Literary Brooding

The Revenge of Rita Marsh Nilesha Chauvet Expected publication: July 2, 2024 by Faber & Faber Rita Marsh runs an aged care centre during the day, that was left to her after the demise of her parents. Rita cares about her those she has a responsibility for and tries to make their lives better. However, everyone has a side hustle these days and for Rita well she tracks down, ensnares, and exposes pedophiles. Leading a double life can take its toll, especially when you are engaging with men who want to perform depraved acts. When a takedown goes wrong, Rita rethinks the personal toll, decides to back away and heal. Yet, the school reunion brings back bad memories and accusations of a former teacher, now famous novelist abusing girls at the school pushes Rita back into action. Especially when one of the victims is her best friend and romantic interest, Leila. The difficulty with the book is that you always feel uncomfortable, never at ease as you read. Don’t be thinking this a cosy rea...

The Tea Ladies Amanda Hampson 384 pages, Penguin Books first published 2023  The Tea Ladies is set in Sydney, NSW in 1965 and centres on a group of women who see all, hear all and are pretty much ignored by most.  Hazel Bates on her way to work, briefly sees a young woman in distress peering out the window of an abandoned building, which later burns down. For Hazel, along with Irene and Betty decide to try and solve the mystery but things take a turn for the worse when they discover a dead body and the danger levels increase. What follows is the Tea Ladies using their contacts and nous to solve a crime the police cannot.  Hampson has crafted a world which rings true, with characters that are quite believable and come fully formed. They have detailed back histories that is slowly revealed through the story.  Hazel who the central character is complex and apparent from solving a crime has to deal with personal issues that just may derail everything. Hazel, is not perfe...

Orlam  PJ Harvey  301 pages, Hardcover, First published January 1, 2022   Orlam, is a poetic story told over thirteen months of nine-year-old Ira-Abel Rawles, who lives on Hook Farm in the village of UNDERWHELEM.   There are two poems in the book, on the left hand side is the English version and on the right hand side the Dorset version. Now I have no comprehension of the Dorset dialect, so I did some research and was able to somewhat get the gift of the gab. I read both versions out loud, the Dorset version first, as I wanted to try and capture rhythm of the text and then I would read the English translation. It really did help me to appreciate the words, the imagery and the story.   The words are beautiful, the imagery of farm life and the people is stark and raw, with mythology and supernatural elements mixed in, in a way, explaining the brutality and the beauty. There are moments of humour and lightness. Harvey explains at the bottom of the po...

The Antique Hunter's Guide to Murder C.L. Miller 304 pages, Paperback, February 6, 2024 by Simon & Schuster Freya Lockwood having a crisis of sorts, her daughter has flown the nest to study in the US, her ex-husband wants to sell the family home asap, her former mentor Arthur Crockleford has died and left her with a mystery to solve.  Freya arrives on the page fully formed, in her 40s, divorced, empty nester, full of self-doubt and without a purpose. In her youth Freya had teamed up with Arthur and learnt everything about antiques. An incident in Cairo had Freya turning her back on the career and taking a different route in life. From the outset, Freya is conflicted about going back and revisiting what she is highly skilled to do. Her Aunt Carole, prods, cajoles and encourages Freya into taking up the challenge. This was an easy, enjoyable read set in the murky world of antique dealing. There is a few twists and turns, the characters are well developed and there is plenty of hu...

  Tales from the Café  Toshikazu Kawaguchi Geoffrey Trousselot (Translator) Pan Macmillan, 192 pges, paperback, published March 14 2017 I read the first book in the series last year, no idea of the world I was walking into and ever so glad I did. The second book in the series is deftly created with people coming to the café to seek resolution with their past. The rules to visit the past remain the same and they are simple but effective. That you can not leave the chair is perhaps the hardest one, as the person they wish to visit must be in the café at just the right time. There are four stories and I really do not want to provide any spoilers at all. As though the stories do focus on a couple of individuals they intertwine with the overarching narrative.  It is just a delight to read and be drawn completely in. In such bleak times these stories are affirming and provide hope.

