The Thursday Murder Club

Book Review: The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman

I saw Osman interviewed on the Graham Norton show not long back so I know he’s very well known in the UK as a tv presenter (as an Aussie, I was clueless) but I hope he’s getting enough recognition as a writer there also as this, his debut, was such a great read.

The Thursday Murder Club comprises of four residents of a retirement village in Kent who get together every Thursday to go over police cold cases, hoping to one day notice something the police have missed. Then, the retirement village’s builder is found dead and the club suddenly have a real time murder to solve.

This book was hilarious. Most chapters I lost it from just laughing and laughing. Osman did a fantastic job of making you laugh without mocking the oldies. Well, not too much anyway. And the times he did, he allowed them to keep their dignity. In fact, the bulk of the jokes come about because the oldies continually manage to one-up the younger characters, especially the two police officers they [basically recruit] to assist them in their hunt for the killer.

Other than the fact they’re all extremely intelligent, all four members of the murder club have very different personalities. I loved all four and would find it difficult to determine who was my favourite. They each get their moment to shine.

The murder mystery plot line was pretty good. I did guess one or two things but, by the end, there are so many threads you’d have to tie together to solve everything, so I imagine most readers should be satisfied.

If I had a complaint it would be the number of times Osman had a character find something out which they didn’t share with the reader. You know, the phone call where someone tells them something, or where they read something, and they go ‘Oh! Now that is interesting’ and… cut, end of chapter. Grrr. It’s not my favourite thing authors do. It’s only a minor whine though.

I listened to the audible version, narrated by one of my favourite actresses Lesley Manville. She never let me down and her accents and choices for the characters were all excellent.

I am so pleased there will be a sequel. I will definitely be rushing out to read it. Easily a 5 out of 5

The Paris Affair

Book Review: The Paris Affair by Pip Drysdale

The Paris Affair’s heroine is Harper, who has just moved from London to Paris and begun a new job, writing for the Arts section of a local online magazine. Eager to make her mark, as she ultimately hopes to crack into crime journalism, she pursues a story of a mysterious up-and-coming artist, Noah X. Harper finds herself as attracted to Noah as she is to his edgy artworks — and the feeling seems to be mutual. But the story she planned on writing takes quite a deviation when she realises Noah could turn out to be at best a witness to a murder, or at worst the actual murderer.

Harper is an interesting heroine. She could almost be described as an anti-heroine at times, given that she often makes very questionable choices. Circumstances have led her to find real strength and independence, however, and this, combined with her intelligence, makes her no pushover for any potential serial killer.

Drysdale’s mystery plot was multi-layered and complex. She managed to link everything together. A lot of the scenes I thought she’d written to merely highlight some character trait of Harper’s, ended up being integral to the main plot in the end. Very clever indeed.

The book is written from Harper’s first person point of view which felt very intimate. The action scenes were very clearly described and, given the Paris location, almost had an old fashioned Hitchcock-like way about them. The suspense and tension built gradually, with interactions Harper has with other characters going from innocuous to threatening at a nice pace.

Drysdale takes full advantage of the Paris setting when it comes to the suspense and tension. The style of the houses — their less than secure entrances due to numerous sets of stairs, and their internal designs that allow neighbouring properties a clear view of each other — add to the Harper’s sense that someone is watching her. Drysdale also throws in a few dimly lit back lanes and (in the complete reverse really) the crowded Metro carriages and stations, to great effect.

This book is very modern, its young characters are effortlessly tech savvy and conversant in all things social media and app driven. Harper’s relationships are [mostly] initiated on dating apps. She investigates the murders via videos, Instagram and podcasts. Her previous job was writing a blog. As such, I’m not sure every older reader will be able to easily relate to the book. (I think a lot of it would go over my 84 year old mother’s head.) I would, however, highly recommend it for those new adult readers who are in their 20s and looking for something relevant to their generation.

In fact, Drysdale is fast becoming the queen when it comes to the modern contemporary thriller and I highly recommend this book if you’re looking for a sleek and stylish thriller. 5 out of 5

Long Way Home

Book Review: Long Way Home by Nicola Marsh (Brockenridge #1)

Another Aussie rural romance which I found to be a little underwhelming…

The main romantic plot strictly follows the rural romance rules. The heroine, Ruby, returns to her [fictional] hometown, Brockenridge, when her mother passes away. She’d left for the big city after being bullied and accused of stealing. Upon returning, she finds out she’s inherited a roadhouse from her mother and, of course, meets back up with her old crush, Connor. Their conflict is that Connor’s family wants to buy out and demolish the roadhouse to make way for a golf course and resort.

