February Reviews
February Reviews
This month's reviews: Harum Scarum (Felicity Young), The Fifth
Vial (Michael Palmer), Fan Mail (P D Martin), Meltdown
(Martin Baker), Black Monday (R Scott Reiss), The Celebutantes
in the Club (Antonio Pagliarulo),
This Night's Foul Work (Fred
Vargas), The Little Book of Forensics (David Owen), Sleep Before
Evening (Magdalena Ball), Web of Evil (J A Jance), Really,
Really Pearlie and Pearlie and Sapphire (Wendy Harmer)
HARUM SCARUM
by Felicity Young
ISBN 9781921361104
288 pages
Fremantle Press
April 7 2008
$22.95
reviewed by Denise Pickles
25 February 2008
Stevie Hooper returns in this episode of the fiction of up and coming Australian author Felicity Young. Stevie is now equipped with a young daughter, child of her one time boss Monty McGuire. Her domestic situation may strike some people as odd (one of the characters likens it to a broken home) as she and Monty keep their own separate residences. No doubt many married couples would see the advantages of such an arrangement.
There is an emphasis on modern technology in this novel. Undoubtedly most crime fiction readers are familiar with fan websites and websites where people can communicate with one another via chatrooms or fora.
The prologue opens the book with an impromptu murder, after three people emerge from a car in a deserted spot. The prologue ends with the two survivors assuring each other that each knows the identity of the other.
Chapter One has Stevie and her colleague Natasha arresting a paedophile. Tash's tactics could well be seen as unorthodox but it is obvious that she feels strongly about those malefactors and sees nothing wrong with subjecting them to devices which might be outside police guidelines.
Monty is investigating the murder of a little girl. He thinks it possible that the killing was unintentional, that the murderer only wished to immobilise and silence the child, but the gagging made it impossible for a child suffering from a cold to breathe. Stella Webster, mother of the girl, inevitably blames herself for her daughter becoming a victim.
Miranda Breightling runs a modelling agency. She is nervous of men who hang around at the close of the day. What if they approach one of the girls who work as models?
Emma, Miranda's daughter, obviously has all the right instincts. She sponsors a child in Morocco for World Vision and does without lunch every school day, preferring to put the money she saves toward Josef's upbringing. Emma is also responsible for ongoing adventures of Katy Enigma, a child superhero who entertains the Net savvy children who daily visit her website. Emma, when called upon to babysit Izzy, Stevie's daughter, entertains the child with further tales of Katy Enigma.
Felicity Young has the happy knack of concentrating on topical issues. Anyone with even a slight knowledge of the Internet is aware of chatrooms. Anyone with even a slight knowledge of the kind of criminal preying on society is also aware of how paedophiles are liable to use the Internet in order to meet their targets. Young is to be congratulated for bringing this particular danger to the attention of aficionados of crime fiction who may be parents and may, therefore, be warned of the dangers which face kids. Kids, after all, are notorious for wishing to keep their private lives private from their parents so are quite likely to be enthusiastic about meeting a cyber-friend in real life.
As always, Young's characterisation is particularly well done. Emma is such a vivid character that she practically leaps from the pages. I would hazard a guess that the author had great fun in creating her.
The police procedures are, as ever, well researched and informative for those of her audience who don't have the same resources as she to investigate just what happens behind the scenes of news stories.
It's always good for an Australian crime fiction audience to be able to read novels set in familiar territory, although some American cities have, over the years, become very familiar territory indeed for some readers.
It was very gratifying to see an Australian publisher pick up this excellent
author rather than permitting her to remain with the British publisher
who published Young's first novel. One trusts that Fremantle Press doesn't
let this particular author slip through their fingers and into the hands
of perhaps larger overseas concerns.
THE FIFTH VIAL
by Michael Palmer
ISBN 9780099489764
374 pages
arrow books
February 1 2008
$21.95
November 21 2007
reviewed by Denise Pickles
Here's a fairly high tech organ legging tale. It's rather more up-to-date than the hoary old story of the traveller who wakes up one morning feeing rather unwell and with a scar on his back that wasn't there the day before. He's missing a kidney -- unless he doesn't wake up and is missing two kidneys.
