Review: THE COUPLES RETREAT, Mercedes Mercier

• 
  this edition published by Penguin Random House Australia 2026
• ISBN 978-1-76135-669-8
  
• 329 pages 

Synopis (publisher)

Six friends. Three Nights. One deadly secret - a twisty, compulsive destination thriller where no one is as perfect as they seem.

There’s nothing more dangerous than someone who remembers who you used to be.

At a secluded beachfront mansion on Kangaroo Island, three wealthy couples gather for a weekend of partying and luxury indulgence. But beneath the glitter and excess, deep rivalries and explosive secrets fester between the old friends.

When they wake to a shocking murder scene, they are gripped first by fear, then by suspicion. With ferry services suspended due to a storm, the survivors and the killer remain trapped on the island together.

Thrust into the biggest case of her fledgling career, rookie police officer Emily Quinn quickly discovers that the locals are mistrustful of outsiders. When her dangerous ex-boyfriend tracks her down, Quinn’s past and present collide in spectacular fashion, threatening not only her new life, but the investigation of the most gruesome crime in the island’s history.

Set in one of Australia’s most beautiful locations, The Couples Retreat is a twisty, compulsive thriller that proves privilege cannot protect you from everything, and no one is as perfect as they seem. 

My Take

Set on an island off the South Coast of South Australia where I live. I have visited several times over the decade and can envisage the fictional location of this thriller. 

Emily Quinn is new to the island, taking a position as a probationary constable in the main town Kingscote to escape her manipulative and controlling boyfriend. She is later horrified to find that he has followed her there.

Quinn notices the group of 6 people who came across to the island on the ferry with her: opinionated, flamboyant, and wealthy. She reports to the police station on arrival and is put to work almost immediately by the morose Senior Sergeant Skinner.

Before long she and Skinner visit the holiday home where these new arrivals have made their mark with loud noise and a complaint from a neighbour.

The whole world changes when some of the residents of the holiday house are murdered.

Well structured and engrossing. 

My rating: 4.5

I've also read

4.6, BLACK LIES

4.6, WHITE NOISE  

Review: THE MODEL MURDER, Amanda Hampson

• 
  this edition published by Penguin Books 2026
  
• ISBN 978-1-76135-034-4
• 324 pages  

Synopsis (publisher)

Never underestimate a tea lady.

Sydney, 1968. When a popular local man is murdered, police are quick to pin the blame on his glamorous model fiancée, who has since disappeared. But Hazel suspects a criminal cover-up and rallies the tea ladies to investigate; a quest that brings danger right to her door.

Meanwhile, Merl’s long-buried family secret threatens to unravel her carefully constructed life. When she stumbles on evidence that her detective son-in-law is corrupt, she’s forced to swallow her pride and reunite with the other tea ladies, enlisting their help to expose him.

Betty becomes immersed in a local theatre group where there is more drama offstage than on it, further complicated by her infatuation with the enigmatic leading man.
Irene aspires to a new career as a debt collector but her first case has more frustrations and obstacles than she bargained for, even with the help of a new weapon. 

My Take

Although a cozy, I found the plot had too many strands, and I seemed constantly to be getting the main characters muddled up.

My rating: 4.3 

I've also read

4.4, THE TEA LADIES

4.4, THE CRYPTIC CLUE 

Review: ONE LESS SNAKE, Rhys Dylan

• 
  This edition read as an e-book on my Kindle
  
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0DT4RG4D4
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Wyrmwood Books, Publication date ‏ : ‎ 22 April 2025
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 298 pages
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1915185426
• Book 16 of 21 ‏ : ‎ DCI Evan Warlow Crime Thriller

Synopsis (AmazonAU) 

Even sleepy, picturesque coastal towns have their secrets.

Welcome to Solva, where a burned-out car, a corpse, and a hauntingly precise execution greets a morning walker.

DCI Evan Warlow faces a case steeped in fear and the worst of modern crimes.

