Book Review: TRACED by Catherine Jinks

 

 

Title: TRACED

Author:  Catherine Jinks

Read: January 2025

My Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 all the stars!

 

Book Description (Goodreads):

 

Jane is a contact tracer. She has to call a lot of people and some of them don’t want to talk. Various reasons—tax or immigration issues, infidelity. Domestic abuse.

Jane knows all about that. She and her daughter Tara have spent years in hiding from Tara’s manipulative and terrifying ex. Now, as Jane talks to a close contact, she realises the woman on the phone is scared of the same man—and he’s close. Too close.

Suddenly the past comes slamming back into the present as Jane realises she and Tara can’t keep running forever.

One day, they’re going to be found.

My musings:

 

This book was utterly terrifying! TRACED starts with our main protagonist, Jane, a covid-19 contact tracer, calling people who have unwittingly been exposed to the virus and reminding them to isolate for 14 days until they have been declared virus-free. Nicole, her latest client, sounds absolutely terrified when she hears that her cousin has just tested covid-positive. She confides in Jane that she is scared that her fiancé, who controls her every move, will be furious that she allowed her cousin to visit, and that she is afraid for her life. At first, Jane thinks that Nicole is overreacting – but once she hears who her fiancé is, she knows that Nicole’s life truly is in danger.

 

We soon learn that Jane speaks from experience: her own daughter Tara only narrowly escaped from the clutches of her abusive, controlling ex, which involved changing her name and moving to a place he would never think to look for her. After being so very careful, Jane has once more crossed his path, and she is terrified that he will come after her and Tara.

 

TRACED was a taut domestic thriller with a constant undercurrent of danger that built tension as it raced towards its utterly terrifying finale. It was frightening and confronting to witness Jane and Tara’s well-grounded fears and their feeling of helplessness as once again the noose threatens to tighten around their necks, despite all their efforts to stay under the radar. I found Jane’s voice extremely compelling, to a point where I fervently wished death upon one particular character in the book. I was biting my nails as the inevitable showdown neared!

 

TRACED surpassed all my expectations and is my first 5-star read for the year. If you love an original, enigmatic protagonist, then Jane is the perfect character. A race against time in an atmospheric Australian setting, fighting a very real battle many women in our society face every day – which is perhaps one reason this book was so terrifying. Jinks is a talented writer, and I look forward to reading more of her books in future. Highly recommended!

Book Review: DAUGHTER OF MINE by Megan Miranda

 

Title: DAUGHTER OF MINE

Author:  Megan Miranda

Read: April 2024

My Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟1/2

 

Book Description:

 

When Hazel Sharp, daughter of Mirror Lake’s longtime local detective, unexpectedly inherits her childhood home, she’s warily drawn back to the town—and people—she left behind almost a decade earlier. But Hazel’s not the only relic of the past to return: a drought has descended on the region, and as the water level in the lake drops, long-hidden secrets begin to emerge…including evidence that may help finally explain the mystery of her mother’s disappearance.

My musings:

 

I love Megan Miranda’s books – she is the queen of the atmospheric, character driven slow-burn, with intriguing interpersonal dynamics between her characters, which add an extra layer to her mysteries. As with many of her other books, DAUGHTER OF MINE started off as a slow simmer, setting the scene, but it didn’t take long for the tension to build.

 

After the death of Mirror Lake’s beloved local detective, Perry Holt, his daughter Hazel returns home to join her two brothers and attend his memorial service. The town has been in the grip of a severe drought, which has caused the lake’s level to drop to an all-time low, revealing all kinds of sunken treasures in its depth. Hazel arrives just in time to see an old car being pulled from the mud, setting her sense on high alert. After her mother left the family home never to be seen again when Hazel was fourteen, she is afraid that the car might be somehow related to her disappearance. But there is another surprise in store for Hazel when she finds out that she is the sole heir to her father’s estate. She is convinced that her father is trying to send her a message from beyond the grave – but how can she find out what he was trying to warn her about?

