may be, and being joined by Lucy (years later) discovering some she wasn’t aware of and twists we didn’t see coming.

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Book review: Robert B Parker’s Showdown by Mike Lupica

January 25, 20262 min read

I stumbled across Robert B Parker’s Spenser in the early 2000s and devoured the series. Thankfully it’d kicked off in 1973 so I had a long backlist to read. I loved everything about the series (well, other than Spenser’s long-time girlfriend Dr Susan Silverman) who seemed like a rather vain and arrogant princess. Spenser was a fabulous character as was his sidekick Hawk, equally delightful was the witty writing and the repartee that characterised the books… Indeed, I’ve written about my love of Spenser and the Lost Art of the Gumshoe before (Part 1 & Part 2).

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Book review: The Missing by Fleur McDonald

January 22, 20262 min read

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.

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ARC review: The Shadow Friends by Tess Gerritsen

January 19, 20262 min read

I must confess I let The Shadow Friends by Tess Gerritsen leapfrog over all of the books in my reading list on its arrival, despite it not being published until August 2026 because I love this Martini Club series so much. I think in my first review I talked about it being akin to the ‘Thursday Murder Club on speed’. Thanks to the fact that all five members of this ‘club’ are ex-CIA, all with their own set of skills, which have only dulled a little in the decades since their retirement. I loved the first two books in this series. I probably didn’t enjoy this quite as much, although the bar is possibly set unfairly high. This is similar to the first book in the series, when the past of one of the members comes back to haunt them and pull the group back into the life they left.

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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: The Pact by Lisa Walker

January 13, 20263 min read

The Pact by Lisa Walker is a book about writers and writing… which always appeals to me. However, anyone who’s done the Camino de Santiago walking trail or wants to do it will very certainly love this because it’s narrated by Tess, a writer walking the Camino to reconnect with former friends, albeit with the aim of seeking vengeance on those she holds responsible for ruining her life. As a result Walker includes A LOT of detail about the trail. I knew very little about it so found the inclusion of information about the accommodation, and everything from meals to religious services, not to mention the terrain and challenges of the different stages all quite fascinating. I mean, it didn’t tempt me to go and do it (indeed, I’d rather poke myself in the eye with a sharp stick) but Walker has either done it, or undertook significant research allowing her to confidently share this level of detail.

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Book review: Darkrooms by Rebecca Hannigan

January 11, 20262 min read

Darkrooms by Rebecca Hannigan was a mixed bag for me. I didn’t particularly like either of our two lead characters…. though Hannigan doesn’t try to make them particularly sympathetic or likeable. And the plot itself felt a little disjointed. At times it felt obvious where it was heading and who was responsible for the disappearance of 9 year old Roisin (I should mention the book’s title doesn’t help), but then we’d be given new information that was inconsistent with what we thought we knew or what we were told. And at one stage the guilty party confesses which felt somewhat anticlimactic. Though Hannigan does throw in an unexpected twist or two.

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Book review: Dark Desert Road by Tim Ayliffe

January 9, 20263 min read

I enjoyed Dark Desert Road by Tim Ayliffe much more than I expected. I’d worried a little it would be centred around ‘preppers’, ‘cookers’ or conspiracy theorists and get bogged down in their beliefs and actions, and though it is a little, it’s not the focus of the book. Rather it’s more a game of cat and mouse as a young woman tries to avoid a death sentence after seeing something she shouldn’t. What I very much liked about this (in addition to proverbial heart-pumping action) is that Ayliffe paints his characters in shades of grey.

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