The Bone Collection by Kathy Reichs

Dr Temperance Brennan thought she’d seen it all until she came across Bones in Her Pocket in the foothills of North Carolina.

Down in the Everglades Tempe investigates Swamp Bones­ – a grisly discovery in the stomach of an eighteen-foot Burmese python.

In the heights of Mount Everest a frozen corpse means Bones On Ice.

And First Bones gets under Tempe’s skin with the untold story of her first case and her decision to become a forensic anthropologist.

All the stories were ok, but nothing as good as her usual full length novels.  The bits about the number of people who die on Everest and how their bodies are left there was interesting.

7/10

Fortune and Glory: Tantalising 27 by Janet Evanovich

When Stephanie's beloved Grandma Mazur's new husband died on their wedding night, the only thing he left her was a beat-up old easy chair... and the keys to a life-changing fortune.
But as Stephanie and Grandma Mazur search for Jimmy Rosolli's treasure, they discover that they're not the only ones on the hunt. Two dangerous enemies from the past stand in their way-along with a new adversary who's even more formidable: Gabriela Rose, a dark-eyed beauty from Little Havana with a taste for designer clothes. She's also a soldier of fortune, a gourmet cook, an expert in firearms and mixed martial arts-and someone who's about to give Stephanie a real run for her money.
Stephanie may be in over her head, but she's got two things that Gabriela doesn't: an unbreakable bond with her family and a stubborn streak that will never let her quit.
She'll need both to survive because this search for "fortune and glory" will turn into a desperate race against time with more on the line than ever before. Because even as she searches for the treasure and fights to protect her Grandma Mazur, her own deepest feelings will be tested-as Stephanie could finally be forced to choose between Joe Morelli and Ranger.

Stephanie Plum continues to entertain. Two wrecked cars, a mammoth explosion, a fun treasure hunt and quirky characters.

I don't think she should have to choose between Morelli and Ranger, why can't she have both?

7/10

Sex With Kings by Eleanor Herman

Throughout the centuries, royal mistresses have been worshiped, feared, envied, and reviled. They set the fashions, encouraged the arts, and, in some cases, ruled nations. Sex with Kings takes us into the throne rooms and bedrooms of Europe's most powerful monarchs. Alive with flamboyant characters, outrageous humor, and stirring poignancy, this tale of passion and politics chronicles 500 years of scintillating women and the kings who loved them.

Curiously, the main function of a royal mistress was not to provide the king with sex but with companionship. Forced to marry repulsive foreign princesses, kings sought solace with women of their own choice. From Madame de Pompadour, the famous mistress of Louis XV, who kept her position for 19 years despite her frigidity, to modern-day Camilla Parker-Bowles, who usurped Diana, Princess of Wales.

The successful royal mistress made herself irreplaceable. She was ready to converse gaily with him when she was tired, make love until all hours when she was ill, and cater to his every whim. Wearing a mask of beaming delight over any and all discomforts, she was never to be exhausted, complaining, or grief-stricken.

Financial rewards for services rendered were of royal proportions - some earned up to $200 million in titles, pensions, jewels, and palaces. Some kings allowed their mistresses unlimited political power.

But for all its grandeur, a royal court was a scorpion's nest of insatiable greed, unquenchable lust, and vicious ambition. From the dawn of time, power has been a mighty aphrodisiac. With diaries, personal letters, and diplomatic dispatches, Eleanor Herman's trailblazing research reveals the dynamics of sex and power, rivalry and revenge, at the most brilliant courts of Europe. Sex with Kings is a chapter of women's history that has remained unwritten - until now.

Full of sex and drama. An interesting read about Royal mistresses and how their roles changed from 1066 to Charles and Camilla.

8/10

The Woolgrower's Companion by Joy Rhoades

Australia 1945. Until now Kate Dowd has led a sheltered life on Amiens, her family's sprawling sheep station in northern New South Wales. The horrors of war have for the most part left her untouched. But with her father succumbing to wounds he's borne since the Great War, the management of the farm is increasingly falling on Kate's shoulders. 

With only the sheep-rearing book The Woolgrower's Companion to guide her, Kate rises to the challenge. However, the arrival of two Italian POW labourers unsettles not only the other workers, but Kate too - especially when she finds herself drawn to the enigmatic Luca Canali. Then she receives devastating news. The farm is near bankrupt, and the bank is set to repossess. Given just eight weeks to pay the debt, Kate is now in a race to save everything she holds dear.

