Book Review No 10: Bay Of Fires by Poppy Gee

Bay of Fires in Tasmania is a place where people come every summer to enjoy a simple beach holiday either in their own shack or at the campground. Quiet, idyllic and isolated it seems like a very unlikely place for a murder. Yet in the space of just over a year two young women (of remarkably similar appearance) have met with foul play. Young surfer Chloe simply disappeared without a trace after telling her family she was going surfing and Swiss backpacker Anja's body was discovered washed up on the beach on Boxing Day. Suddenly the close knit community is on edge - people are locking doors and watching their backs, something they've never had to do before.

Sarah Avery has just arrived back in her home state after a stint living and working in Queensland. It is obvious she is seeking solace in her family's beach shack, yet she is unwilling to talk about what caused her to leave her boyfriend and the job she loved at a Barramundi farm. Choosing to spend a lot of time fishing alone or swimming in the freezing waters of the nearby beach and lagoon, Sarah is working hard to bury her recent troubled past. It is only when she strikes up a friendship with journalist Hall Flynn (who is covering the murder mystery) that she begins to let her guard down.

Book Review No 9: Paper Chains by Nicola Moriarty

Hannah is not your usual twenty-something Australian living in London. Unlike the thousands of other travellers and working holidayers that make the city home for a time while they party their way around Europe, Hannah spends her nights alone in her flat and her days off jogging all over the city to the point of exhaustion. By a stroke of fate she meets fellow Aussie India, who is as outgoing and fun loving as Hannah is serious and reclusive. Although an unlikely friendship it flourishes and enriches the lives of both the young women in amazing ways.

It doesn't take long for India to work out that Hannah is hiding a secret and she makes it her mission to discover and get it sorted out - after all in her own words "everything is fixable". In the meantime India is dealing with her own matters of the heart. Although she has adopted a "here for a good time not a long time" attitude to travel and the people she meets along the way, India can't stop thinking about Simon who she met in Greece and continues to correspond with via an unorthodox method that sees her letters hand transported via other travellers. Yet a secret of her own keeps her from following her heart and committing to a relationship with him.

Book Review No 8: Web Of Deceit by Katherine Howell

Initially it seems like just another routine call out for busy Sydney paramedics Jane and Alex - a single vehicle car accident with only minor injuries. Although sympathetic towards the victim (who claims to have been chased by a stalker), it appears he has some kind of psychological problem and the pair can only deliver him to hospital before continuing onto their next call. It is not until several hours later when they are called to a fatal train accident that they realise it is the same victim and this time he is dead. Although they have many issues of their own to deal with, Jane and Alex can't help but be drawn into the web of intrigue the accident leaves behind.

Getting That Second Book Finished

It is always a great compliment when a reader finishes your book and asks, 'So when is your next book coming out?'

What is not so great is when you don't have a firm date to give them. Even though authors generally hate marketing their product, you can't help but realise you have lost a marketing opportunity by not having another product to offer an interested customer.

I was interviewed recently for a newspaper article and the journalist was very interested to know when my next book would be published. Thinking on my feet I answered, 'Hopefully by the end of the year.'

Seeing the interview in print I decided that December 2013 is officially my deadline for my next book. No more vague, 'I'm not really sure....' answers - December it is! 

It's not like I'm starting from scratch - I am working on it. I've just let it be pushed aside by the demands of my day job(s) and the constant push trying to promote my first book The Beach House. But that is no longer an excuse - I'm on a mission. My fifteen year old niece has recently taken to asking me (increasingly bluntly) how much work I've done on my new book. I'm onto it Charlotte, I promise!

Unlike The Beach House, I have not yet decided on a title.....I'm hoping it will come to me soon as I get more involved in this new book and let TBH take a back seat for a while (in my mind at least - for readers I very much hope it stays front seat!). 

I'm looking forward to having a new book on my bookshelf page on my website very soon.

Watch this space - I'll keep you posted.

Book Review No 7: The Distant Hours by Kate Morton

Edie Burchill is an only child, who shares a civil but emotionally distant relationship with her parents. At their home on a duty visit one day, she witnesses her mother's unusual reaction to a letter delivered in the post. Lost for fifty years, it has finally found it's way to it's rightful owner and in doing so introduces Edie to a mystery that turns her life upside down.

