Review: Taking a Chance by Deborah Burrows

 

Title: Taking A Chance

Author: Deborah Burrows

Published: Pan Macmillan May 2013

Status: Read from May 02 to 03, 2013 — I own a copy {Courtesy the Publisher}

My Thoughts:

For some reason I had expected that the characters from A Stranger in My Street, Deborah Burrows debut novel, would reappear in Taking a Chance, instead, the author introduces two new protagonists at the center of another mystery in wartime Perth, Australia.

In Taking a Chance, twenty four year old journalist, Eleanor “Nell” Fitzgerald, reluctantly becomes involved with a convalescing American war time correspondent’s crusade to prove a woman, tried and convicted for her lover’s murder, innocent. Captain Johnny Horvath is charming, handsome and persuasive and Nell, with ambitions of using her degree in English Literature for more than penning an admittedly popular fashion advice column, agrees to assist him with his investigation.

Proving Lena Mitrovic innocent forms the bulk of the mystery plot as Nell and Johnny investigate the victims life, looking for evidence that could exonerate the woman. As they follow a trail of heartbreak, jealousy and greed in the artist’s commune where Lena and her lover lived, they encounter small town bullies, a woman crazed by grief and uncover a story of four missing young girls.

For me, the most fascinating part of the story is Burrows expose of the less desirable result of US servicemen flooding into Perth. Young, naive women, thrilled by the attentions of the exotic, cashed up visitors and swept away by the idea of wartime romance were vulnerable to exploitation. The lucky ones found themselves married to someone they barely knew, the unlucky found themselves left behind, humiliated, with their reputation in tatters, the very unlucky became ‘Lost Girls’, tricked or forced into prostitution.
The plight of these young girls becomes part of Johnny and Nell’s investigation when clues point to two of the missing girls from Lena’s community being involved in the murder and becomes of personal interest to Nell when she and Johnny rescue fourteen year old orphan Eve from a couple of drunk and belligerent sailors.

I really liked the way in which Burrows developed the relationship between Nell and Johnny, she allows it to evolve quite naturally despite the intensity of their situation and Johnny’s imminent return to active service. Nell is determined to ignore her growing attraction to Johnny, who has a reputation as a bit of a ‘cad’. She expects to marry her long time boyfriend, a lawyer, when he returns from his wartime secondment but finds it increasingly difficult to resist Johnny’s charm. Nell is worried that taking a chance on Johnny’s affections being true will leave her another heartbroken and humiliated statistic.

Just as in A Stranger in My Street, I really enjoyed the blend of mystery and romance in Taking A Chance. I loved revisiting wartime Perth (my hometown) and was once again impressed by the author’s ability to seamlessly integrate the historical detail of time and place. With all of that, combined with strong characterisation and a well crafted plot, I can only recommend you ‘take a chance’ on this entertaining and engaging novel.

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Review: Antidote to Murder by Felicity Young

 

Title: Antidote to Murder {Dr Dody McCleland #2}

Author: Felicity Young

Published: Harper Collins Australia March 2013

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Status: Read from April 26 to 27, 2013 — I own a copy{Courtesy the publisher}

My Thoughts:

Antidote to Murder is the second enthralling book in Felicity Young’s historical mystery series featuring Dr Dody McCleland. Set at the turn of the 19th century in England this story plays out against a backdrop of political and social unrest as suffragettes demand the vote, labour strikes cripple London and German spies seek British intelligence in preparation for war. In Antidote to Murder, Dody’s pursuit of her medical career makes her the target of unscrupulous colleagues and ambitious misogynists. Framed for the death of a scullery maid who was the victim of a botched criminal abortion, and with Dr Benard Spillsbury away and Chief Inspector Pike missing, Dody is forced to face her accusers alone while trying to unmask the real culprit butchering desperate young women.

In my thoughts about A Dissection of Murder I lauded Young’s fascinating balance of political and social commentary with crime and mystery and the author has achieved that same balance here.
With Dody accused of committing a criminal abortion resulting in death, a large part of this story explores attitudes to family planning in the early 1900′s. With contraception prohibitively expensive, abortion criminal and unwed pregnancy resulting in social ostracism, women shouldered both the blame and the responsibility for pregnancy. Uniformed about their own bodies and often seduced by loving promises, young women sought desperate means to end burgeoning pregnancies namely ‘backyard’ abortions procured by knitting needles, poisons and other dubious means.