 

As with all of Miranda’s novel, DAUGHTER OF MINE was cleverly constructed, with many red herrings and an underlying sense of danger and menace that had my hairs standing on edge as I was trying to work out the mystery. I love books where the reader finds out clues at the same time as the main character, with the great unknown creating a sinister foreshadowing. Together with Miranda’s hallmark atmospheric setting, all of these elements worked perfectly together to keep me on the edge of my seat the whole time, especially as the body count in the small town was beginning to mount.

 

If you love a good slow-burn with a small town setting and atmospheric nature backdrop, then you can’t go past Megan Miranda’s books. Every time I read her latest novel, I am wondering which is my favourite – and DAUGHTER OF MINE is a definite contender (though I think that THE ONLY SURVIVORS is still number 1 on my list). 

Book Review: HAS ANYONE SEEN CHARLOTTE SALTER? by Nicci French

 

Title: HAS ANYONE SEEN CHARLOTTE SALTER?

Author:  Nicci French

Read: March 2024

My Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 all the stars!

 

Book Description:

 

A nerve-tingling and atmospheric thriller from master of suspense Nicci French about two families shattered by tragedy and the secrets that have been waiting decades to be revealed.

 

On the day of Alec Salter’s fiftieth birthday party, just before Christmas 1990, his wife Charlotte vanishes. Most of the small English village of Glensted is at the party for hours before anyone realizes Charlotte is missing. While Alec brushes off her disappearance, their four children—especially fifteen-year-old Etty—grow increasingly anxious as the cold winter hours become days and she doesn’t return. When Charlotte’s coat is found by the river, they fear the worst.

 

Then the body of the Salters’ neighbor, Duncan Ackerley, is found floating in the river by his son Morgan and Etty. The police investigate and conclude that Duncan and Charlotte were having an affair before he killed her and committed suicide.

 

Thirty years later, Morgan Ackerley, a successful documentarian, has returned to Glensted with his older brother Greg to make podcast based on their shared tragedy with the Salters. Alec, stricken with dementia, is entering an elder care facility while Etty helps put his affairs in order. But as the Ackerleys ask to interview the Salters, the entire town gets caught up in the unresolved cases. Allegations are made, secrets are revealed, and a suspicious fire leads to a murder. With the podcast making national news, London sends Detective Inspector Maud O’Connor to Glensted to take over the investigation.

 

My musings:

 

It’s no secret that Nicci French are on my list of favourite writers, and I will snap up anything they write as soon as it comes out. So when I found out that HAS ANYONE SEEN CHARLOTTE SALTER? was available on audio, I settled in for a long and enjoyable read.

 

French are masters of characterisation and keen observers of the human psyche, a trait that made their latest book another 5-star read for me. It started off slowly, setting the scene: 15-year old Etty is the first to become alarmed when her mother fails to turn up for her husband’s 50^th birthday party. My alarm bells rang when everyone around her dismissed her fears as groundless, but when Charlotte Salter failed to appear after a few days, it became obvious that something was badly wrong here. Soon after, the body of the Salters’ neighbour and family friend is found dead in a nearby river. The police, eager to solve both cases, conclude that he must have taken his own life after feeling remorse for killing Charlotte. Case closed.

 

Thirty years later, the Salter children return to the family farm to clear out the house and organise for their father Alec, who is suffering from dementia, to go to a nursing home. Ever since their mother’s disappearance, the Salter children (now adults) have drifted apart, and even now refuse to open up about how Charlotte’s absence has affected them. It’s not until the two sons of the other victim decide to publish a podcast looking closer into the two deaths that they have to confront their past – with unexpected results.

