Review: TWO GIRLS DOWN, Louisa Luna

• 
  this edition made available by my local library
  
• published by Double Day USA 2018
• ISBN 978-0-385-542469
• 304 pages #1 in the Alice Vega series 

Synopsis (Fantastic Fiction)

When two young sisters, Kylie and Bailey Brandt, disappear from a strip mall parking lot in a small Pennsylvania town, their devastated family hires an enigmatic bounty hunter from California, Alice Vega, to do what the authorities cannot. Immediately shut out by a local police department already stretched thin by budget cuts and the growing OxyContin and meth epidemics, Vega enlists the help of a disgraced former cop, Max Caplan, to cut through the local politics.

With little to go on, Vega and Cap will go to extraordinary lengths to untangle a complex web of lies, false leads, and dangerous relationships to locate both girls before time runs out and the girls are gone forever. 

My Take

This novel is the first in the Alice Vega series and covers Vega's back ground, and the creation of her partnership with former cop Max Caplan. We also learn about Vega's relationship with her "researcher" (The Bastard) and also the beginnings of the relationship between the private investigators and the police. We learn quite a lot of background about both Vega and Caplan.

Two young girls go missing from the car park while their mother is in a shopping centre. With the police, Vega and Caplan discover that the missing girls are the most recent in a number of cases. As Vega and Caplan come to terms with creating their own set of rules, between them they bring fresh eyes and strategies to following up leads.

This is a real page turner. Recommended.

My rating: 4.5

I've also read

4.6, HIDE OUT - #3

Review: MURDER AT THE WAKE, Bruce Beckham

• 
  This edition available as an e-book on Amazon Kindle
  
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B01F7QMC8Y
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Lucius; 1st edition (July 3, 2016)
  
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 275 pages
• Page numbers source ISBN ‏ : ‎ 1533117829
• Book 7 of 21: Detective Inspector Skelgill Investigates

Synopsis (Amazon) 

ONE WEEK AFTER THE DEATH of his 93-year-old twin brother, the reclusive Declan Thomas O’More is found murdered in his study at the ancestral family estate, rambling and isolated Crummock Hall. Suspicion immediately falls upon his five great nieces and nephews, who between them stand to inherit the considerable proceeds of their grandfather’s will - along with a valuable library of antiquarian books, a collection that is Declan’s lifetime work.

And yet each member of this generation - which includes a famous actor and a successful author - is apparently wealthy in their own right. Why would any of them murder their great uncle?

DI Skelgill and his team must unravel a mystery that not only harks back to the tragic drowning of the children’s parents in Crummock Water in the 1980s, but may also have its roots in the despicable Triangular Trade that enriched so many British and Irish merchant families in the eighteenth century.

My Take

Another fairly complex plot, with a bit thrown in about Skelgill's favourite past-time, fly fishing, and quite a lot of  British historical information.

There are references to a Christie-like plot with a murder taking place at a remote ancestral estate, blocked in by snow, and Skelgill arriving by helicopter.

As usual, just when you think you have this puzzle solved, you realise two things: 1) that you are only half way through the book and so what is going to occupy us for the rest of the text; and 2) the author has just thrown another line of investigation in, and are we going to have to go overr everything again?

I must admit that the final solution was not one I had seen.

A good series: but take the trouble to start from the very beginning!

My rating: 4.6

I've already read

• 4.4, MURDER IN ADLAND- Skelgill #1
• 4.5, MURDER IN SCHOOL - Skelgill #2
• 4.5, MURDER ON THE EDGE  - Skelgill #3
• 4.5, MURDER ON THE LAKE - Skelgill #4
• 4.4, MURDER BY MAGIC - Skelgill #5
• 4.5, MURDER IN THE MIND - Skelgill #6

Review: HIDE OUT, Louisa Luna

• 
  This edition made available as an e-book on Libby by my local library
  
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0385545533
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0385545532 
• Number Of Pages: 368
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Doubleday (March 8, 2022)
• Alice Vega #3

Synopsis (publisher)

Alice Vega has made a career of finding the missing and vulnerable against a ticking clock, but she's never had a case like that of Zeb Williams, missing for thirty years. It was 1984, and the big Cal-Stanford football game was tied with seconds left on the clock. Zeb Williams grabbed the ball and ran the wrong way, through the marching band, off the field, and out of the stadium. He disappeared into legend, replete with Elvis-like sightings and a cult following.

