Review: THE WHITE CROW, Michael Robotham

• 
  This edition read as an e-book on Kindle (Amazon)
  
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0DJ9SZ69S
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Scribner,July 1, 2025
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 368 pages
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1668031049
• Book 2 of 2 ‏ : ‎ Philomena McCarthy 

Synopsis (publisher)

Ambitious young London police officer Philomena McCarthy returns in this propulsive thriller by the author of When You Are Mine.

Philomena McCarthy has defied the odds to become a young officer with the Metropolitan Police despite her father and her uncles being notorious London gangsters.

On patrol one night, Philomena finds a barefoot child, covered in blood, who says she can’t wake her mother. Meanwhile, three miles away, a London jeweler has a bomb strapped to his chest in his ransacked store and millions are missing.

These two events collide and threaten Philomena’s career, her new marriage, and her life. In too deep, and falling further, Phil must decide who she can trust—her family or her colleagues—and on what side of the thin blue line she wants to live.

Told in real time from multiple points of view, The White Crow is filled with almost unbearable suspense—a page-turning tour de force that shows Robotham at the top of his game. 

My Take

For those of you who are already fans of Michael Robotham, another excellent read. For those yet to make a start with this Australian writer, you can read this as a stand-alone, but you will certainly then go looking for WHEN YOU ARE MINE.

I've been reading Robotham now for 21 years. You can check my reviews below (Mysteries in Paradise) . WHITE CROW is another excellent offering. Enjoy! 

My rating: 5.0 

I've also read

BOMBPROOF

SHATTER #3

SHATTER (audio)

BLEED FOR ME #4

5.0, THE WRECKAGE #5

4.8, SAY YOU'RE SORRY #6

5.0, WATCHING YOU #7

4.8, IF I TELL YOU... I'LL HAVE TO KILL YOU (edit)

5.0, LIFE OR DEATH Shortlisted for the 2015 CWA Gold Dagger

4.8, CLOSE YOUR EYES #8

5.0, THE SECRETS SHE KEEPS

5.0, THE SUSPECT #1 (audio)

4.8, LOST #2 (audio)

5.0, THE OTHER WIFE #9

4.8, GOOD GIRL, BAD GIRL -Cyrus Haven #1

4.8, WHEN SHE WAS GOOD -Cyrus Haven #2

5.0, WHEN YOU ARE MINE 

5.0, LYING BESIDE YOU - Cyrus Haven #3

5.0, THE SECRETS SHE KEEPS

5.0, STORM CHILD - Cyrus Haven #4

5.0, THE SECRETS SHE KEEPS

Review: THE SECRETS SHE KEEPS, Michael Robotham - a re-read

• 
  This edition an e-book for Kindle (Amazon)
  
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B01N7SVPRI
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Sphere (11 July 2017)
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 385 pages  

Synopsis (Amazon)

Agatha is pregnant and works part-time stocking shelves at a grocery store in a ritzy London suburb, counting down the days until her baby is due. As the hours of her shifts creep by in increasing discomfort, the one thing she looks forward to at work is catching a glimpse of Meghan, the effortlessly chic customer whose elegant lifestyle dazzles her. Meghan has it all: two perfect children, a handsome husband, a happy marriage, a stylish group of friends, and she writes perfectly droll confessional posts on her popular parenting blog—posts that Agatha reads with devotion each night as she waits for her absent boyfriend, the father of her baby, to maybe return her calls.

When Agatha learns that Meghan is pregnant again, and that their due dates fall within the same month, she finally musters up the courage to speak to her, thrilled that they now have the ordeal of childbearing in common. Little does Meghan know that the mundane exchange she has with a grocery store employee during a hurried afternoon shopping trip is about to change the course of her not-so-perfect life forever…

With its brilliant rendering of the secrets some women hold close and a shocking act that cannot be undone, The Secrets She Keeps delivers a dark and twisted page-turner that is absolutely impossible to put down.

My Take

I've actually read this twice before: once shortly after it was published,  and also two years ago.

I've read it a third time to refresh my memory, and to lead a discussion with my U3A Crime Fiction group, where I've nominated Michael Robotham as one of two Australian prize winning authors we will discuss. The other is Garry Disher.

Originally written as a standalone, in it Robotham attempted "two voices" for the first time, and also introduced us to psychologist Cyrus Haven. 

For the discussion with my U3A group I found the following "AI-generated" questions online. I will see how they go with my group. I suspect they are based on the television series rather than the book.

"The Secrets She Keeps" invites questions about the complex motivations of both Agatha and Meghan, the nature of their secrets, and the societal pressures surrounding motherhood, including:

About Agatha's motivations and past:

•  What drove Agatha to make the drastic decision to kidnap Meghan's baby?
•  How did Agatha's past experiences with motherhood and loss shape her actions?
• To what extent does Agatha believe she is acting in the best interests of the baby?
• How does Agatha rationalize her actions to herself?
  

About Meghan's perspective:

• How does Meghan's public persona as a social media influencer impact her perception of the situation?
• How does Meghan's relationship with her husband, Jack, change throughout the story?
• Does Meghan ever suspect Agatha's true identity and intentions?
• How does Meghan grapple with the trauma of losing her baby and the subsequent investigation?

Exploring the themes:

• How does the series portray the complexities of motherhood and the pressures placed on women to be perfect mothers?
• What commentary does the show make on the dangers of online privacy and social media scrutiny?
• How does the narrative explore the concept of maternal instinct and its potential for extreme behavior?

 Not all of my group will have read the book recently. Some will be telling us about other Robotham books they have read. I'd like to know what has stuck in their mind from this book in particular.

