[rating: 4] “Treasury” is an apt description of this wonderful collection of over 40 short stories. Each of the stories is a real gem, unique and beautiful. Some are as subtle as aquamarines, or … [Read more...]

[rating: 2.5] Susan Duncan is no stranger to sea-side living: her best-selling memoirs A Life on Pittwater and Salvation Creek both touch on her experiences as a new resident in the coastal town of … [Read more...]

[rating: 3] How far would you go for love and when does it cross the line into obsession? The Hypnotist’s Love Story by Liane Moriarty tells the tale of a hypnotherapist named Ellen O’Farrell, her … [Read more...]

[rating: 4.5] This is an extremely well-crafted novel, one that will enthral and convert even the most reluctant of crime fiction readers. The arrival of an elderly American tourist in London … [Read more...]

[rating: 4] There’s a lot of pressure on any author who has been writing a series since they were 14 as Isobelle Carmody has. She began writing the first book in this series back then and the … [Read more...]

[rating: 4] Inspector Malcolm Fox is a man challenged by the past, on more than one level. Firstly, within the confines of this novel, he stumbles across a hushed-up 25-year-old mystery that his … [Read more...]

[rating: 4] Wood doesn’t hammer her themes but there is plenty to think about in this novel. As a sucker for books where the characters learn something, I recommend Animal People as a very satisfying … [Read more...]

[rating: 4] Di Morrisey immerses the reader in the world of the Australian Outback: raw, powerful, harsh and supremely beautiful. Highly recommended. In the land of the Opal hunters, there is so much … [Read more...]

[rating: 4] An extraordinary family secret links a seemingly ordinary Australian family to an exotic plantation in Malaysia. This story spans three generations of political upheaval and change in … [Read more...]

[rating: 4] Nora Roberts is the undisputed master of the romance but she might have just come up with a really clever concept this time. She outdid herself with the excellent Bride Quartet series and … [Read more...]

[rating: 4] Historical fiction often gets a bad rap, as lazy, ill researched, misleading and quite frankly trashy. Some of it is all these things — but some is not. When I first came across Philippa … [Read more...]

[rating: 4] Katie’s just lost her job and after a year of shocks and sadness as she recovers from the sudden death of her mother, she believes that she’s impervious to shock. So, when a solicitor … [Read more...]

[rating: 4.5] It’s worth saying straight up. Ian Hamilton’s character Ava Lee is one of the freshest takes in a saturated crime writing market. The petite Chinese-Canadian is part PI, part MacGyver, … [Read more...]

[rating: 4] When Ross Campbell introduces Andie as his “current wife”, it's the beginning of the end. After all, Andie was the “other woman” long before she became Ross's wife, and if the old adage … [Read more...]

The novel by Australian author Liz Byrski is set against a diverse backdrop. There is the legacy of The Push movement in Sydney contrasted with a pilgrimage walking the Camino de Santiago de … [Read more...]

[rating: 3.5] The Death Relic is pure adventure. The central characters Jonathan Payne and David Jones are called to Mexico to help out a past acquaintance who believes that she’s in … [Read more...]

[rating: 3.5] I was devastated, the way only a selfish reader can be, to learn that Stieg Larsson died soon after delivering the first three manuscripts for the Millenium series to his publisher. Yes, … [Read more...]

[rating: 3.5] As a sucker for corset-ripping historical drama but unfamiliar with the works of best-selling author Posie Graeme-Evans, I was quite excited by the prospect of tackling her most recent … [Read more...]

[rating: 3] I was pretty keen to read this book, billed as “the sensational lives and exploits of some of Australia’s most audacious women”. The author of this collection, Kay Saunders, is a highly … [Read more...]

[rating: 5] Whether you have visited one of her many wax museums or not, you will have no doubt heard of Madame Tussaud. And even if her life is something that has never crossed your mind before, you … [Read more...]

[rating: 4] No one likes it when terrible things happen to children. As a reader it just makes you squirm. You’ll squirm even more when you find out that Sienna Walker is accused of killing her own … [Read more...]

[rating: 3.5] To peruse the story of Mary Groves’ life is to step onto a rollicking rollercoaster which moves so fast you can barely catch your breath. The ripping yarns come thick and fast throughout … [Read more...]

[rating: 3] Sylvia Johnson’s 2011 novel Watch Out For Me, is a dramatic story beginning in Australia in 1967 and continuing through to the present. It follows the story of two sisters, their older … [Read more...]

[rating: 4.5] We’re not stupid, readers know there is a structure to most romances. Specifically Historical Romance. They usually involve a few raunchy scenes, a splash of mystery, a dilemma which … [Read more...]

[rating: 4] This lovely book crept up on me. I was initially worried it would be what US publishers call a ‘cosy’ — a warm and fuzzy story without much real tension. And, in fact, it has many ‘cosy’ … [Read more...]

[rating: 4] I was captivated by Miranda Kennedy’s account of her time in India, her experiences as a “feringhee”- a foreigner, and more significantly, as a woman on her own, living the life of a local … [Read more...]

[rating: 4.5] I loved this book. I just wanted to be able to say that first. Belle is a fifteen year old girl, living in her mother’s brothel in Seven Dials with dreams of being a milliner. Until she … [Read more...]