An enjoyable read but not one that I couldn't put down. The racism and sexism was so blatant and very noticeable. The setting on a sheep station in rural NSW was very familiar and well described.

8/10

The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides

Famous artist Alicia Berenson shoots her husband in the head five times and then never speaks again.

Five years later, forensic psychotherapist Theo Faber must find a way to get Alicia to talk if he wants to treat her. Only then can he unravel the shocking events of that tragic night five years before....

Oh wow!  Great read with a twist I didn't see coming.

10/10

When God Was A Rabbit by Sarah Winman

The story is based over time in Cornwall and New york. It concerns a young girl Elly and her idolised older brother, Joe, who is the only person to realise that his sister has been sexually abused. Joe's reaction to this shows his passion and determination to protect his sister from their neighbour. Their loving but flakey parents are bilissfully unaware. Elly's best friend is the product of a dysfunctional family, and eventually she vanishes from Elly's life. The novel changes timescale into the future and adult lives, and does so seamlessly. Joe is gay and lives in NYC. Elly is still his adored sister. Then Joe is involved in the 9/11 tragedy. Fear, relief and then a different kind of terror invade their lives. It is a book about relationships and love, about what can remain locked inside and how love can bring it to the surface.

A celebration of all that is enchanting, ordinary and exceptional. I really enjoyed this book.

“Memories no matter how small or inconsequential are the pages that define us.”

10/10

The Birdman's Wife by Melissa Ashley

Artist Elizabeth Gould spent her life capturing the sublime beauty of birds the world had never seen before. But her legacy was eclipsed by the fame of her husband, John Gould. The Birdman’s Wife at last gives voice to a passionate and adventurous spirit who was so much more than the woman behind the man.
Elizabeth was a woman ahead of her time, juggling the demands of her artistic life with her roles as wife, lover, helpmate, and mother to an ever-growing brood of children. In a golden age of discovery, her artistry breathed wondrous life into hundreds of exotic new species, including Charles Darwin’s famous Galapagos finches.
In The Birdman’s Wife, the naïve young girl who falls in love with a demanding and ambitious genius comes into her own as a woman, an artist and a bold adventurer who defies convention by embarking on a trailblazing expedition to collect and illustrate Australia’s ‘curious’ birdlife.

It was interesting to learn about John Gould's wife and her painting. She worked so hard while producing child after child (terrible times to be a woman)

I enjoyed it while I was reading it, but it didn't call to me to pick up and keep reading. Very slow paced and a bit too much detail on the killing and skinning of birds, some of which were already rare.

6/10

Under The Cold Bright Lights by Garry Disher

Since Alan Auhl came out of retirement the young detectives call him a retread. Some days he feels like one. Cheaply slapped together. Just about guaranteed to wear down quickly.

But he does things his own way and gets results—even if his cases are a bit colder now.

Like the skeleton that’s just been found under a concrete slab. Or the old farmer, dead five years, whose daughters still don’t believe it was an accident. Or the doctor who’s murdered two wives and a girlfriend and left no evidence at all.

Auhl will stick with these cases until justice is done. One way or another.

The justice one way or another is for the cop to kill the baddie if he can't get him through legal means.

I really enjoyed this Aussie murder mystery. This one was set in Melbourne and outer rural areas. I'll be looking for more by this author.

8/10

Dregs by Jorn Lier Horst

Chief Inspector William Wisting is an experienced policeman familiar with the dark side of human nature. He lives in challenging times for the Norwegian police force, meeting them with integrity and humanity, and a fragile belief that he can play a part in creating a better world. Dregs begins with a police report giving the place and time of the discovery of a training shoe washed up on the sand, containing a severed foot. Soon a second shoe is washed up, but it is another left foot. What is the explanation for this? Has there been some kind of terrible accident at sea? Does it indicate the killing and dismembering of two victims? Is there a link with the unsolved mystery of a number of disappearances in the Larvik area in recent months? In this gripping police procedural, Wisting gradually gets to the bottom of the mystery with the help of his all too human colleagues and his journalist daughter, Line.

A good, well paced mystery with clues given all through the story but it not all coming together until the end. There was a twist at the end, but it made sense.

7/10

Erotic Stories For Punjabi Widows by Balli Kaur Jaswal

When Nikki takes a creative writing job at her local temple, with visions of emancipating the women of the community she left behind as a self-important teenager, she's shocked to discover a group of barely literate women who have no interest in her ideals.

