Remember me by Charity Norman

Emily returns to New Zealand from England to look after her father, Felix, who is suffering and deteriorating from Alzheimer’s. hanging over them is the mystery of Leah, who was a next door neighbour and disappeared 25 years ago. During his more lucid moments Felix reveals secrets he has kept about Leah. The descriptions of Felix, his disease and relationship with Emily were honest and well written and the heart of the story. The mystery of Leah has a surprising ending and at times makes an emotional read and also making it a great read.

The woman in the purple skirt by Natsuko Imamura

The Woman in the Purple Skirt falls beautifully into the ‘women who are not okay” sub-genre of recent years – My Year of Rest and Relaxation, Sorrow and Bliss, Everyone in this Room Will Someday Be Dead, Beautiful World Where Are You – that sort of book, with bonus creepiness. Translated from the Japanese it is about a woman in a purple skirt as seen, intensely, by a woman in a yellow cardigan. It’s an understated but unsettling tale of single women’s lives, workplace dynamics, community, loneliness, and obsession. It starts quietly but builds up to pack a real punch, and the audiobook is well done, though the accent is not my favourite.

The silent inheritance by Joy Dettman

We are introduced to a serial killer and then to Sarah and her daughter Marni. What is the connection between them? Who is the serial killer and what is in Sarah’s past that she has hidden from her daughter? I did find this a bit of a struggle to read as I found the writing chunky, the sentences a bit abbreviated. I enjoyed the way the story unraveled, bringing it all together at the end.

The beautiful words by Vanessa McCausland

Sylvie and Kase were the closest of friends until one night, when they were 17, something horrific happened that turned their lives upside-down, and Kase didn’t see Sylvie again. Sylvie was hurt physically and emotionally by the event, and lives a lonely life until Kase, now a famous author, invites Sylvie to her fortieth birthday party on a lonely Tasmanian island, and the past comes back to haunt them. Set in Sydney’s Palm Beach and in Tasmania, it’s a lush, lyrical, atmospheric novel about slowly revealed secrets, friendship, power and betrayal, and the strength and hope found in words and stories.

The heat by Garry Disher

This was a great read. Wyatt is a crook that you can’t help liking, though I don’t think I could live looking over my shoulder constantly and mapping out escape routes everywhere I go! It was refreshing to read a crime story that centres on the bad guys and not the people chasing them.

The man who died twice by Richard Osman

We are back in the lovely retirement village, Cooper’s Chase, with four inhabitants who are a very long way from leading quiet lives in their retirement. Elizabeth receives a message from a man she used to know, which sends the Thursday Murder Club on a journey involving spies, the mafia, drug dealers, diamonds and murder. There are plenty of dead bodies, little value attributed to the less likeable characters, and much criminal behaviour, and yet it is a life-affirming, humorous, action packed adventure that celebrates older people and gently laments dementia.

The cane by Maryrose Cuskelly

In a small town in Queensland in the 1970s, a teenaged girl goes missing and the town struggles during the long investigation. Atmospheric, tense, character-driven drama about how a town responds to the loss and fear. All the racism and sexism you would expect from a small town in the 70s, and it’s a slow burn (pun intended – sugar cane!). For fans of Australian rural noir.

A necessary evil by Abir Mukherjee

I am enjoying this series very much. Set in 1920 it starts off in Calcutta where a prince is murdered in Captain Wyndham and Sergeant Banerjee’s presence, and then moves to Sambalpore as they investigate at the Maharajah’s palace. There is a glorious sense of time and place, a fast-paced, twisty mystery, gentle humour and we are getting to know the main characters.

The scholar by Dervla McTiernan

And now I’m caught up. I started with the third book and went back for the first and second; it worked, though I wouldn’t choose it again as the books do have significant character development for Cormac Reilly and his partner, Emma, who becomes seriously involved in Cormac’s case in this book. Irish setting (and accent if you listen to the audio as I have), interesting and compelling characters, and a satisfying mystery.

The missing girl by Kerry McGinnis

Family secrets always draw me in. This was a family that inherited a lot of issues through past actions and these are exposed as the story is told. This was a quick and easy read – I even guessed the twist!