Review: EVERYONE IN MY FAMILY HAS KILLED SOMEONE, Benjamin Stevenson

• 
  This edition an e-book from Amazon on Kindle 
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B09JP2WJSH
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Penguin eBooks (29 March 2022)
  
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 365 pages
• DYMOCKS BOOK OF THE YEAR SHORTLIST 2022
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Synopsis  (Amazon) 

I was dreading the Cunningham family reunion even before the first murder.

Before the storm stranded us at the mountain resort, snow and bodies piling up.

The thing is, us Cunninghams don’t really get along. We’ve only got one thing in common: we’ve all killed someone.

My brother
My step-sister
My wife
My father
My mother
My sister-in-law
My uncle
My stepfather
My aunt
Me 

My Take

Ern (Ernest) Cunningham has done the unforgiveable in most families- he dobbed his brother Michael in, gave evidence at his murder trial, and sent his brother to jail. Michael, for an unknown reason, got a surprisingly light sentence, and now three years later is being released.

The setting is a remote resort in the Victorian Alps, and by the time Michael and Ern's estranged wife Erin turn up (the last to arrive), there is already a body, and a storm is about to break. The police have arrived in the form of one officer who appears to be a detective but no-one is sure how he was notified that a murder had already happened. Michael and Erin arrive in a large truck containing something that Michael wants Ern to see.

Ern's Aunt Katherine has organised this reunion in the remotest place she can find. But what is the purpose? To celebrate Michael's release, or is there something else?

In real life Ern writes how-to e-books on different genres for budding authors. EVERYONE IN MY FAMILY.. is narrated by Ern, and at times he addresses the readers, rather quirkily, telling us what to look out for, and what is coming.

An odd sense of humour shows itself from time to time, and there are references to authors like Agatha Christie, just to remind us that above all else this is a murder mystery. There are plenty of murders and plenty of mystery.

My rating: 4.4

About the Author
Benjamin Stevenson is an award-winning stand-up comedian and author. He has sold out shows from the Melbourne International Comedy Festival all the way to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Off-stage, Benjamin has worked for publishing houses and literary agencies in Australia and the USA. Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone will be published in twenty-four territories around the world, and will soon be adapted into a major HBO TV series. 

This is his third novel.

His first novel, Greenlight, was shortlisted for the Ned Kelly Award for Best Debut Crime Fiction, and his second novel, Either Side of Midnight, was shortlisted for the International Thriller Writers Award for Best Original Paperback.

Review: THE LAST REMAINS, Elly Griffiths

• 
  this edition first published by Quercus UK 2023
  
• supplied by my local library
• ISBN 978-1-52940-973-4
• 357 pages
• Ruth Galloway #15 

Synopsis (publisher) 

When builders renovating a café in King’s Lynn find a human skeleton behind a wall, they call for DCI Harry Nelson and Dr Ruth Galloway, Head of Archaeology at the nearby University of North Norfolk. Ruth is preoccupied with the threatened closure of her department and by her ever-complicated relationship with Nelson. However, she agrees to look at the case.

Ruth sees at once that the bones are modern. They are identified as the remains of Emily Pickering, a young archaeology student who went missing in the 1990s. Emily attended a course run by her Cambridge tutor. Suspicion falls on him and also on another course member – Ruth’s friend Cathbad, who is still frail following his near death from Covid.

As they investigate, Nelson and his team uncover a tangled web of relationships within the student group and the adults leading them. What was the link between the group and the King’s Lynn café where Emily’s bones were found?

Then, just when the team seem to be making progress, Cathbad disappears. Was it guilt that led him to flee?

The trail leads Ruth and Nelson to the Neolithic flint mines in Grimes Graves which are as spooky as their name. The race is on, first to find Cathbad and then to exonerate him, but will Ruth and Nelson uncover the truth in time to save their friend?

My Take

If you have missed the Ruth Galloway series, then you've missed a treat. The bad news is that this is #15. And I really think you get the most out of them by reading them in order. The characters generally have a shared history and certainly there are chronological developments.

However if you are new to the series, and determined to go on, then look to the back of the book where there is a Who's Who of the characters which will fill in some of the background for you, but not the events they've all shared.

For me, this series has become like catching up with old friends. So when Cathbad goes missing I thought the worst. Like many of us Cathbad survived a bout of Covid, although he spent time on a ventilator and his became a near-death experience. I like the way the author establishes relevant settings.

Another touch too - post Covid University students are looking for more "relevant" courses, and not everyone sees archaeology as relevant. So Ruth Galloway's department at the University of North Norfolk is under pressure to go with the times.

