Review Archive for author's that start with ... D

Reviewed on this page: Dark Alchemy (Dann and Dozois editors), Ode to a Banker, A Body in the Bath House (Lindsey Davis), My Side of the Story (Will Davis), ThePizza House Crash (Denise Danks) Phreak (Denise Danks),  mem-[o]-re (Bennett Davlin), Mavis Levack, P.I. (Marele Day), The Stone Monkey (Jeffery Deaver),  One Sunday (Joy Dettman), Train (Pete Dexter), Back To Bologna (Michael Dibdin), End Games (Michael Dibdin), High Risk (Matt Dickinson), The Slayers of Seth  (Paul Doherty), The Man Who Fought Alone  (Stephen Donaldson), Expecting Emily (Clare Dowling), The Devil's Jump  (Doyle), Brain Dead (Eileen Dreyer), All Those Bright Crosses (Ross Duncan), Booked to Die (John Dunning), The Bookman's Wake (John Dunning), The Bookman's Promise (John Dunning), The Sign of the Book (John Dunning), The Bookwoman's Last Fling (John Dunning),
                                      DARK ALCHEMY
                         edited by Jack Dann and Gardner Dozois
                                    ISBN 9780747590569
                                             400 pages
                                          BLOOMSBURY
                                           June 1 2007
                                                $24.95
                              reviewed by Denise Pickles
                                           July 17 2007

I have to admit that the fantasy and science fiction genre was always my first love before I discovered the delights of crime fiction. How then, could I resist requesting this anthology when the notification of its release arrived on my computer desk? Well, obviously, I couldn't and didn't, and I am more than glad that I didn't attempt to do so.

This is a packed constellation featuring bright, magical light from stellar luminaries of the genre as well as some more faintly shining stars that must surely be on the ascendancy.

Bod, a little living boy brought up in a graveyard (but warned to keep away from the grave of the witch) is the star of the first story in the collection, Neil Gaiman's  THE WITCH'S HEADSTONE. Following that questing soul  come HOLLY AND IRON by  Garth Nix, COLOR VISION by Mary Rosenblum,  THE RUBY INCOMPARABLE by  Kage Baker, Eoin Colfer's A FOWL TALE , SLIPPING SIDEWAYS THROUGH ETERNITY by  the wonderful Jane Yolen, THE STRANGER'S HANDS by Tad Williams, NAMING DAY by Patricia McKillip, WINTER'S WIFE  by  Elizabeth Hand,  A DIORAMA OF THE INFERNAL REGIONS, OR THE DEVIL'S NINTH QUESTION by Andy Duncan, BARRENS DANCE by my perennial favourite, Peter S. Beagle,  STONE MAN by Nancy Kress, THE MANTICORE SPELL by Jeffrey Ford,  ZINDER by Tanith Lee, BILLY AND THE WIZARD by Terry Bisson, THE MAGIKKERS by Terry Dowling, THE MAGIC ANIMAL by Gene Wolfe and, finally, STONEFATHER by Orson Scott Card, he of Prentice Alvin first fame.

An examination of the names of the authors should comprise a  review of the entire book but I suppose it would scarcely be a sufficient one. I would assume that not many non-followers of the genre would purchase the volume, but should any reader unfamiliar with the names be tempted, my recommendation would certainly be "Buy!" as a very definite categorical imperative.

The stories range through time and space, casting their net for subjects in strange places sharing only a taste for enchantment. In such a large anthology I would customarily find at least one tale which would give me less pleasure than others but in this collection I found none that I disliked.

The book is, apparently, aimed at the Young Adult market. Alas, I am far from that age group but I confess I fell under the spell which spills over to cover all ages.

If you, Dear Reader,  would like to be enthralled by a truly enchanting read, don't hesitate but plunge into this magical anthology.
 

