Death at the Sign of the Rook by Kate Atkinson

 

Jackson Brodie is back and he’s on the trail of an art thief. Jackson has been hired by a sister and brother whose mother has died and they are dividing up her possessions between themselves, in accordance with her Will. They have found that a painting their mother held dear is missing and they have asked Jackson to find it.

As he goes about this task, Jackson meets up with various characters from his past, both in person and in his mind. As usual, there is lots of witty repartee with all of them. As well, lovely new characters are introduced, including an agnostic vicar (call me Simon); Lady Milton and all who dwell in her Stately Home which has had to stoop to holding Murder Mystery weekends; Ben, an amputee war veteran and bee keeper, and more.  Jackson joins forces with Detective Constable Reggie Chase (with great reluctance on her part) who is hoping to capture a spree killer.

 The mystery of the stolen painting is cleverly laid out; Jackson Brodie is as quirky and as funny as ever, and there are a lot of laugh-out-loud moments through the book which is unputdownable, of course.

I have been in Kate Atkinson’s thrall since I first read Behind the Scenes at the Museum, a long time ago. She is still as brilliant as ever.

Published by Penguin

Here One Moment by Liane Moriarty

 

On a flight from Hobart to Sydney a passenger, ‘a lady’, suddenly gets up from her seat and starts to walk down the aisle, pointing to particular passengers and telling each of them when she expects they will die, and the cause of death.The flight attendant who tries to stop her is given her own prediction.

In her unique way, Liane Moriarty weaves an intriguing story from this starting point. The individual characters who, mostly, logically reject their assigned predictions, are all unsettled and unnerved, as who wouldn’t be? Under the circumstances who wouldn’t try to take control of this hypothetical destiny, you know, just in case? In every alternate chapter ‘the lady’ is telling her own story.

This is so clever, and so different, and I have never read a book like it. Individual characters have their own stories but I had no trouble remembering which was which because they were all examining aspects of life pertaining to each of them and so they all stood out. I wasn’t able to guess how the mystery of the lady and her predictions was going to be solved but when it was, it made for a most satisfactory ending.

Just brilliant!

Published by Pan Macmillan 

The Masterpiece by Belinda Alexandra

 

The Masterpiece is an epic story covering Paris in two time lines: 1923 and 1943-1946. In 1923 Katerina, a Russian emigree, is a brilliant although as yet unacknowledged artist; Max and Serge have ambitions of becoming established dealers in highest quality art; Madeleine, Katerina’s friend, having run away from her upper class family, is working as a singer; Efron Archer,  an Errol Flynn-like character, is part of the story at this point.

Paris in 1943 is firstly occupied by the Italians,  but then comes the full horror of German occupation. To this day ownership of paintings looted by the Germans from European homes is still being contested with the aim of restoration to the descendants of original owners. 

The Masterpiece is about the almost unimaginable world in which people found their previously purposeful, meaningful lives torn apart and the struggle for survival, without losing their humanity and compassion,  became paramount. Katerina, Max and Serge bring that time to life.

In 1946 Eve Archer has left Australia and is living in Paris. She has come with the purpose of finding Serge Lavertu. The most important part of this epic story involves Eve, her connections to Serge, Madeleine, Katerina and Max, amid the chaos of France’s restoration and the rush for justice and punishment for alleged crimes committed through the war years, while currently corruption and cover ups are putting the outcome of true justice in jeopardy.

This is a book you can sink your teeth into. It keeps alive a history which must never be forgotten.

Thank you Belinda Alexandra for your gracious gift of a copy of The Masterpiece.

Published by Harper Collins 

Would you Rather by Maggie Alderson

 

REVIEW - Thank you Net Galley for my ARC.

It’s a while since I’ve read a Maggie Alderson book but I always enjoy them.

Would you rather be a grieving widow or a deserted wife? Sophie became both on the same day (no spoiler alert needed, this is how the book starts). Thereupon follows a story peopled with Maggie Alderson’s usual beautiful people, dealing with whatever life chooses to throw at them.  

Without warning, Sophie is faced with the prospect of re-building her life by herself when she thought she and Matt were going to be starting something new together. In one day Sophie’s emotions are tossed about in a whirlwind: starting out with love and hope, then suddenly moving to rejection and hurt; to anger; then massive shock and grief; then back-tracking to anger, hurt, rejection, love, but bewilderment in place of hope.

Sophie’s good fortune is in her loving family and her many kind, caring, creative and artistic friends.  Moral dilemmas are sensitively thought through; Sophie isn’t the only one left with conflicting emotions and dealing with the same question of whether it is better to stay silent or share what they know. 