 

HAS ANYONE SEEN CHARLOTTE SALTER? was a psychological thriller of the best kind. From the slow exploration of the two families’ grief and confusion, to the mystery surrounding Charlotte’s disappearance, this character driven tale kept me enthralled from beginning to end. In typical French fashion, nothing was as straight forward as it seemed, and there were plenty of surprises in store as we got a look into the past. I particularly loved how French describe the fallout of Charlotte’s disappearance on all her children, affecting their lives far into adulthood – especially Etty, whose personality has been totally transformed by grief.

 

As with most Nicci French novels, the story here had a deep emotional effect on me, and I still pondered the Salters’ story long after the book had concluded. Having lost my mother at a young age, I particularly related to the effect of grief on a young (and older) Etty.

 

Summary:

 

Lovers of slow burning, character driven mysteries will appreciate the way French unravel this cleverly constructed tale and their insight into the effects of crime on the victims’ families. One of my favourites so far this year!

 

Book Review: ANNA O by Matthew Blake

 

Title: ANNA O

Author:  Matthew Blake

Read: February 2024

My Rating: 🌟🌟🌟

 

Book Description:

 

We spend an average of 33 years of our lives asleep. But what really happens, and what are we capable of, when we sleep?

Anna Ogilvy was a budding twenty-five-year-old writer with a bright future. Then, one night, she stabbed two people to death with no apparent motive—and hasn’t woken up since. Dubbed “Sleeping Beauty” by the tabloids, Anna’s condition is a rare psychosomatic disorder known to neurologists as “resignation syndrome.”

Dr. Benedict Prince is a forensic psychologist and an expert in the field of sleep-related homicides. His methods are the last hope of solving the infamous “Anna O’”case and waking Anna up so she can stand trial. But he must be careful treating such a high-profile suspect—he’s got career secrets and a complicated personal life of his own.

As Anna shows the first signs of stirring, Benedict must determine what really happened and whether Anna should be held responsible for her crimes.

Only Anna knows the truth about that night, but only Benedict knows how to discover it. And they’re both in danger from what they find out.

Joining the ranks of Gillian Flynn, A. J. Finn, and Alex Michaelides, Matthew Blake delivers the thriller of the year: a dark, twisty, and shocking mystery about a young woman who commits a double murder while sleepwalking, and then never opens her eyes again.

My musings:

 

Even with my shiftwork induced obsession with sleep, I was surprised to find out that the average person spends 33 years of their life asleep. 33 years of ZZZZ! But would I willingly sacrifice any of those blissful moments under the doona for more productivity? The answer is no. And yet there seem to be people who can multi-task and combine sleep with some amazing / terrifying feats, such as killing someone whilst sleepwalking. This is the crime Anna O has been accused of, and yet she cannot face trial, since she has never woken from her slumber since the fateful night her two friends were murdered four years ago.

 

Dr Benedict Price is a forensic psychologist specialising in sleep disorders and related crimes. As an expert in his field, he is tasked with the tricky job of waking Anna from her slumber. Facing issues in his own personal life and the ethical dilemmas that his job brings, Benedict has some reservations about the whole project, and yet cannot resist the opportunity to be involved in such a fascinating case. But will waking Anna put them both in danger?

 

I loved the whole premise of sleep disorders, sleepwalking and crimes committed whilst fast asleep and greedily hoovered up all the little morsels of insight into some case studies the author mentions along the way – I would have loved much more of this! But whilst I felt the science behind the novel fascinating and well presented, the actual thriller part of the book seemed to stall and lack in places, especially in the later half. I felt that both Benedict as well as Anna lacked character development, and despite its twists and turns, I guessed parts of the outcome of the story long before the final reveal. So perhaps this was not the thriller of the year for me, but as an original premise it made for hours of interesting reading and intrigue and I mostly enjoyed it. If you find sleep in general fascinating, then this book should definitely be on your list!

Book Review: TO THE RIVER by Vikki Wakefield

 

Title: TO THE RIVER

Author:  Vikki Wakefield

Read: March 2024

My Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 all the stars!

