Review: Women of Good Fortune by Sophie Wan

Title: Women of Good Fortune

Author: Sophie Wan

Published: 3rd March 2024, Ultimo Press

Status: Read March 2024 courtesy Ultimo Press

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My Thoughts:

Women of Good Fortune is a fun and engaging debut from Sophie Wan.

In ten months former restaurant hostess Lulu is to marry one of Shanghai’s most eligible bachelor’s, it will be the event of the season, attended by everyone who is anyone. Lulu should be deliriously happy, or so her mother insists, but instead she is miserable and longs to escape. Her best friends are similarly unhappy with their lives, Rina is continually overlooked for promotion at work, and as such the pay rise she needs to in order to preserve her fertility, while Jane, convinced her appearance has doomed her to a life of mediocrity, desperately wants plastic surgery. When Jane floats the outrageous idea of stealing the generous cash gifts expected at the wedding as a solution to all of their woes, the temptation proves irresistible and the friends plan a daring heist.

Told from the alternating perspectives of Lulu, Jane and Rina, Women of Good Fortune unfolds over a period of about a year. As preparations for Lulu’s wedding continue under the dictatorial rule of her monstermother-in-law-to-be, the trio also work feverishly to devise a foolproof plan to get away with the cash.

The plans for the heist are pretty complex but it’s fun to see how the women go about solving each challenge, from enlisting the services of a counterfeiter, to flirting with the best man. I enjoyed the bursts of humour, and there are some tense moments too, with last minute complications threatening to ruin everything.

The three friends are interesting women, all quite different from each other. Lulu is the most sympathetic of the character’s, while Jane is probably the least likeable. The story is well grounded in its cultural setting, from the casual mentions of social touchstones, to the descriptions of traditions, yet Wan manages to communicate the universality of women’s experience as her protagonists grapple with their issues. Wan explores subjects such as the value of friendship, the management of family expectations, the desire for independence, and the importance of self worth, among others.

I found Women of Good Fortune to be an entertaining, smart and satisfying novel.

++++++++

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Review: The Best Way to Bury Your Husband by Alexia Casale

 

Title: The Best Way to Bury Your Husband

Author: Alexia Casale

Published: 14th March 2024, Viking

Status: Read February 2024 courtesy Penguin Books UK

++++++++

My Thoughts:

On average, 1 in 4 women will experience domestic abuse in her lifetime, and 2 women a week are killed by a current or former intimate partner in the UK where this book is set. In a note addressed to the reader, Alexia Casale explains that she wrote The Best Way to Bury Your Husband as “…a way to confront a truth that otherwise seems too much to bear”. This black comedy takes place during the Covid Lockdown, a period which saw the femicide rate double in England.

Trapped in their homes with their abusive husbands, four women take desperate measures to defend themselves, and their children, and in doing so are faced with a dilemma. Sally finds a temporary solution using a tarp, kitty litter and gaffer tape, while trying to avoid the prying of her watchful neighbour. Samira tells curious family members her CoVid stricken husband is self- isolating in the garage. Ruth lights a bonfire in her backyard, while Jane makes a desperate phone call to an old friend. Fate brings these women together and The Lockdown Ladies Burial Club is born.

The premise of the story may be (deliberately) absurd but the characters and their emotions as they suffer at the hands of their partners feel all too genuine. The women all effortlessly evoke sympathy and compassion, each are representative of real life circumstances, and Casale provides thoughtful insight into the different dynamics present in relationships marred by domestic violence. Sally, as the primary narrator, and club instigator, is an appealing lead, but I really liked the way in which each woman made a distinct contribution to the story.

There’s some suspense in the novel as the women struggle to keep their secrets, with each coming fairly close to being discovered at different times. I was definitely on their side, and I actually thought their plans to explain their husband’s absence and dispose of their bodies was pretty clever, even if far fetched. While there are not any high stake twists in the novel, there are some surprises including a rather delightful, if somewhat macabre, revelation at the end.

Casale achieves her aim “to make people laugh – and then think”. Written with humour and compassion, The Best Way to Bury Your Husband is an entertaining and thought-provoking novel.

++++++++

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Review: A Blizzard of Polar Bears by Alice Henderson

 

Title: A Blizzard of Polar Bears {Alex Carter #2}

Author: Alice Henderson

Published: 9th November 2021, William Morrow

Status: Read January 2024

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My Thoughts:

In need of a book set in the Arctic Tundra for reading challenge, A Blizzard of Polar Bears by Alice Henderson caught my eye. It’s the second book in a series featuring wildlife biologist Alex Carter, though reads well as a stand alone.