                                                                          Ode to a Banker
                                                                          by Lindsey Davis
                                                                                  Arrow
                                                                       ISBN 0-09-929820-1
                                                                                $18.95
                                                                            June 1 2001
                                                                    reviewed by Denise Wels
 

              Multi-award winner (Author's Club Prize for Best First Novel The Silver Pigs, Crime Writers Association  awards and shortlisted for the Georgette Heyer Prize for two non-Falco, unpublished, works), Lindsey Davis has produced another book to add to her extremely popular Marcus Didius Falco series. Some other Falco titles (of the many) are Shadows in Bronze, Poseidon's Gold , One Virgin Too Many, Time to Depart  and Dying Light in Corduba .

             At first glance, Davis' work is light and entertaining. A closer examination reveals the immense scholarship and research that has gone into producing her light hearted mysteries. Smart -alecky Falco runs around getting into trouble and solving mysteries in the time of the Roman emperor Vespasian (with whom Falco has a nodding acquaintance, so to speak.) Ode to a Banker is set in A.D. 74.

           While it is not certain that Falco's profession of private informer actually existed in the Rome of his time, the vigiles (a combination of fire department and police force) certainly did. The geography of that Rome was also as depicted by Davis, as is the technology extant at the time.

           At the commencement of this chapter in the life of Marcus Didius Falco, the informer has allowed himself to be the support act for  Rutilius Gallicus in a poetry recitation night of the reciters' own works. To Falco's amazement, Greek Aurelius Chrysippus appoints himself Master of Ceremonies and introduces the two poets to the assembled crowd comprising invited guests and some gate-crashers. The following day Falco is approached by an agent of Chrysippus with a seemingly flattering offer from the Greek, who, it appears, is a publisher.

             Falco is disconcerted, to say the least, to discover he is supposed to pay for the privilege of being published and parts from Chrysippus in a less than gruntled frame of mind. Shortly thereafter Chrysippus' lifeless body, imaginatively assaulted, is discovered by a slave. Falco is hired by his best friend, acting  tribune Lucius Petronius Longus, to investigate the murder.

            The publisher did not derive his income solely from his scriptorium but also, and more importantly, from the bank he owned. Apparently bankers of the time had no more a reputation for being lovable than they do today so Falco is presented with a wide array of suspects.

           Lindsey Davis never becomes pedantic. Her prose is crisp, clear and entertaining. When she instructs (for example, about the manner in which papyrus was produced) she does so as part of the story. Her dialogue is not stiff and stilted after the manner of some historical novelists, but idiomatic and fluid. After all, Latin was not then a dead language but used in real life communication.

          The author introduces a wealth of characters, including the informer's eccentric relatives and friends. Perhaps the characterisation is slight but it is amusing. The mystery itself is less than deep and complicated and perhaps the action could be faster. This having been said, the Rome of the tale, complete with bankers, poets and publishers and the implied satirical look at their  modern day equivalents, is a delight.

                                                           A BODY IN THE BATH HOUSE
                                                                        by Lindsey Davis
                                                                         Century London
                                                                    ISBN 0-7126-6964-7
                                                                               $29.95
                                                                           June 1 2001
                                                               reviewed by Denise Wels
 

             Lindsey Davis, (  Venus in Copper ,  Two for the Lions, The Iron Hand of Mars, Last Act in Palmyra ,Time to Depart ,Three Hands in the Fountain ), the multi-award winning author of the Marcus Didius Falco series set in ancient Rome and its provinces, has produced another of her wonderfully researched novels.

           A Body in the Bath House follows Ode to a Banker and is set in the year following that poetic adventure, AD 75. In this instance, the inspiration for the book was the discovery on the south coast of Britain, at Fishbourne, of a Roman palace. Lindsey Davis has constructed the narrative according to the exact construction of the palace so far as the current excavations indicate. The author comments that if further discoveries are made she will simply say that Falco had seen earlier plans that were subsequently changed.