 

Book Description:

 

The Kelly family has always been trouble. When a fire in a remote caravan community kills nine people, including 17-year-old Sabine Kelly's mother and sister, Sabine confesses to the murders. Shortly after, she escapes custody and disappears. Recently made redundant from marriage, motherhood and her career, journalist Rachel Weirdermann has long suspected Sabine made her way back to the river-now, twelve years after the 'Caravan Murders', she has the time and the tenacity to corner a fugitive and land the story of the year.

Rachel's ambition lights the fuse leading to a brutal chain of events, and the web Sabine weaves will force Rachel to question everything she believes. Vikki Wakefield's compelling story is about class, corruption, love, loyalty, and the vindication of truth and justice. And a brave dog called Blue.

My musings:

 

After a somewhat disappointing start to my reading year, it came as a wonderful surprise to stumble across an unexpected gem, TO THE RIVER, a beautifully drawn story of resilience and justice despite disadvantage and corruption.

Sabine Kelly has been on the run from the law for 12 years after being accused of setting fire to a caravan park when she was only seventeen, killing nine people, including her own mother and sister. Journalist Rachel Weidermann has been fascinated by Sabine’s story since she first read about it and has been tirelessly investigating Sabine’s fate in the hopes of locating her and being able to write an expose’ that will save her flailing career. Through a weird twist of fate, Rachel and Sabine meet, setting a chain of events into motion that will put them both in danger.

I loved Sabine from the start, despite her murderous reputation, and my heart broke for her as we get to find out more about her childhood and years on the run. Rachel was initially a bit more difficult to warm to, but in the end she won me over as well. Wakefield writes with insight and a lot of heart, which shines through in all her characters. Each and every one of them (including Blue, the blue heeler) quickly took on shape in my head until they felt like real flesh and blood people as familiar to me as old friends. Further complimented by the backdrop of an atmospheric river and small town setting, the story soon swept me up and kept me captivated until the end, and I was sad to turn the last page and lose the connection to characters that had become very dear to me in the process of reading.

TO THE RIVER was the first book I have read by Vikki Wakefield but it won’t be my last – I just loved her writing style and the way she portrayed her characters. It’s always exciting to discover a new author to love, and I look forward to reading many more of her novels in future.

Book Review: DARK CORNERS by Megan Goldin

 

Title: DARK CORNERS

Author:  Megan Goldin

Read: October 2023

Expected publication: out now

My Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

 

Book Description: 

 

Terence Bailey is about to be released from prison for breaking and entering, though investigators have long suspected him in the murders of six women. As his freedom approaches, Bailey gets a surprise visit from Maddison Logan, a hot, young influencer with a huge social media following. Hours later, Maddison disappears, and police suspect she’s been kidnapped—or worse. Is Maddison’s disappearance connected to her visit to Bailey? Why was she visiting him in the first place?

When they hit a wall in the investigation, the FBI reluctantly asks for Rachel’s help in finding the missing influencer. Maddison seems only to exist on social media; she has no family, no friends, and other than in her posts, most people have never seen her. Who is she, really? Using a fake Instagram account, Rachel Krall goes undercover to BuzzCon, a popular influencer conference, where she discovers a world of fierce rivalry that may have turned lethal.

My musings:

 

Now this was a real thriller in every sense of the word! If I had been thoroughly intrigued by Rachel Krall in THE NIGHT SWIM, I have now totally fallen for this intelligent, plucky, kick-ass character in DARK CORNERS.

 

Rachel Krall is intrigued when she is invited by the FBI to talk to prisoner Terry Bailey, a man convicted of aggravated burglary but also under suspicion of having killed several sex workers. Police are concerned that he is somehow involved in the disappearance of a young social media influencer, Maddison Logan, who hasn’t been seen since visiting Terry in jail two days ago. Since Maddison’s caravan has been found abandoned in a nearby state forest, with video evidence that suggests she was taken by force, police are speculating that Terry’s alleged accomplice is involved and time is running out to find her alive. The only lead the police have is a scribbled note Terry passed to Maddison during her visit, which clearly shows Rachel’s name.

