Review: THE STOLEN, Vikki Petraitis

• 
  This edition read as an e-book on Libby through my local library
  
• ISBN:9781761471667
• Awards: Shortlisted, Best Crime Fiction, Danger Awards, 2026, AU
• Publisher:Allen & Unwin
• Pub Date:02 Sep 2025
• Page Extent:352

Synopsis (publisher)

Senior Detective Antigone Pollard is fearless. Armed with a trained police dog, a black belt in judo and the will to speak her mind, she faces opposition head-on.

After six months, Antigone is feeling more settled in Deception Bay. The summer holiday season is off to a slow start and crime rates are down. But when a distraught mother calls the station to report her baby missing, Antigone and Wozza begin a race against time to find the baby and the person who brazenly took him.

In the middle of the frantic investigation, Antigone's mother, Dr Jilly Pollard, arrives for an unexpected visit and shares a tragic family secret, which she needs Antigone's help to resolve. Antigone takes a DNA test that yields two surprising results.

And just when things at the Deception Bay police station are running smoothly with a new commander, Senior Sergeant Amanda Filipovic, at the helm, circumstances change one stormy night. In the blink of an eye, Antigone's old boss, Bill Wheeler, is back, making the missing baby investigation harder every day.

Once again, Antigone faces the questions: who's protecting the women? And what happens when we don't believe them?

My Take

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this story. It is carefully constructed and the plot lines are interesting. The Prologue captures the readers' attention and from that point on you are hooked. 

There are two main plot threads which have parallel themes.

Recommended. 

My rating: 4.8 

I have read

4.8, THE UNBELIEVED 

Review: A MORBID TASTE FOR BONES, Ellis Peters

• 
  This edition read as an e-book on my Kindle (AmazonAu)
  
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00KFDQVYQ
•  Publisher ‏ : ‎ Head of Zeus, Publication date ‏ : ‎ 2 June 2014
• Originally published 1977
•  Print length ‏ : ‎ 306 pages
•  ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1784080518
•  Book 1 of 20: The Chronicles of Brother Cadfael 

Synopsis (AmazonAu)

Discover Brother Cadfael: Former soldier. Benedictine monk. Amateur sleuth.

The Cadfael Chronicles, by Diamond Dagger winner Ellis Peters, follow the mediaeval mysteries of one of classic crime's most unique detectives.

In 1137, the Abbot of Shrewsbury decides to acquire the remains of St Winifred. Brother Cadfael is part of the expedition sent to her final resting place in Wales and they find the villagers passionately divided by the Benedictines' offer for the saint's relics.

My Take

This is the beginning of the Cadfael stories and the focus is on introducing him and the Benedictine order at Shrewsbury to the readers. 

I am re-reading this book for my U3A Crime Fiction group which will begin discussions in February next years. Most of my fellow readers will not have read historical crime fiction before, and certainly nothing set in medieval England. They will find Ellis Peters' style perhaps a little unusual. I have discovered that our local library has the ITV series which featured Derek Jacoby and I am hoping to persuade them to watch the first episode. 

My rating: 4.4

I've also read

THE PILGRIM OF HATE
4.3, A MORBID TASTE FOR BONES
4.6, ONE CORPSE TOO MANY
4.5, MONK'S-HOOD 
4.4, THE VIRGIN IN THE ICE
4.2, THE DEVIL'S NOVICE   

Review: SLEEPING MURDER, Agatha Christie

• 
  This edition read on my Kindle (AmazonAU) 
  
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B004BDOTLS
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ HarperCollins, edition published 14 October 2010
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 257 pages
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0007422814 
• Originally published in 1976 (Miss Marple's last case, written about 35 years earlier
• Earlier reviews: 2014 and 2023

Synopsis
The owner of a seaside villa is plagued by strange feelings about its past…

Soon after Gwenda moved into her new home, odd things started to happen. Despite her best efforts to modernise the house, she only succeeded in dredging up its past. Worse, she felt an irrational sense of terror every time she climbed the stairs…

In fear, Gwenda turned to Miss Marple to exorcise her ghosts. Between them, they were to solve a ‘perfect’ crime committed many years before.