As clues lead him down twisting trails, Warlow must confront not only the killer’s identity but also the lingering echoes of a community’s darkest sins and the intersection of power, revenge, and justice.

My Take

Matt Gittings was one of those politicians who really only thought of what he could get out of his position. That he would come to a nasty end was probably inevitable. But his death in a burning vehicle provides DCI Evan Warlow and his team with a real puzzle.

These stories continue to be entertaining, well planned and thought-provoking, although in this one the "dad" jokes are a bit overwhelming. 

My rating: 4.4

I've also read

4.6, THE ENGINE HOUSE - #1

4.5, CAUTION: DEATH AT WORK -#2

4.6, ICE COLD MALICE - #3

4.5, SUFFER THE DEAD - #4

4.6, GRAVELY CONCERNED - #5 

4.5, A MARK OF IMPERFECTION - #6

4.5, BURNT ECHO - #7 

4.6, A BODY OF WATER - #8

4.5, LINES OF INQUIRY - #9 

4.5, NO ONE NEAR - #10 

4.6, THE LIGHT REMAINS - #11

4.6, A MATTER OF EVIDENCE - #12

4.5, THE LAST THROW - #13 

4.6, DRAGON'S BREATH - #14

4.6, THE BOWMAN - #15 

4.5, DRUID'S MOOR - #18

Review: NO SMOKE WITHOUT FIRE, Paul Gitsham

• 
  this version an e-book on Libby through my local library
  
• Publisher, HarperCollins Publishers, 21 July 2018
• ISBN 9780008389154 
• #2 in series DCI Warren Jones

Synopsis (Overdrive)

DCI Warren Jones has a bad feeling when the body of a young woman turns up in Beaconsfield Woods. She's been raped and strangled but the murderer has been careful to leave no DNA evidence. 

There are, of course, suspects – boyfriend, father – to check out but, worryingly, it looks more and more like a stranger murder. 

Warren's worst fears are confirmed when another young woman is killed in the same way. The MO fits that of Richard Cameron who served twelve years for rape. But Cameron never killed his victims and he has a cast-iron alibi. 

Then personal tragedy intervenes and Warren is off the case. But the pressure is mounting and another woman goes missing. Warren is back but will the break he desperately needs come before there's another victim?

My Take

I enjoyed reading this novel although I "solved" the mystery about half way through. However there were a number of quite distracting red herrings. Sadly my library does not have any more of this series either in print or e-book. I guess that is to be expected as they are not recently published. 

My rating: 4.5

I've also read

4.5, THE LAST STRAW - #1 

Review: THE CUTTING, Michael Campling

• 
  This edition read as an ebook on my Kindle (AmazonAU)
  
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0H199HCHD
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Shadowstone Books, Publication date ‏ : ‎ 2 June 2026
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 652 pages
• Book 2 of 2 ‏ : ‎ The DC Spiller Mysteries   

Synopsis (AmazonAU)

The body was in a mess. The victim, a young man, was found naked in the street, face and upper body slashed, fingertips shredded, teeth broken. And all while he was alive.

Detective Constable Spiller has seen nothing like it. Stranger still, the victim was found in a quiet residential street and nobody seems to know who he was.

But this young man was only the first victim to be found. The murderer hasn't stopped, and to make matters worse, the police can find no link between the victims.

Is this the work of a sociopathic murderer, a sadistic serial killer targeting victims at random?

It’s 1993 and DC Spiller has been in the job for a year. This is his toughest case yet, but along with the team at Exeter CID, he’ll stop at nothing to bring the killer in.

Even if it means putting his life on the line.

Venture into Exeter’s shadowy streets with DC Spiller on the hunt for a serial killer in The Cutting.

My Take

This story takes us back over 30 years when technologies that we take for granted were really just emerging. Police investigations took much longer and procedures were much emphasised. However DC Tim Spiller is inclined to bypass the procedures and to trust his intuition a little too much. This is only his second year in the job and he often needs restraint and yoking to a more experienced officer.