Zeb's cold trail leads Vega to southern Oregon, where she discovers an anxious community living under siege by a local hate group called the Liberty Boys. As Vega starts digging into the past, the mystery around Zeb's disappearance grows deeper, and the reach of the Liberty Boys grows more disturbing. Everyone has something to hide, and no one can cut to the truth like Alice Vega. But this time, her partner Max Caplan has his own problems at home, and the trouble Vega finds might be too much for her to handle.

Louisa Luna understands suspense, tension, and character like only the best writers in crime fiction do--and she may well write the best interrogations in the genre. Hideout is pure adrenaline and Luna's most intimate thriller yet, a classic cold case wrapped in a timely confrontation with a terrifyingly real network of white supremacists and homegrown terrorists. 

My Take:

Generally I like to read an author's books in order as you know, but this time it was a question of when the library had the books available. So I came to Vega and Caplan "cold", so to speak, and it took a little time to work things out, and become familiar with Alice Vega.

Vega has taken on a case to discover what happened to Zeb Williams when he disappeared thirty years before in unforgettable circumstances. When businessman Anton Fohl asks Vega to take on the case he warns that it is likely to be the biggest case of her career. She is unaware of the Zeb Williams story. Fohl tells her that his wife used to be Williams' girl friend and he had not told her that he was asking Vega to take on the investigation. He gives Vega a photograph taken of Zeb Williams the last time he was recognised in a town in Oregon. Eventually the photo is her starting pointing. Ilona, the town where Zeb was last seen.

From the very beginning people in the town are unwilling to share what they know with Vega. And then she becomes aware that the town has other problems. A Sheriff who rules the roost, secrets that not every one is happy with, and an active white supremacist group that vents its spleen.

Vega has not parted on good terms with her former partner Caplan and is reluctant to involve him in her investigation although she feels a need to tell him what she is doing. Inevitably he is drawn in, although he has his own problems at home.

This certainly is a page turner. Vega does not seem to be able to leave things alone when she senses injustice and abuse, and eventually she draws retribution and punishment from people who dislike her interference.

My rating: 4.6

About the Author
LOUISA LUNA is the author of the Alice Vega novels The Janes and Two Girls Down as well as Brave New Girl and Crooked. She was born and raised in San Francisco and lives in Brooklyn, New York, with her husband and daughter.

Review: ZERO DAYS, Ruth Ware

• 
  this edition available on Kindle (Amazon)
  
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0BPTHDC36
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Simon & Schuster UK (July 6, 2023)
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 364 pages

Synopsis  (Amazon)

Her husband has been murdered and she’s the only suspect. What should she do?

Hired by companies to break into buildings and hack security systems, Jack and her husband Gabe are the best penetration specialists in the business. But after a routine assignment goes horribly wrong, Jack arrives home to find her husband dead.

It soon becomes clear that the police have only one suspect in mind – her.

Jack must go on the run to try and clear her name and to find her husband’s real killer. But who can she trust when everyone she knows could be a suspect? And with the police and the killer after her, can Jack get to the truth before her time runs out?

An adrenaline-fueled thriller from international bestseller and Richard & Judy pick, Ruth Ware, described as ‘one of the best thriller writers around today’ (Independent).

My Take

This is a thriller read of the first order. Jack returns home after what is apparently a routine security job to find her husband Gabe murdered at his desk. At first almost paralysed by grief, she goes off to the police station to answer their questions but then it seems that the police think she has something to do with Gabe's death. So at her second interview Jack decides  to leave the interview and to conduct her own investigation. She contacts her husband's best friend Cole after she discovers her husband has recently made a will.