Would you Rather is filled with Maggie Alderson’s signature wit and style and her readers are going to love it.

Published by Harper Collins

The Dark Wives by Ann Cleeves

 Vera Stanhope is investigating a murder and a disappearance. The body of a young man named Josh has been discovered outside the care home where  he worked; and Chloe, a fourteen-year old resident of the home, is missing. The Dark Wives are three ancient standing stones in a field in the countryside of Northumbria; legend has it at they once were three witches, and the annual “find the witch” ritual is held there every year. Vera, Joe and new team member, Rosie, have to find connections to all of these facts, as well as a further crime which is about to be committed.

In this book Ann Cleeves highlights the problems faced by children growing up in foster care and how they have to find a sense of belonging, and ‘fitting’ in. Care workers, no matter how dedicated, caring and understanding they might be, have time- and cost restraints to work to and these things are, of course, universal.

Vera is back on home ground with this case, and memories of her life with her criminally-inclined birdman father are with her as she revisits familiar places. Vera is a unique character; in no way resembling any other fictional detectives; she is neither male nor divorced/unhappily married; she is not a borderline alcoholic (well, I don’t think she is) and she is not scruffily attractive, although she is scruffy. Joe, and now Rosie, work hard to keep up with her and, occasionally, to interpret her  commands and it would be nice of her to let them know occasionally what she is thinking.

The Dark Wives is an intriguing story and like all good detective stories, it keeps you guessing. I love being surprised when the culprit is unmasked, and this denouement didn’t disappoint in that respect.

Ann Cleeves has done it again with bells on!

Published by Pan Macmillan

Shadows of Winter Robins by Louise Wolhuter

 

As is to be expected of Louise Wolhuter, this is a dark and complicated tale. The wonderful title (in the tradition of ‘Good Will Hunting’) refers to the name of the main character, Winter Robins, a girl who was born in England and is taken to Western Australia as a child. By the time Win arrives in Western Australia, accompanied by her twin brother, Four, she has suffered the multiple traumas of her mother’s death, her father’s withdrawal from her in his grief, and the separation from her grandmother. Much more is yet to come.

Pretty much nothing is as it seems in this story and it is terribly important for the reader to read the date line at the beginning of each section. After reading An Afterlife for Rosemary Lamb I knew there would be previously unimagined twists and turns, right to the end, and I was right. This is perfect story-telling, character driven and heavily atmospheric. 

I was pleased I had bought a physical copy because there was much re-reading involved. I’ve previously referred to Louise as Tim Winton with punctuation and now I’m calling her a modern Daphne du Maurier, but more spine tingling. The book is written in the first person, so all characters and events are seen from Winter’s perspective, which left it up to me to work out what was real, who was who they were supposed to be and, basically, whodunnit? Such a delicious dilemma! 

As an afterthought, I’m reminded of an artists’ colony I once visited in an idyllically beautiful place which, instead of leaving me feeling inspired, creeped me out. But I digress.

Louise Wolhuter’s books are going to become Australian classics. Lovers of literary fiction would be wise to start their collections now.

Published by Ultimo Press 

The Protector by Tony Park

 

REVIEW - Tony Park’s books are thrillers set in Africa, with a romantic element, and always featuring a strong message about conservation of endangered animals and the fight against poaching. 

In The Protector, Tony focuses on the plight of pangolins, a species of beautiful anteaters which are unique to Africa. Pangolin scales, while having no possible application in medicine or any other benefit to humans, are highly prized in some countries. It would seem that their rarity gives them value as a status symbol, much like rhino horn, and there are always unscrupulous people looking to make a buck (make that lots of bucks), no matter how evil the proposition.

This is where the thrilling part of The Protector comes in. Professor Denise (Doc) Rado is a researcher into pangolins who has been involved in many dangerous ‘sting’ operations, trapping criminals engaged in the insidious pangolin trade, until one shocking day when a sting goes horribly wrong and Doc’s life is shattered. She goes back to teaching graduate students specialising in the care and preservation of pangolins, leading field trips through sections of the African bush where pangolins are harboured.

Enter Ian Laidlaw, an Australian businessman who has bid at auction and won a trip to Southern Africa, trailing Doc and her students in their research. Ian is struck by the beauty of the African bush and the stunning, previously unimagined wonder of the animal life. Ian gets more than he bargained for as the story hurtles towards a heart stopping conclusion.

There is action aplenty, fabulous scene setting and, as always, lots of interesting, varied characters to keep the story going at Tony’s usual pace. If you have been to Africa this book will evoke your memories in glorious technicolor, and if you haven’t, and you’ve got a pulse, it will have you wondering what you’ve missed.

Published by Pan Macmillan