My rating: 5.0

I've also read

BOMBPROOF

SHATTER #3

SHATTER (audio)

BLEED FOR ME #4

5.0, THE WRECKAGE #5

4.8, SAY YOU'RE SORRY #6

5.0, WATCHING YOU #7

4.8, IF I TELL YOU... I'LL HAVE TO KILL YOU (edit)

5.0, LIFE OR DEATH Shortlisted for the 2015 CWA Gold Dagger

4.8, CLOSE YOUR EYES

5.0, THE SECRETS SHE KEEPS

5.0, THE SUSPECT #1 (audio)

4.8, LOST #2 (audio)

5.0, THE OTHER WIFE

4.8, GOOD GIRL, BAD GIRL -Cyrus Haven #1

4.8, WHEN SHE WAS GOOD -Cyrus Haven #2

5.0, WHEN YOU ARE MINE 

5.0, LYING BESIDE YOU - Cyrus Haven #3

5.0, THE SECRETS SHE KEEPS

5.0, STORM CHILD - Cyrus Haven #4

In Conversation with Michael Robotham

 
Last night I attended a session in Adelaide at the Howling Owl Cafe to meet up with my favourite author Michael Robotham. The occasion was to launch his new book STORM CHILD, #4 in the Cyrus Haven series.

I reviewed it here. It was also a celebration of the fact that Michael has been publishing crime fiction now for 20 years. In that time he has published 18 books and I have reviewed all of them.

His new website is here

Events where you can meet Michael

Review: STORM CHILD, Michael Robotham

• 
  This edition available from Amazon on Kindle
  
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0C7RPW5K1
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Scribner (July 2, 2024)
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 333 pages
• Page numbers source ISBN ‏ : ‎ 1668030993
• #4 in the Cyrus Haven series

Synopsis (Amazon)

The mystery of Evie Cormac’s background has followed her into adulthood. As a child, she was discovered hiding in a secret room where a man had been tortured to death. Many of her captors and abusers escaped justice, unseen but not forgotten. Now, on a hot summer’s day, the past drags Evie back as she watches the bodies of seventeen migrants wash up on a Lincolnshire beach.

There is only one survivor, a teenage boy, who tells police their small boat was deliberately rammed and sunk. Psychologist Cyrus Haven is recruited by the police to investigate the murders—but recognizes immediately that Evie has some link to the tragedy. By solving this crime, he could finally unlock the secrets of her past. But what dark forces will he set loose? And who will pay the price? 

My Take

In his "acknowledgements" at the end of the novel, Michael reminds us that he has now been publishing for 20 years and in that time has published 18 novels. Most of them are listed at the bottom of this review. And I have been reading his offerings with great delight for all that time.

This latest one has delighted me as well.

Evie's past, which she rarely talks about, comes back to her as she watches bodies wash up on a Lincolnshire beach. Evie is now 22. She came to England with people smugglers when she was 9. She was the sole survivor of that circumstance and for a number of years has been sharing a house with Cyrus Haven, a forensic psychologist, a former pupil of Joe O'Loughlin, who featured in earlier Robotham novels. Cyrus becomes involved in investigating this latest case of people smuggling through its single survivor, and through Evie's glimpses of her past.

This one deserves your attention, but is probably best read in sequence with the earlier Cyrus Haven novels so you get the full story, and appreciate the character development and serious thought Robotham has put into it.

Highly recommended.

My rating: 5.0

I've also read

• BOMBPROOF
• SHATTER #3
• SHATTER (audio)
• BLEED FOR ME #4
• 5.0, THE WRECKAGE #5
• 4.8, SAY YOU'RE SORRY #6
• 5.0, WATCHING YOU #7
• 4.8, IF I TELL YOU... I'LL HAVE TO KILL YOU (edit)
• 5.0, LIFE OR DEATH Shortlisted for the 2015 CWA Gold Dagger
• 4.8, CLOSE YOUR EYES
• 5.0, THE SECRETS SHE KEEPS
• 5.0, THE SUSPECT #1 (audio)
• 4.8, LOST #2 (audio)
• 5.0, THE OTHER WIFE
• 4.8, GOOD GIRL, BAD GIRL -Cyrus Haven #1
• 4.8, WHEN SHE WAS GOOD -Cyrus Haven #2
• 5.0, WHEN YOU ARE MINE 
• 5.0, LYING BESIDE YOU - Cyrus Haven #3
• 5.0, THE SECRETS SHE KEEPS

Review: THE SECRETS SHE KEEPS, Michael Robotham

• 
  This edition an e-book on Kindle (Amazon)
  
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B01N7SVPRI
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Sphere (July 11, 2017)
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 385 pages
• my original review
  

Synopsis 

Amazon summary
Everyone has an idea of what their perfect life is. For Agatha, it's Meghan Shaughnessy's.
These two women from vastly different backgrounds have one thing in common - a dangerous secret that could destroy everything they hold dear.
Both will risk everything to hide the truth, but their worlds are about to collide in a shocking act that cannot be undone.

Fantastic Fiction synopsis

Meghan doesn’t know Agatha, but Agatha knows Meghan. And the one thing Agatha looks forward to each day is catching a glimpse of her, the effortlessly chic customer at the grocery store where she works stocking shelves. Meghan has it all: two adorable children, a handsome and successful husband, a happy marriage, a beautiful house, and a popular parenting blog that Agatha reads with devotion each night as she waits for her absent boyfriend, the father of the baby growing inside her, to return her calls.

Yet if Agatha could look beyond the gloss and trappings of Meghan’s “perfect life,” she’d see the flaws and doubts. Meghan has her secrets too, especially one that she dare not ever tell. Soon the lives of these two women will collide in the most spellbinding and intimate of ways, until their secrets are exposed by one shocking act that cannot be undone. From internationally bestselling author Michael Robotham, The Secrets She Keeps is a dark, exquisite, and twisted page-turner so full of surprises, you’ll find it impossible to put down.

My Take

Followers of my blog will know that this is one of my favourite Australian authors and that I have read this novel before.

I am reviewing it a second time, because I am re-reading it with a U3A Crime Fiction group. For some of them this is the first time they have read a book by this author.