About the book
Sleeping Murder: Miss Marple's Last Case is a classic detective novel by Agatha Christie, written during the Blitz in the early 1940s and published posthumously in October 1976. It is the final novel to feature her famous amateur sleuth, Miss Jane Marple. Probably written about 4th in the Miss Marple series
Written under working titles such as Murder in Retrospect and Cover Her Face before Christie settled on Sleeping Murder. 

My Take

There is no doubt in my mind that this is one of the best Miss Marple novels. Here I am reading it again for discussion with my U3A Agatha Christie Reading Group.  

Although published as Miss Marple's Last Case, here we have Miss Marple at the height of her powers. She is constantly telling Gwenda and her husband Giles that they are not thinking hard enough, at the same time as telling them that what they are doing is dangerous. 

My rating: 4.7 

All my Agatha Christie reviews 

Review: PAST CARING, Robert Goddard

• 
  This edition read on my Kindle as an e-book (AmazonAU)
  
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B08JMFFCYL
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Joffe Books crime thriller and mystery, Publication date ‏ : ‎ 20 September 2020
• first published 1986
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 530 pages
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1789313178  

 Synopsis (AmazonAU)
A BEST-SELLING NOVEL WHICH WILL HAVE YOU UTTERLY ENTRANCED TILL ITS THRILLING CLIMAX.

At a luxurious villa on the sun-soaked island of Madeira, unemployed historian Martin Radford is given a second chance. Martin is shown the leather-bound journal of another ruined man, former British cabinet minister Edwin Strafford.

Martin is offered a job—to return to England and investigate the rise and fall of Strafford, an ambitious young politician whose downfall, in 1910, is as mysterious as the strange deaths that still haunt his family.

Martin is intrigued. Strafford resigned at the height of his career, disappearing from the public eye. The woman he loved, for whom he was willing to sacrifice everything, suddenly and coldly rejected him. All the reasons for his fall from grace are shrouded in darkness.

Martin’s investigations trigger a violent series of events, throwing him straight into the path of those who believed they had escaped punishment for crimes long past but never paid for . . . And Martin himself may find that he must risk his life to discover the truth.

DON’T MISS THIS ABSOLUTELY BEGUILING TALE WEAVING PAST AND PRESENT. ONE OF THOSE BOOKS YOU JUST CAN'T PUT DOWN.

My Take

This is a very solid and intricate read, covering a period of over 50 years, almost a family saga. There are several unexpected twists in the plot, several murders, and a number of truly evil and unprincipled characters.

In some ways it is a style of novel that we rarely see these days, recalling historical events, although swathes of history are dealt with cursorily. 

My rating: 4.4

I've also reviewed

 NAME TO A FACE

4.5, LONG TIME COMING

4.4, FAULT LINE

4.3, BORROWED TIME

4.0, ONE FALSE MOVE

4.5, THE FINE ART OF INVISIBLE DETECTION

Review: THE TAILOR, Tim Sullivan

• 
  this edition read as an e-book on Libby through my local library
  
• Series: DS Cross Mystery #8
• Publisher: Grove Atlantic, Release 11 August 2026 

 Synopsis (publisher)

Measure twice. Cut once.

Detective Sergeant George Cross is nothing if not precise. When a man is found dead in the first-class toilet of a train—his throat cut, a plastic bag over his head—the grisly scene shocks his fellow officers. Cross registers every detail, but it's not the blood that interests him. It's the victim's exquisite suit.

The dead man is a tailor by the name of Billy Titcomb, trusted by clients around the world for his meticulousness and discretion. Who would want a tailor dead? 

With his new partner, DC Alice Mackenzie, Cross starts pulling at the threads. There's a widow grieving in peculiar ways. A dead scientist whose suicide doesn't add up. And two South Korean tourists with embassy connections who keep showing up in places they shouldn't. The deeper Cross digs, the less this looks like a simple murder, and the more it looks like a professional operation.

