My Book Reviews

Book Review – S IS FOR SILENCE by Sue Grafton

This is the second novel by Sue Grafton that I have read. I thoroughly enjoyed B is for Burglar when I read it over a year ago and was looking forward to reading another Kinsey Millhone mystery.

Unfortunately S is for Silence didn’t live up to expectations for me. The murder mystery story itself was quite good, with a reasonably complex plot with clues gradually unveiled through flashbacks from multiple characters viewpoints. For me however, the element I most enjoyed in B is for Burglar, the personal touch of PI Kinsey Millhone, was somehow lacking this time round. Rather than being a central figure, she seemed to play a lesser role in this novel.

Book Review – QUEEN OF THE FLOWERS by Kerry Greenwood

Kerry Greenwood’s everlasting protagonist Phryne Fisher, femme fatale private investigator is a woman who knows what she wants and how to get. She has a taste for the finer things in life, be they food, drink, apparel, cars or men.

What makes such a character all the more appealing is the setting in which we find her – St Kilda, Victoria Australia in the 1920s. She speaks her mind and uses her enviable charms to get away with doing so. She takes a somewhat liberal attitude to the achievement of justice for those causes she takes under her wing. Although Phryne is considered ‘fast’ by many, she has a strong moral code very much ahead of her time. She dotes on her two adopted daughters and is the perfect host to all those that enter her household.

NEGATIVE IMAGE by Vicki Delany, Book Review: Cosy charm

I was pleasantly surprised at how many plot lines Vicki Delany has managed to weave into Negative Image, a novel of less than 300 pages. Murder, extortion, a string of burglaries, a stalker and a personal tragedy are all on the bill.

Vicki Delany’s prose is unpretentious and easy to read – her focus is telling a compelling story.

Book Review – MUSIC OF CHANCE by Paul Auster

Paul Auster’s Music of Chance is a story of both absurdity and intensity that will keep you guessing.
Add together two screw-ups, Nashe and Pozzi, chancing their luck at a game of poker with two eccentric millionaires, Flower and Stone, who just happen to want to build a stone wall in a field on their estate and you have the basic plot of Auster’s Music of Chance. Although this is the first title of Auster’s I have read, I think it is probably safe for me to say that Auster’s bizarre plots are merely vehicles through which much deeper stories are told.

My first ever guest post – Tolstoy!

Well, I’ve finally done it – here’s a link to my first ever guest post!

It’s my musings on what Leo Tolstoy, the person, was like based on my reading of his great work Anna Karenina – using a lot of poetic licence. Check it out – you’ll see what I mean. :)

A huge thank you to Amanda at Desert Book Chick for allowing me to be part of her Classics Month.

Book Review – GONE by Lisa Gardner

BOOK RATING: The Writing 3 / 5 ; The Story 4 / 5 BOOK DETAILS: Gone (The Book Depository), Gone (Amazon) Book Synopsis Ex-FBI profiler Pierce Quincy has just been thrown into his worst nightmare. A car has been found abandoned,…

Four Fast Reviews – Peters, Marquez, Unger and Fluke

When my reviews outstanding hit four I have decided I just have to stop procrastinating on the perfect way to describe my feelings about the books and post my thoughts quickly otherwise I will never keep up with my reading pile! So…

SHIVA’S ARMS by Cheryl Snell, Book Review + Author Interview

BOOK RATING: The Story 4 / 5 ; The Writing 4 / 5 BOOK DETAILS: Shiva’s Arms (Amazon), Shiva’s Arms (The Book Depository) BOOK SYNOPSIS: Is there a happy medium between Hindu tradition and American style, or does the battle of wills between a…

Book Review – A GUIDE TO THE BIRDS OF EAST AFRICA by Nicholas Drayson

Do not be fooled by the title that sounds like a dusty reference tome, the fictional work A Guide to the Birds of East Africa by Nicholas Drayson is at its heart a charming old fashioned love story with depth and intelligence.

Book Review – WANTING by Richard Flanagan

BOOK REVIEW Evocative. Wanting by Richard Flanagan is a story that will move even the most hardened of souls. Flanagan dares to ask the question, what is the difference between a savage and one that is civilized? This is a…

SIREN by Tara Moss, Book Review: A sassy, sexy thriller

Siren is a sassy, sexy thriller. Tara Moss’s much anticipated fifth novel in her Vanderwall thriller series lives up to expectations and as always leaves her fans gasping for more. Although I do not know the author personally, her public persona appears…

Book Review – DAVID GOLDER by Irene Nemirovsky

BOOK RATING: The Story 4 / 5; The Writing 5 / 5 BOOK DETAILS: David Golder (The Book Depository), David Golder (Amazon) BOOK REVIEW: Absorbing. David Golder, published in France in 1929 was Irene Nemirovsky’s break out novel. In it…

Book Review – MANIC STREETS OF PERTH by Dave Franklin

BOOK RATING: The Story 4 / 5 ; The Writing 4 / 5 BOOK DETAILS: Manic Streets of Perth (Amazon) BOOK REVIEW: Original and darkly comical, Manic Streets of Perth is a tale that is sure to make anyone laugh in…

A HOUSE TO LET by Dickens, Collins, Gaskell & Proctor, Book Review

What’s not to love about an inquisitive elderly lady playing Miss Marple? A House To Let, a collaboration between some of the greatest classic British authors Charles Dickens, Wilkie Collins, Elizabeth Gaskell and Adelaide Anne Proctor, is your quintessential cosy mystery. It comes from a time where deception and intrigue were enough to underpin a compelling story – no blood or murder were necessary.

Book Review – SICK PUPPY by Carl Hiaasen

Irresistibly irreverent. The title of Carl Hiaasen’s novel Sick Puppy, says it all really. Having just come from reading some dystopian fiction, this novel’s black humour was a real ‘cleansing of the palate’ for me. While black humour is not everyone’s cup of tea, I think Hiaasen does in his novels what we all wish we could do in everyday life once in a while – say what we really think, politically correct or otherwise!

Book Review – HAMLET by John Marsden

Disappointing. I try to start each of my reviews with one word that sums up my feelings about the book, and unfortunately in this case that word is not a positive one. If Marsden’s goal was simply to retell the original Hamlet in language more accessible to young adults, he has achieved that. However in my opinion Marsden did not deviate far enough from the original Hamlet to make this retelling that worthwhile.

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