             This story begins with Falco and his father, the redoubtable Geminus, discovering a corpse in the bath house of Geminus' newly constructed home. The dwelling was originally built for Falco but circumstances made it easier for the father and son to swap abodes. Thus, Falco's wife had the dubious pleasure of sorting the problems encountered with the workmen of the villainous Gloccus and Cotta, who constructed the bath house. Falco thinks it evident that the two plumbing entrepreneurs are responsible for the death of the workman.

            In Ode to a Banker, Falco's sister Maia, newly widowed, has looked favourably on the overtures of Anacrites, the Emperor's chief spy and Falco's chief enemy. In this book, Maia has decided to reject Anacrites' suit and what Marcus Didius Falco had foreseen in the previous book has come to pass. A wrathful Anacrites has begun to wreak vengeance on the hapless Maia.

           Coincidentally, the Emperor demands that Falco voyage to Britain in order to investigate the cost blowout of a palace he is having constructed for his good friend  T. Claudius Togidubnus, Great King of the Britons. Falco suspects that Gloccus and Cotta may have gone to that building site in order to enhance their wealth further so decides to obey the Emperor's orders.

         Falco's wife, Helena, insists on accompanying him together with their two children and their nurse, the indolent freedwoman Hyspale. Helena conspires with Maia's children and Falco's friend Petro to kidnap Maia in order to keep her safe while Petro cares for Maia's children. Thus is the stage set for this adventure.

        Two of Helena's brothers accompany the band as Falco's undercover assistants, and eventually the investigator and his coterie arrive in Noviomagus Regnensis. Fortunately for Falco and his family all but the clandestine assistants are invited to stay with the great King in his beloved old palace, which makes things considerably more comfortable for the party than they might have been.

         Falco discovers there have been more than the usual number of deaths associated with the construction, to go with more than the permitted financial cost. As he goes on with his metaphorical digging, the body count builds higher (including another body in a bath house). Things become even more complicated when it appears that one of Anacrites' assassins is also on location in Britain.

             Lindsey Davis again demonstrates her superb ability to incorporate her vast knowledge of Vespasian's time into a well told and entertaining story. She throws in all kinds of fascinating detail of day to day life of the time. For example, Falco's aching tooth gives the reader an insight into the dentistry of the era while the concentration of a lot of the action on the various bath houses gives her the opportunity to discuss the methods ancient Romans used to keep clean... and how Roman matrons employed perfumes and cosmetics to enhance their appearance.

            It is obvious that Falco's adventures will not end with this book and I, for one, look forward to his next outing.

                                                     MY SIDE OF THE STORY
                                                              by Will Davis
                                                        ISBN 9780747586913
                                                                  243 pages
                                                                 May 4 2007
                                                                       $29.95
                                                      reviewed by Denise Pickles
                                                                   May 7 2007

Jaz is just sixteen. His name is really Jarold but he prefers to be known as Jaz. His best friend is Al (short for Alice.)Jaz doesn't brag about the fact but he is gay.

Jaz lives with his lawyer mother, his chef father, his sister Teresa (aka the Nun) and his grandmother who is the cause of his being ousted from his own room. His mother and father, while perhaps not the parents from hell, leave a lot to be desired -- especially when they learn of his sexual orientation.

Al and Jaz frequent a gay bar called  Starlight, never mind that they are under age. One night, they encounter a man who seems to Jaz to be the embodiment of all his dreams. Unfortunately, they also see one of their teachers, Mr. Fellows.

Jaz has the usual difficult time at school -- well, how many people didn't have a difficult time when they were at school? It is now complicated by the fact that Jaz has been outed. There are, of course, bullies (Fart Face and his cohorts Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee) and Jaz seems to spend a lot of his time avoiding them since he feels he may suffer grievous bodily harm should they come across him when he has nowhere to run.

It is almost inevitable that things will get worse for Jaz and Al  and the outcome is that  they run away.

If you, Dear Reader, can get beyond the teenage argot Jaz uses in the first person narrative, you'll find this a delightfully funny book. Jaz is very matter of fact in the way he deals with life and his reporting of his trials and tribulations are refreshingly honest. The description of the party to which he is invited by an aggressively heterosexual girl is hilarious.