Of special relevance to me - when I was on my travels of the UK, nearly 50 years ago, I went to the main setting of this novel, Grime's Graves, and somewhere here I have piece of flint that I illegally souvenired there.

I loved this novel. I hope you do too.

My rating: 5.0

I've also read

• 4.6, THE CROSSING PLACES - Ruth Galloway #1
  
• 4.6, THE JANUS STONE - Ruth Galloway #2
• 4.6, THE HOUSE AT SEA'S END - Ruth Galloway #3
• 4.5, A ROOM FULL OF BONES - Ruth Galloway #4
• 4.8, DYING FALL- audio book - Ruth Galloway #5
• 4.5, THE GHOST FIELDS, Elly Griffiths - audio book - Ruth Galloway #7
• 4.7, THE OUTCAST DEAD, Elly Griffiths - audio book - Ruth Galloway #6
• 4.7, THE WOMAN IN BLUE - Ruth Galloway #8
• 4.7, THE CHALK PIT - Ruth Galloway #9
• 4.4, THE VANISHING BOX
• 4.6, THE STRANGER DIARIES - Harbinder Kaur #1
  
• 4.5, SMOKE AND MIRRORS
• 4.4, THE POSTSCRIPT MURDERS - Harbinder Kaur #2
  
• 4.7, THE LANTERN MEN - Ruth Galloway #12
• 5.0, THE STONE CIRCLE - Ruth Galloway #11 
• 4.8, THE DARK ANGEL - Ruth Galloway #10
• 4.7, THE NIGHT HAWKS - Ruth Galloway #13
  
• 5.0, THE LOCKED ROOM - Ruth Galloway #14
• 4.6, BLEEDING HEART YARD - Harbinder Kaur #3

Review: JUST LIKE THE OTHER GIRLS, Claire Douglas

• 
  This edition supplied as an e-book through Libby by my local library
  
• Published: 20th October 2020
• ISBN: 9781405943383
• 400 pages

Synopsis (publisher)

The story of how jealousy, lies and betrayal can build a family before destroying it, from Sunday Times bestseller Claire Douglas

CARER/COMPANION WANTED FOR ELDERLY LADY * YOUNG FEMALE PREFERRED * COMPETITIVE SALARY * *ROOM AND BOARD INCLUDED *

Una Richardson is devastated after the death of her mother. Hoping for a fresh start, she responds to an advertisement and steps into the rich, comforting world of elderly Mrs Elspeth McKenzie. But Elspeth's home is not as safe as it seems. Kathryn, her cold and bitter daughter, resents Una's presence. More disturbing is the evidence suggesting two girls lived here before. What happened to them? Why will the McKenzies not talk about them? As the walls close in around her, Una fears she'll end up just like the other girls. 

My Take

This is the story of 3 girls who have worked as a companion to Mrs Elspeth McKenzie. Elspeth is old, a bit frail, but mainly pining for her daughter who disappeared 30 years before. Her second daughter Kathryn is adopted and feels she may be overlooked in her mother's will. She sees all of the companions as gold-diggers. Her mother chooses them because of their resemblance to her lost daughter Viola.

In Part One, we see much of the narration through the point of view first of all of Una, and then finally Kathryn. The house is called The Cuckoo's Nest, which seems to have unfortunate connotations particularly in Kathryn's case. From various people Una learns about the two girls who preceded her, Mathilde and Jemima, to whom she bears an uncanny resemblance.

And then Una is gone and in Part Two she is succeeded by Willow, and the search for what happened to Una is on. The police become more seriously involved and the identity of who "dealt" with Una becomes clear.

An enthralling mystery. Highly recommended.

My rating: 4.6

I've also read

4.6, THE COUPLE AT NO. 9

Review: THE SEVENTH LINK, Margaret Mayhew

• 
  This edition the fourth of 4 e-books that came on Kindle (Amazon) as a set
  
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B09YDK88MJ
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Joffe Books crime thrillers and cosy mystery (April 19, 2022)
• Originally published 2012
  
• Book 4: THE SEVENTH LINK: THE VILLAGE MYSTERIES
• 139 pages
  

Synopsis 

BOOK 4: THE SEVENTH LINK

A WEEKEND AWAY IN LINCOLNSHIRE WITH A SHOCK

The Colonel’s old friend Geoffrey Cheetham invites him to the village of Buckby for the weekend, to coincide with an RAF reunion event.

After depositing an outraged Thursday at the Cat Heaven cattery, the Colonel drives up to stay at the Cheethams’ rambling B&B.

