Review: THE TRIVIA NIGHT. Ali Lowe

• 
  This edition, published 2022 Hodder & Stoughton
  
• supplied by my local library
• ISBN 978-1-529-34882-8
• 356 pages

Synopsis (publisher)

Question: How long does it take to tear someone's life apart?

Answer: Sometimes just one night.

From the outside the parents of the kindergarten class at Darley Heights primary school seem to have it all. Living in the wealthy Sydney suburbs, it's a community where everyone knows each other - and secrets don't stay secret for long.

The big date in the calendar is the school's annual fundraising trivia night, but when the evening gets raucously out of hand, talk turns to partner-swapping. Initially scandalised, it's not long before a group of parents make a reckless one-night-only pact.

But in the harsh light of day, those involved must face the fallout of their behaviour. As they begin to navigate the shady aftermath of their wild night, the truth threatens to rip their perfect lives apart - and revenge turns fatal.

THE TRIVIA NIGHT is a gripping, domestic page-turner full of shocking reveals, perfect for fans of Liane Moriarty and Sally Hepworth.

My Take

Here is a Trivia Night quite unlike any that you've ever attended.

Four couples sit at a table, and general knowledge questions take a back seat. What happens at this night will have a long tail of consequences that none of them could have foreseen at the beginning. Lives will be changed forever.

There is a twist at the end that I really didn't anticipate.

Question for the reader:
Who is the author of the Prologue and who is she writing to? (there are plenty of clues)

My rating: 4.5

I've also read

• 4.8, THE SCHOOL RUN
• 4.6, THE RUNNING CLUB
  

Review: THE LOST APOTHECARY, Sarah Penner

• 
  This edition available as an e-book for Kindle on Amazon
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B08L7G19RP
  
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Legend Press (2 March 2021)
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 321 pages
• Shortlisted for the HWA Debut Crown Award
  2021's Most Highly Anticipated New Books Newsweek
  Most Anticipated Books of 2021 Popsugar

Synopsis (Amazon) 

With crackling suspense, unforgettable characters and searing insight, The Lost Apothecary is a subversive and intoxicating debut novel of secrets, vengeance and the remarkable ways women can save each other despite the barrier of time.

Hidden in the depths of eighteenth-century London, a secret apothecary shop caters to an unusual kind of clientele. Women across the city whisper of a mysterious figure named Nella who sells well-disguised poisons to use against the oppressive men in their lives. But the apothecary’s fate is jeopardized when her newest patron, a precocious twelve-year-old, makes a fatal mistake, sparking a string of consequences that echo through the centuries.

Meanwhile in present-day London, aspiring historian Caroline Parcewell spends her tenth wedding anniversary alone, running from her own demons. When she stumbles upon a clue to the unsolved apothecary murders that haunted London two hundred years ago, her life collides with the apothecary’s in a stunning twist of fate—and not everyone will survive.

My Take

This novel attempts (successfully) one of those very difficult formats: two time frames separated by over 200 years, and also at least two themes mystery, and love/faithfulness. Another element is that it is written by an American author but set in London.

Caroline Parcewell's 10 year wedding anniversary trip to London turns out very different to what she had imagined when just prior to the trip she finds out that her husband has had an affair. Instead of a second honeymoon she finds herself in London alone. With time on her hands she goes mudlarking on the mud flats of the Thames and finds a small blue vial. This sparks a quest to find out more and she uncovers information about an apothecary who used these vials to help women deal with husbands they want to be rid of.

I have read it for my U3A Crime Fiction group.

I have discovered a reader's guide which both poses questions about the story, and gives some background to how and why it was written.

Here are some I may use in our discussion. (click here to find more)

1) The Lost Apothecary opens with Nella in her shop, preparing to dispense a poison meant to kill a man. Her work is sinister, and much about her character is dark and disturbing. When you first learned that Nella was a murderer, how did you view her? How did your feelings change over the course of the book as more of her past was revealed?
Did you believe she would eventually find redemption? In the end, did you see her as a hero, a villain, or something in between? Why?

2) At the beginning of Caroline’s story, she finds the apothecary vial while on a mudlarking
tour. Had you heard of mudlarking prior to reading this book? Do you believe that fate or
coincidence led to her discovery? Have you ever stumbled on something that you consider to
be fate?

3) Both Nella and Caroline have been betrayed by men in their lives. In what ways did the two
women respond similarly to these betrayals? In what ways did they respond differently? Do
you feel that one woman was more emotionally resilient than the other?

4) Nella and Eliza form an unlikely friendship early in the story, despite Nella’s resistance to
having the young girl in her shop a second time. Why do you think Nella eventually softened
her heart toward Eliza? What drew the two characters—one on the cusp of womanhood, the
other toward the end of her life—toward one another? What kind of impact did Eliza have on
Nella’s character?

5) The Lost Apothecary is sprinkled with mention of magick, and several events occur that could
be considered either the work of magick or merely good luck. When you learned that Eliza
survived after ingesting the Tincture to Reverse Bad Fortune, did you believe it the result of
magick, or do you think she was a lucky survivor after jumping into the freezing river?