The prologue is more than a little depressing. Lonnie Durkin is an intellectually handicapped boy. He has been kidnapped and is being kept in an RV while things medical are done to him. He manages to escape and runs out into the road -- only to be hit by a tractor trailer. At the post mortem, it is discovered that Lonnie, now John Doe, had been an unwitting bone marrow donor.
Meanwhile, Natalie Reyes, a medical student, has been in open conflict with the surgical senior resident in the hospital where she is training. The outcome is that she is suspended, which will put her a year behind with her studies. She is a talented runner but when she is sent to Rio to present a paper, her hopes of resuming a running career are thwarted for she is kidnapped and shot, necessitating the removal of a collapsed lung.
Ben Callahan is a detective. He is attempting to discover the identity of the unfortunate Lonnie Durkin but is soon hired by Dr Alice Gustafson of Organ Guard. Ben had been beaten up by one of the people who had "treated" Lonnie, as the reader discovers, but Ben is determined to learn exactly what is going on, as well as to notify Lonnie's parents of their son's death.
In the background lurks a sinister group styling themselves The Guardians, a term they swiped from Plato (quotes from whose work appears at the beginning of each chapter.) They know which of us mere mortals deserve to live and who must be sacrificed in order for them to do so. They are somewhat reminiscent of Lewis Carroll's Fury, who proclaimed "I'll be judge, I'll be jury." He was also willng to perform such executions he deemed necessary. The Guardians thus decide which people receive transplants from which less deserving people who can, if necessary, be discarded after their organs are harvested.
This is an interesting little volume. I always enjoy a medical thriller when the author knows whereof he speaks and, as a doctor, Michael Palmer is eminently qualified to extrapolate into what might be the near future. It's a relief not to have to be on the alert for errors which might proliferate in the non-medically trained author.
The prose is simple but well composed. The author does not slow down the action by lecturing the unfortunate reader, bringing the action to a stumbling fault (as one female medico writer was wont to do.) The characterisation is rather well done although, at times, I felt the characters might just be becoming cartoons of themselves.
The science is what I found the most attractive part of the book. It is just so possible!
Yesterday, I had, perforce, to pay a visit to my friendly pathologist.
I must say, I looked very acrefully at the lids of the vials containing
my blood and was extremely relieved to see none sported a green cap.
FAN MAIL
by P D Martin
ISBN 9781405038263
389 pages
MACMILLAN
February 1 2008
$32.95
reviewed by Denise Pickles
December 31 2007
Psychic Sophie Anderson is back with another FBI adventure to her credit. One can appreciate how "visions" could help a FBI special agent in her work, but things are not always as helpful as they might be, given that Sophie's visions can be misleading. Nonetheless, it can give the profiler that little bit of extra advantage necessary to run baddies to ground.
The book begins with an occurrence almost extraneous to the current tale -- events leading up to the capture of NeverCaught, the one member of the Murderers' Club who had managed to remain at large. The man's capture is largely due to the efforts of Justin Reid, a business executive in the profitable IT field.
Anderson feels that in order to take best advantage of her gift, she
needs to be out in the field. Thus, she is transferring from Quantico to
California -- but one last task remains to her: entertaining a crime fiction
author, Loretta Black, and answering her questions. Unfortunately, that
is not Sophie's final encounter with Loretta. The author is murdered and
the method used is identical with that employed in her latest book. Sophie
is teamed with Detective Sorrell to investigate.
Soon thereafter, another crime fiction author is killed. Again, the method employed is one depicted in one of the lady's books.
I must confess to enjoying P D Martin's books. She resists what must be a huge temptation, to concentrate on the supernatural aspects of the plots to the exclusion of good, solid policing. The mystery is sufficiently convoluted to maintain the reader's interest and present a puzzle not easily solved.
My sole criticism of the work of this Melbourne author is that the characters may be perceived as a trifle wooden. Perhaps Martin was attempting not to make them seem over the top, given the nature of Sophie's "special insights" but I felt that they deserved a little more life than was allotted them.
