A new, large, fully immersible Lynley and Havers novel! Although Inspector Lynley and Sergeant Havers don’t appear until almost a quarter of the way through, Elizabeth George introduces a lot of characters before then and they all keep the intrigue simmering nicely.
Reading High
Books are my addiction, nearly every genre (except Sci Fi and Fantasy), fiction and non fiction. Straight from the heart reviews.
Saturday, September 6, 2025
A Slowly Dying Cause by Elizabeth George
A new, large, fully immersible Lynley and Havers novel! Although Inspector Lynley and Sergeant Havers don’t appear until almost a quarter of the way through, Elizabeth George introduces a lot of characters before then and they all keep the intrigue simmering nicely.
Tuesday, August 19, 2025
The Midnight Estate by Kelly Rimmer
The Midnight Estate is Kelly Rimmer’s latest thoughtful, powerful, straight-to-the-heart novel. When Fiona, a successful Sydney architect, suddenly finds her world turned upside down, she decides to move back into the home where she was born and raised. Wurrimbirra is a huge old mansion on a property outside of Forbes, a town in the central west of New South Wales.
While cleaning out the old house in an attempt to make it liveable again Fiona finds a book, written by her late, beloved uncle Tad, an internationally successful author who had shared Fiona’s upbringing with her mother, Ginny. Fiona becomes engrossed in the book which is set just one generation ago.
Kelly Rimmer digs deep into the thoughts and feelings of her characters and how they relate to events in their lives. Here she returns to domestic violence, specifically coercive control, a much watered down form of which is these days being called ‘gaslighting’, referencing the old Ingrid Bergman, Charles Boyer movie, Gaslight. Physical or psychological, it is still domestic violence and can still lead to disastrous consequences. I live near Forbes, and a recent horrific tragedy there highlighted not only domestic violence but also our criminally inadequate bail laws. It is a crime which is at last being acknowledged but that acknowledgment still has a long way to go.
This compulsively readable book contains danger, suspense, tragedy, but also love and hopefulness. It is a story within a story and as such explains the past much more convincingly than face to face conversations ever could have.
And animals (in this case, cats) always make a good story perfect, of course.
Published by Hachette Australia
Friday, August 15, 2025
One Small Mistake by Dandy Smith
Tuesday, August 12, 2025
A Mother’s Confession by Kelly Rimmer
I usually think I know which way a book is going and I can guess how it is going to end. This one, however, has a built in mystery right from the start. The story is being told in present time, in alternating chapters, by Olivia and her mother-in-law, Ivy. Kelly’s psychological analysis of Ivy is masterful. Olivia is married to Ivy’s son, David, and she and Ivy tell their separate stories of how their lives have reached the point they have come to now.
Because a version of the ending is revealed at the start of the book, it can only be read with a feeling of mounting dread but it is impossible to put the book down until the full story is revealed. Okay, I was quite able to continue with that, until towards the end the goose bumps started creeping up my spine, followed by actual shivering and finally unstoppable tears. Kelly Rimmer is a literary genius. She has knowledge, compassion and insight into the human condition and is able to express it all in her writing.
The worst aspect of domestic violence is the hold, like an invisible chain, the perpetrator has on the victim which outsiders are unable to understand, or, in many cases, break. I’ve only been an outsider looking in to someone’s suffering from mental, not physical abuse but just as seemingly inescapable.
Just brilliant, Kelly.
Published by Bookouture.
Thursday, July 17, 2025
Die By The Sword by Tony Park
Die By The Sword, Tony Park’s twenty-third novel, is a sweeping, dual timeline story, from the battle fields of the Anglo-Zulu war, to present day KwaZulu-Natal. It’s an absolutely ripping yarn, with masses of fast moving action, historical facts, a touch of romance and, as always, a strong emphasis on the importance of animal conservation.
1880: Former Captain Peter Gregory of the British Army, second son of an aristocratic British family and veteran of the ferocious battle of Isandlwana, Zululand the previous year is attempting without much success to farm in the Natal Midlands, and working as a member of the Natal Mounted Police. Peter has been ordered to escort an American woman to meet up with the Empress Eugenie who is travelling to the memorial site where her son, the Prince Imperial of France, lost his life fighting with the British army in the Anglo-Zulu war. Peter is also tasked with tracking down the sword the prince carried into battle, which had belonged to his great-uncle, Napoleon Bonaparte.
The present day: Adam, who is now Professor Kruger, is working with two of his young students, researching sea turtles at the beach at Bhanga Nek. Adam’s partner, Lieutenant Colonel Sannie van Rensburg, is in the KZN hinterland, having taken temporary charge of the Hawks’ Stock Theft and Endangered Species unit. Sannie and Warrant Officer Marilyn Msani are investigating a case of cattle theft as well as the alleged slaughter of sixteen rhinos.
Adam and his students make an astonishing find which leads them into dangerous territory; meanwhile, Sannie and Marilyn become involved in their own dangerous discoveries. On the personal side, Sannie is starting to wonder if her relationship with Adam is going to survive his single minded devotion to his new career.
Someone once remarked to me that Tony writes in the style of James A Michener, in equal parts informative and entertaining. I couldn’t have put it better myself. Thank you Pan Macmillan, for my ARC.
Wednesday, June 25, 2025
The Stranger at the Table by Cassie Hamer
I’m on a roll! I keep discovering brilliant Australian women writers, and here is another: Cassie Hamer. The Stranger at the Table is completely different to any other book I’ve read in a long time. It is a sensitive, insightful exploration into the lives of a family and how they are affected by the withholding of secrets. There’s a fine line between hurting someone “for your own good” and self preservation.
My children are way into adulthood but whenever I read about parents’ actions causing unintentional consequences for following generations I think: (a) I wish I could go back and be a perfect mother; or (b) I’ve dodged several bullets there!
Marianne, the main character in Stranger at the Table, is trying to integrate back into a stable life with her husband and her two precious daughters. She has had to be brave and strong and to trust and rely on the love and support of her husband, mother and sister; however, nothing is as it seems in this absolutely riveting story, and there are many twists and turns to come.
I’ve been deliberately obscure in this precis, but if there is anyone out there who hasn’t already read The Stranger at the Table, this is an attempt to whet your appetite without giving anything away and thereby ruining the absolute pleasure of getting stuck into an unforgettable book. If you are a fan of Liane Moriarty, Cassie Hamer is your woman!
Published by Harper Collins
Sunday, June 22, 2025
A Shadow at the Door by Jo Dixon
I bought A Shadow at the Door because I enjoyed The House of Now and Then so much. This one is a lot more dramatic, so much so that in the beginning I was starting to think the negativity was a bit overdone; however, balance was restored quickly and a splendidly compulsive story was underway.
The main character, Remi, is a former television star who, having divorced her wealthy and powerful husband and while recovering from a vicious physical attack, has undertaken to restore her once beautiful old Hobart home. A series of damaging events, including an online campaign to damage Remi’s income from her audiobook reading job, has eaten into her finances; and meanwhile, Remi’s ex, Simon, has a mortgage over his half of the property which formerly had been in their joint names, and he has started threatening Remi with foreclosure if she is late making payments.
Reluctantly, Remi decides to rent out two of her rooms and so she meets Josephine and Emerson who become principal players; from this point on as the story progresses the suspense, the tension, the final build up are all riveting.
Tasmania is featuring a lot in books and movies lately, and Australia keeps producing world class writers. I’m now looking forward to Jo Dixon’s third book.
Published by Harper Collins
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