During the war Edie's mother Meredith was evacuated to Milderhurst Castle in Kent. Taken under the wing of the youngest of the three Blythe sisters, Juniper, Meredith flourishes in the literary environment. Juniper herself is a writer, as is her sister Seraphina - although the true literary star is their father Raymond, who penned the classic story The True History Of The Mud Man (which in turn is Edie's favourite childhood book). While at Milderhurst Meredith dares to dream she might finish he education and perhaps even attend university. Yet, instead she returns to her London home and finishes school early to take an office job. Edie is shocked to discover this side to her mother and through both circumstance and choice sets out to uncover the true mystery of Milderhurst and the Blythe sisters (who still live there in their senior years).

Book Review No 6: The House Of Memories by Monica McInerney

From her early childhood Ella has shared a close bond with her eccentric Uncle Lucas (and his house in London). So it is only natural that she finds herself there following a personal tragedy that has ripped her life apart. 

Ella and husband Aiden were loving their life in Canberra until a spur of the moment decision one day results in a terrible accident. Unwilling to see the point of view of Aiden and her spoilt half sister Jess, Ella takes off, believing that being constantly on the move will prevent her from drowning in grief.

Book Review No 5: Sisters Of Mercy by Caroline Overington

I have come to expect (and really enjoy) Caroline Overington's unique storytelling style and was definitely not disappointed with her latest novel Sisters of Mercy.

Snow Delaney has been jailed for a series of sickening crimes against the children entrusted in her care and after reading a newspaper article about her case she begins a correspondence with the journalist Jack Fawcett. Although unorthodox (and possibly unethical)he continues to stay in touch with Snow, hoping to also get to the bottom of the mysterious disappearance of Snow's long lost sister Agnes. As it typical of Overington, it takes some time to get to the plot depicted on the blurb and the story is mainly told through the eyes of the third party (Jack).

Book Review No 4: I Came To Say Goodbye by Caroline Overington

Having read other titles by Caroline Overington, I knew that it would take some time to get to the storyline described on the blurb of this book. That is not a criticism, just an acknowledgement that she writes in a distinctive style that is quite unique in Australian fiction. Whatever her reasons for choosing to portray her stories through the eyes of a third party (involved in the story but not the main protagonist), it is a literary device that works fantastically for her.

In I Came To Say Goodbye, Overington has used the voice of a 60 year old male Meredith (Med). As the father of Donna-Faye (who goes by the unfortunate nickname Fat), he meticulously plots the back story that leads to the abduction of a female child from a hospital in the Sydney suburb of Parramatta. 

Book Review No 3: The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton

Having recently read and loved Kate Morton's latest 'The Secret Keeper', I was eager to read another one of her books. Going by reviews The Forgotten Garden seemed to be the most loved of her other titles, so I was very excited to get stuck into it. And what a treat it was - again Kate Morton has created a literary masterpiece in the historical fiction genre she has made her own.

In 1914 a young girl is found abandoned on a ship recently docked in Maryborough, Australia. The kindly wharf master takes the girl home and despite his best efforts to locate her family, he can find no trace of them. To complicate matters the young girl insists she does not know her own name or offer any kind of information about her family. Growing to love the child, the wharf master and his wife (who have battled infertility) decided to move to Brisbane and make a fresh start, unofficially adopting the young girl they name Nell.

Book Review No 2 AWW2013: The Secret Keeper - Kate Morton

When sixteen year old Laurel witnesses a shocking event in the summer of 1961, her life is immediately altered. Suddenly nothing in her world is safe and sure anymore and she makes a hasty escape to the bright lights of London, leaving her loving (if slightly annoying) family behind.

Fifty years later Laurel (now a well known actress) and her sibling are reunited as they nurse their elderly mother through her final days. Knowing she would want to die at home, they agree to take her back to the family home in rural England. It is only when back here that Laurel decides it is finally time to face the past and untangle the mystery that has haunted her for half a century.