In A Blizzard of Polar Bears, Alex has taken an assignment in the Canadian Arctic studying its threatened population of polar bears. Teamed with an assistant and a helicopter pilot Alex’s job involves tracking and sedating the majestic, but dangerous animals, and recording their condition. It’s exhilarating work but soon things begin to go wrong- the pilot quits without notice, equipment goes missing, and then Alex’s research is stolen. Refusing to abandon the study, Alex is relieved when she is able to secure another pilot but when the helicopter catches fire forcing the crew to ditch on the ice in the middle of nowhere, it quickly becomes clear that someone will do anything to stop her.

I enjoyed this fast paced, action packed thriller. Alex finds herself in several dangerous situations after being targeted by thieves, poachers, and an unscrupulous businessman. I thought the mystery was well plotted, with Henderson deftly crafting several red herrings diverting from the true motive of Alex’s most persistent attackers.

Though Alex is capable and resourceful, she doesn’t always make smart decisions, and the odds are often against her, so a little suspension of belief is required as her circumstances worsen. Alex is likeable though and I thought she was a strong lead character.

The appearance of helicopter pilot Casey, who apparently had a brief role in Henderson’s first novel featuring Alex, A Solitude of Wolverines, adds another layer of interest to the novel.

Henderson does a great job of evoking the Arctic landscape. I found Alex’s work with the polar bears to be interesting, and I appreciated the information Henderson included in an Afterword detailing the threats they face. The forecast that all natural populations of polar bears may be extinct by 2080 due to man-made pollutants and climate change is chilling.

A Blizzard of Polar Bears is a quick and easy read offering lots of excitement and a strong eco message.

++++++++

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Review: The Silence in Her Eyes by Armando Lucas Correa

Title: The Silence in Her Eyes

Author: Armando Lucas Correa

Published: 31st January 2024, Simon & Schuster

Status: Read January 2024 courtesy Simon & Schuster

++++++++

My Thoughts:

Known for his historical fiction, The Silence in Her Eyes is Correa’s first foray into the contemporary suspense genre.

I was utterly fascinated by Leah’s condition, I’d never heard of akinetopsia, also known as motion blindness. I have to trust that Correa’s portrayal of the experience is accurate, and I imagine it’s a little like when the audio on a video keeps playing even though the image on screen has frozen. Its evident how disorientating and debilitating the condition would be.

It took me too long to recognise Leah as an unreliable narrator, so even though I was expecting a twist, it didn’t play out quite the way I expected. I liked that I was surprised, which doesn’t happen too often, so I feel Correa definitely deserves kudos for that.

The downfall of the novel is its pace, it’s slow even though Correa introduces tension quite early. The rhythm of the narrative also feels choppy, though I think this is intentional to mirror Leah’s vision. I feel both of these things, and instances of repetition, are off putting.

The Silence in Her Eyes is clever with an intriguing protagonist but perhaps not executed as well as it could be.

++++++++

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Review: Glenrock by Lee Christine

 

Title: Glenrock

Author: Lee Christine

Published: 30th January 2024, Allen & Unwin

Status: Read January 2024 courtesy Allen & Unwin

++++++++

My Thoughts:

Lee Christine has moved from the NSW southern highlands to the mid coast for the setting of her newest novel, Glenrock.

After Justice Maurice Tempest is found shot dead in Glenrock State Conservation Park, Senior Sergeant Callan O’Connor and his partner suspect organised crime involvement, especially when the body of a known enforcer is later found nearby, but something isn’t adding up.

There is a lot happening in Glenrock but Christine manages the multiple threads skilfully, connecting seemingly disparate events in a manner that is both clever and credible. Several red herrings contribute to the intrigue, and though most of the action comes nearer the end, there is a good amount of tension throughout. I raced through Glenrock in an afternoon, absorbed in the unfolding mystery.

I like the character of Callan who is a good cop, and a good man. Though his life is not uncomplicated, he isn’t the jaded, hard-drinking loner that is so common in the genre. I enjoyed the relationship that developed between Callan and journalist Angela. Angela is smart and independent, and her background contributes another layer of interest to the plot.

As my children have been to a couple of scout camps at Glenrock (in Newcastle, NSW), I’m familiar with the novel’s setting, which is a bonus. Christine’s descriptions deftly evoke the area and its surrounds.

With a compelling, well crafted mystery and appealing characters, Glenrock is another excellent novel from Lee Christine, and I’m already looking forward to her next.

