The Community

Book Review: The Community by Christine Gregory

The community of the title is a fictional Sunshine Coast hinterland one, a usually quiet and peaceful location until a body is found in a local waterhole. The discovery shines the light on the lives of the locals, and the secrets many of them are trying to conceal.

The book has more than one narrator, including local police sergeant Neil Davis, and a one time successful journalist, Lars Nilsson, whose past rocky relationship with the police affects any type of partnership the pair could establish when investigating the current case.

While I liked both Nilsson and Davis, the real star character of the book is the setting. Even though Gregory has taken some liberties, the natural beauty of the Queensland flora and fauna shines through and won me over when sometimes the plot was not as tense or tightly woven as I would have preferred.

The Community reminded me quite a bit of Force of Nature by Jane Harper and The Whispering by Veronica Lando and would recommend it for fans of those books along with other readers who enjoy the Aussie crime/mystery genre.

* Thank you to Ultimo Publishing and @betterreadingau for my #brpreview copy.

Suddenly Single at Sixty

Book Review: Suddenly Single at Sixty by Jo Peck

Peck was 60 when, seemingly out of the blue, her husband of 25 years left her for another (of course, much younger) woman. As part of the healing process, Peck wrote this memoir of her life from then until approximately three years later.

Although a memoir, Peck includes some lovely descriptive passages featuring her travel destinations, food, clothes and art. The book has no chapters, something I’m not usually a fan of, but Peck’s style and writing flow so well, I can’t say I actually noticed after a while. There are sad and poignant moments, as well as funny ones (I’m pretty sure nearly every review will mention *that* massage) but she mixes it up so that her story never becomes boring or her theme’s repetitive.

One theme which is there is how much further we still all have to go when it comes to gender inequity. When Jo, an educated woman who ran a successful business for several years, can still be manipulated by a man for so long, it’s kind of depressing. As is the way the law obviously sided with her ex-husband during the divorce process.

I need to mention too that I don’t think it’s absolutely necessary for you to be ‘age appropriate’ to enjoy this book. There’s nothing that a younger reader wouldn’t understand and relate to at all. In fact, if some of us stop and review our choices a little earlier in life, it wouldn’t be a bad thing.

Peck mentions that one editor advised to change the book from a memoir to a work of fiction. She resisted but I think if she decides to head down the path of writing another (fictional) book, I’ll definitely be there.

4 and ½ out of 5

The Miller Women

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Book Review: The Miller Women by Kelli Hawkins

Oooh, now this is how you write a modern twisty thriller.

There’s three generations of Miller women — Joyce, Nicola and Abby. The story starts with Cara, a school friend of Abby’s going missing. Nicola has always wanted to write a piece of hard hitting investigative journalism, as opposed to the puff pieces she currently writes for the local newspaper, and thus starts to question some of the key suspects. Soon, she realises one of these suspects could be her own daughter, Abby.

Woven through this present-day mystery are flashbacks featuring the three Miller girls. I loved all these, not one B plot was boring. Things only got twistier and twistier with each reveal.

I absolutely adored all three characters and sped through the last quarter of this book to find out all the finer details and just how Hawkins would resolve it all. Unlike a lot of other books of this genre, I was not disappointed with any of the final twists. This book was great from beginning to end.

Read it now, early, to avoid spoilers.

5 out of 5

For Once in My Life

Book Review: For Once in My Life by Karly Lane

I’m constantly searching for a great romance read featuring mature characters. This one was not perfect, but it was far from awful.

The book started with much promise. I sped through the first half, where Jenny, a divorcee who now works as a nurse, is set up on an internet dating site by her three [adult] daughters. The dates, and the way her girls manipulate her dating profile, are quite amusing. Also amused is Nick, the new barman at the local pub, who starts to share some banter with Jenny whilst she is reluctantly out to dinner with these men.

I think Lane lost me a little by jumping around and going off track with her plotline. The initial dating experience, coupled with the painful ex-husband and interfering daughters could have been enough to see the book through. However, Lane added in a You Got Mail type subplot which has Jenny messaging another man on the dating site, and a family secret of Nick’s sister which was straight out of an 80s Mills and Boon. Neither of these worked for me.