Though Dody is not a militant feminist, and is against abortion, she does feel strongly that women should be informed about birth control methods, including contraception. Already in defiance of social convention as a part time assistant forensic surgeon for London’s Home Office, the coroner’s court is willing to accept the flimsy circumstantial accusations against her with the view that a woman doctor is ‘unnatural’ and therefore an acceptable scapegoat.

The execution of the plot and the way each element fits is quite brilliant. The search for the real abortionist has plenty of twists and turns as suspicion is cast about. A doctor obsessed with Mata Hari presents as a likely suspect as does one of Dody’s jealous colleagues. Dody’s sister, Florence, involves herself in the search inadvertently forcing the killer to act.
Detective Inspector Mathew Pike is absent through much of this struggle, on special assignment for the Home Office investigating an exotic dance troupe, but returns to defend her once he is aware of what she is facing. He and Dody have not yet acknowledged their affection for one another but as they grow closer, Dody is forced to confront her conflicting desires.

Antidote to Murder combines a fascinating setting with superb characterisation and an intriguing plot. Along with A Dissection of Murder, this is a spectacular series I can’t praise highly enough and recommend without reservation.

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Review: Ghost Money by Andrew Nette

 

Title: Ghost Money

Author: Andrew Nette

Published: Snubnose Press August 2012

Status: Read from April 19 to 20, 2013 — I own a copy{Courtesy the author}

My Thoughts:

Early last year I read and very much enjoyed Hard Labour, an anthology of crime writing by Australian authors. After that review, the editor, Andrew Nette, asked if I would be willing to read Ghost Money, which I believe is his first full length published novel.

Introducing ex-cop turned private investigator Max Quinlan on the trail of missing Australian businessman, Charles Avery, Ghost Money is a gritty detective novel set in the late ’90′s. Quinlan, employed by the missing man’s wealthy sister, begins his search in Thailand, the scene of his past professional disgrace, but soon discovers Avery has fled to Cambodia. Following the man’s trail, Quinlan enlists the assistance of an ambitious Australian journalist and his interpreter, Sarin, only to find himself the target of ruthless killers and treasure hunters.

Quinlan, born of a wartime liaison between his Vietnamese mother and soldier father, was raised in Australia after his mother’s death. Orphaned after his father’s suicide, Quinlan eventually joined the police force where his Eurasian appearance was both a help and a hindrance to his job. It was his role in a failed joint operation in Thailand that essentially put an end to his career and after Quinlan resigned from the force, he began to take on missing persons cases.
There is a nice depth to Quinlan, though at times his motivations are questionable. I don’t quite understand why Quinlan doesn’t simply walk away when his search for Avery puts his own life at risk nor why he insists on walking blindly into a number of easily discernible traps. That being said, I like that Quinlan is a man with limits, he makes mistakes but keeps moving forward, doing his best for his client.

Of the supporting cast it is Sarin I found most interesting, the Khmer translator chooses to become embroiled in Quinlan’s mission and proves to be a helpful guide. The romantic element involving Sarin’s sister and an American archivist wasn’t particularly strong and largely irrelevant to the story.

Nette spent several years in Cambodia and his knowledge of the country’s politics informs his character’s experiences. Though I did think Nette was in danger of overwhelming the narrative with facts at times, his insights into the Cambodian conflict are fascinating, particularly regarding the legacy the Khmer Rouge. A particular strength of the novel is the author’s portrayal of the landscape of South East Asia, from it’s seedy urban centers, to the areas of grinding rural poverty.

Ghost Money takes the reader into a world of violence, betrayal and corruption with twists and turns leading through the gritty underworld of south east Asia. If you enjoy noir detective novels and are interested in something different, then you should take a chance on this interesting thriller.