 

In true Rachel Krall fashion, she is not intimidated by the increasing danger the investigation puts her in and resists the FBI’s efforts to get her out of the way once her visit has proven to be a dead end. Being both intelligent and nosy, Rachel asks the right questions to the right people, which leads to a surprising discovery – one that may put her in danger herself.

 

I loved everything about this thriller, from the intriguing premise to the clue-by-clue reveal. As in THE NIGHT SWIM, Rachel Krall’s popular true crime podcast features as a separate POV, telling part of the story from the perspective of the victims. This unique approach not only gave the book a very contemporary and relevant edge, but it also humanised the silent victims of crime – the relatives of the dead and missing left behind with their grief. I also appreciated how Goldin managed to incorporate a villain’s POV without going over the top or giving away spoilers prematurely, which is a fine balancing act not always achieved by crime writers. As the tension mounted it became impossible to put the book down, as I had to find out the answers! As an aside, I found the subplot of BuzzCon and the world of social media influencers most intriguing. I also loved getting to know Rachel a bit better and – whilst usually not a fan of romance in crime thrillers – was enjoying the hopeful and positive vibe it presented here.

  

Summary:

Edgy, taut and very cleverly plotted, this was a total winner for me and I cannot recommend it highly enough. I can also fully vouch for the audio version, which made the podcast elements sound authentic and lent different voices to the characters.

5-star alert: THE ONLY SUSPECT by Louise Candlish

 

Title: THE ONLY SUSPECT

Author:  Louise Candlish

Read: March 2023

My Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

 

Book Description:

 

Withheld for the sake of getting the most out of this mystery

My musings:

 

What a brilliantly deceptive, wicked and clever mystery this was! Louise Candlish is getting better and better.

 

Rolling out in two separate timelines, the mid-nineties and today, we get transported straight into the lives of two men, Alex and Rick, whose lives will spectacularly intersect later in the book. This is all I am willing to say – you really should go into this one blind and let you take it along its winding dangerous path (which incidentally also features in the story).

 

Cleverly constructed and tricking you by its innocuous beginning, THE ONLY SUSPECT was one of those psychological thrillers I couldn’t put down until I had all the answers. If you love mysteries where nothing is quite what it seems and every character has a secret to guard, then this is definitely the right book for you!

 

PS: I never give trigger warnings, but you may get a laugh out of this one: I think I have a phobia of house guests that overstay their welcome, because there was a part in the book where I felt myself becoming very anxious, with sweating palms and a racing heart, and perhaps discovering some slightly murderous tendencies within my own heart towards one particular character. If you share that sentiment, have a stiff drink ready before you delve in!

Book Review: ALL THAT’S LEFT UNSAID by Tracey Lien

 

Title: ALL THAT’S LEFT UNSAID

Author:  Tracey Lien

Publisher:  Harlequin Australia

Read: July 2022

Expected publication: out now

My Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟

 

 

Book Description:

 

Just let him go. These are the words Ky Tran will forever regret. The words she spoke when her parents called to ask if they should let her younger brother Denny out to celebrate his high school graduation with friends. That night, Denny—optimistic, guileless, brilliant Denny—is brutally murdered inside a busy restaurant in the Sydney suburb of Cabramatta, a refugee enclave facing violent crime, an indifferent police force, and the worst heroin epidemic in Australian history.

Returning home to Cabramatta for the funeral, Ky learns that the police are stumped by Denny’s case: a dozen people were at Lucky 8 restaurant when Denny died, but each of the bystanders claim to have seen nothing.

Desperately hoping that understanding what happened might ease her suffocating guilt, Ky sets aside her grief and determines to track down the witnesses herself. With each encounter, she peels back another layer of the place that shaped her and Denny, exposing trauma and seeds of violence that were planted well before that fateful celebration dinner: by colonialism, by the war in Vietnam, and by the choices they’ve all made to survive.