All this having been said, I do look forward to reading P D Martin's books. I feel she has a lot to offer the crime fiction audience. In this book, I must say I found the notion of an author writing about a law enforcement officer's reactions to a crime fiction author, delicious.
I wonder if the author ever intends returning Sophie to Australia, if
only for a holiday. It would be intriguing to see the country through the
protagonist's eyes and I know I would like to read about Anderson's reactions
on her home turf, so to speak.
MELTDOWN
by Martin Baker
ISBN 9780230703971
390 pages
Macmillan
February 1 2008
$32.95
reviewed by Denise Pickles
January 14 2008
For those of us who are labouring under the impression that money is dull, Martin Baker will cheerfully rip the shade of deception from our eyes and show how truly exciting the Market can be. Perhaps Real Life would not hold quite as many dangers for earnest young academics as those inflicted on Samuel Spendlove, but the reader is certainly made aware of possibilities.
Samuel (not Sam) Spendlove is an Oxford don possessed of an eidetic memory. He is also just emerging from a failed marriage when he is approached by one of two large, rival publishers and asked to go undercover to work as a research analyst/assistant to a financier in Paris, a city beloved by Spendlove. That organisation is effectively owned by the second publisher.The academic assents then must break the news to his mentor, Peter Kempis, a man who has been a friend to three generations of Spendloves at Oxford. Like so many in the tale, Kempis is not quite as he seems on the surface.
Samuel travels to Paris to take up his employment as a trainee assisting Khan, a mysterious but successful figure in finance. He makes a good impression on the trading floor but then strikes up a rather warm acquaintance with Kaz, a colleague with whom he wishes to become even better friends because he feels she might be able to gain him access to secrets he would need to penetrate in order to promote the downfall of Khan. Then Kaz disappears.
Spendlove has already seen that Kaz is very close to another woman, Lauren. She is a beautiful creature, a lawyer, but someone who, quite possibly, would be a rival to Samuel for Kaz's affections.
The narrative is certainly absorbing and I found it far more exciting than some other books falling into the genre of "thriller". Just what percentage of the tale might accurately reflect publishing and finance in the Real World is possibly a different matter but it gave me more of an idea than I'd previously had of the possibilities inherent in the murky world of high finance.
Just how much influence sex has in driving money is a moot point. Nevertheless, the author has incorporated hefty chunks of that motivator in with all the other adventures that befall the hapless Spendlove.
The characterisation is, to my mind, very well done. Samuel's suffering as a betrayed husband, his willingness to take on a new employment and his excellent ability in the world of finance, given his trick of memory, is completely credible. The women, too, are painted beautifully and one could imagine meeting them -- should the reader mix in such circles -- in the real world. Perhaps the publishers, with their limitless ambitions and view of the business world as a game, might seem a little exaggerated, but then what, in high finance, does seem plausible to those of us with limited knowledge of the world of money.
Baker is the author of non-fiction as well as fiction. He has, however,
promised two more books in a series featuring Samuel Spendlove. I trust
the reading public doesn't have to wait too long for a sequel to this financial
thriller.
BLACK MONDAY
by R Scott Reiss
ISBN 9780731813483
339 pages
Simon & Schuster
February 1 2008
$29.95
reviewed by Denise Pickles
January 15 2008
There's nothing quite like a rollicking good end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it novel, something that, while it is quite plausible, is just that little bit beyond our current status, to give the reader a sense of invulnerability but still preserve the frisson of fear that affects one's emotions when reading it. To my mind, this current outing could almost be seen as the modern day equivalent of William Golding's LORD OF THE FLIES.
The book opens with a professional assassin lying in wait for a college
student. His mentor refuses to say why this particular boy is slated for
death. In one of the few funny scenes, set in Las Vegas, the killer, then
going by the name Lewis Stokes, while attempting to remain inconspicuous,
strikes an enormous jackpot but walks away from it so he can
perform his murder.
The next setting is in Qatar and the disquiet of a news broadcaster who reflects on the message he had to pass on to the world from an ancient hermit whose predictions have been surprisingly accurate. The old man predicts that the enemy of Islam will fail, that their food supply will be lost and their machines will fall from the sky. And it happens.