The guests include a Lancaster bomber crew, reunited for the first time. But everything is not as harmonious as it seems.

Then someone is found drowned in the lake . . .

My Take

As I said in my previous review, as the reader you begin to wonder where the body is going to come from in this book. Well, I had the body picked out well into the book, but not the method or the motive.

The book is really a novella rather than a full length novel.

One of the themes of this book appears to be how the airmen in Bomber Command were treated by the government after the War, no medals, and not really given credit for saving Britain. The people of the village of Buckby want to remedy that in some way, but at least one of a Lancaster Bomber Crew that survived 30 operations feel that their praise is undeserved.

Again this is a murder mystery where the resolution is unexpected.

My rating: 4.3

I've also read

• 4.2, DRY BONES - Village Mysteries #3
  
• 4.4, OLD SOLDIERS NEVER DIE - - Village Mysteries #1 
• 4.4, THREE SILENT THINGS - Village Mysteries #2 
• 4.3, DRY BONES - Village Mysteries #3

Review: DRY BONES, Margaret Mayhew

• 
   This edition the third of 4 e-books that came on Kindle (Amazon) as a set
  
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B09YDK88MJ
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Joffe Books crime thrillers and cosy mystery (April 19, 2022)
• Originally published 2012
  
• Book 3: DRY BONES THE VILLAGE MYSTERIES

Synopsis (Amazon)

BOOK 3: OLD BONES
A friend of the Colonel’s wife writes him that ‘something horrible has happened.’ Cornelia Heathcote, whose wealthy husband is away on business, has discovered a body buried under the floor of her barn. First the Colonel must work out who the bones belong to. But that’s just the beginning of his problems. For this victim had many enemies in the wealthy village. Which of them wanted him dead? 

My Take

To my surprise I discovered that I had read this book before, possibly soon after it was published, although I hadn't read the two earlier ones. The author actually gives quite a bit of background in each book so it is possible to read each on its own.

It is possible that, knowing the "full story" of the series, I enjoyed this one a little more than I did originally.

This is the third body the  Colonel has been associated with in 3 books, and it is interesting that you spend your time trying to work out where the next body is going to come from. They are not conventional murder mysteries, because the murderer is not always "caught".

Identifying the body is relatively easy police work, particularly as the villagers manage to come up with a possible identity to be confirmed by dental records. And then there are any number of possibilities about who the killer might be, just about all the adult males in the village 4-5 years ago. It is the Colonel who finally works out who it was, and winkles out a death bed confession.

My rating: 4.3

I've also read

• 4.2, DRY BONES - Village Mysteries #3
  
• 4.4, OLD SOLDIERS NEVER DIE - - Village Mysteries #1 
• 4.4, THREE SILENT THINGS - Village Mysteries #2

Review: OUTBACK, Patricia Wolf

• 
  This edition made available by my local library as an e-book on Libby
  
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Embla Books (November 8, 2022) 
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 292 pages 
• DS Walker Thriller Book 1

Synopsis (Amazon)

TWO MISSING BACKPACKERS. ONE VAST OUTBACK.

DS Lucas Walker is on leave in his hometown, Caloodie, taking care of his dying grandmother. When two young German backpackers, Berndt and Rita, vanish from the area, he finds himself unofficially on the case.

But why all the interest from the Federal Police when they have probably just ditched the heat and dust of the outback for the coast? Working in the organised crime unit has opened Walker's eyes to the growing drug trade in Australia's remote interior - and he becomes convinced there is more at play.

As the number of days since the couple's disappearance climbs, Walker is joined by Rita's older sister. A detective herself with Berlin CID, she has flown to Australia - desperate to find her sister.

Their search becomes ever more urgent as temperatures soar. Even if Walker does find the young couple, will it be too late?

This deeply atmospheric thriller is the gripping opening of a new crime series for fans of Cara Hunter and Chris Whitaker.

My Take

This made for interesting reading. It hits a topic, the disappearance and murder of backpackers, that has been raised in a number of novels, and also in true crime reporting. There are several narrators but the story is told largely in the third person, with glimpses of the thoughts of individual characters.

The coincidence of the young missing backpackers being German, and the fact that the author lives in Germany is an interesting one. I liked the character of the policewoman from Berlin who comes searching for her sister. It would be good to see her work with Lucas Walker in future novels. 

I was reminded also of the international tourist (a Belgian) who comes looking for her missing son in Garry Disher's DAY'S END, who just happens to be a forensic expert. 

