The Scandalous Life of Sacha Torte – Lesley Truffle

Harper Collins 2017 Reviewer: Kerry James Synopsis In the winter of 1912 on the wild West Coast of Tasmania, Wolfftown’s most notorious heiress and murderess, Sasha Torte, tells the tale of her own spectacular downfall. Forsaken by her parents and raised by criminals and reprobates, Sasha becomes a world-famous pastry chef at the tender age …

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The Plot Thickens and Danger Ahead by – R. A. Spratt

Random House Australia 2016 & 2017 Reviewed by  Sandra Nicholson Synopsis: The Plot Thickens Friday Barnes is being attacked on all fronts! When Friday Barnes gets involved in her frenemy Ian Wainscott’s family dispute, it appears her knack for uncovering the truth may ruin their friendship once and for all. Highcrest Academy is no longer …

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House of Bones – Annie Hauxwell

2016 Arrow Books Reviewer: Sandra Nicholson   Synopsis: 1961. In the drawing room of an imposing Hong Kong residence, a British lord brutally assaults a young Chinese boy. His grandson watches, helpless.  But he will never forget. Wapping, London, present day.  It’s a warm spring in the capital, and heroin addict Catherine Berlin feels the …

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The Adventure of the Colonial Boy – Narrelle M Harris

2016 Improbable Press Ltd. UK Reviewer: Kerry James Synopsis 1893. Dr Watson, still in mourning for the death of his great friend Sherlock Holmes, is now triply bereaved, with his wife Mary’s death in childbirth. Then a telegram from Melbourne, Australia intrudes into his grief. “Come at once if convenient.” Both suspicious and desperate to …

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Rattle – Fiona Cummins

2017 Pan Macmillan Reviewer: Kerry James Synopsis A psychopath more frightening than Hannibal Lecter. He has planned well. He leads two lives. In one he’s just like anyone else. But in the other he is the caretaker of his family’s macabre museum. Now the time has come to add to his collection. He is ready …

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What Dark Clouds Hold – Anne Holt

2017 Corvus Paperback Reviewer: Kerry James Synopsis On a summer’s day, Johanne Vik arrives at the home of her friends Jon and Ellen Mohr ready to celebrate their young son’s birthday. What greets Johanne on her arrival is a scene of devastation: the boy was left unattended and when he climbed a ladder he fell …

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What You Don’t Know- JoAnn Chaney

2017 Flatiron Books Reviewer: Anne Buist Synopsis Another debut author I was asked to review, this book starts in Denver, Colorado, in 2008/9 with a serial killer investigation, but after fifty pages brings you into current time (well, 2015) when murders start occurring that look like the original – even though the perpetrator is behind …

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Eyes like Mine – Sheena Kamal

2017 Allen and Unwin Reviewer: Anne Buist Synopsis The call comes in just after five in the morning. I am immediately on guard because everyone knows that nothing good ever happens before seven. I’ve never heard the name Everett Walsh before, but according to him I may know something about a missing girl. Nora is …

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Mima – Shirley Eldridge

2016 Short Stop Press Reviewer: Kerry James Synopsis Author Shirley Eldridge and Mima Joan McKim-Hill were friends and colleagues working for the Capricornia Regional Electricity Board in Rockhampton in 1967 when Mima disappeared while on the job. She had been abducted, raped and murdered and her body abandoned. Shirley tells this deeply personal story, starting …

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To Hell and Back – Carolyn Pethick

2016 SidHarta Publishers Reviewer: Kerry James Synopsis To Hell and Back’ is a memoir detailing one policewoman’s trials and tribulations working within the ranks of the Victoria Police Force from the early 1980’s to the present day. Despite numerous instances of harassment, false accusations and character assassinations, the member still manages to maintain her sanity …

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