The Savage Garden

Our first Crime Club book for 2008 is The Savage Garden by Mark Mills. Set in Italy in 1958 when WWII is still fresh in the minds of locals, student Adam Strickland travels to a villa to study a mysterious Renaissance garden. He unravels the intriguing reason for the garden's construction and also discovers a recent murder much closer to his hostess' family. The crime scene on the upper floor of the villa has been sealed off since it happened - perhaps because of grief, or perhaps to preserve the scene to ensure justice is eventually done. Adam blunders on to discover the truth, but who is really in control? The story builds slowly, then builds its pace as the truth is finally revealed - about the garden and the upper floor of the villa. 3 1/2/5

The Devil Wears Prada

I really enjoyed The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger. It is an "over the top" (or is it??) tale of college graduate Andrea Sachs landing the "dream" job as assistant to a high-class fashion editor, Miranda Priestly. Miranda sets impossible standards for her staff and often demands the unattainable. You wonder if there are really employers like this and apparently there are. Andrea is at her boss's beck and call 24/7 as she must have everyone doing things for her. As you read each chapter depicting another impossible incident, you wonder what will break Andrea before she finally tells Miranda to f____ herself!! This is a world which probably exists and that is the most frightening thing about this book. 4 1/2/5

Sea of Lost Love

I've read Sea of Lost Love by Santa Montefiore. Set in 1950s England where class distinction was still an issue. Young Celestria Montague's father disappears mysteriously at sea, presumed suicide, leaving his family in debt. Celestria travels to Italy to find out the truth about her father's past and discovers real love. A "peaches and cream" story full of cliches - a Mills & Boon type soap opera - but if you like that sort of thing it's a book that passes the time. It was so icky and predictable, I felt guilty wasting my time reading it. 2/5

The Broken Shore

I've finished The Broken Shore by Peter Temple which was a great murder story set in country Australia. Detective Joe Cashin is recuperating from an earlier incident on his property and becomes involved with the brutal murder of a wealthy local identity. At first suspicion falls on members of the local aboriginal community but Cashin probes more deeply and uncovers a disturbing relationship between the murder victim and a local "holiday camp" for boys from the city. Some great characters in this story apart from Cashin - Dove, the detective who "doesn't want to be black and doesn't want to be white"; Dave Rebb the "swaggie" who helps restore Joe's home and has a mysterious past and Hopgood, the obnoxious "boong hater" in charge of the local police. 4/5

A Three Dog Life

I've finished A Three Dog Life by Abigail Thomas which is a beautifully sad story of her life after her husband suffers a traumatic brain injury. Their lives are changed dramatically and Thomas writes about how she copes with this "new and different" man who is her husband, yet is not. Her beloved dogs help her through the ordeal as she builds a new life. 3 1/2/5

Crime & Mystery Book Club Christmas

Our members had a lovely lunch today at Simple Pleasures. We had a room to ourselves so our lively discussion could not offend other diners. We discussed Briarpatch by Ross Thomas and opinion was fairly evenly divided on its merits. Billie presented an excellent review as Thomas is one of her favourite authors. Val S., Judi, Colleen, Val M. and I enjoyed it to a lesser extent and Di didn't like it. We had a great time talking, eating and discussing our books for next year.

The Big Sleep

Raymond Chandler's classic The Big Sleep was very enjoyable. Private detective Philip Marlowe is hired by a wealthy man with two spoilt daughters. He works hard to stay alive and at the same time unravel blackmail and murder intrigues while fighting off the attention of the daughters. Full of witty one-liners you can hear from the mouth of Humphrey Bogart, this is a must-read for fans of this genre. 4/5

December Book Club

Last night was our final Book Club meeting for the year, hosted by Leonie. She welcomed us with a wonderful Christmas ambience - lots of decorations, tree and a beautiful Christmas supper complete with Christmas crackers. We enjoyed a lovely night. Jenny, Sandy, Bev, Vee, Ulla, Kathy, Di and Liz were there. Marilyn was away looking after her mother and Penny is in Botswana. Penny sent her greetings via email to me today to pass on. Leonie played Secret Santa and we all received some lovely gifts. Oh, and we did talk about the books we'd read. We're all looking forward to lots of great reading over the Christmas/New Year break. Click here to see photos.

Christmas Party

Our Book Club had a lovely Christmas party on Saturday night at Ulla and Peter's place. They are wonderfully generous hosts and all who came had a terrific night. We dined on delicious Thai food which left little room for dessert, but most of us managed. The evening went by so quickly due to great company, conversation, food, wine and ambience. Click here to see photos.