There’s a secondary romantic plot. It features two of the roadhouse employees, Alisha and Harry. I preferred this pairing as they were older but their plot and conflict were still pretty cliched. (I guessed Harry’s secret immediately; I’ve read many many romances where the hero has kept his distance for the exact same reason.)

Despite having two couples and, therefore, twice the conflict (apparently), Marsh still struggled in this arena. In fact, to be honest, the conflict of both storylines was pretty awful. The characters had arguments about nothing really and everything could have been sorted out in five minutes flat.

Marsh has written many romance novels, so I also expected her to write chemistry and sexual tension better. It was pretty forced between both couples. A bit of show, not tell, would not have gone astray either. Oh boy, there was a lot of repetition of the inner thoughts of the four characters. I did start to skim after reading about Ruby or Alisha being bullied, Connor’s sad family life, or that Ruby should have returned from Melbourne sooner for the umpteemth time.

The Aussie setting was just okay. There were some things which were authentic but others… I must admit I was sort of confused about the roadhouse itself! I didn’t find it a very Australian establishment. A roadhouse to me is an extension of a service station (gas station) where you can grab some fast food and visit the restroom. Marsh had apparently gone on a Patrick Swayze binge somewhere around the time of writing this as it was more like some odd mixture of a pub/club/restaurant.

Anyway, I guess I’ll still give the next book a go, but overall, Long Way Home was pretty disappointing. 2 ½ out of 5

This Rough Magic

Book Review: This Rough Magic by Mary Stewart

This is my 5th Mary Stewart read and I’m still utterly in love with her.

Okay, my cynical heart will admit she sticks to a strict formula. But she does it so well, I don’t care.

Our heroine this time is Lucy, a theatre actress who finally got the lead in a play only to have it be a dud. Licking her wounds, she escapes London to travel to Corfu, where her wealthy sister resides. Expecting peace and tranquility, Lucy instead gets wrapped up in murder.

Stewart’s descriptive passages are, as usual, sublime. If you can’t picture the crystal clear water off the coast of the island, its ancient ruins, the smaller villages of helpful but poor locals, the flowers and lushly landscaped surrounds of the luxury Villas where these rich Brits live, or even the underground caves and wine cellars beneath them, well… Well, that can’t happen. Stewart prose makes the reader picture them as easily as a photograph.

Stewart’s action scenes also are so easy to follow and imagine. From scuffles with guns to a tussle on board a boat, the reader never has to pause and just wonder what is going on.

Another thing she can do better than most is suspense and tension. There’s always a subtlety to the suspense at first (the leading ladies always think perhaps they are imagining danger when there might be none), then, Stewart ramps things up until your heart is thumping. And Stewart can make the most mundine moments, like an unanswered telephone call, become sinister.

Talking of tension, Stewart can do sexual tension also like no other. The chemistry between Lucy and her love interest crackles off the page. So often I read a modern romance and whinge that the leading couple has zero chemistry. I don’t imagine I’d ever have that complaint about a Stewart book. I definitely didn’t with This Rough Magic! I was, as they say, shipping it hard!

Out of the rest of the supporting characters, Lucy’s sister’s neighbour, the world famous actor Sir Julian Gale, is an absolute stand out. He’s hilarious and tragic at the same time and I really can’t understand why this novel was never adapted into a movie somewhere along the line because Sir Julian would have been so much fun on screen and whoever played him would have been instantly up for a supporting actor award. (I love all the Goodreads reviews where the readers/reviewers have ‘cast’ the book. I will admit that I instantly cast Sir Patrick Stewart as Sir Julian.)

And, of course, Corfu is another character. It’s not really a location I was familiar with before the book but it certainly made me fall in love with it. I also learnt a lot about Albania. I am rather ignorant about its political history and ended up on the internet after finishing This Rough Magic, reading up on the country and, in particular, being fascinated by the length of time it remained isolated due to communism.

Obviously I recommend This Rough Magic and I’m still keen to read some more Stewart titles. My head tells me that the book might be a little dated which should result in a less than perfect rating but my heart says it’s in charge today, so 5 out of 5.

This Has Been Absolutely Lovely

Book Review: This Has Been Absolutely Lovely by Jessica Dettmann

 loved Dettman’s debut, How To Be Second Best, so I basically knocked down Netgalley’s door to grab a copy of this, her second published novel. (And they, and Harper Collins Australia came through — thank you!) I’m happy to report there is no signs of the dreaded curse of the second novel and Dettmann has produced another winner.