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Review: Roll With It by Nick Place

 

Title: Roll With It

Author: Nick Place

Published: Hardie Grant March 2013

Status: Read from April 06 to 07, 2013 — I own a copy{Courtesy the publisher}

My Thoughts:

I couldn’t resist the premise of Roll With It, an Australian debut novel combining crime, action and humour. Author Nick Place introduces Major Crime Detective Tony ‘Rocket’ Laver who is plunged in the midst of a professional and personal crisis after shooting a suspect dead in self defense. As the sixth Victorian officer to do so in as many months, Laver becomes a political scapegoat and is swiftly reassigned to the Mobile Public Interaction Squad, forced to don a neon jacket and bike pants to patrol the streets of Melbourne on a mountain bike.

The intention of the Brass is to keep Laver out of the way and out of trouble but in between needling his earnest rookie partners, giving the wrong directions to backpackers and endless cups of coffee, his well tuned cop instincts finds something not quite right about two men menacing a hippie chick and her buttoned up admirer. Laver starts poking around convinced the ginger heavy and his companion, known as Wild Man and Stig are up to no good but without the resources of the force he has no idea just what he is getting into.

As Laver wanders around in professional Siberia, the case twists and turns revealing surprising links between a suburban supermarket store, a rainbow warrior runaway and a fiery car crash in Queensland. Though the plot isn’t difficult to predict it’s enjoyable to follow Laver Melbourne’s CBD as he tries to put the pieces together. Anyone familiar with the city is likely to enjoy the familiarity of the environs, and those who are not will appreciate the distinctly Australian flavour.

The narrative follows Laver, Stig and Wild Man and Jake, a supermarket manager assistant whose crush on beatnik Lou results in him unwittingly becoming tangled in the case. I think I would have preferred for the perspective to stay with Laver as I really enjoyed the cynical, wry humour of the hard edged cop, I particularly liked his observations of his colleagues in the ‘bike’ police. Laver is not just a cop though and his demotion plus his frustration at being ignored by the Brass spills over into his personal life, and not for the first time. Already a failed husband and father, his current fiance isn’t all sympathetic to his current predicament.

Roll With It is an entertaining read, there is enough intrigue and action to provide an interesting story and plenty of humour to amuse. I hope to see Tony Laver hot on the trail of some more bad guys soon.

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Review: Follow Her Home by Steph Cha

 

 

Title: Follow Her Home

Author: Steph Cha

Published: St Martin’s Press: Minotaur Books April 2013

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Status: Read from April 04 to 05, 2013 — I own a copy {Courtesy St Martins Press/Netgalley}

My Thoughts:

Post-modern pulp mystery perhaps? I’m not exactly sure how to describe Steph Cha’s debut novel, Follow Her Home. It introduces Juniper Song, a Gen Y, Korean/American with little ambition and an obsession with Raymond Chandler’s hard boiled PI, Phillip Marlowe. When her best friend, Luke, asks her to follow the woman he suspects is having an affair with his father home from a party she is eager to emulate her idol’s investigative success. But when Song gets too curious during her stakeout she is knocked unconscious, then discovers a body in her trunk and finds herself at the mercy of a psychopath determined to protect his employer’s secrets.

Follow Her Home begins with a simple case of suspected adultery but slowly descends into a tangled web of family dysfunction, murder, blackmail and racial fetishism. This quirky mystery has plenty of dark twists to entertain the reader, though few are unpredictable. Still, the potential is there for Cha to go off script which she does on at least two memorable occasions, both of which I thought redeemed the plot. There is some elasticity in the credibility of events, not the least being Song’s reluctance to involve the police the moment she found a dead body in her car.

Told in the first person, Follow Her Home also establishes Juniper’s back story – her relationship with her immigrant single mother, her friendship with Luke and Diego and the tragic fate of her sister, Iris. The flashbacks are sometimes disruptive but are the only means we have to learn about Song and her drive to act as an amateur sleuth, despite being so woefully out of her depth.

The ending of Follow Her Home is as bittersweet as any of Marlowe’s cases, Song may solve the mystery but not without a personal cost. While I didn’t fall in love with this story or it’s protagonist, I liked it’s unusual edge and I’m interested to see how Steph Cha builds on it.