Alternating between Ky’s voice and the perspectives of the witnesses, Tracey Lien’s extraordinary debut is at once heart-pounding and heart-rending as it probes the intricate bonds of friendship, family, and community through an unforgettable cast of characters, all connected by a devastating crime. Combining evocative family drama and gripping suspense, All That’s Left Unsaid is a profound and moving page turner, perfect for readers of Liz Moore, Brit Bennett, and Celeste Ng.

My musings:

 

ALL THAT’S LEFT UNSAID is one of those books that starts off as a mystery but then ends up being so much more, leaving you emotionally exhausted at the end of it. If a book haunts my thoughts long after I turned the last page, I know that it has struck some deep emotion with me somewhere.

Ky, the daughter of Vietnamese immigrants, returns to her childhood home in Cabramatta after the violent death of her younger brother Denny Tran, killed at a local restaurant. Even though the murder happened in front of dozens of witnesses, everyone claims not to have seen anything, and the police investigation has come to a dead end so far. Dealing with her own grief and the heartbreak Denny’s death has caused her parents, Ky starts asking questions – someone just had to have seen who killed her brother. So why is no one talking?

Even though ALL THAT’S LEFT UNSAID centres around a murder, it is more than just a mystery. In her debut novel, Lien explores what it’s like to be an immigrant in Australia – and to be the child of immigrant parents. It is also an exploration of grief and guilt that transcends race and culture – because parents grieving for their child speak a universal language that is understood with the heart rather than words. The mark Denny’s death left on his parents broke my heart, especially as they are trying to get answers and find justice in a culture that is foreign to them, with many barriers standing in their way. Ky, on the other hand, also has burdens only a child of immigrant parents can understand. On top of her own grief, she juggles her parents’ expectations, the role of the “good child” she was cast into, the problem solver and translator, the one that got out and made a better life for herself.

The social commentary on immigrant life in Cabramatta thirty years ago was an eye opener for me, and added a lot of depth to the mystery. I loved the way Lien included other narrators in addition to the voice of Ky, our main protagonist. One character in particular really spoke to me and made me forge a deeper emotional connection to the story than I would have otherwise done.

 

Summary:

 

In summary, dealing with the struggles of immigrant life in Australia, inter-generational trauma, grief, guilt and the way children of immigrant parents feel torn between two cultures, ALL THAT’S LEFT UNSAID was a mystery with a powerful message that really touched my heart. If you love Celeste Ng’s or Amy Tan’s books, then you should definitely read this one.

 

 

Thank you to Netgalley and Harlequin Australia for the free electronic copy of this novel and for giving me the opportunity to provide an honest review.

Book Review: THE MURDER RULE by Dervla McTiernan

 

Title: THE MURDER RULE

Author:  Dervla McTiernan

Publisher:  HarperCollins Publishers Australia

Read: February 2022

Expected publication: 4 May 2022

My Rating: 🌟🌟🌟

 

Book Description:

 

First Rule: Make them like you.

Second Rule: Make them need you.

Third Rule: Make them pay.

They think I’m a young, idealistic law student, that I’m passionate about reforming a corrupt and brutal system.

They think I’m working hard to impress them.

They think I’m here to save an innocent man on death row.

They're wrong. I’m going to bury him.

What attracted me to this book:

 

Dervla McTiernan’s Cormac Reilly books are one of my favourite crime series, so I was excited to hear that the author had a new stand-alone book coming out this year. I love a good legal thriller, too, so this sounded like the perfect story for me.

My musings:

 

Hannah Rokeby is a law student with her own agenda – to avenge a great injustice done to her mother before Hannah was born. Ever since she discovered her mother’s diary, Hannah has been determined to bring the perpetrator to justice. The opportunity presents itself when the Innocent Project at the University of Virginia takes on the case of Michael Dandridge, who is in prison for allegedly raping and murdering a young woman. Wrongfully incarcerated, according to the project’s founder, Professor Rob Parekh and Michael himself, who keeps proclaiming his innocence.  With ingenuity and some cunning, Hannah makes certain that she is included in the team investigating the case – but she is following her own agenda.