A body found on a street, naked, outside the house of a former policeman, appears to have been tortured, and DC Tim Spiller becomes part of the team of investigating officers.

This is a well constructed tale with a good plot. 

My rating: 4.5

I have also read the following by the same author

4.3, A STUDY IN STONE

Review: THREE BAGS FULL, Leonie Swann

• 
  This edition read on my Kindle (AmazonAU)
  
• aka THE SHEEP DETECTIVES
• Anthea Bell (Translator)
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0DT4QXTD9
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Allison & Busby, Publication date ‏ : ‎ 20 March 2025
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 347 pages 
• First published in 2005, English translation from German by Anthea Bell 2006, published Random House 2006, 351 pages, ISBN 978-0-385-60994-4
• Review written in 2009 

Synopsis (AmazonAU)

On a hillside near the quaint Irish village of Glennkill, the flock gathers around the dead body of their shepherd, George, who lies pinned to the ground with a spade. George cared deeply for the sheep, reading to them daily, and as a result they are far smarter than your average flock.

Led by Miss Maple, the sharpest sheep in Glennkill (and possibly the world), they set out to find George's killer. With an assortment of woolly investigators on the case, there are furtive missions into the village and a collection of two-legged suspects to chew over.

Dazzingly original, Three Bags Full introduces a band of detectives who are a breed apart.

My Take

Just recently the film THE SHEEP DETECTIVES starring Hugh Jackman has been recently released and The Chooser in our book group decided the book that the film was based on, THREE BAGS FULL,  would be on our list this month. For me this was a re-read as I originally read the book soon after it was released. My review from 2009 is here.

A word of warning for would-be readers. The film THE SHEEP DETECTIVES has a PG rating. The film really takes one or two themes out of the original book, the main one being the death of the shepherd and the attempts by his sheep to solve the problem of his murder. Various other cozy elements were then added to the story. The original book went well beyond that.

In fact after originally reading the book over 17 years ago I had forgotten most of the story, and began to feel a little bit duped because the plots were far from identical to that of the film.  

Once I had got over those feelings, I did enjoy the re-read, and the rather woolly sense of humour embedded in it. 

My rating: 4.4

Review: THE CURSED ROAD, Laura McCluskey

• 
  This edition, a paperback by QBD books
• ISBN 9781460765593 
  
• Published 24 / 02 / 2026
• Book 2 of 2: George Lennox and Richie Stewart 
• 352 pages 

Synopsis (publisher) 

The hauntingly atmospheric and gripping new novel from the author of The Wolf Tree

In a mountainous region of the Scottish Highlands, a young woman's body has been found on a remote stretch of road. Though the manner of her death suggests a terrible accident, a name carved into her arm hints at something more sinister. And when a personal connection to the name is revealed, DIs Georgina Lennox and Richard Stewart are sent to investigate. As George and Richie question locals, they discover that the road has a bloody history. 

Fearing that more women will be harmed, they track the killer through a rugged wilderness where ancient feuds, generational curses and the unforgiving elements fight for supremacy. But there are more secrets to the road than just its history - and the people living along it will do whatever it takes to stop those secrets from coming out.

My Take

Recently I came across a review which described a book as a "chiller" and that strikes me as an apt adjective for this one too.

George and Richie have not been in touch much recently, both in fact trying in their own ways get over the impact of their recent case together. George regards Richie as her mentor but is not sure that she can work with him again. After their last case she became drug dependent and, although she is now clean, she is sure he will be disapproving. 

Their boss is keen to get them working together again, she can't afford to have her two best detectives sidelined. 

There is a lot of pressure on them to solve this case quickly but it is difficult to identify the victim and something is not quite right with the information locals are giving. This book hooks you, and you have to keep reading! 

My rating: 4.6

I've also read

4.8, THE WOLF TREE