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Review: From Midnight to Guntown by John Hailman

 

Title: From Midnight to Guntown: True Crime Stories from a Federal Prosecutor in Mississippi

Author: John Hailman

Published: University Press of Mississippi April 2013

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Status: Read from March 31 to April 01, 2013 — I own a copy {Courtesy Netgalley/publisher}

My Thoughts:

From Midnight to Guntown is a true account of various cases encountered by retired Federal prosecutor John Hailman during his thirty year career in the Mississippi justice system.

The cases Hailman relates are interesting and cover a wide range of criminal activity from bank robbery to corruption and terrorism. The focus is on the workings of the justice system and specifically Hailman’s role in the investigation and prosecution of the cases he dealt with.

Occasionally the cases are amusing, detailing bungling robbers for example, but more often they are simply tragic, such as in the case of the Natchez Trace shooting which resulted in the death of a young boy. I was horrified to learn that in Hailman’s district an amateur local hitman will usually kill for less than $5000, often for less than $1000 and saddened to learn that racial tensions still flourish in the South. While some cases are mentioned only in passing several are the focus of in depth reporting including the murder of Emmett Till, an African American boy who was murdered aged 14 in 1955 for flirting with a white woman and whose case was reopened in 2004.

Hailman’s writing has a lot in common with a detailed legal brief. It is rich with procedural detail, perhaps too much for the average reader though the minutiae of he said/she said/he did/she did will probably be appreciated by someone who works in the legal or justice system.  The text isn’t entirely dry however, Hailmain is candid and personable and even humourous at times.

Usually I am content to ignore formatting issues in e-galley’s but in this instance I found it affected my reading experience. A line and a half of text, was followed by a blank line, then a line and a half of text, then a blank line and so on, and this became a real issue for me as it was very distracting.

From Midnight to Guntown shares fascinating insights into the complexity of crime and justice in Mississippi. This is a book true crime and legal thriller buffs are sure to enjoy.

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Review: Good News, Bad News by Maggie Groff

Title: Good News, Bad News {A Scout Davis Investigation #2}

Author: Maggie Groff

Published: Pan Macmillan Australia March 2013

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Status: Read from March 09 to 11, 2013 — I own a copy {Courtesy Pan Macmillan Au}

My Thoughts:

Good News, Bad News is the second entertaining book by Maggie Groff featuring investigative journalist Scout Davis. Though taking a break after her last case left her with broken ribs, Scout is intrigued when Hermoine Longfellow, one of Byron Bay’s more eccentric characters, approaches her with a recent news article that includes a photo of her sister’s husband, a man presumed drowned more than thirty years ago. A little digging suggests Nemony O’Leary nee Longfellow was the victim of a conman and Scout is on his trail.

Once again, Scout flirts with danger, disaster and romance in this entertaining contemporary mystery. As she traces Nemony’s wayward husband, doing her best to avoid the abrasive Hermoine, she begins to develop a theory involving bigamy, insurance fraud and deception. I really like the way in which Groff allows Scout to unearth the clues that connect the past to the present through realistic investigation – trawling through paperwork, browsing Google and cultivating sources.

In Mad Men, Bad Girls and the Guerilla Knitters Institute (now retitled simply Mad Men, Bad Girls) Scout finally succumbed to the attentions of handsome police detective Rafe Kelly but with the return of her long time lover imminent she has to decide what, or rather who, she wants. Paired with Scout’s sister’s suspicions her husband is having an affair, Groff’s subplots add interest and help to round out Scout’s character. I like that Scout is so well grounded in her family, with her sister, nephews and daughters making regular appearances while the yarn bombing group (GKI) and her quid pro quo relationship with restaurant owner Miles illustrates her ties to the community.

I didn’t think Good News, Bad News had quite the same fast pace or sense of danger that Mad Men, Bad Girls had. Most of the action is condensed into the last chapter or so when Scout travels to Gull Island to get the final piece of evidence needed for her story, however, there is a good balance between lighthearted moments and the more serious themes.

An engaging read to accompany a good cup of tea and a sunny afternoon, Good News, Bad News is an entertaining mystery with authentic characters.