Annie was part of a mildly successful 80s band and now that both of her parents have passed away and she seems to have free time, she has decided to try and get back into singing and songwriting. The only fly in the ointment is her daughter, Molly, who is pregnant and, Annie suspects, will need her mother to provide free childcare.

It’s Christmas and Annie’s other two children have also come to stay. Simon, who has returned home to Australia from Germany with his wife and children and obvious money issues, and Naomi, a sweet hippy who seems to be the only one with her life on track, even if it is a minimalist natural vegan type track. Also visiting for the holidays are the other members of the band, Annie’s ex and the children’s father, Paul, and his boyfriend, Brian.

I loved all the characters, flaws and all. I thought this showed quite a lot of skill on Dettmann’s part as there are also many parts where I want to slap the characters silly. We get a lot from Annie and Molly’s point of view in particular, and they didn’t always come across as ‘good’ people but, in the end, I especially warmed to Molly.

My favourite thing about Dettmann’s debut was the humour. It was absolutely hilarious. I admit I didn’t find this book as funny (although it does have its moments) and instead, I found it mostly quite sad. It isn’t really a fluffy chicklit book at all. There’s only hints of romance. The book is about family, a typically dysfunctional and crazy and, ultimately, loving family.

There’s a strong feminist tone throughout the book. The expectation that it’s the women of the world who will sacrifice everything for their children. Dettmann addresses women giving up their careers but also giving up their artistic passions for their family. I dabble in writing myself and rarely, if ever, get a chance by the time I run around doing this or that. I too keep saying that I’ll get back into it when everyone has left the nest. Of course, as Dettmann’s story and characters point out in various ways, you never stop having the responsibility of being a mother, no matter what you choose to do or how old your children become.

One thing I really loved about the book was the Australian setting. There is a lot of fun poked at summer Christmas and our lack of traditions, all while showing that we do have some traditions which we don’t always acknowledge (Boxing Day cricket and playing under the sprinkler, for starters).

I really enjoyed the book overall. There’s a lot of poignant scenes as well as many quotable lines which made me tear up and reflect on life and I highly recommend This Has Been Absolutely Lovely. 5 out of 5

Navigating the Stars

Book Review: Navigating the Stars by Maria V Snyder (Sentinels of the Galaxy #1)

Navigating the Stars is set about 400 years in the future where armies of terracotta warriors, just like the Chinese ones on Earth, have been discovered on several other planets.

The story starts with 17 year old Lyra arguing with her archaeologist parents about travelling to a new planet from the one where they are currently stationed. Space travel technology causes a ‘time dilation’, meaning during the journey she will age only a few months while everyone else not on the spacecraft ages years. That is, when they arrive on the next planet, all her friends from their current posting will be around 50 and she’ll still be 17.

I liked both these ideas – the time discrepancy causing friends and family to make some tough choices, and the inclusion of the terracotta warriors. But there were some other ideas I wasn’t so fussed on.

The Qnet being one. Lyra is a ‘wormer’, which is basically a hacker. She ‘worms’ her way through the vast internet type system to solve a couple of the mysteries surrounding the warriors. I don’t think the net really made sense. It was this all encompassing key to everything in everyone’s life and yet it was illegal to go onto it. There are a couple of scenes when it’s explained to Lyra why she shouldn’t ‘worm’ but, overall, it doesn’t seem logical that the government/corporations of the day could be so easily compromised by teenagers. It also didn’t make sense that Lyra would be able to use the net to work things out that no other scientist around the universe could with just a couple of wriggles of her mouse.

I rarely read young adult books and Navigating the Stars never made me want to rush out and correct this imbalance. (The fact that teenagers are always the ones to save planets/universes etc usually elicits memories of hilarious memes mocking the genre.) The romantic storyline catering to a young female audience was predictable and actually really quite awkward at times. But the thing that *really* annoyed me was Lyra’s way of speaking. Okay, I’m not expecting writers to come up with a whole new language for their characters but I really don’t think teenagers will be using the same slang in the 2400s as they do in the 2000s. They don’t even use the same slang they did 5 years ago, for goodness sake.

There are a couple of mystery plots, some better than others. I really liked the one featuring the disappearance of an entire planet’s inhabitants; the whereabouts and fate of all the scientists and archaeologists being unknown. I also enjoyed the question of who built the warriors, and when and why. The mystery plot speculating on the identity of the head of the criminal gang attacking the planet to loot the warriors, however, was far too obvious and it wasn’t even the best reveal.

I don’t think hardcore scifi fans would be too impressed. I guess it could be a nice introduction to the genre but, truly, I think the target audience is younger women who don’t usually read scifi.

