Review: THE REDLINE, Adrian Hyland

• 
  This edition an e-book made available through my local library on BorrowBox
  
• ISBN: 9781761153556
• Published 25 / 11 / 2025
• Pages: 336
• QBD Books 
• #3 Jesse Redpath series 

Synopsis (publisher)

An open road. A dead cop. A killer in the hills ...I flicked on the torch, swept the surrounds. Nothing. Then I directed the beam into the trees on the other side of the road.

Up on a high, jutting branch, something moved. It may have been a white face, a pale body, a curved leg. Or it may have been none of those things. Was it human? Too quick for me to tell. A ripple, a blink and it was gone. But it seemed to leave an afterglow, an impression upon the fabric of the night.

I took a deep breath. What had I seen? It had appeared to be a pair of piercing eyes in a pale visage. It could almost have been an owl, so compelling was its gaze, so swift its departure. Maybe it was just a trick of the light, a distorted shadow?

There was a crunch of leaf in the litter below and it was gone.

Whatever it was, it sent a chill through me.

It's the festive season in the Windmark Ranges and Sergeant Jesse Redpath's day is going from bad to worse. It begins with her having to arrest the usual drunks and troublemakers and ends with the death of a colleague out on the Redline road. A death which may or may not have been an accident.

Jesse learns there have been other deaths and disappearances in the ranges, and that the local rumour mill suggests the perp is an elusive, semi-mythical character who goes by the name of 'Anarchy'.

Beneath the charm of a close-knit community, a darker truth festers, and Jesse's driven to expose it, no matter the disruption to the valley's fragile tranquillity.

My Take

Three years since we have had a novel from Adrian Hyland. 

Jesse Redpath is filling in for a colleague on leave and is a little older than we last met her but no less enthusiastic about her job. This novel turns out to be a fast pace thriller.

My rating: 4.6

I've also read

5.0, GUNSHOT ROAD

4.5, CANTICLE CREEK -#1

4.7, THE WIREGRASS -#2

 
The Redline is the third in Adrian Hyland’s Australian regional crime series featuring Sergeant Jesse Redpath. The books are is set in a group of small towns in the fictional Windmark Ranges, a few hours drive from the centre of Melbourne. This entry is named after a local road that has earned the nickname “the redline” due to the drivers who redline their cars while speeding along it. 

Review: NEVER LIE, Freida McFadden

• 
  this edition from my local library
  
• large print, Gale Publishing, 2024
• ISBN 978-1-4205-1398-1
• 388 pages

Synopsis (publisher)

Sometimes the truth kills…

Newlyweds Tricia and Ethan are searching for the house of their dreams. They think they've found it when they visit the remote manor that once belonged to Dr. Adrienne Hale, a renowned psychiatrist who vanished without a trace years ago. But when a violent winter storm traps them at the estate, the house begins to lose its appeal.

Stuck inside and growing restless, Tricia stumbles on a collection of audio transcripts from Dr. Hale's sessions with patients. As Tricia listens to the cassette tapes, she learns about the terrifying chain of events leading up to the doctor's mysterious disappearance. 

My Take

McFadden is fast becoming one of my favourite authors.

There are multiple narrators in this story, and at least two time frames. Just when you think you know what has happened you are delivered a ball from left field and you have to make a re-assessment. 

Highly recommended. 

My rating: 4.6

I've also read

4.5, THE TENANT

4.5, DO NOT DISTURB 

4.5, WANT TO KNOW A SECRET?

4.7, DEAR DEBBIE 

4.6, THE HOUSEMAID 

Review: OUTSIDE, Ragnar Jonasson

• 
  this edition published by Random House 2022
• translated from Icelandic by Victoria Cribb
  
• ISBN 978-0-241-49366-3
• 324 pages  

Synopsis (publisher)

Four friends. One night. Not everyone will come out alive . . . 

In a deadly Icelandic snowstorm, four friends break into an abandoned hunting lodge, hoping to wait out the storm until morning.

But nothing can prepare them for what's inside...

With no other option, they are forced to spend a terrifying night in the cabin: watching as intently and silently as they themselves are being watched. As the night darkens, old secrets spill into the light, and tensions rise between the four friends. Soon it's clear that what they've discovered in the cabin is far from the only mystery lurking there.

Nor the only thing to be afraid of... 