There's a lot of technical explanation about the software security that Gabe was working on, that the average reader will probably find a bit confusing, but there are elements we will all recognise it from our own experiences. The story is presented as a count down of 8 days after Gabe dies, which helps to heighten the tension. As Jack tries to find out who is behind Gabe's death it seems that the only person Jack can trust is her sister Hel. The police seem to be able to eventually track her down wherever she is  and she is quickly running out of places to go as well as money.

A very good read. Highly recommended..

My rating: 4.8

I've also read

• 4.8, IN A DARK, DARK WOOD
• 4.4, THE WOMAN IN CABIN 10
• 4.8, THE DEATH OF MRS WESTAWAY
• 5.0, THE TURN OF THE KEY
• 4.6, THE IT GIRL

Review: THE CLOSE, Jane Casey

• 
  This edition made available as an e-book on Libby by my local 
• ISBN: 9780008404987
• ISBN 10: 0008404984
• Imprint: HarperCollins GB
• On Sale: 05/07/2023
• Pages: 416
• #10 in the Maeve Kerrigan series 
  

Synopsis (publisher)

At first glance, Jellicoe Close seems to be a perfect suburban street – well-kept houses with pristine lawns, neighbours chatting over garden fences, children playing together.

But there are dark secrets behind the neat front doors, hidden dangers that include a ruthless criminal who will stop at nothing.

It’s up to DS Maeve Kerrigan and DI Josh Derwent to uncover the truth. Posing as a couple, they move into the Close, blurring the lines between professional and personal as never before.

And while Maeve and Josh try to gather the evidence they need, they have no idea of the danger they face – because someone in Jellicoe Close has murder on their mind.

My Take

Maeve Kerrigan already has a case on her hands, the murder of a local doctor, found dead in his car in a hospital car park, when her boss makes the request that she work undercover, with him, on case of concern to the Lord Mayor's office.

But Maeve is desperately tired, struggling to recover from a domestic violence case in which she was the victim, and working undercover may bring relief. The situation in which Maeve and Josh find themselves, and the challenges it brings, ring very credible. Keeping the neighbourhood under observation while posing themselves as a loving couple, will provide abnormal challenges. 

I'd forgotten how much I enjoy this series. Highly recommended.

My rating: 4.9

I have read

• 4.6, THE MISSING 
• 4.3, THE BURNING #1
• 4.5, THE RECKONING - #2
  
• 4.4, THE LAST GIRL #3
  
• 4.5, LET THE DEAD SPEAK #7
• 4.6, CRUEL ACTS - #8
• 4.6, SILENT KILL - #8.5
• 4.8, THE CUTTING PLACE - #9
• 4.8, THE KILLING KIND - a standalone
  

Maeve Kerrigan series (Fantastic Fiction)

  0.5. Left For Dead (2013)
   1. The Burning (2010)
   2. The Reckoning (2011)
   3. The Last Girl (2012)
   4. The Stranger you Know (2013)
   5. The Kill (2014)
   6. After the Fire (2015)
   7. Let the Dead Speak (2017)
   7.5. One in Custody (2019)
   8. Cruel Acts (2019)
   8.5. Love Lies Bleeding (2019)
   8.6. Silent Kill (2020)
   9. The Cutting Place (2020)
   10. The Close (2023)

Review: THE DRY, Jane Harper

• 
  This edition provided by my local library
  
• first published 2016 by Pan Macmillan Australia
• ISBN 978-1-7435-805-9
• 339 pages
• WINNER ABIA BOOK OF THE YEAR 2017
  WINNER ABIA GENERAL FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR 2017
  WINNER INDIE BOOK AWARDS DEBUT FICTION 2017
  WINNER DAVITT AWARDS ADULT FICTION 2017
  WINNER DAVITT AWARDS READERS CHOICE 2017
  WINNER NED KELLY AWARD BEST FIRST FICTION 2017
• #1 Aaron Falk series

Synopsis (publisher) 

WHO REALLY KILLED THE HADLER FAMILY?