Greg Gillette is an epidemiologist. He lives in a tightly knit community not far from the Pentagon -- which turns out to be very useful after the bacteria which cause the machines to cease functioning become wide spread and he needs to get to work.
Around the globe, the contamination of the oil supply and consequent breakdown of the machines causes accepted civilisation to break down. The law of the jungle takes over and only small enclaves that cooperate in order to preserve their way of life are able to continue to exist in a semi civilised fashion. Greg, with his way of life partially preserved, is able to work on the conundrum of the bacteria and how the destruction wrought by their dissemination may be prevented from engulfing humanity.
This is a very interesting extrapolation of what is possible should there be, for any reason whatsoever, a failure of an oil supply to power the machines of the world. Just as William Golding did before him, R. Scott Reiss has prepared an elegant extrapolation of the end of a civilisation.
Perhaps the characterisation might be seen as verging on caricaturisation in places. The baddies seem to have nary a single redeeming feature whereas the goodies are too good to be true. Still, the strength of the tale is in the realistic portrayal of just what would happen to the world in the face of such a catastrophe.
After reading such a chronicle, I suppose there is only a single wish
that can be made for civilisation: speed on solar research!
THE CELEBUTANTES
IN THE CLUB
by Antonio Pagliarulo
ISBN 9781741662788
336 pages
Random House Australia
February 1 2008
$19.95
reviewed by Denise Pickles
January 24 2008
The Hamilton triplets, Lexington, Madison and Park, now seventeen, are back and surrounded by trouble once more. It's nearly the end of the school year but their father's club, Cleopatra, is having its grand opening. Everyone, including the school's Reverend Mother, wants to find out about Cleopatra, but the girls are not going to spoil the surprise.
A senior at their school is Damien Kittle, Duke of Asherton. Oddly enough, he has a father who is living, but he's only a knight. I couldn't help wondering, too, how someone described as British Royalty, came to attend an American school rather than one in a Commonwealth country. Still, I suppose that's mere nitpicking.
Most of the student body of St Cecilia's is at the opening of the club but during the festivities, tragedy strikes. The Duke becomes a dead Duke, with a hole in the head to prove it. Strangely, a large, pink stiletto sandal appears to be the murder weapon and everyone knows that Concetta Canoli, yet another heiress, but one on the hefty side, despite her family fortune being dependent on diet products, is in love with Damien so why should she kill him? Could he have repulsed her advances?
Not all of the triplets think Canoli is a murderer. The police, however, do. Detective Aaron Connelly is quite happy that he has arrested the murderer when he snaps the handcuffs on Canoli (without Mirandising her.)
The Hamiltons have their driver take them to St Cecilia's so they can break into Concetta's locker (since that's where girls always keep their secrets.) They risk life and limb scaling the school's wall but once possessed of the locker's secrets, they find the only thing worth having is a notebook entitled ìThe Black Cry Affair.î
In this outing, I didn't find the murderer quite such a surprise as I did the miscreant in the first Celebutantes book. The characters were, unfortunately, just as vapid as in the first oeuvre but I felt the author was just a bit condescending toward his targeted audience.
The efficient and effective authors of crime fiction do research. They would not place a British Royal at school in the US. For that matter, the corpse also presented inaccuracies. Every mystery fan who takes the genre seriously knows that corpses don't bleed. There's no beating heart to force the blood from the body.
Then there's the matter of procedure. As already mentioned, there are formalities to be observed when someone is arrested. The scene of crime is important so that before a corpse is taken away, SOCOs photograph it from every possible angle. The officer in charge doesn't dismissively order his underlings to get it away from him.
There are other discrepancies later in the book, as well, but these give you some idea of the author's shortcomings. It struck me that an author who can't be bothered with a little research displays the utmost contempt for his readers, no matter how young. Speaking from experience, I would say that teenagers are pretty bright and, if they have read a bit in the mystery genre, they will pick up these inconsistencies.
