EXCERPT: ‘Victoria says you find missing people.’ Beside me, Twanow nods. She has a legal pad out and looks like she is taking notes. Keahi continues, ‘People no one else is looking for.’ ‘I specialise in working missing persons cold cases.’ ‘But you’re not a private investigator?’ ‘No.’ ‘Are you a computer hacker, someone who can discover a speck of sand in the desert just by following its purchase patterns on the internet?’ ‘Don’t even own a smart phone.’ Keahi frowns. ‘Then what are you?’ ‘A person with a really obsessive hobby.’ Her frown deepens. ‘Victoria says you’ve found everyone ..read more

EXCERPT: . . . his voice faded before he inhaled sharply, choking on his own spit. ‘Is that a body?’ I nodded, curt. ‘I saw it when I was rowing. It was just . . . there. Floating.’ He looked from me to the lake and back to me again. ‘Are you okay? That must have been terrifying, especially after everything you’ve been through these last few months.’ I swallowed the last part of that sentence, burying it with all the other trauma, and focused on what was at stake now, in the moment. Suddenly, I whipped back to the lake. ‘Ralph, if there’s a body in our lake, then that means someone put i ..read more

EXCERPT: Even though ‘the girls’ have been home for only a few minutes, Maya has already spread out in the kitchen and is preparing dinner. Herbs weren’t the only things she had picked up at Round Swamp market; I can see that she also got salmon, arugula, parmesan, potatoes and crusty french bread. ‘Is there anything I can help with?’ I ask her pathetically, as if it’s me who is the guest. ‘Nope,’ she says. ‘The least I can do is make some meals, since you’ve so generously agreed to host us. Besides, cooking is like therapy to me.’ I nod at her, feeling gangly and clumsy and in the way. It’s ..read more

Photo by u015eule Makarou011flu on Pexels.com Another almost perfect day for being at the beach. Unfortunately we aren’t there . . . we have, instead, been getting firewood all weekend – until Pete’s ute broke down at lunchtime today. Luckily it broke down at Dustin’s and not halfway in between there and home. To be quite honest I was almost glad it broke down. I was completely over picking up the wood, putting what needed to be split into one pile and what didn’t need splitting on the ute, then unloading and stacking it at home. I had stiffened up from doing the same yesterday, and it was hot ..read more

EXCERPT: PROLOGUE – Monday 19 December I wake with a start, my heart racing. There’s a second or two of confusion as the morning light creeps through the slats of my blind. Then I hear it. Banging. Male voices, shouting. ‘Open up. Police!’ For a second or two I am so heavy with sleep and fear that I can’t move a muscle. My stomach tugs and my mind whirls. They’ve come for me. They’ve finally come for me. ABOUT ‘THE WOMAN ON THE LEDGE’: A woman falls to her death from a London bank’s twenty-fifth-floor roof terrace. You’re arrested for her murder. You tell the police that you only met the vict ..read more

EXCERPT: A Current Affair transcript (August 15, 1988) MAURY POVICH: Edgewood, Maryland. A small, peaceful working-class town nestled on the shores of Chesapeake Bay. Little League baseball parades and Fourth of July carnivals. The kind of place where people don’t bother to lock their doors at night. [in a deeper voice] Edgewood, Maryland . . . a close-knit community now held hostage in a death grip of terror and paranoia. Three young girls. Savagely beaten and murdered. The killer has been christened the “Boogeyman” because of his ability to strike close to home and vanish without a tra ..read more

Photo by u015eule Makarou011flu on Pexels.com Definitely not a day for reading on the beach today either, though Wednesday was, and I did. Currently I am reading After Eleanor: Reflections on Life, Death and Love by Alison Haynes. I honestly don’t know where I picked this up but it does have a beautiful cover so I may have simply fallen in love with the cover. It is brand new – the spine has never been cracked. This is a touching and thought provoking read. Immersed in this sensitive memoir, we travel with Alison Haynes from her family home in Australia to her mother’s village in rural Englan ..read more

EXCERPT: All around her the news is breaking like a slow, shocking tsunami. The awfulness of it is too big for Alix to fully process. Her sisters message her constantly. They should be WhatsApping now about their upcoming holiday. They should be sharing pictures of new dresses bought and asking for reading recommendations, asking if the villa has hairdryers, making reservations for dinner as it’s impossible to seat that many people in a restaurant without advance planning. Alix should be trying on swimwear in the mirror in her room that has a rear view and wondering if she could still get awa ..read more

Photo by Ena Marinkovic on Pexels.com It’s a lovely sunny day with a cold southerly wind today. It’s hard to believe that it is the start of summer next week. I actually read all my scheduled books last week – a first for some time – and hopefully I will be able to do the same this week. I have already started the first. Currently I am reading In Guilty Night by Alison Taylor. This is the last book I need to read to finish my Aussie Readers November Challenge. It is also a title from my 2016 backlist. Arwel Thomas was a bright and beautiful boy. But when he’s found dead and abused on the rail ..read more

Photo by Ena Marinkovic on Pexels.com Well done me – I’ve managed to post this on the correct day this week! Unlike Carla @Carlalovestoread, I haven’t been able to stay away from requesting books and have added seven to my bedside table this past week. I have seven requests pending, all but one for publication in 2024. I have a very mixed bag of titles this week. Anita Abriel is a new author to me, and I have to admit it was the cover that first attracted me. It’s 1927, and Helen Montgomery is coming of age on Philadelphia’s Main Line, where privileged young women are set for life. But Helen ..read more