It hasn't rained in Kiewarra for two years. Tensions in the farming community become unbearable when three members of the Hadler family are discovered shot to death on their property. Everyone assumes Luke Hadler committed suicide after slaughtering his wife and six-year-old son.

Federal Police investigator Aaron Falk returns to his hometown for the funerals and is unwillingly drawn into the investigation. As suspicion spreads through the town, Falk is forced to confront the community that rejected him twenty years earlier. Because Falk and his childhood friend Luke Hadler shared a secret, one which Luke's death threatens to unearth ...

My Take

I first read this novel 7 years ago. Jane Harper was a new voice on the Australian writing scene and her first novel had instant impact.

Aaron Falk, a Federal Police financial investigator from Melbourne, returns home for the funeral of his childhood friend Luke Hadler who is thought to have killed his wife and young son and then himself. Aaron intends to play a flying visit but agrees to look through the family finances to see if anything there prompted Luke's actions. He meets up with the local policeman and together they undertake an unofficial investigation. Feelings in the town are riding high and there is at least one person who does not want them to unearth the truth.

In the novel sections in italics reveal secrets from the past and Aaron remembers things that he has tried hard to forget. These sections also include narration from other characters.

I am re-reading this novel so that I can discuss it with my U3A Crime Reading Group. In this re-reading I think I have appreciated things that I didn't necessarily see before. The town is gradually being killed off by an ongoing drought, hence the title. This is a common scenario in recent Australian novels (just check some that I've recently reviewed) - I've made a list at the end of this post.

I would normally make a list of discussion questions but there are already plenty around for THE DRY. I have included a couple of batches below.

If you are new to recent Australian crime fiction you really couldn't do better than start here. Jane Harper is a writer to watch.

In our reading group we will be discussing some of those questions and then watching the film starring Eric Bana as Aaron Falk.

My rating: 5.0

My previous review

I have also read

• 4.7, THE DRY- Falk #1
  
• 5.0, FORCE OF NATURE- Falk #2
  
• 5.0, THE LOST MAN 
• 4.8, THE SURVIVORS
• 4.8, EXILES- Falk #3 
• 5.0, THE LOST MAN

Macmillan Reading Group questions

Another set of questions

• The novel has a strong sense of place, despite being set in a fictional town. What elements does Harper include to accomplish this? How do the bush, the rock tree, the river, etc. affect the story?
• Harper has said she is interested in communities where people have known each other—for better or for worse—their entire lives. How does　this affect personal relationships? What are the positives and negatives of a small community?
• Falk describes his group of friends as "teenage tight, where you believe your friends are soul mate and the bonds will last forever." (p. 13) And yet he later wonders why he and Luke were still friends (p. 185). Did the early bonds last? Were the bonds broken because of their personalities, because they grew apart, or because of the lies they told?
• How does the drought affect the town? The Hadlers? The reader?
• How did his father’s doubts affect Falk? How do loved one’s doubts affect the people they are close to? Do we see this in other relationships in The Dry?
• Luke was larger than life. What made people think he was capable of murder?
• The Dry is a book rife with secrets. What secrets do Luke, Jamie, Ellie, and Gretchen tell? How do those secrets affect their relationships? What do they tell us about the nature of truth?
• Are some secrets better off kept? What might have changed in The Dry if certain secrets had remained secret?　
• Do you see　archetypal heroes and villains in the characters of　The Dry? Are there "good" characters and "bad" characters? What were these characters’ motivations?　
• Jane Harper has worked as a journalist for 13 years. How did her personal background affect her telling of the story? Does her writing style make the details more or less believable?