DS Cross has the highest conviction rate in the force. But in the world of spies and state secrets, the rules are different—and for the first time, the people trying to stop him may be on his own side. Can Cross stitch it all together before the case unravels him?

My Take

Another challenging case for DS George Cross. His former partner has been promoted and so he has to learn to work with someone else, or rather, she has to learn to work with him.

In addition his parents have recently moved in together and things are not going all that well.

Woven through the story are the elements of humor that we have come to expect. 

For the first time George himself is in danger, abducted, a new experience for him. 

My rating: 4.5

I've also read

4.5, THE DENTIST- #1

4.6, THE CYCLIST - #2

4.6, THE PATIENT - #3

4.6, THE POLITICIAN -#4

4.5, THE MONK - #5

4.7, THE TEACHER - #6 

4.6, THE BOOKSELLER - #7

4.6, THE BASKETCASE 

Review: BLOOD WATER FALLS, T. G. Reid

• 
  This edition read as an e-book on my Kindle (AmazonAU)
  
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B098JYHLW6
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Glass Work Press Ltd, Publication date ‏ : ‎ 29 November 2021
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 389 pages
• Book 2 of 10 ‏ : ‎ DCI Bone Scottish Crime Thrillers  

 Synopsis (AmazonAU)

A TEACHER IS FOUND DEAD AT BLOOD WATER FALLS.
Nailed to the rockface. Behind the waterfall.
In a town where everyone knows everything. And nobody's talking.

For DCI Duncan Bone, it looks straightforward. A murder in a small community — someone always talks. Someone always knows.

But the forensic evidence doesn't fit. The timeline doesn't fit. And the community has closed ranks. Nobody is talking.

Small towns keep their secrets buried deep. This one has been waiting years for someone to dig.

My Take

Another gripping read. The characters in DCI Duncan Bone's team are being fleshed out nicely and their personalities add to the story.

Bone is still haunted with PTSD from his earlier case, but his trauma is heightened by the collapse of his marriage and the fact that his wife regards his career as a threat to his small son's safety. The killer compounds this by setting fire to Bone's house.  

My rating: 4.5

I've also read

4.5, DARK IS THE GRAVE - #1

Review: DARK IS THE GRAVE, T.G. Reid

• 
  This edition read as an e-book on my Kindle (AmazonAU)
  
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B096MN4WRX
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Glass Work Press Ltd, Publication date ‏ : ‎ 1 July 2021
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 319 pages
• Book 1 of 10 ‏ : ‎ DCI Bone Scottish Crime Thrillers  

Synopsis (AmazonAU)

A POLICE OFFICER IS BURIED ALIVE. JUST LIKE BEFORE.
But the killer has been dead for years.
So who knows how he killed?

DCI Duncan Bone nearly died stopping the Peek-a-boo killer. It cost him everything — his health, his career, his mind.

Now someone is hunting police officers again. The latest victim was found six feet under with dirt in his lungs. Same method. Same ritual. Details that were never made public.

Bone is dragged back to lead the hunt. But every answer he finds connects back to the original case — and to things only the dead man should have known.

The original case nearly broke him. This one might finish the job.

My Take

This one really hit the spot. The beginning of a series too. I can feel addiction coming on.

DCI Bone is haunted by a killer who is long dead but has left him with nightmares. And now it is happening again. Bone has been on extended leave but his old boss persuades him to return to work to lead the team as he is the one who knows the past cases really well. His counsellors say he should be ready. But is he?

And the copy-cat killer has decided to target Bone.

This author does tension very well. 

My rating: 4.5

About the author

TG Reid (aka Tom Gillespie) is a Scottish-born novel and short story writer. His award-winning novels and stories been published worldwide. TG Reid also writes critically acclaimed, award-winning, dark literary thrillers under the pen name of Tom Gillespie.The DCI Bone series is set in Tom's hometown, among the hills and glens of the Scottish Campsie Fells. This is Tom's first foray into the murky, pulse-pounding world of police thrillers.