++++++++

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Review: One of the Good Guys by Araminta Hall

 

Title: One of the Good Guys

Author: Araminta Hall

Published: 9th January 2024, Macmillan

Status: Read January 2024 courtesy Macmillan

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My Thoughts:

“And I know, historically, it’s been hard to be a woman but, my God, it’s hard to be a man right now.”

A provocative and thought-provoking novel, One of the Good Guys by Araminta Hall explores the gendered dynamic of power, the mythology of the ‘good guy’, and feminine rage.

Told in three parts primarily from the perspectives of three individuals but also through newspaper articles, podcast transcripts, Tweets, and WhatsApp chats from third parties, One of the Good Guys has an interesting structure.

Cole is the first to tell his story, that of a good guy baffled by the breakdown of his marriage who has taken refuge on a remote stretch of coast in the South of England. Melissa’s story starts seven years earlier and charts the course of her marriage to Cole. The third properly introduces Lennie, explains how and why she became involved with both Cole and Melissa, and the fate of two missing young women.

There’s a mystery here, more than one really, but it’s the complexity of the characters that offers the real intrigue. There is a thread of unreliability in each narrative that deliberately keeps the reader off balance. The way in which Hall manipulates the reveal of information is very clever, exposing conflicting points of view that forces continual reassessment of everything.

Dark, compelling, and powerful, One of the Good Guys is an impressive novel that unashamedly challenges society’s complacency with regard to violence against women. An important read.

++++++++

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Review: Vendetta by Sarah Barrie

 

Title: Vendetta {Lexi Winter #3}

Author: Sarah Barrie

Published: 15th November 2023, HQ Fiction

Status: Read December 2023 courtesy Harlequin/Netgalley

++++++++

“Cop or criminal? When you’re undercover, the lines can get a little blurry.“

My Thoughts:

Vendetta is the third exciting instalment in Sarah Barrie’s series featuring vigilante turned cop, Lexi Winter.

I love Lexi, she’s smart, brave, and kickass, if also somewhat reckless and unpredictable. She doesn’t hesitate when her former neighbour Dawnie asks for her help to rescue Dannie’s husband Morris, and reacts quickly when she is unexpectedly confronted by her past. It’s not an easy thing for her to do, but with the stakes escalating Lexi has no choice but to revive old affiliations, and go undercover with the one of the city’s most dangerous motorcycle gangs.

Still struggling with all of the rules that come with her new job as a police officer, Lexi’s issues with some of the more inflexible members of the force, including her spiteful colleague, Cass, come to a head in Vendetta. This leads to a very tense situation amongst the team, leaving Lexi wondering just who deserves her loyalty. I enjoyed the drama that played out, and the surprise twists that unfolded.

There’s plenty of suspense and fast paced action in this instalment too. Lexi’s life is at risk, not only from the violent members of the motorcycle club, but also from a former gang member looking for explosive revenge against both the club, and the police.

With its fantastic lead character, tense drama, and thrilling action, the Lexi Winter series is an excellent crime series, and Vendetta another absorbing read. I can’t wait for the next one.

++++++++

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Review: You’d Look Better As A Ghost by Joanna Wallace

 

Title: You’d Look Better as a Ghost

Author: Joanna Wallace

Published: 21st September 2023, Viper 

Status: Read September 2023 courtesy Penguin/Netgalley

++++++++

My Thoughts:

“…I smile, enjoying my favourite part of the process. The part when I know they’re going to die soon. The part when I can anticipate every moment of their deaths. The part when I already see them as ghosts.”

Grieving the recent death of her father, the disappointment of being rejected for an art prize triggers Claire’s worst instincts. Eschewing her usual careful planning, she impulsively takes her revenge, luring art critic Lucas Kane to her home where she dispatches him with the satisfaction death always brings her, but unbeknownst to Claire, someone was watching.

This propels Claire into a battle of wits with a similarly sociopathic foe who has infiltrated Claire’s bereavement support group in order to blackmail her. I enjoyed their attempts to out manoeuvre one another and gain the upper hand. But solving that problem leaves Claire with yet another, and as it happens Lucas’s murder isn’t the only recent killing that is haunting her. Though the later plot tends to rely on coincidence, there are some surprise twists which are entertaining. There are also dark moments with descriptions of killing, elder abuse and child abuse.

Claire’s childhood experiences, revealed in a series of flashbacks, help to explain her compulsion to kill, and engender some sympathy. Still Claire is a serial killer, and her motives for selecting a victim are generally self-serving and petty. I’m not sure I ever warmed to her exactly, but I did find myself on her side, most of the time.

