Review: JUDGEMENT DAY, Mali Waugh

• 
  This edition available as an e-book from Amazon on Kindle
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0BN9TW1SY
  
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Macmillan Australia (February 28, 2023)
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 312 pages 

Synopsis (Amazon) 

Family law judge Kaye Bailey is found murdered in her chambers. Is this the work of a disgruntled complainant? Or an inside job by a jealous colleague? Or is there something even more insidious at the heart of this brutal act?

Detective Jillian Basset is just back from maternity leave, struggling with new motherhood as she tackles the biggest case of her career. As her work and home lives get messier and messier, though, something's going to give.

Exploring the murky underworld of the justice system and setting a cracking pace, Judgement Day is a gripping thriller from a fresh and compelling new Australian voice.

My Take

Here is a new Australian author to watch.

An Australian family law judge is murdered just hours after her colleagues are told that she will be the next Chief Justice of the Family Law Court. There is no lack of suspects, because Kaye Bailey was extremely outspoken.

It becomes her first case after maternity leave for Detective Jill Bassett. Jill thinks she will be happier returning to work, as she is certainly deeply uncomfortable with motherhood. She buries herself in the case, troubled by her relationship with the Acting Detective who has filled her shoes for the last six months. She would prefer to be working on her own, but things improve on the working front, at the same time as things at home go into a downward spiral.

This novel had me totally hooked.

My rating: 4.7

Author Information
Mali Waugh has a Bachelor of Arts degree from Monash University and a Juris Doctor from the University of Melbourne. She has previously worked in a library and a chocolate shop, and now works as a lawyer. This is her first novel.