Yet to her surprise, the white dupatta of the widow hides more than just their modesty – these are women who have spent their lives in the shadows of fathers, brothers and husbands; being dutiful, raising children and going to temple, but whose inner lives are as rich and fruitful as their untold stories. But as they begin to open up to each other about womanhood, sexuality, and the dark secrets within the community, Nikki realises that the illicit nature of the class may place them all in danger.

It was slow to start. I wasn't sure I was going to get into it but about chapter 4 it grabbed me. A bit of a mystery about who killed a couple of young brides, a bit of romance and a look at Punjabi culture in London and adapting to a new life in a new world. It was also about how women become invisible as they age. Most of the erotic stories were good, but there are some things that different cultures find erotic.

8/10

The One Who Got Away by Caroline Overington

Loren Wynne-Estes appears to have it all: she's the girl from the wrong side of the tracks who's landed a handsome husband, a stunning home, a fleet of shiny cars and two beautiful daughters ...

Then one day a fellow parent taps Loren on the shoulder outside the grand school gate, hands her a note ... and suddenly everything's at stake.

Loren's Facebook-perfect marriage is spectacularly exposed -- revealing an underbelly of lies and betrayal. What is uncovered will scandalise a small town, destroy lives and leave a family divided. 

This was a really good mystery. Told from a few different points of view, the story slowly unfolded with a surprise twist at the end that I didn't see coming.

8/10

The Keeper of Lost Things by Ruth Hogan

Anthony Peardew is the keeper of lost things. Forty years ago, he carelessly lost a keepsake from his beloved fiancée, Therese. That very same day, she died unexpectedly. Brokenhearted, Anthony sought consolation in rescuing lost objects—the things others have dropped, misplaced, or accidently left behind—and writing stories about them. Now, in the twilight of his life, Anthony worries that he has not fully discharged his duty to reconcile all the lost things with their owners. As the end nears, he bequeaths his secret life’s mission to his unsuspecting assistant, Laura, leaving her his house and and all its lost treasures, including an irritable ghost.

Recovering from a bad divorce, Laura, in some ways, is one of Anthony’s lost things. But when the lonely woman moves into his mansion, her life begins to change. She finds a new friend in the neighbor’s quirky daughter, Sunshine, and a welcome distraction in Freddy, the rugged gardener. As the dark cloud engulfing her lifts, Laura, accompanied by her new companions, sets out to realize Anthony’s last wish: reuniting his cherished lost objects with their owners.

Long ago, Eunice found a trinket on the London pavement and kept it through the years. Now, with her own end drawing near, she has lost something precious—a tragic twist of fate that forces her to break a promise she once made.

A delightful, magical read. 
A bit of a mystery, a bit of romance, a bit of a ghost story and overall a story of love and life.

10/10

Three Hours Late by Nicole Trope

Once, so very long ago, she had watched him like this when he came to pick her up for a date. . . Her stomach fluttered and burned with infatuation and desire. She would watch him walk up the path and think, "This must be love." But that was so very long ago. Now Liz is wary and afraid. She has made a terrible mistake and it cannot be undone. Alex believes that today will be the day she comes back to him. Today will be the day his wife and young son finally come home. Today they will be a family again. But Liz knows that some things can never be mended. Some marriages are too broken. Some people are too damaged. Now the most important thing in her life is her son, Luke, and she will do anything in her power to protect him. So when Alex is a few minutes late bringing Luke back Liz begins to worry, and when he is an hour late her concern grows, and when he is later still she can feel her whole life changing, because what if Alex is not just late?

Got me hooked from the beginning and kept me guessing until the end.

9/10

Barbed Wire and Cherry Blossoms by Anita Heiss

Over 1000 Japanese soldiers break out of the No.12 Prisoner of War compound on the fringes of Cowra. In the carnage, hundreds are killed, many are recaptured, and some take their own lives rather than suffer the humiliation of ongoing defeat.

But one soldier, Hiroshi, manages to escape.

At nearby Erambie Station, an Aboriginal mission, Banjo Williams, father of five and proud man of his community, discovers Hiroshi, distraught and on the run. Unlike most of the townsfolk who dislike and distrust the Japanese, the people of Erambie choose compassion and offer Hiroshi refuge. Mary, Banjo’s daughter, is intrigued by the softly spoken stranger, and charged with his care.

For the community, life at Erambie is one of restriction and exclusion – living under Acts of Protection and Assimilation, and always under the ruthless eye of the mission Manager. On top of wartime hardships, families live without basic rights.

Love blossoms between Mary and Hiroshi, and they each dream of a future together. But how long can Hiroshi be hidden safely and their bond kept a secret?