So here I want to come up with some pointers for our discussion. However I think it is also important that the readers of this blog don't come across any spoilers, although of course in our face to face discussion we will be working on the assumption that all participants have read the novel

Here are some of my pointers

• the dual narrators: Agatha and Meghan. We are told who the narrator is at the beginning of every chapter, but did you eventually get to the stage where you knew who the narrator was? What helped you get to this point?
• Why does Agatha see Meghan as a model for her own life? What do they have in common? Where do they differ?
• How does Agatha stalk/watch Meghan and Jack? Why does she do this?
• What do we learn about Agatha's life history?
• What secrets do Agatha and Meghan have?
• What actions has Agatha taken in her efforts to become a mother? 
• How has Agatha become a killer?
  
• This novel marks the first appearance of Cyrus Haven, a police profiler who will later appear in his own series
     1. Good Girl, Bad Girl (2019)
     2. When She Was Good (2020)
     3. Lying Beside You (2022)
• The BBC TV series: In 2020 the novel became the basis of a 6 episode tv series that, apart from being set in Australia, stayed fairly close plot-wise to the original book. However a second 6 part series screening in 2022 goes well beyond the original book
  

My rating: 5.0

I've also read

• BOMBPROOF
• SHATTER #3
• SHATTER (audio)
• BLEED FOR ME #4
• 5.0, THE WRECKAGE #5
• 4.8, SAY YOU'RE SORRY #6
• 5.0, WATCHING YOU #7
• 4.8, IF I TELL YOU... I'LL HAVE TO KILL YOU (edit)
• 5.0, LIFE OR DEATH Shortlisted for the 2015 CWA Gold Dagger
• 4.8, CLOSE YOUR EYES
• 5.0, THE SECRETS SHE KEEPS
• 5.0, THE SUSPECT #1 (audio)
• 4.8, LOST #2 (audio)
• 5.0, THE OTHER WIFE
• 4.8, GOOD GIRL, BAD GIRL -Cyrus Haven #1
• 4.8, WHEN SHE WAS GOOD -Cyrus Haven #2
• 5.0, WHEN YOU ARE MINE 
• 5.0, LYING BESIDE YOU - Cyrus Haven #3

Review: LYING BESIDE YOU, Michael Robotham

• 
  this edition published in 2022 by Hachette Australia
• ISBN 978-0-7336-4815-1
  
• 390 pages
• #3 in the Cyrus Haven series 
  

Synopsis (publisher)

TWO MISSING WOMEN. ONE WITNESS. SO MANY LIES . . . The brand-new thriller by the number-one bestselling and award-winning master of crime

Twenty years ago, Cyrus Haven's family was murdered. Only he and his brother survived. Cyrus because he hid. Elias because he was the killer.

Now Elias is being released from a secure psychiatric hospital and Cyrus, a forensic psychologist, must decide if he can forgive the man who destroyed his childhood.

As he prepares for the homecoming, Cyrus is called to a crime scene in Nottingham. A man is dead and his daughter Maya is missing. Then a second woman is abducted . . . The only witness is Evie Cormac, a troubled teenager with an incredible gift: she can tell when you are lying.

Both missing women have dark secrets that Cyrus must unravel to find them - and he and Evie know better than anybody how the past can come back to haunt you . . .

This breathtaking new thriller from the #1 bestselling author will keep you guessing until the very end.

My Take

Michael Robotham handles multiple plot strands with such ease. And even though this is the third in the series we get new insights into both Evie Cormac and Cyrus Haven and their relationship.

Cyrus is not sure whether he can handle his brother Elias coming out of psychiatric hospital and Evie is fearful about what it means for her life as a lodger in Cyrus's house. For despite the fact that Elias is medicated, he is still not normal.

Meanwhile Cyrus is continuing to work in his usual job, as a forensic psychologist, and Evie observes on the fringes of his work.

An excellent novel.

Readers will ask if they need to read the first two in this particular series - the answer: yes you do - before you read this one!

My rating: 5.0

About the author

Before becoming a novelist, Michael Robotham was a former feature writer and investigative reporter working in Britain, Australia and America, and with clinical and forensic psychologists as they helped police investigate complex, psychologically driven crimes. His debut thriller, The Suspect, introduced clinical psychologist Joe O'Loughlin and sold more than a million copies around the world. The first of a nine-book series, The Suspect is being adapted for the screen by World Productions (makers of Line of Duty and Bodyguard), starring Aidan Turner. Michael's standalone thriller The Secrets She Keeps was adapted for TV by Network 10 and the BBC. The second series is out now.

Michael is the only Australian to twice win the UK's prestigious Gold Dagger Award for best crime novel, for LIFE OR DEATH and GOOD GIRL, BAD GIRL as well as the Ian Fleming Steel Dagger for WHEN SHE WAS GOOD. His latest Book, LYING BESIDE YOU, is the third book in his bestselling Cyrus Haven and Evie Cormac series.

Michael lives in Sydney.

I've also read

• BOMBPROOF
• SHATTER #3
• SHATTER (audio)
• BLEED FOR ME #4
• 5.0, THE WRECKAGE #5
• 4.8, SAY YOU'RE SORRY #6
• 5.0, WATCHING YOU #7
• 4.8, IF I TELL YOU... I'LL HAVE TO KILL YOU (edit)
• 5.0, LIFE OR DEATH Shortlisted for the 2015 CWA Gold Dagger
• 4.8, CLOSE YOUR EYES
• 5.0, THE SECRETS SHE KEEPS
• 5.0, THE SUSPECT #1 (audio)
• 4.8, LOST #2 (audio)
• 5.0, THE OTHER WIFE
• 4.8, GOOD GIRL, BAD GIRL -Cyrus Haven #1
• 4.8, WHEN SHE WAS GOOD -Cyrus Haven #2
• 5.0, WHEN YOU ARE MINE 

Review: WHEN YOU ARE MINE, Michael Robotham

• 
  This edition an e-book on Kindle (Amazon)
  
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B08BWVTNCQ
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Sphere (24 June 2021)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• File size ‏ : ‎ 1021 KB
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 375 pages
• Best Sellers Rank: 4 in Kindle Store

Synopsis (Amazon)

From the multi-million-copy bestselling author behind THE SECRETS SHE KEEPS, a major BBC series, comes a gripping new standalone thriller

Philomena McCarthy has defied the odds and become a promising young officer with the Metropolitan Police despite being the daughter of a notorious London gangster. Called to the scene of a domestic assault, she rescues a young woman, Tempe Brown, the girlfriend of a decorated detective. The incident is hushed up, but Phil has unwittingly made a dangerous enemy with powerful friends.