The Mystery of the Screaming Clock Alfred Hitchcock & the Three Investigators Mystery Series number 9 Armada Published 1971, 192 pages So I found this novel at a street library and though I had ready the likes of the Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew and Trixie Belden, I could not recall reading Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigators. I figured why not give it a go. The book starts off with a bang 'The Clock Screamed. It was the scream of a woman in mortal terror." From there the book is off and racing as our three investigators Jupiter, Pete and Bob try to figure why a clock has been set up to scream. As they try to figure out a bigger mystery comes to the fore. There is danger, there is puzzles, there is humour and there is a resolution. It was a great short read, that was a nice distraction.

Where I End by Sophie White  232 pages, expected publication 24 September 2024, Erewhon Books  Living on an island is meant to be idyllic, a safe harbour away from the mainland where dangers lurk everywhere. For Aoileann her island home is the danger, she is shunned by the local women and children, abused by the men, treated as a house slave by her grandmother and ignored by her father. Her days revolve around the caring of the thing, her mother who has been confined to bed after an incident many years ago. It is an existence of serving the needs of others and her only release is to swim in the sea. It is here that Aoileann meets Rachel and her newborn son Seamus. For the first time Aoileann can see hope but is it possible for her to escape what the island has made her into.   The story is told from Aoileann’s point of view, she is a very unreliable narrator and as you become more in tune with her world you understand why. With the brutality of her grandmother, the i...

Under the Whispering Door T J Klune Published 21 September 2021, Kindle edition 432 pages.  Wallace Price has oodles of money, the best of everything in life and is a bastard of a boss. While he believes he is revered and respected at work, his unwavering commitment and high expectations meant that he is universally loathed. A fact that only becomes apparent when Wallace having died of a heart attack, attends his own funeral as a ghost. Expecting a cast of thousand to attend and bemoan his loss, he is aggrieved to find a handful of mourners who are there out of duty, not respect. At his funeral Wallace encounters Reaper Mei, who promises to take Wallace to the Ferryman Hugo who will be able to assist in his journey to the afterlife. The journey that Klune takes you on this novel is of realising that materialism, power, and status are all worthless when death comes calling. That time is always ticking towards death. That the life you lead, the love you encounter, and give is of a gr...

The Treasure Hunters Club: A Mystery Tom Ryan 384 pages, expected publication October 24, 2024 For hundreds of years people have been coming to Maple Bay, Novia Scotia to search for the long-lost obelisk pirate treasure. The arrival of two newcomers sets off a train of events that take things to a new deadly level in discovering what happened to the treasure.   There is a lot to unpack in this novel as Ryan has an extensive cast of characters who are all important to the overall story and you switch between four distinct points of view.   You have the present day of Peter, Cassie and Dandy and each have a point of view. There is the middle time which is the treasure hunter club with Mirabel, Bill etc. and they important to development of the story.  The last point of view is told through journal entries of Henry Bellwood who tells of the five boys who started the whole saga.  Now, the thing is, stick with it, as all the buildup as all these characters are r...

The Silence Factory  Bridget Collins  Kindle Edition, Expected Publication Date: 9 May 2024, Harper Collins    From the outset, as you read the first diary entry, you know this story is going to take you down dark holes of the human psyche and that redemption may never occur. Collins has reached deep to bring to the page a gothic novel, that is full of twists, turns, ambiguities and a cast of characters that are complex, flawed and whose morals are cryptic.   There are two threads to the story, the letters composed by Sophia Ashmore-Percy in the 1820s. She writes about her experiences on a Greek Island, her husband James fixation on a scientific discovery with spiders and her interaction with the locals. The second thread is that of Henry Latimer, grieving the loss of his wife, he works with his father-in-law who owns a shop that provides hearing aids, and his life is not going anywhere. Until Sir Edward Ashmore-Percy walks into the shop seeking assistance ...