 

With Hannah’s thirst for revenge disclosed early in the story, I soon became invested to find out more: what, why and how? I’m usually not a great fan of diary entries as POV, but in this case they worked well to give motive to Hannah’s quest. With her background as a lawyer, the author presents us with an intriguing premise that worked well for me for the first ¾ of the book. Sadly, the last ¼ lost a lot of credibility, with many unanswered questions remaining in the end. Whilst I could understand Hannah’s motives (despite the troubled relationship she had with her mother), some of the other characters seemed to be driven by agendas that were never fully explained, and I was left feeling like I had overlooked some crucial bit of information that tied it all together. Whilst the action ramped up nicely in the final chapters, it did so at the expense of believability, both regarding the last courtroom scenes as well as character development of some of the secondary players. This may have all been excused if I had understood the prime motivations, but as I came to the end, I was scratching my head in puzzlement and flicking back to earlier chapters to see what I had missed.

 

 

Summary:

 

It’s difficult to rate a book that initially had me glued to the pages, but left me feeling disappointed with the final reveal. I still love McTiernan’s writing style but feel that the character development here was nowhere as convincing as in her Cormac Reilly series and in some parts appeared stereotypical to me (which Cormac Reilly definitely was not). One of the things I always loved about McTiernan’s previous novels was that they offered something unique in terms of characters and setting, whilst this one seemed a bit like your run of the mill American law enforcement novel. Whilst the concept of THE MURDER RULE was intriguing and it was entertaining enough, it didn’t have the same impact on me as the Cormac Reilly series and I would love to see the author return to her Irish settings or perhaps an Australian one in future.

 

 

 

Thank you to Netgalley and HarperCollins Publishers Australia for the free electronic copy of this novel and for giving me the opportunity to provide an honest review.

Book Review: THE OVERNIGHT GUEST by Heather Gudenkauf

 

Title: THE OVERNIGHT GUEST

Author:  Heather Gudenkauf

Read: March 2022

Expected publication: out now

My Rating: 🌟🌟🌟1/2

 

Book Description:

 

True crime writer Wylie Lark doesn’t mind being snowed in at the isolated farmhouse where she’s retreated to write her new book. A cozy fire, complete silence. It would be perfect, if not for the fact that decades earlier, at this very house, two people were murdered in cold blood and a girl disappeared without a trace.

As the storm worsens, Wylie finds herself trapped inside the house, haunted by the secrets contained within its walls—haunted by secrets of her own. Then she discovers a small child in the snow just outside. After bringing the child inside for warmth and safety, she begins to search for answers. But soon it becomes clear that the farmhouse isn’t as isolated as she thought, and someone is willing to do anything to find them.

My musings:

 

Claustrophobic, “snowed-in” mysteries make for the best escapes, especially when it’s a heatwave outside! I usually enjoy Gudenkauf’s books, so I was very excited to read THE OVERNIGHT GUEST with our reading group – and we had a lot of fun sharing our wild and wonderful theories along the way.

 

THE OVERNIGHT GUEST plays out in three separate timelines. In the present, true crime writer Wylie Lark has ensconced herself in a remote farmhouse in the snow to finish off her latest book when a blizzard cuts off all electricity, phone reception and roads into town. In the second timeline, a young girl witnesses the abuse of her mother at the hands of her father. And in the third timeline, twenty or so years in the past, teenager Josie Doyle lives through the most horrific night of her life, when her parents are shot and her brother and best friend disappear. Gudenkauf cleverly weaves all these stories together into a tense, suspenseful mystery that only gradually gives up all its secrets. If you love the kind of story in which you can play armchair detective, then this one should definitely appeal – I guessed some elements but was totally in the dark with some of the others.