If I were asked for a one word description of this debut novel, I could not think of a more appropriate word than 'poignant'. The characters spring to vibrant life, off-putting aspects as well as endearing facets. The story itself grabs you, especially if you are a parent -- or possibly even someone not too far removed from adolescence yourself.

We can but hope that Will Davis  has more ideas for novels simmering in his subconscious.
 
 

                                             THE PIZZA HOUSE CRASH
                                                               by Denise Danks
                                                                      Orion
                                                          ISBN 0-75284-378-8
                                                                   $17.95
                                                          September 7 2001
                                                      reviewed by Denise Wels

                This is a reissue of  journalist/screenwriter Denise Dank's first novel which originally appeared in 1989. Considering the rapid pace of technology and the fact that the book concerns computers, it has held up remarkably well. Dank's protagonist, Georgina Powers, is a computer journalist, first seeing the light of computer monitors in  this story, The Pizza House Crash. Others of Danks' books include Frame Grabber, Wink:A Hopeful Eye,  Baby Love,  Phreak, Torso  and Better Off Dead . Denise Danks won the Raymond Chandler Award 1995/96. Interestingly, Danks acknowledges her debt to Enid Blyton 'without whom none of this would be possible.' I must have missed the relevant bits of Blyton when reading her work to my child!

              Chapter One finds  an habitually tipsy Georgina having lunch with headhunter  Barnaby Page. Page is lamenting the loss of his fee since the computer programmer he had hunted for a California company had accidentally hanged himself.  Powers is shocked back to sobriety on discovering the victim is her cousin, Julian Kirren. The death occurred when Julian had been indulging in one of those auto-erotic exercises which too frequently have been hitting the newspapers of recent years. At the time of his death Julian had been wearing women's underwear and a rubber mask which had caused him to suffocate.

               Julian was a programmer for a company called Pull up for Pizza Ltd. but was said to have been a mediocre talent which made his having been headhunted for an overseas company somewhat mystifying. Georgina enlists the aid of her friend and neighbour, computer hacker Warren  Graham to help her unravel the puzzle. Why would Julian, who never forgot anything, forget to take the keys to his handcuffs when embarking on his exercise in suffocation - something that ensured his demise.

              As Georgina and Warren keep probing, the mystery deepens and widens. Powers enlists the aid of the publication where she works, Technology Week, under the pretext of writing a story for it and it soon becomes clear that whatever Julian was working on involved the world-wide crash of the stock market in 1987.

              Grubby Georgina is an unlikely heroine. She doesn't do a great deal to grab the reader's sympathy but nonetheless, Danks tells a pretty good story. There is loads of violence, a bit of raw sex and a dizzying account of a fight on a fire escape above London's streets. Perhaps the non-technology oriented reader might feel a bit bogged down by detail in places, but then, would such a reader turn to this type of novel in the first place?

             I had read none of Danks' stories prior to this so will be interested to see how Georgina Powers develops in the next work  of hers that I read.
 
 
 

                                                            PHREAK
                                                              by Denise Danks
                                                                      Orion
                                                          ISBN 0-75284-377-X
                                                                   $17.95
                                                            September 7 2001
                                                      reviewed by Denise Wels

               Denise Danks plunges her journalist protagonist Georgina Powers into yet another high tech thriller with Phreak. Danks has a faithful following for her books, which include The Pizza House Crash, Frame Grabber, Wink A Hopeful Eye,  Baby Love,  Phreak, Torso  and Better Off Dead.

               In this outing Georgina is still lamenting her almost affair with perfidious hacker and former friend Warren Graham now well out of her life. Georgina no longer works exclusively for Technology Week  but free-lances. The beginning of the story is sufficiently violent with Georgina and her friendly drug supplier 'Chronic' John Delaney finding the body of another friend, Abdul 'Little Stevie Wonder' Malik in a metal drum.

