The Light on the Water – Olga Lorenzo

Allen and Unwin 2016 Reviewer: Jacquie Byron   Synopsis  Recently divorced and trying to make sense of her new life, Anne takes her daughter Aida on an overnight bushwalk in the moody wilderness of Wilsons Promontory. In a split second, Aida disappears and a frantic Anne scrambles for help. Some of the emergency trackers who …

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Sunset Shadows – Bronwyn Parry

Hachette Australia, 2016 Reviewer: Jessie Byrne, Synopsis For police officers Steve Fraser and Tess Ballard, a split-second decision saves the lives of fifty members of a cult ­- but also puts their careers on the line. Tess’s work is everything to her; she’s forged a new life through sheer determination, so when her past returns …

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The Red Hunter – Lisa Unger

Simon and Schuster, 2017 Reviewer: Caroline de Costa Synopsis Claudia Bishop’s perfect life fell apart when the aftermath of a brutal assault left her with a crumbling marriage, a newborn daughter, and a constant sense of anxiety about the world around her. Now, looking for a fresh start with a home restoration project and growing …

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Lady Helen and the Dark Days Club – Alison Goodman

Angus & Robertson, 2016 Reviewer: Kate Russell   Synopsis London, April 1812. On the eve of eighteen-year-old Lady Helen Wrexhall’s presentation to the queen, one of her family’s housemaids disappears-and Helen is drawn into the shadows of Regency London. There, she meets Lord Carlston, one of the few who can stop the perpetrators: a cabal …

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Charlatan – Catherine Jinks

Vintage Books, 2017 Reviewer: Emma Goodwin   Synopsis Thomas Guthrie Carr was charged by Eliza Gray with mesmerising her and raping her while she was under his influence. But if mesmerism and Mr Carr were shams, was Eliza really raped? With a driving narrative and novelistic pacing, this scrupulously researched account of the life of …

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All by Myself, Alone – Mary Higgins

Simon & Schuster Copyright © Nora Durkin Enterprises, Inc 2017 Reviewer: Lesley Vick Synopsis Fleeing the humiliating arrest of her husband-to-be on the eve of their wedding, Celia Kilbride, a gems and jewellery expert, hopes to escape form public attention by lecturing on a brand-new cruise ship, the Queen Charlotte. On board she meets eighty-six-year-old …

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The Dark Lake

Author: Sarah Bailey Publisher/Year: Allen & Unwin 2017   Synopsis A beautiful young teacher has been murdered, her body found in the lake, strewn with red roses. Local policewoman Detective Sergeant Gemma Woodstock pushes to be assigned to the case, concealing the fact that she knew the murdered woman in high school years before. But …

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Heart Breaker – Shannon Curtis

Mira Copyright © Shannon Curtis 2017 Reviewer: Lesley Vick Synopsis Harmony Talbot’s world is destroyed when she arrives home and discovers her cousin’s dead body, left with a single white rose as the killer’s calling card. Lightning should not strike twice, but his is the second unsolved murder in Harmony’s family. Harmony is determined that …

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Malin Persson Giolito – Quick Sand

Simon and Schuster 2017 Review by Dorothy Johnston Synopsis: A mass shooting has taken place at a school in Stockholm’s wealthiest suburb. The narrator of Quicksand, Maja Norberg, is eighteen years old and on trial for her involvement in the massacre where her boyfriend and best friend were killed. When the novel opens, Maja has …

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Emma Viskic – And Fire Came Down

  Echo publishing August 2017 Reviewer: Hazel Edwards   Synopsis Deaf since early childhood, Caleb Zelic is used to meeting life head-on. Now, he’s struggling just to get through the day. His best mate is dead, his ex-wife, Kat, is avoiding him, and nightmares haunt his waking hours. But when a young woman is killed, …

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