Told from Claire’s first person perspective, the tone is generally irreverent. I found the humour to be dark and dry, rather than laugh-out-loud funny. There’s some tension in the narrative at times but not really any suspense, however the pace is good.

A quirky, diverting read, You’d Look Better as a Ghost is an engaging debut from Joanna Wallace.

++++++++

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Review: Killer Traitor Spy by Tim Ayliffe

Title: Killer Traitor Spy {John Bailey #4}

Author: Tim Ayliffe

Published: 5th July 2023, Simon & Schuster

Status: Read July 2023 courtesy Simon & Schuster

++++++++

My Thoughts:

“Stick with me, bubba.’ Ronnie turned to him and smiled. ‘Like I told you, this is going to be a hell of a story.”

Killer Traitor Spy is Tim Ayliffe’s fourth fast-paced thriller to feature investigative journalist John Bailey.

When a young friend of his is poisoned with what appears to be a nerve agent meant for a Russian millionaire, Dmitry Lebedev, John Bailey wants answers. With Lebedev on the run, Bailey begins to dig, and guided by an anonymous tipster, links the man to the death of another expat Russian billionaire, Mikhail Volkov, and the hanging of a dual Russian–Australian citizen working for a locally produced newspaper, The Russian Times. Bailey is not too surprised when he learns his new source is connected to an old ex-CIA buddy, Ronnie Johnson, who now wants Bailey’s help. Having Ronnie’s back can be risky though, and soon Bailey is caught up in the dangerous, shadowy world of secrets, spies and corruption.

Ayliffe draws from headline news events for elements of the plot, which is clever but not complicated. It’s a race against time as the pair follow a trail of money laundering, cybercrime and political scandal to identify the foreign assets working to extract Australian intelligence. Bailey is a skilled and experienced investigator but he finds it difficult to maintain a professional distance from the story as he and Ronnie encounter trained killers, bombs, and a terrifying secret weapon.

Though Ronnie is a reminder of some of his more harrowing experiences as an overseas correspondent, Bailey is mostly in a good place in this fourth novel. His relationship with TV journalist Annie Brooks is a perhaps little rocky but Bailey remains sober, and he is delighted when his daughter announces she is pregnant.

As with his previous novels featuring Bailey, The Enemy Within, The Greater Good and State of Fear, Killer Traitor Spy is a gripping, tense and entertaining read. It’s not strictly necessary to have read the series to enjoy this instalment but I’d recommend it.

++++++++

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Review: Just Another Missing Person by Gillian McAllister

 

Title: Just Another Missing Person

Author: Gillian McAllister

Published: 3rd August 2023, Penguin Books UK

Status: Read August 2023 courtesy Penguin Books/NetgalleyUK

++++++++

My Thoughts:

“Julia Day. It is now your job to convict Matthew James for the murder of Olivia Johnson. Enclosed are your forensics to plant. They contain his DNA. He resides at 1 Glasgow Place, Portishead.”

Just Another Missing Person is a clever, emotionally charged thriller from Gillian McAllister.

DCI Julia Day is placed in an impossible situation after 22 year old Olivia Johnson goes missing. On her way home, with the investigation barely begun, a balaclava clad man hidden in the back seat of her car makes himself known. He directs Julia to drive to Olivia’s address and then hands her a small metal box, along with a threat – if Julia fails to do as he demands, he will reveal the secret that protects the future of her fifteen year old daughter.

Unfolding from the perspectives of Julia; Lewis, a father desperate to find his missing daughter, and; Emma, a single mother worried about her son as much for him, Just Another Missing Person is a complex mystery in which the line separating victim from criminal often blurs. The actions of McAllister’s characters pose provocative questions about what lengths a person will go to in order to protect someone they love, and especially what a parent will sacrifice for their child.

Though it’s obvious something is off about the missing person case from the moment it’s revealed that CCTV footage shows Olivia turning into a blind alley and never exiting, I truly didn’t expect the direction it took. McAllister employs skilfully planned misdirects that obscures clues which only in retrospect seem obvious. The narrative, which honestly I found a little disjointed to begin with, really hits its stride at the halfway point of the book when the first of several shocking twists are revealed. From that moment on, I couldn’t put the book down, utterly enthralled in, and admiring of, the ingenuity of the plot.

With a set up that definitely pays off, Just Another Missing Person is a thriller with a stunning and satisfying conclusion you won’t want to miss.

++++++++

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