              Georgina is following a story on phone phreaking and Abdul is one of the phreaks. He and his friends beat the system by stealing mobile phones, parts and software as well as numbers so that the items can be sold on to people whose calls will be charged to the accounts of innocent by-standers. And that is only part of it. The phreakers can play games with Net access as well. No one's identity on the Net is safe since these kids can take over an identity. Then there is the role playing game Urbanic in which they indulge.

              Tony Levi is an East End crime figure. He used to be Georgina's lover but she found his ways too domineering for her peace of mind. Now she turns to him for help. Tony is being singled out for pursuit by former schoolfellow, now policeman, Duggan. They had been rivals at school and Duggan is still playing the game of who can be King of the Toilets. Strange.

                The prose of the book is edgy and at times awkward but it does convey a sense of violence. Pakistanis, Bengalis and  members of other assorted  races seek to annihilate Georgina and her cohorts. The bodies mount to the accompaniment of the violence. The squeamish reader should learn to skip over the gory bits as blood and body parts abound, as do Georgina's customary habits of dope smoking and indiscriminate sex.

               There is, as usual, a dearth of likable characters in the novel. The only  fairly attractive personality is Detective Inspector Robert Falk. He claims to be in love with Georgina but the reader is left with the impression that his physical unattractiveness would not stand him in good stead with her.

               This book does not contain as much overwhelming  technology detail as is found in Danks' first novel, Pizza House Crash  but is still not for the faint hearted.
                                               mem-[o]-re
                                                by Bennett Davlin
                                                  ISBN 1741660513
                                                         248 pages
                                         RANDOM HOUSE AUSTRALIA
                                                  November 1 2005
                                                             $23.95
                                     reviewed by Denise Pickles
                                                   October 28 2005

In order to be fair to this novice author, it should be borne in mind that his customary metier is the cinema. If one remembers this fact, perhaps his approach to the story becomes comprehensible. It would not be cricket to review this debutante in the same way as one would treat, say, Ruth Rendell or Minette Walters.

The opening chapter of Part One, entitled Amazon, is full of drama. A man is running for his life through the jungle. He clasps his video camera, attempting to protect it, as he flees, listeningÝ to the "pitter-patter of footsteps behind him". He slips, destined to be caught, but manages to hide something he has stolen from his pursuers in his camera.

Taylor Briggs is a medical graduate but prefers medical research to the practise of medicine. His mother, a brilliant intellectual, has fallen prey to Alzheimer's so Taylor has founded a company the chief aim of which is to develop a cure for Alzheimer's. Of course, he fears that he himself will also succumb to the 'silent epidemic' so fear is the spur for his continued research. He has another demon goading his ambitions: his mother refused to tell him anything of his father so he seizes on the most minute details in order to attempt to build a picture of the man. That is, until he ingests a tiny dose of whatever the boy murdered near the Amazon was carrying. Immediately he is plunged into memories not his own. He follows a man who drives off in a car he recognises as one described to him as being owned by his father. After a series of episodes with the memory drug, Taylor becomes convinced that his father was a murderer who, three decades in the past, had preyed on young girls. What a heritage is his! On the one side, a future that includes Alzheimer's and on the other, a murderous genetic inheritance. Still, one can look on the bright side. If he can only hold on long enough, he will forget all about the atrocities!

Briggs spies on the past, discovering that the person whose memories he bears had buried young girls in a freezer, with a pipe through which they could breathe. He becomes obsessed with the notion that he can free them. Then he meets photographer Stephanie Jacobs and together they attempt to track down his family history.

For a thriller, there are innumerable holes in the plot. The tortures visited upon the lad who originally stole the memory drug by the tribe from which it was stolen are never properly explained. The author seeming thinks that a big, terrifying chase scene is enough foundation for what follows. It's not. Why, too, would Taylor 'see' what the person he identifies as his father did, rather than experience what the murderer did through his own thoughts? His characters are caricatures and the adventures simply brilliant, dramatic flashes that are insufficiently explored. Davlin needs to learn that his approach to writing a successful novel must be very different from his penning of a screenplay. Perhaps he should, therefore, concentrate on a single medium to produce the best outcome possible.
 