My Take

The story opens with the group of four friends battling through a snow storm to find shelter in an abandoned hut. They have come to this remote area in Iceland to hunt ptarmigan but the weather has closed in.  They were university students together but haven't met for a number of years, so this is a sort of reunion. The snowstorm emphasises how treacherous Icelandic weather can be. The days are short and darkness closes in quickly. When they find the hut the door is padlocked and they need to break in.

Terrified by what they discover inside, they decide that two of them will go back for help.

We gradually piece together bits of the past through narratives from each of the group.

A very atmospheric thriller. 

My rating: 4.6

I've also read

4.4, THE MIST

4.5, WHITE OUT 

4.5, WINTERKILL 

4.6, THE MIST

4.6, RUPTURE 

4.7, THE DARKNESS 

4.7, REYKJAVIK - with Katrin Jakobsdottir

Review: JAXON WITH AN X, D. K. Wall

• 
  This edition read as an e-book on my Kindle (Amazon)
  
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B08CF3HB3K
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Conjuring Reality LLC, Published : ‎ 21 July 2020
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 328 pages
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1950293049  

 Synopsis (AmazonAU)

Six-year-old Jaxon Lathan disappeared while playing in a park. Ten years later, he’s found wandering a deserted highway.

The boy’s family races to the hospital to see him, but they are shocked at the sight. The bubbly youngster has been replaced by a scarred and emaciated teen. As they begin to bridge the lost years and rebuild their bonds, they must wrestle with their own guilt and demons.

Fearing other children are at risk, the sheriff follows the clues deep into the Great Smoky Mountains. He finds half-buried secrets, a twisted family, and his own missed opportunities. When he peels back the last layer of the mystery, the revelation shakes everyone.

All Jaxon has dreamed for years is to be with his family. Has too much happened or can he find his way home?

Jaxon with an X is an emotionally charged standalone literary fiction novel. If you like rural settings, broken families learning to heal, and stories of personal endurance, you’ll love D.K. Wall’s absorbing tale.

Empathy, compassion, forgiveness and hope. There is a light at the end of the dark, twisting tunnel.

My Take

The tale of a little boy who has been missing for ten years, one of a number of abductions, a case unsolved despite extensive application of police resources, and time spent in jail by the boy's father.  

A stunning read particularly as Australia has been reeling recently from the disappearance of 4 year old Gus Lamont. 

My rating: 4.5

About the Author
D.K. has lived his entire life in the Carolinas and Tennessee-from the highest elevations of the Great Smoky Mountains near Maggie Valley to the industrial towns of Gastonia and Hickory, the cities of Charlotte and Nashville, and the coastal salt marsh of Murrells Inlet.Over the years, he's watched the textile and furniture industries wither and the banking and service industries explode, changing the face of the region. He uses his love of storytelling to share tales about the people and places affected. Today he's married and living in Asheville. Surrounded by his family of rescued Siberian Huskies known as The Thundering Herd, D.K. is hard at work on his next novel. 

Review: DEAD FALL LAKE, S. R. White

• 
  this edition supplied by my local library,
  
• published  by Headline Publishing 2026
• ISBN 978-1-03-542666-9
• 261 pages
• #5 in the Dana Russo series 

Synopsis (publisher)

Deep in the Australian wilderness, a famed sinkhole renowned as a stunning freediving spot attracts people from all over the world. But there’s a dark, puzzling mystery when a local sports hero – and the glamorous face of a high-adrenaline video channel – is found dead far beneath the surface.

Despite diving the sinkhole hundreds of times, his lifeless body is discovered dressed in normal clothes, handcuffed to a supply line. With no witnesses – and evidence submerged 30 metres underwater – how can Detective Dana Russo unravel such a shocking case?

My Take

The historical setting is Covid in 2020 in remote Australia (perhaps Western Victoria). The detectives have had to come from Carlton and the pandemic means that there are all sorts of restrictions related to social contact and mask wearing is mandatory. While I have read a number of novels written during the pandemic, not so many are set in the period. (Here are some I've read)

In addition the two female detectives are both "damaged" in some way and bring their own limitations to the investigation. The sinkhole has been used in the past in colonial Australia as a place of execution and makes the death of a free diver even more macabre or ironic. The sinkhole has vertical sides and very clear filtered water. 

