Don’t we have a lot of brilliant authors in Australia? And I’ve just discovered a new one: Mali Waugh, a lawyer herself, who has written this terrific book about the murder of a Family Court judge. There are always going to be people unhappy with the outcomes of hearings in the Family Court but, as Detectives Jillian Bassett and John McClintock find, members of the legal profession who work within the Family Court are not all happy with each other either.
The characterisation of Jillian as a new mother, obviously (but not, it seems to herself) suffering from post natal anxiety while at the same time trying to put all her energy and concentration into catching the killer of Judge Kaye Bailey, is real and sensitive and perfectly balanced. As a reader, it was clear to me that Jillian’s perception of her partner’s personality was coloured by how she was dealing with her own personal problems. In spite of this they worked very well together in their thorough and relentless investigation.
This is a fast paced story and the interest never wanes. There seem to be so many suspects who fit the crime, as John McClintock keeps assuming, but the story behind Kaye’s murder keeps unfolding until it reaches an absolutely satisfactory conclusion.
Jillian, her husband Aaron and work partner McClintock are beautifully drawn and I would love to see them all again. I hope Mali Waugh has more books planned.
Got to be a five out of fiver!
Published by Macmillan
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