Determined to protect each other, the two women strike up a tentative friendship. Tempe is thoughtful and sweet and makes herself indispensable to Phil, but sinister things keep happening and something isn't quite right about the stories Tempe tells. When a journalist with links to Phil's father and to the detective is found floating in the Thames, Phil doesn't know where to turn, who to blame or who she can trust.

My take

In the Acknowledgements at the end of this novel, Robotham, after reminding us he has been publishing crime fiction for twenty years, talks about what keeps him writing. 

With each subsequent novel, I have always strived to push myself as a writer, using different tenses, new voices, and dual narratives. This is also one of the reasons that I write occasional standalone novels like WHEN YOU ARE MINE because it challenges me to come up with new characters and to explore new lives.

This is a novel about domestic abuse, toxic friendships and the baggage that all families carry with them.

 And those words so perfectly sum up what keeps me reading his novels too. I know he will always come up with something fresh, even when other writers are touching on the same topics. (I seem recently to have been read a number of novels about toxic friendships for example: GREENWICH PARK by Katherine Faulkner, THE OTHER PASSENGER by Louise Candlish) But there is much more to this novel.

A great read! Well done Michael.

After winning the CWA Gold Dagger for best crime novel in 2015 for LIFE OR DEATH and then in 2020 for GOOD GIRL, BAD GIRL, Michael Robotham has this year (2021) won the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger for best thriller for WHEN SHE WAS GOOD.

If you haven't yet begun reading him, now is the time to start!

My Rating: 5.0

I've also read

BOMBPROOF
SHATTER #3
SHATTER (audio)
BLEED FOR ME #4
5.0, THE WRECKAGE #5
4.8, SAY YOU'RE SORRY #6
5.0, WATCHING YOU #7
4.8, IF I TELL YOU... I'LL HAVE TO KILL YOU (edit)
5.0, LIFE OR DEATH Shortlisted for the 2015 CWA Gold Dagger
4.8, CLOSE YOUR EYES
5.0, THE SECRETS SHE KEEPS
5.0, THE SUSPECT #1 (audio)
4.8, LOST #2 (audio)
5.0, THE OTHER WIFE
4.8, GOOD GIRL, BAD GIRL -#1
4.8, WHEN SHE WAS GOOD -#2  

 

Review: WHEN SHE WAS GOOD, Michael Robotham

• format: Kindle (Amazon)
• File Size: 651 KB
• Print Length: 380 pages
• Publisher: Sphere (July 28, 2020)
• Publication Date: July 28, 2020
• Sold by: Hachette Book Group
• Language: English
• ASIN: B07ZLTMRC6
• Read an excerpt
• #2 in the Cyrus Haven series 
• Interview with the author

Synopsis (Amazon)

She has secrets.

Six years ago, Evie Cormac was found hiding in a secret room in the aftermath of a brutal murder. But nobody has ever discovered her real name or where she came from, because everybody who tries ends up dead.

He needs answers.

Forensic psychologist Cyrus Haven believes the truth will set Evie free. Ignoring her warnings, he begins to dig into her past, only to disturb a hornet's nest of corrupt and powerful people, who have been waiting to find Evie - the final witness to their crimes. Unbeknownst to him, Cyrus is leading them straight to Evie. The truth will not set her free. It will get them killed.

From internationally bestselling, award-winning author Michael Robotham, this is the second explosive novel featuring the gifted criminal psychologist Cyrus Haven, introduced in GOOD GIRL, BAD GIRL.

My Take

You really need to read the first in this series (GOOD GIRL, BAD GIRL) before reading this one.
Cyrus Haven is convinced that if he can work out who Evie Cormac really is, then they can work out who it was that treated her so badly. He teams with Sacha Hopewell, the ex-police woman who discovered where Evie was hiding 6 years before.

The novel is set in 2020, in a world where Covid-19 does not exist, mainly because it was written and dispatched to the printers before the virus hit us. (Chapter 1 where Cyrus tracks Sacha down is set in May 2020). Cyrus believes there were things not put in the police reports 6 years before that will help him give Evie her real name, although it is obvious that Evie knows who she is. He thinks these are details Sacha can help him with. Initially Sacha is reluctant to get involved, but inevitably she does.

Robotham uses mainly the two voices: Cyrus and Evie to progress the novel and the search for the truth. Evie has turned into a feisty character and is living in a correctional centre, ostensibly to protect her, but outside there are people who are trying to work out where she is, and eventually one of them does.

A good read.