A good story of the Cowra breakout and it shines a light on indigenous life at the time but it did drag out a bit and I didn't like the way the romance ended. She didn't wait for him.

7/10

Vigil by Angela Slatter

Verity Fassbinder “has her feet in two worlds” – that of the Normal, where there is definitely no magic and the only things that go bump in the night are trees in the wind and possums in the bins, and that of the Weyrd. With the Weyrd, things going bump in the night may well be very old, very cranky, and very powerful. Also, weird.

I was hooked by this story. A murder mystery with a tough kickass heroine, a mix of fantasy with a touch of romance and non stop action, this story was spellbinding and I could not put it down.

Really, really, really good!

I'm looking for the next in the series.

Gallow's View by Peter Robinson

Detective Chief Inspector Alan Banks has recently relocated with his family to the Yorkshire Dales from stressful London but soon finds that life in the countryside is not quite as idyllic as he had imagined.

Three cases come to the fore: a voyeur is terrorizing the women of Eastvale. Two thugs are breaking into homes, and an old woman is dead, possibly murdered. As the tension mounts, Banks must also deal with his attraction to a young psychologist Jenny Fuller, and when both Jenny and Banks's wife are drawn deeper into events Banks realises that his cases are weaving closer and closer together . . .

A very good mystery, or intertwined mysteries. It was amazing how dated the story felt. It was written in 1987 and brought home how much has changed in both technology and attitudes since then.

My Sister Lives on the Mantlepiece by Annabel Pitcher

To ten-year-old Jamie, his family has fallen apart because of the loss of someone he barely remembers: his sister Rose, who died five years ago in a terrorist bombing. To his father, life is impossible to make sense of when he lives in a world that could so cruelly take away a ten-year-old girl. To Rose's surviving fifteen year old twin, Jas, everyday she lives in Rose's ever present shadow, forever feeling the loss like a limb, but unable to be seen for herself alone.

A very moving, emotional story of hope.

The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver

Born in America and raised in Mexico, Harrison Shepherd is a liability to his social-climbing flapper mother, Salome. When he starts work in the household of Mexican artists Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo - where the Bolshevik leader, Lev Trotsky, is also being harboured as a political exile - he inadvertently casts his lot with art, communism and revolution. A compulsive diarist, he records and relates his colourful experiences of life with Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo and Trotsky in the midst of the Mexican revolution. A violent upheaval sends him back to America; but political winds continue to throw him between north and south, in a plot that turns many times on the unspeakable breach - the lacuna - between truth and public presumption.

Cleverly told in diary entries and letters. A compelling and memorable story.

Bones Never Lie by Kathy Reichs

For a decade, Temperance Brennan has been haunted by the one who got away. 

The killer of young women. The monster. 

And the one who has now come back. 

Feeding on fear, grief and rage.

Killing again. Killing girls.

Getting closer.

Coming for Tempe.

A good, twisty mystery. I had worked out how before the end. There was a romantic twist at the end that didn't really make sense but is possibly setting the scene for the next book.

Bangkok Wakes To Rain by Pitchaya Sudbanthad

A missionary doctor pines for his native New England even as he succumbs to the vibrant chaos of nineteenth-century Siam. A post-World War II society woman marries, mothers, and holds court, little suspecting her solitary fate. A jazz pianist in the age of rock, haunted by his own ghosts, is summoned to appease the house's resident spirits. In the present, a young woman tries to outpace the long shadow of her political past. And in a New Krungthep yet to come, savvy teenagers row tourists past landmarks of the drowned old city they themselves do not remember. Time collapses as these lives collide and converge, linked by the forces voraciously making and remaking the amphibious, ever-morphing capital itself.

In parts it was evocative of Bangkok. The sounds you hear walking the streets, the people (friendly and gracious on the outside, greedy and voracious inside), the food. Some vignettes were better than others. Some I didn't work out how they connected until later in the book.

Not a quick read. I frequently had to put it down and walk away for a bit.

The Last Migration by Charlotte McConaghy

How far you would you go for love? Franny Stone is determined to go to the end of the earth, following the last of the Arctic terns on what may be their final migration to Antarctica.

As animal populations plummet and commercial fishing faces prohibition, Franny talks her way onto one of the few remaining boats heading south. But as she and the eccentric crew travel further from shore and safety, the dark secrets of Franny’s life begin to unspool. A daughter’s yearning search for her mother. An impulsive, passionate marriage. A shocking crime. Haunted by love and violence, Franny must confront what she is really running towards – and from. 

