The Burden of Lies by Richard Beasley

Self-made property mogul Tina Leonard has already lost her business, her home and custody of her children because South East Banking Corporation left her bankrupt. Now it appears she is being framed for the murder of her banker Oliver Randall, a senior executive of the corporation. Her motive? Revenge for ruining her life and her business.

When maverick lawyer Peter Tanner is brought in to represent Tina, he bends the law to learn the truth. Was the real killer employed by the bank to silence Randall, who knew too much about their corrupt clientele and business dealings?

As Tanner digs deeper the truth is harder and harder to find. Drug dealers and dodgy cops are a breed apart from corrupt corporate bankers, who’ll do anything to keep their names in the clear.

This was a good, twisty legal thriller. I liked the author being Australian and the book being mainly set in Sydney. At least I recognised the names of suburbs.

8/10

A Cup of Light by Nicole Mones

Lia Frank, an appraiser of fine Chinese porcelain, is sent from New York to Beijing to catalogue and appraise a rare collection of twenty pieces. At the private house she has been given to work in, however, she finds eight hundred pieces, many originating from the imperial porcelain collection.As Lia examines her treasure, she finds herself drawn into the underworld of Chinese art. From the slightly shady Hollywood Road antique district in Hong Kong, to the professional underworld smugglers who move art illegally out of the mainland; from the rich Western art lovers who don't ask questions, to the Chinese museum officials who want to bring back every piece taken out by Western marauders, each player in the game carries his own secret. It's Lia's job to find the truth.

An enjoyable read with interesting characters,  a unique story and an intriguing look inside Chinese culture.

7/10

The Lives of Stella Bain by Anita Shreve

Hauled in a cart to a field hospital in northern France in March 1916, an American woman wakes from unconsciousness to the smell of gas gangrene, the sounds of men in pain, and an almost complete loss of memory: she knows only that she can drive an ambulance, she can draw, and her name is Stella Bain. 

A stateless woman in a lawless country, Stella embarks on a journey to reconstruct her life. Suffering an agonising and inexplicable array of symptoms, she finds her way to London. There, Dr August Bridge, a cranial surgeon turned psychologist, is drawn to tracking her amnesia to its source. What brutality was she fleeing when she left the tranquil seclusion of a New England college campus to serve on the Front; for what crime did she need to atone - and whom did she leave behind?

Really lovely story that gradually unfolds. She finds out about her old life and makes a new one. A touching story with an unpredictable, but perfect ending.

8/10

Three Sisters, Three Queens by Philippa Gregory

When Katherine of Aragon is brought to the Tudor court as a young bride, the oldest princess, Margaret, takes her measure.  With one look, each knows the other for a rival, an ally, a pawn, destined – with Margaret’s younger sister Mary – to a sisterhood unique in all the world. The three sisters will become the queens of England, Scotland and France.

United by family loyalties and affections, the three queens find themselves set against each other.  Katherine commands an army against Margaret and kills her husband James IV of Scotland. But Margaret’s boy becomes heir to the Tudor throne when Katherine loses her son. Mary steals the widowed Margaret’s proposed husband, but when Mary is widowed it is her secret marriage for love that is the envy of the others. As they experience betrayals, dangers, loss and passion, the three sisters find that the only constant in their perilous lives is their special bond, more powerful than any man, even a king.

The story of the first of Henry VIII's wives and his 2 sisters. It was told through the eyes of Margaret, his older sister. She whinged a lot. It was very well researched and well written.

7/10

The Lamplighters by Emma Stonex

Cornwall, 1972. Three lighthouse keepers vanish from a remote rock, miles from the shore. The entrance door is locked from the inside. The clocks have stopped. The Principal Keeper’s weather log describes a mighty storm, but the skies have been clear all week.

What happened to those three men, out on the tower? The heavy sea whispers their names. Black rocks roll beneath the swell, drowning ghosts. Can their secrets ever be recovered from the waves?

Twenty years later, the women they left behind are still struggling to move on. Helen, Jenny and Michelle should have been united by the tragedy, but instead it drove them apart. Now, they have a chance to tell their side of the story. But only in confronting their darkest fears can the truth begin to surface . . . 

Everybody has secrets. A very atmospheric, twisty mystery.

My favourite quote from the book "What I show people and what I am - that's two separate things."

8/10

Under The Jewelled Sky by Alison McQueen

Sophie Schofield travels out to India with her doctor father and vicious mother shortly before India's independence - her father has taken a job working for the Maharajah of a small state in the hope of making a fresh start post-World War II and saving his marriage. Soon after her arrival Sophie meets Jagaan ('Jag'), the son of one of the Maharajah's most trusted servants, and they fall passionately in love. But Jag is an Indian, expected to make a marriage within his own caste, and Sophie a British girl in an India where the British are beginning to leave - how can such a love end well? Ten years later, Sophie returns to India, as the wife of diplomat Lucien Grainger. She has tried to tell herself for years that the past is behind her, and that she's made a fresh start. But she can't forget Jagaan. Nor can she ignore the fact that her glamorous marriage is not turning out the way it should, and that Lucien is far from a good husband...

Well written, interesting book. I don't like sad endings though.

7/10

What Alice Forgot by Lianne Moriarty

When Alice Love surfaces from a beautiful dream to find she's been injured in a gym, she knows that something is very wrong - she hates exercise. Alice's first concern is her baby, she's pregnant with her first child, and she's desperate to see her husband, Nick, who she knows will be worried about her.

But Alice isn't pregnant. And Nick isn't worried. Alice is the mother of three children and her hostile husband is in the process of divorcing her. Alice has lost ten years of her life.

Alice's sister Elisabeth, who seems uncharacteristically cold, drives her home from the hospital. And home is totally unrecognisable, as is the rest of her life. Who is this Gina that everyone is carefully trying not to mention? Why does her mother look like she's wearing fancy dress? And what's all this talk about a giant lemon meringue pie?

In the days that follow, small bubbles of the past rise to the surface, and Alice is forced to confront uncomfortable truths. It turns out forgetting might be the most memorable thing that's ever happened to her.

A good read. I skipped most of the journal entries from her grandmother, they didn't have much to do with the story. The whole mystery of Gina thing was pushed to it's limits. The rekindled relationship with her almost ex-husband was the best bit of the book.

7/10