The original interest of the Federal Police and the Department of Foreign Affairs in the disappearance of these two backpackers, just days after they have gone missing, is never really explained. (Or if it was, I missed it)

It is interesting also that the accounts by a number of crime fiction authors, including Chris Hammer, and Garry Disher, support the view of what Patricia Wolf is saying about Outback towns.

My Rating: 4.5

About the author

Patricia Wolf has been a journalist for more than 15 years, a regular contributor to titles including The Guardian, the Financial Times, The Independent and The Telegraph, among others. She grew up in outback Australia, in a mining town called Mount Isa in far north-west Queensland – eagle eyed readers will have spotted a small reference to it in her first book, OUTBACK. Patricia loves the rugged beauty, indigo sky and wide horizons of the outback, but left Australia after university to travel the world and became a journalist. She lives in Berlin, Germany, but the outback always calls her home. In 2019, just before the covid pandemic locked us all in, Patricia spent two months in northwest Queensland, taking a four-week road trip. As she drove and spent nights and days surrounded by the beauty and rugged harshness of the outback, DI Lucas Walker and his stories came to be.

Review: SAD CYPRESS, Agatha Christie

• 
  this edition a large print one published by Harper Collins in 2013 and supplied by my local library
  
• originally published in 1940
• ISBN 978-1-61173-770-7
• 318 pages

Trivia Quiz

Nice review to check

Synopsis (Christie.com)

An elderly stroke victim dies without having arranged a will. Beautiful young Elinor Carlisle stood serenely in the dock, accused of the murder of Mary Gerrard, her rival in love. The evidence was damning: only Elinor had the motive, the opportunity and the means to administer the fatal poison. Yet, inside the hostile courtroom, only one man still presumed Elinor was innocent until proven guilty: Hercule Poirot was all that stood between Elinor and the gallows. 

Come away, come away, death.,
And in sad cypress let me be laid;
Fly away, fly away, breath!
i am slain by a fair cruel maid.
My shroud of white, stuck all with yew
O prepare it;
My part of death no one so true;
Did share it                                    Shakespeare

My Take

As I am re-reading this novel for discussion with my U3A Agatha Christie Reading Group, I have decided to create a list of questions for our session. I think we will have plenty to talk about. 

My earlier review is here.

If you, blog reader, decide to answer any of my questions, please feel free to leave your responses as a comment.

Discussion Questions (not listed in any particular order)

• In what major ways does this novel differ from other Hercule Poirot ones? 
• How does the structure of this book differ from most other Christie novels?
• Where does the title come from? What does it mean? Does it work as a title?
  
• There are several mysteries in Sad Cypress. How many can you list?
• What is the buried scandal in this novel? What clues are we given about it?
• How does Agatha Christie raise the issue of euthanasia? Do you think it is seriously done?
• Whom did you suspect of the murder(s)?
• Did Elinor ever love Roddy? Why did she break their engagement off?
• This novel was published in 1940. What period do you think it was set in? Why?
• Who committed the murder(s) and why?
• What is the irony in Mary making a will?
• What do you think of Elinor's state of mind?
  
• The first courtroom drama for Poirot, Sad Cypress was written in the build up to the Second World War, a particularly prolific period for Agatha Christie and her little Belgian. It is written in three parts – the defendant’s account, the build-up to the murder, and Poirot’s investigation. Reflecting upon the piece after publication, Christie decided it would have been better without the character of Poirot. Do you agree
  
• Apart from the title, there are other literary references in the novel. Which ones did you pick?
• How does Christie demonstrate her knowledge of poisons (and how they work)
• There is at least one reference in the novel that the "clean up brigade" who are sanitising the Christie books will have earmarked for removal. What did you pick up?
• What about the ideas that Mary Gerrard had been "educated above her station". Do you think Christie was serious in suggesting that? Who talks about the dangers of education?
• Hercule Poirot is amazed by the fact that everyone he talks to tells him lies. Some are just small lies and he can understand why the person has lied. But then he comes across a lie that seems unnecessary. The other thing that prompts his involvement is that he becomes convinced that the truth lies not in what he knows about Elinor Carlisle, but in what he does not know about Mary Gerrard? What lies is he talking about?
  
• What is a curate's egg? (I've seen this used in reference to this novel)
• Which of the characters do you like best? least? Why?
  
• How does Poirot deliver justice?
• Does the novel have a happy ending?
• How much out of 5 do you give it?
• Some commentators say that this is a much under-appreciated novel. Do you agree?
  

My rating: 4.5 

My list of Agatha Christie novels.