The author's strength is in his plotting---as well as his knowledge
of designer labels. Perhaps he should make more of that. It's a shame that
he hasn't made the most of what he had at his fingertips in producing a
novel that could have been entertaining.
THIS NIGHT'S FOUL WORK
by Fred Vargas
translated by Sian Reynolds
ISBN 9781846550638
409 pages
Harvill Secker
February 1 2008
$32.95
reviewed by Denise Pickles
January 22 2008
The narrative begins, ominously enough, by Adamsberg putting up a wall, declining the use of a plumb line but reassuring a prospective neighbour that he is not afraid of the ghost of a homicidal (feminacidal?) nun that graces the premises. Adamsberg explains that the house is for the occasional use of his wife and son. If nothing else, it warns the reader that there may be elements of the supernatural within the tale.
Adamsberg visits the pathologist where he notes two fresh male, formerly drug dealing corpses, one black, one white but both very large. He wants the investigation but the relieving pathologist (the usual one suffering from what others might term depression, but he insists is the ìvapoursî) says the Drug Squad has first claim on the bodies. The pathologist, Ariane Lagarde, is reputed to be the most talented in France.
Meanwhile, a New Recruit has entered Adamsberg's squad. Veyrenc has been assigned to guarding Camille, the mother of Adamsberg's young son Tom. Veyrenc and Adamsberg come from adjoining valleys in the Pyrenees but this does not provide a link for them, rather the reverse, since there is a degree of ill feeling between the two places, ill feeling that Veyrenc appears anxious to prolong.
Meanwhile, Dr. Lagarde insists that the two large corpses in her care were despatched by a woman. Not only that, she points the finger at a murderous District Nurse who has escaped from prison.
Meanwhile, Adamsberg accompanies Camille to Normandy, where she is playing in a concert. Talking to some locals, he learns that someone is murdering stags - and stealing their hearts, an unorthodox souvenir. Adamsberg satisfies the locals that he will investigate what they perceive as a crime, even though he has no intention of doing so,
This work struck me as being somewhat different from Vargas' usual fare. In fact, I found it rather more interesting. Perhaps the introduction of nine month old Tom makes Adamsberg a bit more human although his obvious concern for his squad, when any of them is in danger, also serves that purpose.
The characters are quite vivid. I was certainly in no danger of confusing one with another. While Veyrenc's habit of speaking in verse is annoying, the reason for it is plausible, as is his hatred for Adamsberg.
The puzzle itself is suitably mystifying. I must admit that I never spotted who dun it, despite clues being offered.
Finally, I must pay tribute to the translator, Sian Reynolds. All too frequently translations obtrude most unfortunately, with some words, while being obviously a direct translation, are simply not a colloquial representation. Reynolds uses words that cause the prose to flow beautifully and effortlessly. Hers is certainly an improvement on previous translations of Vargas' work that I have read.
THE
LITTLE BOOK OF FORENSICS
by David Owen
ISBN 9781741752830
143 pages
ALLEN & UNWIN
February 1 2008
$19.95
reviewed by Denise Pickles
January 21 2008
This is a slim, useful little volume that the generous folk at ALLEN & UNWIN have kindly sent me. For those crime fiction readers who are only just entering this absorbing world and, hence, are unaware of the intricacies and history of this essential tool, it provides a very helpful companion to keep beside one when entering the murky world of murder and mayhem.
The book provides a list of fifty cases solved by the use of the evolving science of forensics, even casting retrospective light on some cases that had, in their time, baffled law enforcement officers.
The various sections of the book deal with mysterious causes of death, fire and explosions, fingerprinting and ballistics (both of which used to be great favourites with fiction) time of death, means of tracing miscreants by the imprints left by their teeth etc. and, most importantly in current fiction, trace evidence and DNA.
The cases examined are taken from around the world. Even South Australia gets a Guernsey, the Snowtown bodies in the barrels being a particularly gruesome example of mass murder and mass murderers.
I was surprised that neither the notorious Truro murders nor the particularly horrible Family murders (Adelaide being involved, occasionally referred to as ìthe murder capital of the worldî) were mentioned, but then, perhaps forensic science was not used in their solution.
