Category Archives: Crime

Exiles – Jane Harper

Exiles – Jane Harper

I have read all of Jane Harper’s novels and this one might be my favourite one yet. I have a paper copy, but in the end I listened to the audio book from Borrowbox.

Here’s the blurb …

At a busy festival site on a warm spring night, a baby lies alone in her pram, her mother vanishing into the crowds.

A year on, Kim Gillespie’s absence casts a long shadow as her friends and loved ones gather deep in the heart of South Australian wine country to welcome a new addition to the family.

Joining the celebrations is federal investigator Aaron Falk. But as he soaks up life in the lush valley, he begins to suspect this tight-knit group may be more fractured than it seems.

Between Falk’s closest friend, a missing mother, and a woman he’s drawn to, dark questions linger as long-ago truths begin to emerge.

This was similar to The Dry in that it is set in a small town, and some people are returning home for a visit. All though this town seemed much nicer than the one in The Dry. Because it’s a crime novel, we can assume Kim didn’t kill herself, so where is she? Is she alive? What happened on the first night party all of those year’s ago? And who killed Josh’s dad in the hit and run accident? Are the two incidents linked?

At various points in the story, I thought different characters were the murderer. It all comes together very nicely in the end.

I was beginning to think Aaron Falk is a bit like Miss Marple, you don’t want him turning up in your town because someone is going to die, but, actually, he turns up after the murder takes place.

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Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone – Benjamin Stevenson

Everyone in my Family has Tried to Kill Someone – Benjamin Stevenson

I needed a new audible book, so I scrolled through my husband’s audible account and selected this one. My new way of selecting is to choose the first thing that appeals to me. The audible book is narrated by Barton Welch.

Here’s the blurb …

Everyone in my family has killed someone. Some of us, the high achievers, have killed more than once. I’m not trying to be dramatic, but it is the truth. Some of us are good, others are bad, and some just unfortunate.

I’m Ernest Cunningham. Call me Ern or Ernie. I wish I’d killed whoever decided our family reunion should be at a ski resort, but it’s a little more complicated than that.

Have I killed someone? Yes. I have.

Who was it?

Let’s get started.

EVERYONE IN MY FAMILY HAS KILLED SOMEONE

My brother

My stepsister

My wife

My father

My mother

My sister-in-law

My uncle

My stepfather

My aunt

Me

I had seen this book in various book stores, but for some reason had been a bit dismissive. That was a mistake, I really enjoyed this novel. And, the ending, which I won’t spoil, was unexpected. This novel has a lovely chatty style, with a classic Poirot type reveal at the end. The audible narration is fabulous.

If you like crime or detective stories, then I think you will enjoy this novel.

A review

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Filed under 4, Crime, Fiction, Recommended

The Curfew – T M Logan

The Curfew T M Logan

I heard about this on Jen Campbell’s booktube – in particular the audio version read by Richard Armitage. Surprisingly, it was available on Borrowbox.

Here’s the blurb …

Your son said he was home. WHY DID HE LIE?

It’s time to preorder the brand new up-all-night thriller from the Sunday Times bestselling author of Richard and Judy pick The Holiday, now a major TV Drama.

I should have known something was wrong. I should have sensed it. Felt it in the air, like the build-up of pressure before a thunderstorm, that heavy, loaded calm.

The curfew
Andy and Laura are good parents. They tell their son Connor that he can go out with friends to celebrate completing his exams, but he must be home by midnight.

The lie
When Connor misses his curfew, it sets off a series of events that will change the lives of five families forever.

The truth?
Because five teenagers went into the woods that night, but only four came out. And telling the truth might mean losing everything…

WHAT WOULD YOU DO?

First, T M Logan writes excellently about teenagers and being a parent of teenagers and how things change over time. Secondly, Richard Armitage is a fabulous narrator.

The plot is a little bit predictable, but how it all gets discovered is not. It’s quite the page turner – some of Andy’s actions (he’s the dad) annoyed me (quite a few of the things he did just made things worse).

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The Man Who Died Twice – Richard Osman

The Man Who Died Twice – Richard Osman

I enjoyed the first one, so was keen to read this (even so it languished on the tbr for a while). I think these novels should be made into a TV series, it would be great.

Here’s the blurb…

It’s the following Thursday.

Elizabeth has received a letter from an old colleague, a man with whom she has a long history. He’s made a big mistake, and he needs her help. His story involves stolen diamonds, a violent mobster, and a very real threat to his life.

As bodies start piling up, Elizabeth enlists Joyce, Ibrahim and Ron in the hunt for a ruthless murderer. And if they find the diamonds too? Well, wouldn’t that be a bonus?

But this time they are up against an enemy who wouldn’t bat an eyelid at knocking off four septuagenarians. Can The Thursday Murder Club find the killer (and the diamonds) before the killer finds them?

I am sure I will be reading the third one as well. This one was witty, well-written, with laugh out loud moments. I particularly enjoy Joyce’s diary.

A review.

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Filed under 4, Crime, Fiction, Miscellaneous, Recommended

The Thursday Murder Club – Richard Osman

The Thursday Murder Club – Richard Osman

This was languishing in my ‘to be read’ pile until a friend offered to lend me her copy. I finally dug it out and read it and I am glad I did, it’s lots of fun.

Blurb …

In a peaceful retirement village, four unlikely friends meet up once a week to investigate unsolved murders.

But when a brutal killing takes place on their very doorstep, the Thursday Murder Club find themselves in the middle of their first live case. Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim and Ron might be pushing eighty but they still have a few tricks up their sleeves.

Can our unorthodox but brilliant gang catch the killer before it’s too late?

We don’t really know the person who gets brutally murdered and then the next person that gets murdered we don’t really like, so this is not a disturbing read at all. It’s well-written and fun, and I didn’t guess the murderer (which is unusual for me).

A review

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Filed under 4, Crime, Fiction, Recommended

The Wife and the Widow – Christian White

The Wife and The Widow – Christian White

This was my book club book – back when I was still reading the books even if I wasn’t attending.

Here’s the blurb …

Set against the backdrop of an eerie island town in the dead of winter, The Wife and The Widow is an unsettling thriller told from two perspectives: Kate, a widow whose grief is compounded by what she learns about her dead husband’s secret life; and Abby, an island local whose world is turned upside when she’s forced to confront the evidence of her husband’s guilt. But nothing on this island is quite as it seems, and only when these women come together can they discover the whole story about the men in their lives.

I like to read the occasional crime novel between other types of fiction and this novel was cheap at target, so I thought I would give it a go.

It was good, the twist wasn’t particularly twisty (I guessed it quite early), but I still found the story compelling. I think if you’re a fan of crime, ten you will like this novel. Three out of five.

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Filed under 3, Crime, Fiction