It was a hauntingly beautiful story. Very sad at times but with hope at the end. I would love to know what happens next.

The timeline jumped around but was very easy to follow.

I'll be looking for more books by this author.

End of Days by Susan Ee

After a daring escape from the angels, Penryn and Raffe are on the run. They're both desperate to find a doctor who can reverse the twisted changes inflicted by the angels on Raffe and Penryn's sister. As they set off in search of answers, a startling revelation about Raffe's past unleashes dark forces that threaten them all. 

When the angels release an apocalyptic nightmare onto humans, both sides are set on a path toward war. As unlikely alliances form and strategies shift, who will emerge victorious? Forced to pick sides in the fight for control of the earthly realm, Raffe and Penryn must choose: Their own kind, or each other? 

The last book in the Penryn trilogy. A bit all over the place to make the neatly tied up ending fit.

Overall a nice, light, entertaining series.

World After by Susan Ee

Raffe hunts for his wings. Without them, he can't rejoin the angels, can't take his rightful place as one of their leaders. When faced with recapturing his wings or helping Penryn survive, which will he choose?

It's book 2 in the trilogy started with Angelfall. A really good instalment. Raffe and Penryn are falling in love, Penryn understands her little sister more and they are beginning to work out who the real baddies are and why. Now I just have to find book 3 to finish the story.

Angelfall by Susan Ee

It's been six weeks since the angels of the apocalypse destroyed the world as we know it. Only pockets of humanity remain.

Savage street gangs rule the day while fear and superstition rule the night.

When angels fly away with a helpless girl, her seventeen-year-old sister Penryn will do anything to get her back.

Including making a deal with the enemy.

I love the cover.

Action, suspense and romance in a very different end of the world as we know it.

I'm glad I've already got the next book.

So Many Books, So Little Time by Sara Nelson

Sometimes subtle, sometimes striking, the interplay between our lives and our books is the subject of this unique memoir by well-known publishing correspondent and self-described "readaholic" Sara Nelson. The project began as an experiment with a simple plan--fifty-two weeks, fifty-two books--that fell apart in the first week. It was then that Sara realized the books chose her as much as she chose them, and the rewards and frustrations they brought were nothing she could plan for. 

I loved this book. So much of what she said about reading and how it either reflects or influences my 'real life' rang true.

She echoed my thoughts on reading and books so well it seems as this book was written just for me.

A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World by C A Fletcher

My name's Griz. My childhood wasn't like yours. I've never had friends, and in my whole life I've not met enough people to play a game of football.

My parents told me how crowded the world used to be, but we were never lonely on our remote island. We had each other, and our dogs.

Then the thief came.

There may be no law left except what you make of it. But if you steal my dog, you can at least expect me to come after you.

An interesting character-driven adventure story set in a post-apocalyptic world about the love between a human and his dogs...topped with twists I I didn't see coming. Violent and confronting at times, but a brilliant ending.

Longbourn by Jo Baker

The servants take center stage in this irresistibly imagined belowstairs answer to Pride and Prejudice. While Elizabeth Bennet and her sisters fuss over balls and husbands, Sarah, their orphaned housemaid, is beginning to chafe against the boundaries of her class. When a new footman arrives at Longbourn under mysterious circumstances, the carefully choreographed world she has known all her life threatens to be completely, perhaps irrevocably, upended. 

Good beginning, very slow middle, good ending.

Nightshades by Melissa F Olson

Alex McKenna is the new Special Agent in Charge of the Chicago office of the Bureau of Paranormal Investigations―the division tasked with investigating crimes involving shades.

Or vampires, as they’re more widely known.

Children have been going missing, and agents are routinely being slaughtered. It’s up to McKenna, and some unlikely allies, to get to the bottom of the problem, and find the kids before it’s too late.

A quick, enjoyable read.

The Daughters of Mars by Tom Keneally

In 1915, Naomi and Sally Durance, two spirited Australian sisters, join the war effort as nurses, escaping the confines of their father’s farm and carrying a guilty secret with them. Amid the carnage, the sisters’ tenuous bond strengthens as they bravely face extreme danger and hostility—sometimes from their own side. There is great humor and compassion, too, and the inspiring example of the incredible women they serve alongside. In France, each meets an exceptional man, the kind for whom she might relinquish her newfound independence— if only they all survive.

Well researched, well written, more history than novel.

I was disappointed by the ending. He gave 2 alternate endings depending on which sister lived and which sister died of the Spanish Flu.  I would rather he just picked one sister to die.