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Review & Giveaway: Escaping the Arroyo by Joyce Nance

Title: Escaping the Arroyo

Author: Joyce Nance

Published: June 2012

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Status: Read on February 19, 2013 — I own a copy {Courtesy the author}

My Thoughts:

Drawing on court documents, interviews, five years of research and Colene Bush’s first hand account, Escaping the Arroyo combines fact with considered conjecture to create a compelling account of an unspeakable crime.

Escaping the Arroyo is based on the tragic true story of college coeds, Julie Jackson and Colene Bush who were kidnapped at knife point by Michael Guzman from Albuquerque, New Mexico in 1981. Nineteen year old Julie was raped and murdered while twenty year old Colene was stabbed 33 times and left for dead by her callous attacker. Exhibiting an extraordinary instinct for survival, Colene crawled more than 150ft, negotiating two steep embankments, in search of help and survived to identify the young man who nearly destroyed her.

The book begins with a harrowing account of the moment Colene Bush was discovered, bloody and barely breathing, on the side of the I-40 by two young men who glimpsed her pale, partially nude body in the glare of their headlights.
The story then shifts to illustrate the personal histories of Michael Guzman, Julie Jackson and Colene Bush in short vignettes. I found this a little disorientating initially, often only two or three pages in length and the perspective identified by date and place rather than name, I found the changes abrupt but eventually a rhythm emerged, leading to the moment the lives of Michael, Julie and Colene collide.
The next section of the book covers the trial of Michael Guzman, who was sentenced to death for the murder of Julie and the attempted murder of Colene, despite his attempt at an insanity defense.
But for Colene, and Julie’s fiance, James, Guzman’s conviction was little comfort as they tried to pick up the pieces of their shattered lives.

The story of Escaping The Arroyo is compelling though the writing could do with a little more polish. I felt instances of awkward syntax and the intrusion of the authorial voice interrupted the flow of the narrative at times.

While I think Nance covers the case well, I would have liked to know a bit more about Colene’s life post attack. It can be inferred that Colene struggled badly after her experience but Nance only relates incidents, such as the inexplicable discrimination against Colene by the police and paramedic training institutions, without sharing any real insight into why they occurred.

A tribute to the victims of a vicious killer, Escaping the Arroyo is a fascinating account of a terrible crime and it’s aftermath, and it is a story I am glad Joyce Nance decided to tell. To Colene Bush, I extend my sympathy and my heartfelt admiration for her incredible bravery.

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About the Author

Joyce Nance, award winning documentarian, video editor, Albuquerque Sports News publisher, and paralegal at the Public Defenders Office, has written her first book. Although she already has a degree in accounting, she is currently pursuing a second degree in Criminal Justice and working on her next true crime book. Originally from California, she now lives in the Albuquerque, New Mexico area.

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Review: Guilt by Jonathon Kellerman

 

Title: Guilt {Alex Delaware #28}

Author: Jonathon Kellerman

Published: Ballantine Books February 2013

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Status: Read from February 09 to 10, 2013 — I own a copy {Courtesy Ballantine Books/Netgalley}

My Thoughts:

I can’t remember when I first discovered Jonathon Kellerman’s Alex Delaware series but I have been a loyal reader for quite some time. I have read every one and own more than a dozen – picking them up second hand when I come across them.

Guilt is the 28th book in the long running series and I always look forward to joining child psychologist Alex Delaware and LAPD Detective Milo Sturgis on a case. In Guilt, the discovery of an infant’s remains from more than sixty years ago in an upscale LA neighborhood is deemed low priority until another set of infant bones are found in a nearby park. This tiny skeleton shows signs of being ritually cleansed and the infant died far more recently. Delaware and Sturgis doubt the two cases are related but both warrant further investigation, especially when another body, that of an adult woman, is found.

The mysterious identity of the newborn discovered in a hospital supply box leads to a decades old conspiracy involving a beautiful nurse, a handsome doctor and a hospital that offered discreet services to the wealthy who found themselves ‘in trouble’.
The tenuous connection between the second set of infant remains, meticulously cleaned and polished with beeswax, and the executed woman, has Delaware speculating about an angry father. His basic theory proves to be sound, though in a unexpected manner, as he follows the trail into the privileged world of celebrity.
In both instances Alex’s contacts are crucial to solving the case as he gathers information from his own medical colleagues and Robin’s celebrity clients while Milo spends much of his time distracted by office politics and a persistent reporter.