 
 
 

                                                    MAVIS LEVACK, P.I.
                                                                by Marele Day
                                                               Allen & Unwin
                                                          ISBN 1-86508-381-X
                                                                   $19.95
                                                           December 1 2000
                                                       reviewed by Denise Wels
 
 

              Mavis Levack is a very different  sort of  Private Investigator. Different from what or whom? Well,  different from any other protagonist on the active side of  the investigation in crime fiction, even taking Miss Jane  Marple and her knitting into account. Mavis is enthusiastically drawn into both her new profession and the investigation of the killing of a neighbour, a young man occupying a flat overlooked (a word  used advisedly) by the back window of the Levack's own flat  in Bondi, New South Wales. Claudia Valentine, a real   investigator  who actually has clients, visits Mavis and her husband Eddy to ask if they have seen anything to help further her enquiries. She is  unexpectedly successful as Mavis takes a very active  interest in the doings of her neighbours, even going to the   extent of using her husband's binoculars to observe them.

              Thus begins Malapropism-prone Mrs. Levack's new career (I did like her use of 'travesties'in  preference to 'transvestites'). Mavis is unique, from the soles of her op. shop Nikes to the top of her permed head. Throughout this chronological collection of stories she   never has a paying customer but that does not stop her from solving every mystery, from kidnapped garden gnomes to the apparent near assassination of her husband in a gay club, to her own satisfaction.
Eddy, Mavis' spouse, takes an initially unwilling interest in his wife's case-solving but later has to be restrained from adding his talents to hers. After all, one an only play bowls for a limited time each day and Library only occupies Wednesday mornings.Sixty-ish Mavis is an unlikely heroine but is no less charming for all that. She is a serious, earnest investigator although  she owns to enjoying the occasional bout of friskiness.

              Marele Day (who has written non-fiction, but  whose fiction includes The Life and Crimes of Harry   Lavender ; The Case of the Chinese Boxes  ; The Disappearances of Madalena Grimaldi  and  the widely translated The Lambs of God) seems to have had a rather  more  adventurous life than that of Mavis Levack. She has travelled extensively overseas and even survived a  shipwreck in the Java Sea. Not the least of her achievements after graduating from Sydney University is  winning the American Shamus Award in  1992 for The  Last  Tango of Dolores Delgado.

            Day is not above having a lend of some of her contemporaries' fictional detectives - Peter Corris' Cliff Hardy survives an encounter with the redoubtable Mavis as she strives to  solve the mystery surrounding the disappearance of many  of Sydney's private eyes. The author also has a sly dig at the accent of our neighbours across the Tasman when Mavis misunderstands a request from a potential informant, being  prepared to make the penultimate sacrifice in her quest for truth, when all her grass wishes is a six pack of beer.

            If you are looking for lots of gore and breakneck speed of action, stay clear of Mavis. If, on the  other hand, you are prepared to be delighted and captivated by talented writing and wonderful characterisation, this  cosiest of cosies is for you.
                                                                  THE STONE MONKEY
                                                                                  by Jeffery Deaver
                                                                               ISBN 0-340-73400-0
                                                                                       414 pages
                                                                              Hodder & Stoughton
                                                                                  April 11 2002
                                                                                       $29.95
                                                                           reviewed by Denise Wels
 

                     Perhaps it was a premonitory reflection of Jeffery Deaver's need to research his books so thoroughly that the former journalist attended Law School : he wanted a better position as a legal reporter. His career did not proceed as he had intended, however, as he was recruited by a law firm where he practised  within that profession until becoming a full time writer in 1990. Deaver ( The Bone Collector, The Coffin Dancer, The Empty Chair, The Devil's Teardrop, The Blue Nowhere, Speaking in Tongues, Death of a Blue Movie Star, amongst others) invented  his arguably most popular character when he conceived of Lincoln Rhyme, the forensic criminalist, with The Bone Collector. Deaver was honoured with a Dream Award from Western Law Center for Disabled Rights for his creation.