My rating: 4.8

I've also read
BOMBPROOF
SHATTER #3
SHATTER (audio)
BLEED FOR ME #4
5.0, THE WRECKAGE #5
4.8, SAY YOU'RE SORRY #6
5.0, WATCHING YOU #7
4.8, IF I TELL YOU... I'LL HAVE TO KILL YOU (edit)
5.0, LIFE OR DEATH Shortlisted for the 2015 CWA Gold Dagger
4.8, CLOSE YOUR EYES
5.0, THE SECRETS SHE KEEPS
5.0, THE SUSPECT #1 (audio)
4.8, LOST #2 (audio)
5.0, THE OTHER WIFE
4.8, GOOD GIRL, BAD GIRL  

Awards
The Crime Writer's Association Gold Dagger (won) LIFE OR DEATH 2015 (shortlisted) SAY YOU'RE SORRY 2013.
The Australian Book Industry Association ABIA General Fiction Award 2018 for THE SECRETS SHE KEEPS
The Ned Kelly Award for Best Novel (won 2005 and 2008) LOST and SHATTER.
The Mystery Writers of America Edgar Award for Best Novel (shortlisted) 2016 LIFE OR DEATH (shortlisted) 2019 GOOD GIRL BAD GIRL)
The Crime Writer's Association Steel Dagger (shortlisted) THE NIGHT FERRY and SHATTER. 

GOOD GIRL BAD GIRL has been shortlisted for the UK Gold Dagger.
The winners of the 2020 Daggers will be announced at an awards ceremony, due to take place on 22 October.

Review: GOOD GIRL, BAD GIRL, Michael Robotham

• format: Kindle (Amazon)
• File Size: 746 KB
• Print Length: 416 pages
• Publisher: Sphere (July 23, 2019)
• Publication Date: July 23, 2019
• Sold by: Hachette Book Group
• Language: English
• ASIN: B07NLDBCD4

Synopsis (Amazon)

The girl with no past.

Six years ago, Evie Cormac was discovered, filthy and half-starved, hiding in a secret room in the aftermath of a shocking crime. Now approaching adulthood, Evie is damaged, self-destructive and has never revealed her true identity.

The boy who survived.

Forensic psychologist Cyrus Haven, a man haunted by his own past, is investigating the death of champion figure-skater Jodie Sheehan. When Cyrus is called upon to assess Evie, she threatens to disrupt the case and destroy his ordered life. Because Evie has a unique and dangerous gift - she knows when someone is lying. And nobody is telling the truth.

My take

We seem to have waited a while for another offering by Robotham but I don't think readers will be disappointed.

Robotham has moved away from the Joe O'Loughlin series and it remains to be revealed whether this is the beginning of a new series.

The new novel is set in Nottingham. 
The body of young Jodie Sheehan has been found murdered. Jodie was a figure skater apparently headed for the Olympics. Cyrus Haven attempts to profile the sort of person involved in Jodie's death. The police quickly come up with a suspect, but things don't quite jell for Cyrus. Cyrus asks question about Jodie which others have been reluctant to ask.

The second major plot line is the story of Angel Face, the little girl found six years earlier hiding in a house with the dead body of a man who had been tortured. She has refused to tell the police her real name or her age, but now she claims to be nearly 18, and that she should be released from institution she is living in. Cyrus is asked to assess her for potential release.

The plot lines progress together, each adding to the other, with new sub-plots giving the whole novel depth. And then the major lines cross each other.

A really good read full of twists and turns. Even half-way through I really couldn't tell where we were headed.

My rating: 4.8

I have also read
BOMBPROOF
SHATTER #3
SHATTER (audio)
BLEED FOR ME #4
5.0, THE WRECKAGE #5
4.8, SAY YOU'RE SORRY #6
5.0, WATCHING YOU #7
4.8, IF I TELL YOU... I'LL HAVE TO KILL YOU (edit)
5.0, LIFE OR DEATH Shortlisted for the 2015 CWA Gold Dagger
4.8, CLOSE YOUR EYES
5.0, THE SECRETS SHE KEEPS
5.0, THE SUSPECT #1 (audio)
4.8, LOST #2 (audio)
5.0, THE OTHER WIFE

Review: THE OTHER WIFE, Michael Robotham

• format: Kindle (Amazon)
• published June 26 2018
• File Size: 642 KB
• Print Length: 400 pages
• Publisher: Sphere (June 26, 2018)
• Publication Date: June 26, 2018
• Sold by: Hachette Book Group
• Language: English
• ASIN: B0791HFG73
• #9 in Joe O'Loughlin series
• author website

Synopsis (author website)

Childhood sweethearts William and Mary have been married for sixty years. William is a celebrated surgeon, Mary a devoted wife. Both have a strong sense of right and wrong.

This is what their son, Joe O'Loughlin, has always believed. But when Joe is summoned to the hospital with news that his father has been brutally attacked, his world is turned upside down. Who is the strange woman crying at William's bedside, covered in his blood - a friend, a mistress, a fantasist or a killer?

Against the advice of the police, Joe launches his own investigation. As he learns more, he discovers sides to his father he never knew - and is forcibly reminded that the truth comes at a price.

A mesmerising psychological thriller from one of the greatest crime writers of today, Michael Robotham, the international bestselling author of THE SECRETS SHE KEEPS.

My Take

Joe O'Loughlin has always found his father a bit "distanced" but never imagined that there was a side to his life that Joe did not know about. What a shock!

Once Joe calms down a bit he begins to understand that there are lots of things about his father that he has either ignored or simply not understood at the time. He begins his investigation with the help of his old friend Vincent Ruiz.

As always, I am very reluctant to reveal more elements of the plot. In fact the blurb tells you all you need to know.

While this is #9 in the Joe O'Loughlin books it can be read, I think, as a stand-alone, but it will send you scurrying back into the series for more.

Well done Michael. I love it!