Lane also focused on Jenny’s reservations about her and Nick’s age gap. Jenny is 50 and Nick only 38. As a woman over 50, I can’t imagine going out with anyone that young. Instead of focusing on the issues a woman that age would face with a younger man, Lane just glossed over them with cliched adages such as ‘age is just a number’. Disappointingly, Lane kept the entire thing ‘closed door’ and never included any problems I would imagine with this age difference in the bedroom. Apparently they had fabulous sex constantly as Jenny is still fit as a fiddle and is not having any menopausal symptoms at all… Okay, then.

For most of the time, though, I enjoyed this book and will definitely be reading more by Lane.

3 ½ out of 5

Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone

Book Review: Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson

What a fun book!

As the title suggests, everyone in Ernest Cunningham’s family has killed someone. This book, narrated by Ernest as if he has written the book himself based on his real life experiences, follows the plot of Ernest’s family reunion where he gradually reveals each member of his family’s murderous exploits.

If you’re a fan of Knives Out, you’ll love this book. It’s fast paced and funny and the deceptively complex plot kept me on my toes. Even though I suspected a few outcomes correctly, I missed a plethora of details and twists that Stevenson revealed in the final chapters.

Ernest is a very likeable character, and it doesn’t surprise me in the least that Stevenson has decided to feature him again in another book. I would definitely think you’d have to read this book first though, I can’t imagine all the intricacies of this plot being condensed into a recap successfully.

Stevenson’s acknowledgements noted that he thinks Aussie crime fiction is the best in the world and that we may look back one day and see we are currently in our own Golden Age. I think he’s actually correct. And you need to add this one to your list of must reads.

5 out of 5

The Chocolate Factory

Book Review: The Chocolate Factory by Mary-Lou Stephens

Despite the promise of chocolate and the Tasmanian landscape and feminism and romance, I did not really enjoy this book.

I did like the historical details. Hobart was chosen as Cadbury’s first chocolate factory outside of England. The investment, in 1921, must have been huge – along with building the factory and a housing estate for its employees, they also shipped out several staff to establish operations in Australia.

Dare I say that Stephens may have been better off simply writing a non-fiction book about Cadbury’s. There are a lot of interesting facts she includes. They read, however, like facts. I don’t t think they were added organically into the fictional plot.

Stephens’s story centres on Dorothy, a WWI widow, whose passion for the ‘firm’ finds her in an esteemed position of authority (for a woman in 1921) which sees her leave England to become one of the first Australian based employees. Dorothy had potential, but Stephens seemed to jump around with her plotline.

There was a lot of focus on unnecessary and boring plot points (eg Dorothy’s accent, the Quaker religion, the uptight boarding house owner, blah blah) and then others which should be expanded upon were condensed and mentioned almost in passing (the meeting of school teacher Thomas on the ship, for example, was brief and uneventful but then, a mere chapter later, Dorothy is all starry eyed when thinking about him and I was sure I must have missed an entire scene).

I haven’t had much luck lately with Australian historical romance and this book unfortunately didn’t get me out of that rut. I’m sure a lot of readers will love it, but it wasn’t for me.

2 ½ out of 5

Here for the Right Reasons

Book Review: Here for the Right Reasons by Jodi McAlister (Marry Me, Juliet #1)

After drunk-applying for reality show Marry Me, Juliet (aka The Bachelor in the real world), Cece finds herself accepted as one of the girls hoping to catch the eye of ‘Romeo’ Dylan, a handsome ex-Olympian sailor who now runs a charity foundation.

Let’s be honest, we all suspect (know?) that these shows are scripted and none of the girls are really there ‘for the right reasons’ and McAlister doesn’t dissuade this line of thinking. Just about every girl on the show has an ulterior motive, including Cece, who desperately needs to stay on the show as it’s 2020 and she needs to earn money after recently losing her job due to the pandemic.

The book started well. I thought, at last!, we had a winner in the [incredibly tricky to get right] chicklit arena! However, I will admit my attention did wan at about the 75% mark. I think my main issue was the two leads. I found Dylan terribly bland and Cece’s constant crying made me want to slap her silly. In contrast, supporting characters Murray and Lily were much more interesting.

I did like the way McAlister poked fun at reality shows. I’m not sure I was supposed to find the ridiculousness of the contestants’ challenges and their staged arguments more interesting than the romantic relationship of the main couple but, there you go.