                It is fascinating, when attempting to dissect the attraction Deaver has for his admirers, to note that the research that goes into his novels never appears as simple regurgitation of facts. Other, less able, authors, perhaps not wishing to waste facets of what they have learned, simply cram tedious facts and figures into their books, slowing the action thereby. Not so Deaver. Any gem of knowledge that he has uncovered is implanted into his narratives solely to move them on. His characters are built from initial concepts - for example, as a helpless victim, Lincoln Rhyme could have been immobilised with, as Deaver has said, duct tape, but that would have been inadequate. Instead, Rhyme is a quadriplegic who can only move his head, neck and one finger. As the series progresses,  Rhyme's character becomes more fleshed out, as does that of  his lover, Crime Scene Officer Amelia Sachs. A little more of each is revealed in successive stories.

                This book is particularly topical, dealing as it does, with illegal immigrants attempting to find new lives in a different country, in this instance the United States. A 'snakehead', the Ghost, who enables 'piglets' or asylum seekers, to voyage to a new land, is attempting to bring his cargo to shore near New York City. Lincoln Rhyme has deduced what is happening and where the boat, the Fuzhou Dragon, will land. A coastguard vessel is sent to intercept them, with all the forces of law on hand, but the Ghost imprisons his cargo and scuttles the ship but manages himself to escape. He is not the only refugee to arrive on dry land. Two families, the  Changs and the Wus, as well as John Sung, a Chinese doctor, and the mysterious Sonny Li, also manage to preserve their lives. The ruthless Ghost attempts to kill all the witnesses and the book is devoted to how he tries to wipe them out while Lincoln Rhyme and Amelia Sachs endeavour to thwart his pleasant plan.

                Perhaps I am becoming accustomed to Deaver's writing, but I did not find his descriptions of gore quite as nauseating as in previous books. Or perhaps the author has modified his style. Combined with the hardheaded forensic detail and the fascinating advances that are being made on behalf of incapacitated people by way of scientific achievements, there are overtones of mysticism in this work. Rhyme is virtually able to take Sachs into the minds of those they are pursuing as she walks the grid of the crime scene. The Chinese medicine touched on in this tale is also redolent with spiritual aspects. The narrative could also, perhaps, alter the prejudices of those people who see asylum seekers as some sort of monsters. Deaver portrays these people as varied members of another society - some good and some bad, but all desperate. The notion of family loyalty is another theme of the book.

                The action of the tale is spread over only a couple of days. The plot has its characteristically Deaverish twists and turns, with the reader never being sure of just who is a goodie and who a hitherto unidentified baddie.

                  The pace of this author's books is never slow nor is the language laboured. The dialogue is well done and the prose straighforward. Deaver's characters are well and truly believable. The plotting is impeccable and the reader's interest maintained throughout. Full marks, Mr. Deaver, on every level for this further Rhyme adventure.
                                            ONE SUNDAY
                                                by Joy Dettman
                                               ISBN 140503694X
                                                      362 pages
                                                    MACMILLAN
                                              November 3 2005
                                                          $32.95
                                         reviewed by Denise Pickles
                                                November 18 2005
 

Like Ian McEwan's SATURDAY, ONE SUNDAY by Joy Dettman sees its action confined to a single day. Unlike McEwan's hapless protagonist, Dettman's Tom Thompson is a policeman so can be assumed to be prepared for a series of unfortunate events to bedevil him, but not quite so unfortunate as those that occur on Sunday, 13th January 1929 in the small Victorian town of Molliston. It is midnight and Thomo is lying awake in the heat, unable to open the door to his house in case his wife, the unhinged, vindictive Rosie, escapes, cradling a teapot in lieu of their sons who were killed in the Great War, then, as she has done before, stripping off her clothing to the disgust and pity of their neighbours.

