REVIEW The Brothers, S.D. Hinton Review Written By Karen Chisholm Thursday, March 23, 2023 SD Hinton’s debut novel uses the structure of a thriller to explore myriad responses to trauma. Full review at Newtown Review of Books. BOOK DETAILS BOOK INFORMATION Author S.D. Hinton ISBN 9781460715208 Year of Publication 2022 BLURB An isolated house. A mysterious note. Someone is watching An isolated house. A mysterious note. Someone is watching ... An absorbing, atmospheric mystery about families, secrets and the bonds of brotherhood set on the Victorian south coast ..read more

REVIEW Dark Mode, Ashley Kalagian Blunt Review Written By Karen Chisholm Thursday, March 9, 2023 This fierce, unflinching thriller asks timely questions about threatening behaviour. Why don’t we recognise it? Stop it? - Full Review at Newtown Review of Books. Book Source Declaration I received a copy of this book from the publisher or author. BOOK DETAILS BOOK INFORMATION Author Ashley Kalagian Blunt ISBN 9781761152214 Year of Publication 2023 BLURB Once you’re online, there’s nowhere to hide Is it paranoia – or is someone watching? For years, Reagan Carsen ha ..read more

REVIEW Crows Nest, Nikki Mottram Review Written By Karen Chisholm Tuesday, February 28, 2023 This latest offering of Australian rural noir contrasts urban and small-town sensibilities from the perspective of a child protection officer.  Full review at Newtown Review of Books.   Book Source Declaration I received a copy of this book from the publisher or author. BOOK DETAILS BOOK INFORMATION Author Nikki Mottram ISBN 9780702265778 Year of Publication 2023 Series Dana Gibson Book Number (in series) 1 BLURB Fleeing problems in her own marriage, chil ..read more

REVIEW This Much is True, Miriam Margolyes Review Written By Karen Chisholm Tuesday, February 21, 2023 Sometime around 2012 we were lucky enough to catch Miriam Margolyes performing Dickens' Women at Her Majesty's Theatre in Ballarat. A one person show, with pianist, written by Margolyes and Sonia Fraser, she commanded the stage, effortlessly shifting through 23 different characters, based on or inspired by 21 women and 2 men in Dickens' novels. An admirer of Dickens work, at no stage did the performance shirk from the less savoury aspects of his life, his obsession with youthful ..read more

REVIEW The Death of John Lacey, Ben Hobson Review Written By Karen Chisholm Wednesday, February 15, 2023 As I was reading this novel, I was finishing the autobiography THIS MUCH IS TRUE by Miriam Margolyes in audio form and I was struck by the coincidence of some of the things that she says most powerfully and pointedly, about dehumanisation, the utter and abject cruelty of "Empire" and the way that it empowered, and continues to empower, entrenched racism. Add to that the question from Songlines: the Power and Promise, edited by Margo Neale - "What do you need to know to prosper ..read more

REVIEW The Cane, Maryrose Cuskelly Review Written By Karen Chisholm Tuesday, February 14, 2023 Maryrose Cuskelly's novel seems to have taken Arthur Conan Doyle’s maxim to heart: ‘When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.’ Full Review at:  Newtown Review of Books   Book Source Declaration I received a copy of this book from the publisher or author. BOOK DETAILS BOOK INFORMATION Author Maryrose Cuskelly ISBN 9781760879853 Year of Publication 2022 BLURB ONE MISSING GIRL. NO SUSPECTS. A TOWN AB ..read more

REVIEW The Honjin Murders, Seishi Yokomizo Review Written By Karen Chisholm Monday, February 13, 2023 First published in 1946, the story is set in the winter of 1937, in the Japanese village of Okamura. Steeped in both the culture and sensibility of the time, THE HONJIN MURDERS is a classic of Japanese crime fiction, a locked room murder in the style of the Golden Age of crime fiction worldwide. The grand, and influential family Ichiyanagi, are preparing for the wedding of the eldest son. It should be an auspicious event, but there is disquiet. The bride is the daughter of a fruit ..read more

REVIEW Murder in Williamstown, Kerry Greenwood Review Written By Karen Chisholm Friday, February 10, 2023 In the previous book in the long and much loved Phryne Fisher series, DEATH IN DAYLESFORD, author Kerry Greenwood felt it was time for the younger members of the Fisher household to do some investigating of their own. Not surprisingly Ruth, Jane and young Tinker turned out to quite the dab hands, and they continue their activities in number 22 in the series - MURDER IN WILLIAMSTOWN. Whilst the murder, and Phryne's latest dalliance do centre around the Melbourne bayside su ..read more

REVIEW The Gallerist, Michael Levitt Review Written By Karen Chisholm Monday, February 6, 2023 Author of THE GALLERIST, Michael Levitt, is a surgeon and health bureaucrat with a considerable list of scientific articles, medical books targeted at the general public and chapters in medical textbooks to his name. He's also an art collector, and has written numerous articles about art and artwork for a range of publications. This is his first work of fiction. The fictional Mark Lewis is an art lover and former surgeon, now running a small art gallery after the death of his much loved ..read more

REVIEW Wild Card, Simon Rowell Review Written By Karen Chisholm Tuesday, January 31, 2023 Will confess to being more than a bit pleased when WILD CARD, the second DS Zoe Mayer (and her service dog Harry) novel arrived. The initial outing - THE LONG GAME - had all the hallmarks of a long, and good series in the making, and the follow-up does nothing to dispel that belief. Starting out in a very atmospheric location (if you ignore the dead body lying in burnt-out grassland beside the banks of the Murray River), Mayer, Harry and Charlie Shaw have arrived from Melbourne in respon ..read more