It is, indeed, an interesting little book. Perhaps some aspiring novelist will be able to use it as inspiration for a future fascinating novel and think up some combination that will temporarily baffle both his hero and reader alike.
Fortunately for crime fiction aficionados, forensics is an evolving
science and developments in the art are likely to keep readers fascinated
for years to come.
SLEEP BEFORE EVENING
by Magdalena Ball
ISBN 9781904492962
296 pages
BeWrite Books
July 24 2007
UK£8.99
reviewed by Denise Pickles
January 21 2008
SLEEP BEFORE EVENING is described, by the author, as a ìbildungsromanî. My Oxford English dictionary defines that as a novel dealing with someone's early life and development while my Oxford Düden claims it is a novel of character development. Be either as it may, the book deals with the decrepitation of the character of Marianne Cotton subsequent to the death of her beloved grandfather, Eric Cotton.
Marianne's grandmother has died recently, leaving Eric alone but then Eric's dies suddenly. He and Marianne play chess every Friday but a stroke curtails the game and Eric is taken to hospital in an ambulance. Marianne's mother Lily and her stepfather Russell are given the option of prolonging Eric's life, in a vegetative state, or switching off the life support. They decide, without consulting Marianne, on the latter course - a cause for much resentment and confusion on Marianne's part as she is convinced her grandfather's life could have been saved.
Lily is a self-absorbed artist: gifted but with a talent that, while it appeals to the critics, does not seem to have much commercial potential. The women are fortunate -- up until that time-in that they can rely on Russell to earn their keep. Russell, however, is a womaniser and one fight too many sees him desert the Cottons. This double bereavement is particularly traumatising for Marianne who had never known her real father and has always regarded Russell as her father.
Lily seems to rely a lot on Astrology so certainly Marianne does not have much of a steadying influence at home.
Perhaps to compensate, Marianne has lots of conversations with her dead grandfather. These go nowhere to make up for his absence.
Academically as well as musically gifted, previously a model student, Marianne begins cutting class. During one of her illicit excursions, she encounters a busker in Washington Square Park. Miles works with a musical group and hopes they will be able to form a successful band one day.
Her encounter with Miles gives solid impetus to Marianne's downward spiral. He uses drugs, to which he introduces Marianne and gradually she become more and more needful of the high and warmth she can obtain from them. She becomes completely alienated from her old life and doesn't even bother attending school any more.
The narrative gives form to every conscientious parent's nebulous fears for his or her child. One wonders how the author performed such meticulous research on drug addicts as to be able to produce such horrifying scenarios as she depicts in the book.
The author is obviously well read, given the amount of poetry which she has Marianne quoting in every situation into which she falls. Inevitably, this annoys Miles and his friends but Marianne is oblivious of this as she continues to seek some anchor in her new, unstable life.
The characterisation is well done. Marianne is entirely credible, as are Lily and, unfortunately, Miles. Eric is, perhaps, a trifle too good to be true but he is seen, for the most part, through the eyes of his adoring granddaughter so that some idealisation is forgivable.
Some of the author's uses of words are not quite what I'd consider completely accurate, for example on p. 89 where she has Miles blowing ìalternatively into the harmonicasî. I couldn't help wondering if it was simply an idiosyncrasy of the author or a slip of the keyboard as I did pick up on several such oddities throughout the text. Of course, it could also be the changing of the English language, or else a difference between American and Australian usage.
The novel is, on the whole, a very impressive debut. While it may not
be precisely enjoyable it certainly demonstrates a remarkable understanding
of the depths to which traumatic events can plunge a young and impressionable
teenager.
WEB OF EVIL
by J A Jance
ISBN 9781416544272
357 pages
Simon & Schuster
February 1 2008
$29.95
reviewed by Denise Pickles
January 31 2008
Now here's a narrative that really begins with a bang. And yes, I do know it is a pretty poor joke. A man is tied up in the boot of a vehicle when he realises a train is approaching. The reader feels sorry for the victim until the disclosure that he is the rotten, cheating husband of Ali Reynolds, the protagonist of the tale. While the reader may not actually cheer at the disclosure, any sympathy is somewhat eroded.