I found the investigation quite technical and slow reading at times. I hadn't really managed to pick the murderer - perhaps not enough clues for me?

My rating: 4.6 

I've also read

4.6, HERMIT  - #1

Review: HOUSE OF CORRECTION, Nicci French

• 
  **SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2021 CWA GOLD DAGGER AWARD**
  
• This edition an e-book on Kindle (Amazon)
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B089T6R8VW
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Simon & Schuster UK, Publication date ‏ : ‎ 1 September 2020
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 528 pages
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1471198571 

Synopsis (Amazon)

In this heart-pounding standalone thriller from bestselling author Nicci French, a woman accused of murder attempts to solve her own case from the confines of prison--but as she unravels the truth, everything is called into question, including her own certainty that she is innocent.

Tabitha is not a murderer.

When a body is discovered in Okeham, England, Tabitha is shocked to find herself being placed in handcuffs. It must be a mistake. She'd only recently moved back to her childhood hometown, not even getting a chance to reacquaint herself with the neighbors. How could she possibly be a murder suspect?

She knows she's not.

As Tabitha is shepherded through the system, her entire life is picked apart and scrutinized --her history of depression and medications, her decision to move back to a town she supposedly hated . . . and of course, her past relationship with the victim, her former teacher. But most unsettling, Tabitha's own memories of that day are a complete blur.

She thinks she's not.

From the isolation of the correctional facility, Tabitha dissects every piece of evidence, every testimony she can get her hands on, matching them against her own recollections. But as dark, long-buried memories from her childhood come to light, Tabatha begins to question if she knows what kind of person she is after all. The world is convinced she's a killer. Tabatha needs to prove them all wrong.

But what if she's only lying to herself? 

My Take

After her lawyer advises her to plead guilty, Tabitha, who can't really remember what happened on the day of the murder, decides she will take on her own defence. She is thorough in her preparation but there is so much working against her, she is really unsure that she will be successful. A fascinating read.

My rating: 4.8

I've also read

4.3, BLUE MONDAY

4.5, TUESDAY'S GONE

4.7, WAITING FOR WEDNESDAY

4.7, FRIDAY ON MY MIND

4.7, THE LYING ROOM

4.5, DAY OF THE DEAD

4.7, SECRET SMILE

4.6, THE UNHEARD 

4.8, THE FAVOUR

5..0, HAS ANYONE SEEN CHARLOTTE SALTER?

5.0. THE LAST DAYS OF KIRA MULLAN  

5.0, WHAT HAPPENED THAT NIGHT 

Review: THE HAWK IS DEAD, Peter James

• 
  this edition published by Pan Macmillan 2025
  
• ISBN 978-1-5290-9007-9
• 470 pages
• Roy Grace #22 

Synopsis (publisher)

Roy Grace never dreamed a murder investigation would take him deep into Buckingham Palace . . .

Her Majesty, Queen Camilla, is aboard the Royal Train heading to a charity event in Sussex when disaster strikes – the train is derailed.

A tragic accident or a planned attack?

When, minutes later, a trusted aide is shot dead by a sniper, the police have their answer.

Despite all the evidence, Roy Grace is not convinced The Queen was the intended target. But he finds himself alone in his suspicions.

Fighting against the scepticism of his colleagues and the Palace itself, Grace pursues his own investigation. But when there is a second murder, the stakes rise even higher, and Grace is at risk of being embroiled in a very public catastrophe – and in mortal danger.

Failure at this level is not an option. But time is running out before a killer in the Palace will strike again . . .

Roy Grace is back with his most difficult case yet in the gripping new instalment from number one bestselling author Peter James.

My Take

I am of course familiar with the Roy Grace series, possible more from television than from the books,  as I have discovered in checking what I have actually read (see my list below). I recognise now that it something I should remedy.

This was an excellent read, well constructed, with a credible plot, and also elements of humour such as the naming of the king as HMTK, and little puzzles to engage the reader.

I should point out that there is a plot similarity with a book that I read some weeks ago where the late Queen was the sleuth: 4.4, A THREE DOG PROBLEM - written in 2021. I won't discuss the elements of similarity - you will recognise them when you come across them.

My rating: 5.0

I've also read

• DEAD MAN'S FOOTSTEPS
• NOT DEAD ENOUGH
• 5.0, DEAD TOMORROW
• 4.8, DEAD LIKE YOU