My rating: 5.0

I've also read
BOMBPROOF
SHATTER #3
SHATTER (audio)
BLEED FOR ME #4
5.0, THE WRECKAGE #5
4.8, SAY YOU'RE SORRY #6
5.0, WATCHING YOU #7
4.8, IF I TELL YOU... I'LL HAVE TO KILL YOU (edit)
5.0, LIFE OR DEATH Shortlisted for the 2015 CWA Gold Dagger
4.8, CLOSE YOUR EYES
5.0, THE SECRETS SHE KEEPS
5.0, THE SUSPECT #1 (audio)
4.8, LOST #2 (audio) 

Review: LOST, Michael Robotham - audio book

• format: available from Audible.com
• Narrated by: Ray Lonnen
• Length: 12 hrs and 26 mins 
• • Series: Joseph O'Loughlin, Book 2
• Unabridged Audiobook
• Release Date:01-17-07
• Publisher: Whole Story Audiobooks
• previously read in 2005 and reviewed (mini-review) here. 
• Also released as THE DROWNING MAN

 Synopsis (Audible)

Detective Inspector Vincent Ruiz is lucky to be alive. A bullet in the leg, another through the hand, he is discovered clinging to a buoy in the River Thames, losing blood and consciousness fast. It takes six days for him to come out of his coma, and when he does, his nightmare is only just beginning. Because Vincent has no recollection of what happened, and nobody believes him.  

From Robotham's website
ON A COLD LONDON NIGHT, HOMICIDE DETECTIVE VINCENT RUIZ IS FISHED OUT OF THE THAMES

with a bullet in his leg and an even bigger hole in his memory. He has no recollection of the shooting or how he finished in the river. The only clue is a photograph found in his pocket of Mickey Carlyle, a seven-year-old girl who went missing three years earlier. A man was convicted of her murder.

But what if the police got it wrong? Ruiz's only hope of unravelling the puzzle is to retrace his steps and re-create the night of the shooting. Under investigation by his colleagues and accused of faking amnesia, he turns to Joe O'Loughlin, a clinical psychologist, who he hopes can unlock his memories. Step by step, they piece together a story of grief, vengeance, and the search for redemption.​

My Take

To be quite honest, in the decade since I first read this book, I've forgotten most of the plot. I do remember that it wasn't quite clear at that stage that Robotham was writing a series - in fact, I am not sure that he himself knew that he was.  The main character of the first book THE SUSPECT was Professor Joe O'Loughlin. Vincent Ruiz was the nasty policeman who arrested Joe on suspicion of murder. And then Ruiz became the central character of LOST and O'Loughlin plays a sort of back up role.

The central theme of the plot in LOST is what Ruiz was doing the night he was shot and nearly drowned in the Thames. He has amnesia, but his memory gradually comes back. Quite clearly other people were shot that night, and might possibly even be dead. Ruiz appears to have been working on his own, and he eventually loses his job as a policeman despite his excellent record.

This book won Michael Robotham the 2005 Ned Kelly Award for best mystery by an Australian author.

I'm listening to audio versions of this series and I'm looking forward to starting THE NIGHT FERRY, which features Detective Constable Alisha Barber, who was Ruiz's offsider in the Met. Check details here.

My rating: 4.8

I've also read
BOMBPROOF
SHATTER #3
SHATTER (audio)
BLEED FOR ME #4
5.0, THE WRECKAGE #5
4.8, SAY YOU'RE SORRY #6
5.0, WATCHING YOU #7
4.8, IF I TELL YOU... I'LL HAVE TO KILL YOU (edit)
5.0, LIFE OR DEATH Shortlisted for the 2015 CWA Gold Dagger
4.8, CLOSE YOUR EYES
5.0, THE SECRETS SHE KEEPS
5.0, THE SUSPECT #1  

Review: THE SUSPECT, Michael Robotham - audio book

• Written by: Michael Robotham
• Narrated by: Crispin Redman
• Length: 12 hrs and 23 mins 
• • Series: Joseph O'Loughlin, Book 1
• Unabridged Audiobook
• source: Audible 
• original book published 2004

 Synopsis (author website)

Joseph O'Loughlin appears to have the perfect life - a beautiful wife, a loving daughter and a successful career as a clinical psychologist. But nothing can be taken for granted. Even the most flawless existence is only a loose thread away from unravelling. All it takes is a murdered girl, a troubled young patient and the biggest lie of his life.

When an unknown young woman is found dead with multiple stab wounds – all of them self-inflicted – the police ask Joe to help them understand the crime. Are they dealing with a murder or a suicide? Reluctantly, he agrees to help and the brutalised body he views at the mortuary turns out to be someone he knows: Catherine Mary McBride, a nurse and former colleague.

At the same time, Joe is grappling with a troubled young patient, Bobby Moran, whose violent dreams are becoming more real. As Bobby's behaviour grows increasingly erratic, Joe begins to ponder what he's done in the past and what he might do next. Is there a link between his terrible dreams and Catherine McBride?

Caught in a complex web of deceit and obsessed by images of the slain girl, Joe embarks upon a search that takes him into the darkest recesses of the human mind. Ultimately, he will risk everything to unmask the killer and save his family..

My Take

If you follow my blog you will know that I have read this title before, much closer to the date of original publication (2004).

It is the book that introduced British psychologist Professor Joseph O'Loughlin and his creator Australian writer Michael Robotham to the crime fiction world. Now the Joseph O'Loughlin/ Vincent Ruiz series has 8 titles and Robotham has produced another 4 stand-alones. He has won many awards, been translated into a myriad of languages, and even become the basis of a German TV series. (What an irony it will be if in Australia we have to view a translated version!)

Listening to this excellent audio version, unabridged of course, has given me a new appreciation of what a startling new voice Robotham was.  The writing is crisp and tight, the plot multi-stranded, but somehow all coming together at the end.

So, if you haven't read any of this series yet, there is no better place to start - at the beginning.
I will be downloading the unabridged version of #2 in the series: LOST (aka THE DROWNING MAN).

