Ann Byrne 
Reviewed by Celia Jelbart Arena: Allen and Unwin, 2015 Synopsis After finishing university, Amelia Bennett returns to her home town. Determined to lose her old reputation for being scatty, she works hard to prove herself as the treasurer of the local rodeo committee. Flushed with triumph on the evening of the best rodeo in the …
Review by Diana Olsberg Arena: Allen & Unwin, 2016 Synopsis When Ashleigh decides to flee her controlling husband, Dominic, she knows he’ll hunt her down. The only way to escape is to disappear and reinvent herself. Changing her name to Eliza and driving by night, she is drawn to the tiny rural town of Blinman. …
Review by Diana Olsberg Pan Macmillan Australia 2015 Synopsis Helicopter pilot Ellie Porter loves her job. Soaring above the glorious Kakadu National Park, she feels freed from the heavy losses of her beloved family farm and the questions around her father’s suicide. But when a search-and-rescue mission on the boundary of the older property reveals …
Review by Suzanne Bozorth-Baines Simon and Shuster 2016 Synopsis When environmental scientist Laura Alvarado is sent to a remote Antarctic island to report on an abandoned whaling station, she begins to uncover more than she could ever imagine. Reminders of the bloody, violent past are everywhere, and Laura is disturbed by evidence of recent human …
Review by Suzanne Bozorth-Baines Echo Publishing 2015 Synopsis It is a tragedy and a love story as well as a murder – the story of how celebrated interior designer Stuart Rattle met his untimely death, killed by his beloved and loving partner, Michael O’Neill. The bizarre circumstances were the talk of Melbourne society, design circles, …
Affirm Press 2015 Review by Suzanne Bozorth-Baines Synopsis n April 2012 a man was shot dead by police on a remote farm in New South Wales called the School of Happiness. The victim, who was high on a cocktail of drugs and who suffered from mental illness, had been threatening attendees of a hippie festival …
Random House Australia 2015 Review by Suzanne Bozorth-Baines Synopsis A group of six international travellers, two Italians, two Japanese, an American and an Australian, meet in empty apartments in Berlin to share stories and memories. Each is enthralled in some way to the work of Vladimir Nabokov, and each is finding their way in deep …
Bloomsbury Publishing 2016 Review by Phyllis King Synopsis Mrs Laetitia Rodd is the impoverished widow of an Archdeacon, living modestly in Hampstead with her landlady Mrs Bentley. She is also a private detective of the utmost discretion. In winter 1850, her brother Frederick, a criminal barrister, introduces her to Sir James Calderstone, a wealthy and …
Rebecca Thornton Twenty7 Books 2015 Review by: Phyllis King Synopsis In 1996, Josephine Grey and Freya Seymour are best friends and on the brink of great success. Both are students at the elite private school Greenwood Hall and Josephine, the daughter of the advisor to the Prime Minister, is heading for everything she has ever …
Canongate 2016 Reviewer: Lesley Vick Synopsis It’s 4am and Cathy Mason is watching dawn break over the Lovelace estate. By the end of the day, her community will be a crime scene. By the end of the week, her city will be on fire. A death at police hands has repercussions far beyond one family …