Ali has set up a blog site at cutlooseblog.com (which is, in fact, a blog site owned by J A Jance - I couldn't resist looking) and there she communicates with the wider public. She screens comments to the site (of course) but feels most people sympathise with her about her intention to go to court with her previous employer because said employer decided she was too old.
Since Ali's husband, Paul, was killed when she was near the scene of the fatal, understandably, she becomes a suspect. Perhaps murder is seen as an easier option that divorce.
Paul was to be divorced and married the weekend after his death, just in time to legitimise his fiancée, April's offspring. Unfortunately for Ali, she is still the major beneficiary of the will so Paul being killed when he was, gives her an even better motive for murder.
Edie, Ali's mother, hastens to her daughter's side but complications ensue when Ali meets April and immediately feels empathy for her - after all, her husband, too, had died before the birth of their baby and Ali had had to fight to bring up their son alone.
While the reader must always be prepared for a certain amount of suspension of disbelief, I didn't find the stretch, in this book, to be too elastic, other than in some minor instances.
The blog, of course, seems to be proliferating in these times, with everyone (and his pet) seeming to have one. Whether an intelligent woman like Ali, is likely to have a tell all site, is perhaps open to debate - but I can't pass judgment as I rarely peruse blogs.
The characters come across, for the most part, as being realistic. Ali
certainly is (except for her blog) as is Edie. April--well, perhaps. Certainly,
April's mum is the sterotypical mother-in-law.
As to the baddies, once the motives are unwound, they, too, seem convincing.
Of course, there is a potential love interest for Ali so perhaps that is pleasure in store for constant readers - if Ali doesn't break his heart first.
This was my first experience of a Jance novel and I must say I
found it quite satisfactory.
REALLY, REALLY PEARLIE
by Wendy Harmer
illustrated by Mike Zarb and Gypsy Taylor
ISBN 9781741662351
143 pages
RANDOM HOUSE AUSTRALIA
October 1 2007
$19.95
PEARLIE AND SAPPHIRE
by Wendy
Harmer
illustrated by Mike Zarb and Gypsy Taylor
ISBN 97681741661378
50 pages
RANDOM HOUSE AUSTRALIA
November 1 2007
$14.95
reviewed by Denise Pickles
February
25 2008
Sometimes it's good to take a break from all the malevolence of adult crime fiction and, instead, dip into a children's book or four, just for a change. It's been a while since Wendy Harmer put out a new book for adults and, as my son was born quite some time before Ms Harmer began writing her fiction for littlies, so I was unfamiliar with this aspect of her writing, I thought I might just dip into some juvenilia to try to assuage my Harmer craving.
Pearlie the Park Fairy lives in Jubilee Park. She is a good fairy, intent on doing good deeds, but sometimes things go wrong. In PEARLIE AND THE LOST HANDBAG, a kind old lady loses her handbag and Pearlie is called upon to restore it to her despite its having been appropriated by Jubilee Park's equivalent of the criminal underworld, Scrag and Mr. Flea, a pair of rats indeed.
In PEARLIE AND JASPER, Pearlie helps a lost little elf find a new home, although Scrag and Mr. Flea attempt to hoodwink him.
PEARLIE AND THE CHRISTMAS ANGEL sees Pearlie and Jasper rescuing Carols by Candlelight from possible disaster when the Christmas Angel meets with a nasty accident.
PEARLIE AND SAPPHIRE makes the point that even good fairies may have wicked cousins, when Pearlie is eagerly anticipating the Fairy Twilight Fair. Pearlie, however, is always the innocent optimist and hopes that she and Sapphire might some day be best friends.
These are wonderful books for littlies. They contain plenty of adventure
and the possibility of dastardly deeds succeeding so that not even the
most blasé of tinies will find the plots other than entertaining.
The books themselves are bright and colourful, certain to attract and hold
the attention of small children as they listen to Pearlie's adventures,
and only the most sophisticated of tiny tots (corrupted, of course, by
adult television) are likely to find anything to be too mild in the plots.