Rating: 5.0

I've also reviewed
BOMBPROOF
SHATTER #3
SHATTER (audio)
BLEED FOR ME #4
5.0, THE WRECKAGE #5
4.8, SAY YOU'RE SORRY #6
5.0, WATCHING YOU #7
4.8, IF I TELL YOU... I'LL HAVE TO KILL YOU (edit)
5.0, LIFE OR DEATH Shortlisted for the 2015 CWA Gold Dagger
4.8, CLOSE YOUR EYES
5.0, THE SECRETS SHE KEEPS    

Review: THE SECRETS SHE KEEPS, Michael Robotham

• format: Kindle (Amazon)
• File Size: 1127 KB
• Print Length: 448 pages
• Publisher: Sphere (July 11, 2017)
• Publication Date: July 11, 2017
• Sold by: Hachette Book Group
• Language: English
• ASIN: B01N7SVPRI

Synopsis (Amazon)

Everyone has an idea of what their perfect life is. For Agatha, it's Meghan Shaughnessy's.

These two women from vastly different backgrounds have one thing in common - a dangerous secret that could destroy everything they hold dear.

Both will risk everything to hide the truth, but their worlds are about to collide in a shocking act that cannot be undone.

My Take:

Here is another cracker from Australian author Michael Robotham.

Two women, Meg and Agatha, living in suburban London, are joined by a bond of pregnancy. They will even give birth within days. But Agatha knows much more about Meg than vice versa. And they come from very different backgrounds and life experiences. They are the narrators of the story and so we often get two versions of the same events.

Initially I felt very critical of the apparent thin-ness of the "official" blurb, but then in writing this "review" I became very aware of how difficult it is to talk about the story without revealing too much. (I hope you don't feel that I've told you too much as it is).

So, let me just recommend the book to you. It is a stand-alone, told through excellent character development, and with mounting suspense and plot twists as the book progresses. Underpinning everything is a commentary on modern living.

Michael Robotham remains at the top of my list of modern Aussie crime fiction authors.

My rating: 5.0

I've also read
BOMBPROOF
SHATTER #3
SHATTER (audio)
BLEED FOR ME #4
5.0, THE WRECKAGE #5
4.8, SAY YOU'RE SORRY #6
5.0, WATCHING YOU #7
4.8, IF I TELL YOU... I'LL HAVE TO KILL YOU (edit)
5.0, LIFE OR DEATH Shortlisted for the 2015 CWA Gold Dagger
4.8, CLOSE YOUR EYES

About the Author

Michael Robotham is a former investigative journalist whose psychological thrillers have been translated into twenty-three languages. In 2015 he won the prestigious UK Gold Dagger for his novel Life or Death, which was also shortlisted for the 2016 Edgar Allan Poe Award for best novel. Michael has twice won a Ned Kelly Award for Australia's best crime novel for Lost in 2015 and Shatter in 2008. He has also twice been shortlisted for the CWA UK Steel Dagger in 2007 for The Night Ferry and 2008 with Shatter. He lives in Sydney with his wife and three daughters.

Michael Robotham wins CWA Gold Dagger

What lovely news to wake up to this morning!

My favourite author Michael Robotham has won the very prestigious British Crime Writer's Association Gold Dagger for best crime fiction of the year with LIFE OR DEATH.

The competition was fierce.

My review is here.

Read the news report at Sydney Morning Herald
See the blog report by Craig Sisterson at Crime Watch.

Meet Michael on his website.

Awards
Ned Kelly Awards for Crime Writing, Best Novel, 2005: winner for Lost
Ned Kelly Awards for Crime Writing, Best Novel, 2007: shortlisted for The Night Ferry
Crime Writers' Association (UK), The CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger, 2007: shortlisted for The Night Ferry
Ned Kelly Awards for Crime Writing, Best Novel, 2008: winner for Shatter
Crime Writers' Association (UK), The CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger, Best Thriller, 2008: shortlisted for Shatter
ITV Thriller Awards (UK), Breakthrough Novelist 2008: shortlisted for Shatter
Crime Writers' Association (UK), The CWA Gold Dagger, Best Crime Novel, 2013: shortlisted for Say You're Sorry
Crime Writers' Association (UK), The CWA Gold Dagger, Best Crime Novel, 2015: shortlisted for Life or Death

My reviews

BOMBPROOF
SHATTER #3
SHATTER (audio)
BLEED FOR ME #4
5.0, THE WRECKAGE #5
4.8, SAY YOU'RE SORRY #6
5.0, WATCHING YOU #7
4.8, IF I TELL YOU... I'LL HAVE TO KILL YOU (edit)
5.0, LIFE OR DEATH
4.8, CLOSE YOUR EYES

Review: CLOSE YOUR EYES, Michael Robotham

• format: Kindle (Amazon)
  
• File Size: 1498 KB
• Print Length: 400 pages
• Publisher: Sphere (August 6, 2015)
• Publication Date: August 6, 2015
• Sold by: Hachette Book Group
• Language: English
• ASIN: B00UFYZX3U
• #8 in the Joe O'Loughlin series

Synopsis (Amazon)

I close my eyes and feel my heart begin racing
Someone is coming
They're going to find me

A mother and her teenage daughter are found murdered in a remote farmhouse, one defiled by multiple stab wounds and the other left lying like Sleeping Beauty waiting for her Prince.

Reluctantly, clinical psychologist Joe O'Loughlin is drawn into the investigation when a former student, calling himself 'the Mindhunter', jeopardises the police inquiry by leaking details to the media and stirring up public anger.
With no shortage of suspects and tempers beginning to fray, Joe discover links between these murders and a series of brutal attacks where his victims have been choked unconscious and had the letter 'A' carved into their foreheads.

As the case becomes ever more complex, nothing is quite what it seems and soon Joe's fate, and that of those closest to him, become intertwined with a merciless, unpredictable killer . . .

My Take

Fans of Michael Robotham have been waiting anxiously for the return of Joe O'Loughlin and I don't think they will be disappointed.

Robotham has become an expert in complex plots and with getting inside the minds of both perpetrators and victims. The structure of the book is interesting - the plot is narrated mainly through the eyes of Joe, but there are some large sections, italicised, from the point of view of the perpetrator. At first the reader does not know who this person is, and then you find yourself listing and discounting suspects. I have to admit that I didn't guess correctly even though there were plenty of clues.