I had slated the remaining books of this trilogy into my book challenges for the year and I’ll probably still read them; I’m hoping I might enjoy the sequels a little more (as Lyra grows up and Snyder doesn’t need to explain the universe as much), fingers crossed. 3 out of 5

The Valley of Lost Stories

Book Review: The Valley of Lost Stories by Vanessa McCausland

This book is described as ‘Big Little Lies meets Picnic at Hanging Rock’ on its blurb. Well, for once, it’s not a bad comparison.

Four school mums decide to take a small holiday together, with their children but no husbands. McCausland uses the atmospheric setting of their holiday destination to great effect. They stay in a hotel which in its heyday of the 1940s was frequented by a clientele of the rich and elite. However, the fortunes and popularity of the hotel faded (along with the popularity of the surrounding once-thriving townships) when the local mine near it closed. And now it only opens for the occasional event — the isolation of the hotel’s Blue Mountains valley location blamed for the frequency of those.

I pretty much liked all four of the mums. Of course, all four have issues they are attempting to hide from the world and, as the story moves along, the reader soon learns they all struggle to make sensible decisions in relation to their lives/issues. But it’s not all a big soap opera. McCausland adds a mystery/thriller plotline when one of the women goes missing (which, obviously, causes the troubles of the other three to escalate to another level).

Besides the four mums, we also follow the plot of Jean, a resident of the town in the 40s. Although I found Jean a bit annoying at times, I was still intrigued enough to find out how her story, and also that of another woman who went missing from the hotel at the same time that Jean visited, would connect with the present.

The book had a very gothic feel to it. McCausland did a great job of making the hotel, and its staff, very creepy. Locked doors, ghosts, torrential rain causing roads to flood, no internet or phone coverage — McCausland managed to up the chills pretty well. The vastness and remoteness of the Australian bush/landscape were also key factors in pulling off the ‘in peril but isolated’ trope too.

There were quite a few themes covered in amongst the thrills, such as domestic violence, alcoholism, adultery, bullying, homophobia, and Aboriginal genocide.

If I had a whine about the book, it would be that the ending felt a little rushed and some parts of it were summed up a little too fast. It wasn’t an information dump, per se, but it could have actually explained some of the plot points in a less condensed way, I thought. The climactic scenes could have been stretched out more. Perversely, I thought some of the scenes before the climax could have done with tighter editing/cutting.

Overall, though, I would recommend this book and it’s another solid start to my reading year. 4 out of 5

Before the Crown

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Book Review: Before the Crown by Flora Harding

I have a confession: I am not a monarchist – at all. #voteonerepulbicforAustralia I don’t dislike the Queen and the royals, I just don’t see their point or relevance for Australia and our modern values. So, with that in mind, I have to say… Harding must be basically a genius because I LOVED this book.

You might be wondering why I wanted to read this book then. Well, another confession is that I picked it because of its gorgeous cover. I mean, seriously, that’s a great cover.

The plot is obvious. Young princess Elizabeth, heir to the throne of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth dominion, falls for Prince Philip of Greece. Philip is a bit of a wild child with enough controversies within his family to send her dad, King George VI, into a frenzy. Despite knowing the outcome (Liz and Phil have been married for 73 years now, after all), I couldn’t stop turning the pages, so engrossed was I with this story.

I must say that Harding wrote the book in a very respectful way. In particular, I think she wrote Philip well. Over the years he’s been accused of a lot of things and said a lot of things which most consider inappropriate. Harding seemed to show this side of his character but in an empathetic way which made him a very likeable ‘character’. I did learn a lot about Philip’s early life (no, I haven’t watched more than a handful of eppies of The Crown yet either) and although it’s technically a piece of fiction, there must have still been a lot of research and fact checking involved in writing this book.

On that point, even though I was horrified that I was relishing a romance about two people who are still alive, I did like the way I could quickly google anything which came up in the novel, thus adding an extra layer of enjoyment. I couldn’t help but notice when I googled various images, Elizabeth and Philip always looked like they were smiling and laughing together in every photo. Up until now, I have never considered Elizabeth and Philip a particularly romantic pairing, despite their marriage’s longevity, but Harding even made me change my mind about this.

Doing a bit more googling, I found that Flora Harding is a pseudonym and she also writes as Jessica Hart and Pamela Harshorne. I’ll definitely be checking out some other of her titles.

All in all, if a big pro-Republic chick like me can love Before the Crown, it’s got to be a high recommendation. 4 1/2 out of 5