The ending was a little predictable, especially if you read the blurbs from book 2 and 3 in the series (try not to, the spoilers did take away from my enjoyment). But, McAlister definitely has potential. 3 out of 5

Apples Never Fall

Book Review: Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty

I’m not understanding the bad reviews for this book. Right from the first paragraph, I knew this book was going to be a cut above what I’d read of late.

Joy has now hit her seventies, retired from running a tennis academy and waiting (im)patiently for one of her four children to give her a grandchild. Then, on Valentine’s Day, she disappears, texting a gibberish message about going ‘off grid’ to her family. Soon, the police are involved and looking for a body, and Stan, Joy’s husband of over 50 years, is their prime suspect.

The story is told in dual timelines — now, and the few months leading up to Joy’s disappearance. I don’t think I’d call this a murder mystery, as such (although Moriarty surprised me with some of the twists at the end). Apples Never Fall is more of a family drama, it’s funny and, obviously, quite sad at times, with lots of thought provoking scenes centring around themes of domestic violence – physical as well as psychological abuse.

Moriarty’s characterisation is brilliant. Joy is a joy, full stop. But Moriarty gives each character their moment in the sun. There’s some characters who I’m sure I would have disliked if a lesser writer presented them. Moriarty, though, evoked empathy and manipulated me into liking them, no matter the extent of their questionable morals and actions.

Maybe it’s the tennis readers disliked? There’s a lot of tennis talk in the book. However, I think as long as you get the general gist of the characters’ passion for the game, it doesn’t matter if you’re a fan yourself or not.

Can’t think of a better way to start my reading year. 5 out of 5

Kill Your Husbands

Book Review: Kill Your Husbands by Jack Heath

Another fast paced, dark but fun, read by Jack Heath.

Three couples go on a weekend away to a holiday house in the Australian bush with no internet or mobile phone service. After much alcohol, their party game progresses to one where the men randomly choose a bedroom to have sex with whichever woman is occupying that said bedroom. Afterwards, one of them is found dead. After the initial shock, the tension builds even more as they realise getting help from the authorities is not as simple as one would imagine, with the landline not working and the keys to the car missing.

The plot progresses in the present tense as well as flashbacks from each guest, showing just how they got into their current situation. The other narrators/main characters are the couple from Heath’s Kill Your Brother – paramedic ex-athlete Elise and police officer Kiara who, obviously, is the lead detective assigned to the case.

Heath was very clever in that he used the friends’ first names when writing from their point of view, and their last names when writing from Kiara and Elise’s, meaning the reader remained spoiler-free until almost the last chapter as to the six friends’ fate.

I think I always guessed who the killer was but I still had a fun time working out the finer details. And there were a couple of twists near the end I hadn’t picked up on at all.

It’s not necessary to read Kill Your Brother, events from that book are mentioned but are not really important to the plot of Kill Your Husbands. I would, of course, recommend you still read both – they’re both enjoyable. I’m looking forward to Heath killing some wives, or sisters perhaps, in the future.

4 ½ out of 5

The Devil Inside

Book Review: The Devil Inside by DL Hicks

The Devil Inside is told from dual narrators:. one, Detective Charlotte Callaghan, following her investigation into the brutal murder of a young woman in her small coastal town, and the other being the childhood memories of the murderer which, in some part, explains why he’s turned into someone capable of killing.

In the course of her investigation, Charlotte realises all the clues are pointing to her own brother, a Catholic priest, being involved. Charlotte’s personal life is complicated enough as it is – she has met a man and things are looking promising but she just needs to work out how she’s going to tell him she’s been diagnosed with cancer and is undergoing chemo.

Hicks’s style was very polished. At times I found it difficult to believe this was a debut. Before taking up writing, Hicks was a real life police officer so hopefully he should have the technical aspects correct. However, I am thinking he used a little poetic licence when it comes to Charlotte continuing to be the lead detective on the case, given her personal relationship with a key suspect.

I had neatly tied up the mystery plot in my mind and was reading along, sure of my assumptions. Then, Hicks dropped a couple of very unexpected twists in the epilogue which literally made my jaw drop. Well played, Mr Hicks.

5 out of 5