 My rating: 4.5

About the Author
Sarah Penner is the debut author of The Lost Apothecary, which has been sold into eleven territories worldwide. Sarah works full-time in finance. She and her husband live in St. Petersburg, Florida with their miniature dachshund, Zoe. Follow Sarah @SL_Penner Or visit www.SarahPenner.com

Review: DEATH ON THE NILE, Agatha Christie

• 
  This edition from Amazon on Kindle
  
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0DCG8S8NV
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Horizon Ridge Publishing (10 August 2024
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 304 pages
• First published in Great Britain in 1937

Synopsis (Amazon} 

Beloved detective Hercule Poirot embarks on a journey to Egypt in one of Agatha Christie's most famous mysteries.

The tranquility of a luxury cruise along the Nile was shattered by the discovery that Linnet Ridgeway had been shot through the head. She was young, stylish, and beautiful. A girl who had everything . . . until she lost her life.

Hercule Poirot recalled an earlier outburst by a fellow passenger: "I'd like to put my dear little pistol against her head and just press the trigger." Yet under the searing heat of the Egyptian sun, nothing is ever quite what it seems.

A sweeping mystery of love, jealousy, and betrayal, Death on the Nile is one of Christie's most legendary and timeless works.

My Take

Well, of course, this is far from the first time that I have read DEATH ON THE NILE. My earlier reviews is here. I am re-reading it this time with my U3A Agatha Christie Reading group who are coming to the end of their 4 year course with me. I anticipate they will have enjoyed the novel.

I want to focus our discussion on some of the following

• the way Christie introduces us to all the main characters
• who is NOT what they appear to be at first glance? 
• the interactions between the characters
• how is each character in some way linked to a crime
  
• the suspicions she plants in our minds
• the red herrings which are laid across our reading path
• The role of Colonel Race
• How they felt about the ending.
• what makes this such an appealing book?
  
• some themes that have been suggested: Justice, genre expectations, the importance of class, romantic love, selfishness and generosity, national identity and international connections
  

We will follow our discussion by watching the television production with David Suchet as Poirot. 

My rating: 4.5

My reviews of Agatha Christie novels

Review: EDENHOPE, Louise Le Nay

• this edition available as an e-book on Kindle at Amazon
• 
  ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0CTGMCF1H
  
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Text Publishing (4 June 2024)
• 320 pages 

Synopsis (Amazon)

The warm, heroic story of a grandmother's determination to save her family from themselves.

Marnie is sixty-three and downwardly mobile. Her middle-class marriage is long gone, her only child more or less estranged. She's living in a granny flat behind a stranger's house.

Still, things could be worse. She likes her new boss, Trinh, and her flat has a leadlight window depicting a galleon in full sail. Also, her daughter Lenny has just brought Marnie's adored grandchildren to stay.

She's also brought her repellent boyfriend and raging drug habit, so nothing new there. But this time it's different. This time Marnie can see with absolute clarity the danger the children are in.
And this time-she's going to do something about it.

This is the revelatory story of an ordinary woman who will let nothing, not even the law, stand in the way of her grandchildren's safety. Simply, elegantly told and utterly compelling, Edenhope is an adventure for those who believe adventure can come from anywhere. And it is a love story for those who understand that love can be found everywhere.

My Take

I should say at the start that this is not my usual crime fiction. It is in part a comment on the effects of petty crime on children and families, and about people who decide to do something about it, to make a difference.

Very readable and thought provoking. 

My rating: 4.5

About the author

 Louise Le Nay is an Australian actress and writer, known for her role as Sandy Edwards in Prisoner, and Stella Stinson, Kim's adoptive mother in Lift Off. Her novel, THE HERO, was published in 1996.

Review: KILLERS OF A CERTAIN AGE, Deanna Raybourn

• 
  This edition published 1923 by Hodder & Stoughton
  
• Supplied by my local library
• ISBN 978-1-399-71278-1
• 353 pages
  

Synopsis (publisher)

Billie, Mary Alice, Helen and Natalie have worked for the Museum, an elite network of assassins, for forty years. But now their talents are considered old-school and no one appreciates their real-world resourcefulness in an age of technology.

When the foursome is sent on an all-expenses-paid trip to mark their retirement, they are targeted by one of their own. Only the Board, the top-level members of the Museum, can order the termination of field agents, and the women realise they've been marked for death.

To get out alive they have to turn against their own organization, relying on experience and each other to get the job done, knowing that working together is the secret to their survival. They're about to teach the Board what it really means to be a woman - and a killer - of a certain age.

My Take

I seem to have score a number of books about elderly or retiring assassins just lately. 

• 4.5, SEVENTEEN: Last Man Standing - #1
• 4.5, ASSASSIN EIGHTEEN - #2

I've added 'geezer lit' to my labels for this one. 

Four female assassins on the brink of retiring, highly trained, very successful, find that they in turn are on someone's list, so they must track down who is after them. They are not sure who to trust of their former associates, nor entirely sure what they've done. Some of them are aging more quickly than others of their group.

Entertaining reading.

My rating: 4.5

I've also read

SILENT IN THE GRAVE

About the author

New York Times bestselling author Deanna Raybourn graduated from the University of Texas at San Antonio with a double major in English and history and an emphasis on Shakespearean studies. She taught high school English for three years in San Antonio before leaving education to pursue a career as a novelist. Deanna makes her home in Virginia, where she lives with her husband and daughter and is hard at work on her next novel.