There was a whole;e big thing of Sally's secret guilt all through the book, that in the end turned out to be nothing major. The story wouldn't have lost anything by that thread being left out.

The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams

In 1901, the word 'Bondmaid' was discovered missing from the Oxford English Dictionary. This is the story of the girl who stole it.

Esme is born into a world of words. Motherless and irrepressibly curious, she spends her childhood in the 'Scriptorium', a garden shed in Oxford where her father and a team of dedicated lexicographers are collecting words for the very first Oxford English Dictionary. Esme's place is beneath the sorting table, unseen and unheard. One day a slip of paper containing the word 'bondmaid' flutters to the floor. Esme rescues the slip and stashes it in an old wooden case that belongs to her friend, Lizzie, a young servant in the big house. Esme begins to collect other words from the Scriptorium that are misplaced, discarded or have been neglected by the dictionary men. They help her make sense of the world.

A wonderful, delightful read. It combined history, the story of words and romance in a way that was fascinating and emotional.  One of my top reads of the year.

The Vegetarian by Han Kang

Before the nightmare, Yeong-hye and her husband lived an ordinary life. But when splintering, blood-soaked images start haunting her thoughts, Yeong-hye decides to purge her mind and renounce eating meat. In a country where societal mores are strictly obeyed, Yeong-hye's decision to embrace a more “plant-like” existence is a shocking act of subversion. And as her passive rebellion manifests in ever more extreme and frightening forms, scandal, abuse, and estrangement begin to send Yeong-hye spiraling deep into the spaces of her fantasy. In a complete metamorphosis of both mind and body, her now dangerous endeavor will take Yeong-hye—impossibly, ecstatically, tragically—far from her once-known self altogether.

A fascinating read about a very strange and tragic life.  It is translated from Korean and set in Korea.  From the glimpse of Korean culture, it doesn't make me want to visit Korea. 

A man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman

At first sight Ove is almost certainly the grumpiest man you will ever meet. He thinks himself surrounded by idiots ... joggers, neighbours who can't reverse a trailer properly and shop assistants who talk in code. But isn't it rare, these days, to find such old-fashioned clarity of belief and deed?

The best book I have read in a long time. It made me laugh and cry.  Soooo good.

You gradually learn all about Ove, his childhood, how he met and married Sonja, the love of his life and the only person who ever understood him.  

The Redeemer by Jo Nesbo

Shots ring out at a Salvation Army Christmas concert in Oslo, leaving one of the singers dead in the street. The trail will lead Harry Hole, Oslo’s best investigator and worst civil servant, deep into the darkest corners of the city and, eventually, to Croatia. 

An assassin forged in the war-torn region has been brought to Oslo to settle an old debt. As the police circle in, the killer becomes increasingly desperate and the danger mounts for Harry and his colleagues.

A very entertaining read with a clever twist at the end I didn't see coming.

To The Sea by Christine Dibley

A dangerous yearning echoes through generations ...

On a clear summer's day, Detective Inspector Tony Vincent answers a call-out to an idyllic Tasmanian beach house. Surrounded by family and calm waters, seventeen-year-old Zoe Kennett has inexplicably vanished.

Four storytellers share their version of what has led to this moment, weaving tales which span centuries and continents. But Tony needs facts, not fiction: how will such fables lead him to Zoe and to the truth?

As Tony's investigation deepens, he is drawn into a world where myth and history blur, and where women who risk all for love must pay the price through every generation.

Not what I expected. Richer and more magical.

I loved recognising places in Tasmania. The interweaving of an Irish legend with a modern mystery was very well done.

This is a fabulous book.

The Secret Place by Tana French

Detective Stephen Moran has been waiting for his chance to join Dublin’s Murder Squad when sixteen-year-old Holly Mackey arrives in his office with a photo of a popular boy whose body was found at a girls’ boarding school a year earlier. The photo had been posted at “The Secret Place,” the school’s anonymous gossip board, and the caption says “I KNOW WHO KILLED HIM.” Stephen joins with Detective Antoinette Conway to reopen the case—beneath the watchful eye of Holly’s father, fellow detective Frank Mackey. With the clues leading back to Holly’s close-knit group of friends, to their rival clique, and to the tangle of relationships that bound them all to the murdered boy, the private underworld of teenage girls turns out to be more mysterious and more dangerous than the detectives imagined.

A cleverly written mystery.
Alternating chapters tell the story of the investigation in the first person from Stephen’s point of view and third person flashbacks from the kids tell us what really happened. 

The only negative is the teen angst.