Joe is still fighting Parkinsons and his daughters are growing. Charlie has finished school and ready for university, but what course has she chosen and where?

And excellent read, again.

My rating: 4.8

I've also reviewed
BOMBPROOF
SHATTER #3
SHATTER (audio)
BLEED FOR ME #4
5.0, THE WRECKAGE #5
4.8, SAY YOU'RE SORRY #6
5.0, WATCHING YOU #7
4.8, IF I TELL YOU... I'LL HAVE TO KILL YOU (edit)
5.0, LIFE OR DEATH Shortlisted for the 2015 CWA Gold Dagger 

Author website

Mini Review: LOST (#2) & SUSPECT (#1)

DI Vincent Ruiz is near retirement age and is known in the force as a bit of a loose cannon. He is head of London's Serious Crimes Group. He has a fixation on a missing child case theoretically solved three years earlier. Although a body was never found, someone has been convicted of Mickey's murder. Ruiz is convinced they got it wrong, that the child is still alive. Ruiz is fished out of the Thames, more dead than alive, a dreadful bullet wound in his leg, the top joint of one of his fingers missing, and amnesia. He has no idea what happened. In a sense this is a sequel to Robotham's first novel SUSPECT, with the same two main characters, Ruiz and psychologist Joe O'Loughlin. Whereas SUSPECT focussed on O'Loughlin's predicament, LOST focusses on Ruiz. LOST won the 2005 Ned Kelly Award for best mystery by an Australian author.

Joseph O'Loughlin series
1. The Suspect (2004)
2. Lost (2005)      aka The Drowning Man
3. Shatter (2008)   aka The Sleep of Reason
4. Bleed for Me (2010)
5. The Wreckage (2011)
6. Say You're Sorry (2012)
7. Watching You (2013)
8. Close Your Eyes (2015) 

Review: LIFE OR DEATH, Michael Robotham

• review copy courtesy publisher Hatchette Australia on Net Galley
• Available for pre-order from Amazon
• ISBN: 9780751552898
• Publication date: 29 Jul 2014 (Australia), 12 Aug 2014 (US)
• Page count: 464

Synopsis (Net Galley)

Why would a man escape from prison the day before he's due to be released?

Audie Palmer has spent a decade in prison for an armed robbery in which four people died, including two of the gang. Seven million dollars has never been recovered and everybody believes that Audie knows where the money is.

For ten years he has been beaten, stabbed, throttled and threatened almost daily by prison guards, inmates and criminal gangs, who all want to answer this same question, but suddenly Audie vanishes, the day before he's due to be released.

Everybody wants to find Audie, but he's not running. Instead he's trying to save a life . . . and not just his own.

My Take

Australian author Michael Robotham, already acclaimed both in Australia and internationally, takes a different direction in this novel: not the next in his Ruiz and O'Loughlin series set in Britain, but a stand-alone set in Texas. For me it shows another step, a necessary one, for Robotham in his development as a novelist. And one that I think will be popular with American readers.

Audie Palmer is a survivor - first of all from a gunshot that shattered his cranium, and then a decade where every other inmate in the prison seemed to want to be the one who killed Audie Palmer. As the day for his release looms Audie knows he is not going to make it to freedom alive.

The story is told from Audie's point of view, but in the third person, and we gradually piece together Audie's life before the armed robbery, and then his part in the robbery. We understand what has kept him going for a decade and why he escapes the day before his release date. But will he survive on the run as he tries to put the record straight?

There is a cinematographic quality to this story and I would not be surprised to find it optioned for a film.

LIFE OR DEATH puts Robotham right up there with modern crime fiction writers. It is a tightly plotted thriller with a roller coaster of suspense. It has made it  into my top 5 reads for this year.

My rating: 5.0

I've also reviewed
BOMBPROOF
SHATTER
SHATTER (audio)
BLEED FOR ME
5.0, THE WRECKAGE
4.8, SAY YOU'RE SORRY
5.0, WATCHING YOU
4.8, IF I TELL YOU... I'LL HAVE TO KILL YOU (edit)  

What I read in July 2013

A respectable total of reads this month, keeping me on track for a good target this year.
A real mixture, including a "how we do it" from Australian crime fiction authors, and some really top reads from Michael Robotham, Adrian McKinty, and Linwood Barclay.

• 4.4, THE SOUND OF BROKEN GLASS, Deborah Crombie 
• 4.8, IF I TELL YOU... I'LL HAVE TO KILL YOU, Michael Robotham (edit) - Australian writers
• 4.8, I HEAR THE SIRENS IN THE STREET, Adrian McKinty - Aussie author
• 4.2, GUNS IN THE GALLERY, Simon Brett
• 4.5, BONES UNDER THE BEACH HUT, Simon Brett 
• 4.4, THE PALE HORSE, Agatha Christie
• 4.0, SNOW WHITE MUST DIE, Nele Neuhaus - translated
• 5.0, WATCHING YOU, Michael Robotham  - Aussie author
• 3.7, BAMBOO AND BLOOD, James Church  - library book
• 4.7, NEVER SAW IT COMING, Linwood Barclay - library book

My pick of the month is  WATCHING YOU by Michael Robotham


Synopsis (author site)

Marnie Logan often feels like she's being watched. Nothing she can quite put her finger on - a whisper of breath on the back of her neck, or a shadow in the corner of her eye - and now her life is frozen.
Her husband Daniel has been missing for more than a year. Depressed and increasingly desperate, she seeks the help of clinical psychologist Joe O'Loughlin.

Joe is concerned by Marnie's reluctance to talk about the past, but then she discovers a book packed with pictures, interviews with friends, former teachers, old flames and workmates Daniel was preparing for her birthday. It was supposed to be a celebration of her life. But it's not the story anyone was expecting... 

See my review

See what others have named as their pick of the month.