Dark Water

I very much enjoyed Dark Water by Robert Bryndza which is set in outer London.  A child's body is found in the water of a disused quarry.  She had disappeared 26 years earlier.  Detective Erika Foster re-investigates the case.  Initially she has very little that is new to the investigation.  The family involved had some secrets which are gradually discovered.  The main suspect at the time was a known pedophile but there was not enough evidence to convict him.  This is a very good suspenseful story which has a good twist.  Recommended. 41/2/5

The Prisoner

This was an excellent read ("enjoyed" is probably not the right word), The Prisoner by Kerry Tucker with Craig Henderson.  This book is non-fiction and takes place in the state of Victoria, Australia.  Tucker committed a major fraud and was sentenced to serve her time in a maximum security prison.  She found herself among some of the worst criminals in the state.  The separation from her daughters was the most difficult aspect for her to deal with.  Tucker turned her prison term in to a positive experience.  She found many of the inmates had problems with literacy so she helped them with write letters to solicitors and guided them through the bureaucracy.  She began studying and eventually gained a PhD.  After release, she continues to advocate for women prisoners. 41/2/5

The Day Will Come

I enjoyed The Day Will Come by Beryl Matthews which is set in London during World War II.  A young widow, Grace Lincoln, is dealing with the death of her husband during the conflict in France and she decides to join the services.  Grace is a feisty intelligent character and soon becomes known as an efficient "no nonsense" young woman.  She is well liked and respected as she embarks on an adventure in France where her language ability and resourcefulness will be tested.  A nice light read but may need to suspend belief a bit. 3/5

The Sisters' Song

I enjoyed The Sisters' Song by Louise Allan which is set in northern Tasmania from the 1930s.  The sisters Ida and Nora are very different.  Nora is a gifted musician and singer and pursues a career in that direction while Ida was a nanny before marrying.  Ida has a difficult life for the first part of her marriage.  She looks after her widowed mother and some years later is reunited with Nora when her  circumstances change.  This was very good writing, the characters well drawn. I became immersed in the sisters' lives, wanting to know what would happen next. 4/5

May Book Club

We had our May Book Club a week later because there was a public holiday on the first Monday.  Our host has bought some fabulous new books for us to read.  This month our numbers were smaller than usual with ladies travelling and minding grandchildren (isn't  it wonderful to have grandchildren).  Our host gave us a delicious supper including South African cakes/desserts and many types of biscotti.  Lots of stories, lots of laughs, we all had a wonderful evening.

Murder House

I quite enjoyed Murder House by James Patterson & David Ellis which is set in a seaside town on the American Atlantic coast.  Detective Jenna Murphy is investigating a number of murders which are associated with a very old house on Ocean Drive.  Jenna was hounded out of another police precinct because she blew the whistle on bad cops.  So now she's working with her uncle who is Chief of Police in this new area.  More murders take place and Jenna is convinced she knows who the murderer is.  The story gets more complicated as doubts creep in.  Jenna narrates the chapters which tell her story.  The murderer's story is told in the third person and he/she is not revealed to the reader until the end.  No. 7 Ocean Drive is a really creepy old house where several murders took place over the centuries - a family tradition.  It is quite suspenseful as the reader tries to work out who the murderer is.  Has a good twist at the end. 4/5

The Secrets at Ocean's Edge

I enjoyed The Secrets at Ocean's Edge by Kali Napier which is set in a Western Australian seaside town in the early 1930s.  Ernie, his wife Lily and their daughter Girlie want to make a success at their new home but they become haunted by the past from which they've escaped.  Lily teaches Girlie to play the piano and hopes she will become friends with the "respectable" people in the town.  Ernie wants to start a business but there are obstacles to be overcome.  Lily's brother Tommy, a World War I veteran finds them and stays.  Will they all make a success of their new life or will the secrets from their past prevent that?  4/5

The Unknown ANZACs

I've read The Unknown ANZACs by Michael Caulfield which was very well written.  Caulfield has used diary entries and letters to sit a human story within the historical context of the war in which Australian and New Zealand troops were involved.  He began with the stories of the newly minted soldiers as they left their homeland aboard the ships that would take them to Egypt, leading up to the Gallipoli campaign.  The nurses who attended the wounded soldiers are also included in the story.  It was hard to read some of the letters sent home to loved ones knowing there was the possibility of imminent death.  This was the case with many of the letters, with a short addition by Caulfield to say the letter-writer had died shortly thereafter.  The letters were mostly cheerful so as not to expose their loved ones to the real horror of their circumstances.  The staggering death toll at Gallipoli and the Western Front is hard to imagine from a country of only 5 million people.  The author blended the soldiers' own words seamlessly with the historical record. I have read many books about World War I and this one was easy to read though the subject matter was heartbreaking. If you read only one book about this terrible War, read this one. 5/5