Australian novels to check

• SCRUBLANDS, Chris Hammer
• DRY BONES, Margaret Mayhew 
• OUTBACK, Patricia Wolf 
• THE LOST MAN, Jane Harper 
• STONE TOWN, Margaret Hickey 
• THE TILT, Chris Hammer 
• DAY'S END, Garry Disher 
• CUTTER'S END, Margaret Hickey
  

Review: ORDEAL BY INNOCENCE, Agatha Christie

• 
  this edition (large print) supplied by my local library
  
• first publishd in 1958, this edition 2011
• HarperLuxe from Harper Collins Publishers
• ISBN 978-0-06-287968-4
• 349 pages

Synopsis (Christie.com)

The Argyle family is far from pleased to discover one of its number has been posthumously pardoned for murder – if Jacko Argyle didn’t kill his mother, who did? 

Dr. Arthur Calgary takes a ferry across the Rubicon River to Sunny Point, the home of the Argyle family. Two years before, the matriarch of the family was murdered and a son, Jack, was convicted and sentenced to spend the rest of his life in prison. Throughout the trial Jack had maintained his innocence, claiming he was hitchhiking on the night of the murder and he had been picked up by a middle-aged man in a dark car. Unable to locate this mystery man the police viewed Jack’s as a lie. 

Calgary was the stranger in question, but he arrives too late for Jack – who succumbs to pneumonia after serving just six months of his sentence. Feeling a sense of duty to the Argyles, Calgary is surprised when his revelation has a disturbing effect on the family – it means one of the family is a murderer.

My Take

More about the book (from Christie.com)

Two years after Jacko was convicted of the murder of his adopted mother and has died in jail, his alibi steps forward. Dr Calgary had been out of the country during the trial and only heard news of it upon his return. Certain that Jacko was innocent, Dr Calgary takes it upon himself to investigate the past.

A psychological endeavour on Agatha Christie’s part, this story signifies a shift in style from some of her earlier, light works, and focuses largely on conversation, memory and perception, as each sibling suspects each other of the murder of their somewhat eccentric foster mother. The book was dedicated “To Billy Collins with affection and gratitude”. It was he who had convinced Christie to leave her one-sided deal with the Bodley Head, the publishers of her first six books, and to switch to William Collins Sons & Co in 1926. Now known as HarperCollins, they are Agatha Christie's UK and US publishers to this day.

It was first published in 1958 and it was in 1984 that the story was first adapted for film. It starred Donald Sutherland, Faye Dunaway and Christopher Plummer, and featured an interesting soundtrack that is often thought to conflict with the atmosphere of the film. In 2007, the story featured Miss Marple as part of the ITV television series, played by Geraldine McEwan.

In 2018 new TV adaptation of Ordeal by Innocence was broadcast with an all-star cast, including Bill Nighy, Eleanor Tomlinson and Anna Chancellor.

It is 10 years since I last read this and I am re-reading it for my Agatha Christie reading group.
It was chosen for our discussion because it is a stand alone, so we will be following our discussion with the viewing of the 2018 TV adaptation.

We are told in reviews that the book was one of Agatha Christie's own favourite novels, and featured a interpretation of her holiday home, Greenway House. Also that the reason this was not a "Poirot" was that when she wrote this book Christie was free to do whatever she wanted as she was not in any financial need that period and wanted to write something that would be enjoyable for her.
We spend a lot of time (along with the characters) thinking about who the murderer is, and also about the fact that the innocent are suffering too. We are presented with each of the family in turn for assessment. Did you finally guess who it was?

I haven't actually created a list of questions this time, so it will be interesting to see how the discussion goes.
Some suggestion of themes

• Guilt vs Innocence
• Why is no-one pleased by Dr. Calgary's assertion of the alibi?
  
• Nurture vs Nature - in particular why didn't Rachel Argyle's great "experiment" work?
  
• Did Calgary do the right thing? Or should life have gone on with the case unsolved?
  Remember that Calgary's revelations eventually led to  Mary's husband Philip becoming fixated on solving the murder and so there was in fact another murder and an attempted murder. 

Characters
Leo Argyle
Rachel Argyle
Mary Durrant
Philip Durrant
Jacko Argyle
Mickey Argyle
Tina Argyle
Hetser Argyle
Kirsten Lindstrom
Gwenda Vaughan
Arthur Calgary

My rating: 4.5

My original review

My list of Agatha Christie books.