I have to admit the pacing wasn’t quite as quick as I usually expect from Kellerman with there being little in the way of immediate danger to anyone during the investigation, though I always enjoy the back and forth speculation about the perpetrators and victims between Alex and Sturgis. There are plenty of twists to keep things interesting though and it’s always satisfying to have the mystery neatly solved and the killer brought to justice.

I expect someone unfamiliar with the series could enjoy this novel as a stand alone, while fans of the series are sure to enjoy trailing Delaware and Sturgis through the psychological detritus LA once again as I did.

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The Alex Delaware Series

Review: Web of Deceit by Katherine Howell

 

 

Title: Web of Deceit {Detective Ella Marconi #6}

Author: Katherine Howell

Published: Macmillan February 2013

Synopsis: When paramedics Jane and Alex encounter a man refusing to get out of his crashed car with bystanders saying he deliberately drove into a pole, it looks like a desperate cry for help. His frantic claim that someone is out to get him adds to their thinking that he is delusional. Later that day he is found dead under a train in what might be a suicide, but Jane is no longer so sure…Detective Ella Marconi shares Jane’s doubts, which are only compounded when the case becomes increasingly tangled. Then, just when she thinks she’s closing in on the right person, a shocking turn of events puts more people in danger and might just see the killer slip through her hands

Status: Read from January 29 to 30, 2013 — I own a copy {Courtesy Pan Macmillan Australia}

My Thoughts:

Once I started Web of Deceit I couldn’t put it down, which led to a very late night given I had intended, at midnight, to read only a chapter or two before getting some sleep. I really should have known better as I always find Howell’s series to be compulsive page turners, packed with intrigue, action and excitement.

Web of Deceit opens as Sydney paramedics Jane and Alex attend a minor car accident. The driver, Marko Meixner, blames the incident on a stalker and even though his almost incoherent ravings suggest a psychiatric disorder, Jane wonders if there might be some truth in what he is saying. Unfortunately there is little more they can do other than deliver him to the local hospital and notify the staff of their concerns. The incident is quickly forgotten as they continue on with their day, Alex’s mind is on his rebellious teenage daughter and Jane is simply eager for their shift to finish so she can rendezvous with her secret lover. Nearing the end of shift, Jane and Alex are annoyed when they are called to extricate a body from under a city train, but when they identify the corpse as the morning’s patient, Jane feels compelled to share her concerns with the on scene detective, Ella Marconi and her partner. Now it is up to the detectives to determine is Marko fell, pushed or jumped in front of the train, dragging them into a tangled web of secrets, lies and violence.

While Ella and Murray follow paper trails, badger unreliable and reluctant witnesses and try to avoid the censure of their penny pinching captain, they become convinced that Marko was in fact murdered. Their prime suspect is a newly released parolee who was incarcerated after Marko testified against him for murder more than a decade previously, but they can’t easily dismiss Marko’s boss and his partner, who have been siphoning the company’s funds. As always I love the realism Howell injects into the police procedure – mountains of paperwork, petty office politics, leads that don’t pan out and the sheer leg work to solve a case.

Detective Ella Marconi is the anchor of this series, but in each book Howell introduces a new paramedic team that are integral to the plot, ensuring the series never goes stale and the installments work well as stand alone novels. The paramedics contribute their own subplots as Howell skillfully weaves the personal and professional stories of each character into the main storyline, often with surprising crossover. In Web of Deceit, Jane is dealing with her ex-husband’s crazed wife and her new lover’s secret identity while Alex is struggling with PTSD and a recalcitrant daughter. Both are fully realised, complex and likeable characters.

The patients, victims and perpetrators are also of interest in the story. Rarely is any character, even the villain, a convenient stereotype. Howell demonstrates insight into the emotions and motivations of each – a wronged wife, a frightened girlfriend, a frantic father, heightening the tension by connecting the reader with characters that feel familiar.

Web of Deceit is Katherine’s sixth novel, and I think has edged out the others in the series as my favourite by the slimmest of margins. Fast paced, slick and utterly absorbing this is a fabulous read which I recommend without reserve.

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The Ella Marconi Series

Book 5