 

For lovers of atmospheric settings, THE OVERNIGHT GUEST is the type of mystery where the snowy landscape features almost like another character and adds to the suspense. If the thought of being trapped in a blizzard with an unexpected visitor wasn’t terrifying enough, the house itself holds a dark secret that was not for the faint of heart.

 

I’m normally not a huge fan of too many POVs and usually find myself drawn more to one than the others, and one of the threads contained a theme I would not usually choose to read. However, despite initial misgivings I was soon intrigued by the story, and even though Josie’s POV was by far the most compelling for me, the different threads soon came together to make for a compelling mystery. There were a few plotholes and unanswered questions at the end, which bugged me, but overall I enjoyed the story and thought it made for a good buddy read.

 

All in all, THE OVERNIGHT GUEST was a suspenseful, claustrophobic mystery with an atmospheric setting that quickly captured my attention and kept me interested until the end.

Book Review: THE WAY IT IS NOW by Garry Disher

 

Title: THE WAY IT IS NOW

Author:  Garry Disher

Publisher:  Text Publishing

Read: October 2021

Expected publication: out now

My Rating: 🌟🌟🌟1/2

 

Book Description:

 

Set in a beach-shack town an hour from Melbourne, The Way It Is Now tells the story of a burnt-out cop named Charlie Deravin.

Charlie is living in his family’s holiday house, on forced leave since he made a mess of things at work.

Things have never been easy for Charlie. Twenty years earlier his mother went missing in the area, believed murdered. His father has always been the main suspect, though her body was never found.

Until now: the foundations are being dug for a new house on a vacant block. The skeletal remains of a child and an adult are found—and Charlie’s past comes crashing in on him.

The Way It Is Now is the enthralling new novel by Garry Disher, one of Australia’s most loved and celebrated crime writers.

My musings:

 

I’ve always enjoyed Garry Disher’s writing style, so I was very excited to get my hands on his latest book. THE WAY IT IS NOW is a standalone crime novel featuring Detective Senior Constable Charlie Deravin, who returns to his old childhood home to spend some downtime whilst he is suspended from duty. Returning to the small coastal town brings back painful memories for Charlie. Twenty years earlier, his mother vanished without a trace, believed a victim of foul play. Charlie’s father, a senior sergeant on the police force, has always been the prime subject, even though nobody could ever prove anything and Rose’s body was never found. With time on his hands and old memories assaulting him, Charlie starts digging into the past ...

 

Disher is a seasoned, accomplished writer, which shows in the way he brings both his setting as well as his characters to life. This is a slow-burning, character driven story with an atmospheric small town Australian setting that appears almost languid in the beginning. But don’t be fooled, because it is  full of scarred and damaged characters, family secrets, regret and disillusionment, and coming to terms with past mistakes. Whilst the mystery surrounding Rose Deravin’s disappearance intrigued me and soon reeled me in, the story was about so much more than a cold case. Disher’s description of life in a small Australian coastal town are spot on and made this tale seem authentic, as did Charlie’s growing disillusionment with his career, which has left him suspecting he worst of his fellow men. There is a rich cast of supporting characters who provide background and red herrings and fleshed the story out nicely. I particularly enjoyed the ethical dilemma of Charlie digging into the past, knowing that his father could be a killer, feeling torn between the love for the man and his suspicions. Set in early 2020, Disher incorporates the historical landmarks that defined that terrible year, from the bushfire crisis to the first appearance of covid cases around the world. 

 

Summary:

 

If you are a reader who enjoys a slower, character driven mystery with an authentic small town Australian setting, then Disher is a writer you should definitely turn to. Even though I found the ending a bit rushed, I enjoyed getting caught up in the intrigue and the slow unravelling of secrets that Disher does so well.

 

 

Thank you to Netgalley and Text Publishing for the free electronic copy of this novel and for giving me the opportunity to provide an honest review.