Molliston's Doctor Robert Hunter is having a busy night. A young, injured girl must be delivered of a baby that is almost to term. The child may survive, but the mother? Then  the body of Raechel Kennedy, formerly Squire, a girl far too young to be married, is discovered but is beyond Hunter's skill to revive. Thompson is called  upon to investigate the death, a lot of the solution to the case resting on the retrieval of Raechel's handbag which was made by the father of her lover, Christian  Reichenberg.

Raechel's father,  Nicholas Squire is desperate for a grandchild. He is determined to marry off his second daughter, Helen, in order to fulfill his ambition since his daughter-in-law, wife of his son Arthur who was hideously disfigured in the War, has absconded with their son. Fifteen year-old Helen is as unwilling to marry  as was her older sister, Raechel.

As Sunday passes, Constable Thompson stumbles from one incorrect solution to the killing to the next. All the time, he is dreading the arrival of his hated superior Sergeant Clarence Morgan  of the Melbourne Russell Street police.

Dettman dramatically brings to uncomfortable life the small, rural, war ravaged town. The anti-German paranoia that gripped Australia, a paranoia that went to the extent of renaming towns with Germanic names, is portrayed in all its shame. The discrimination against people of German heritage, the placing of them in an 'untouchable' class unfit to associate with 'decent' Australians is related within another Romeo and Juliet love story. The unforgivable power of despotic fathers over their helpless daughters, together with the tragic results of their tyranny is melded into a wonderfully vivid tale brim full of mystery, action and unforgettable characters.
 
 

                                    TRAIN
                                 by Pete Dexter
                                ISBN 0099469316
                                      280 pages
                                     arrow books
                                       $22.95
                             December 1 2004
                       reviewed by Denise Pickles
                             November 16 2004

If, Dear Reader, you missed TRAIN on its first release, you would find ample rewards in buying it now that it is being sold in small paperback format. An historical thriller, it mixes  a commentary on racial relations in the America of the fifties with an extremely fast paced, brutal yet compassionate tale of a young black caddy and a somewhat dysfunctional policeman.

The character of  Sergeant Miller Packard is established in the prologue, set in the Philadelphia of 1948. For a hobby, Packard tempts dwellers of the night by invading their haunts, insulting them then outrunning them. Most of the time.

The story moves forward to an exclusive golf club in Los Angeles in 1953. Lionel Walk, nicknamed 'Train' and nearly eighteen, is a black caddy. Packard is playing against  Train's tote and has another caddy, Florida, carrying his sticks. The fat golfer whose gear Train is carrying, is dissatisfied with Train and demands that he and Packard swap caddies. Then Florida dies on the course. (Dexter, fortunately, resists the temptation of inflicting a cerebral haemorrhage on the unfortunate caddy then wondering if he counted that stroke - something I have heard in real life.) The fat man is not impressed, exhibiting his disregard for the life of anyone not of his own social class.

Train comes to the attention of Packard because of the events of the day. Then the caddies of the club become the subject of Packard's professional attention. Two of them are involved in a murder on board the luxury Georgia Peach. The owner is killed and his wife brutally raped and mutilated (women readers may need to skim the detail at this point - I still cringe at the thought of what was done to Norah.)

Despite Packard's addiction to thrills, he seems equally addicted to protecting victims. He marries Norah, then when Train is brought once more to his attention, takes him under his wing, noting the young man's brilliance at golf and taking advantage of it, to the immense profit of both.

This is a strange novel. The characters are beautifully drawn. Train makes an indelible impression on the reader as a highly principled, compassionate man, yet able, at times, to commit an act of brutality. He has two treasures: his dog and his rusted nine iron. He is abused by many yet exhibits his high principles and compassion when he takes care of an older caddy who is stricken with blindness. Packard, too, is an anomaly. Despite his seeming lack of class consciousness, he is able to deal out summary justice to two black malefactors. One wonders if he would be quite so ready to do so to white criminals.

While the novel is written in the third person, it is told differently according to the content of the individual chapters. When the narrative is told from the viewpoint of Train, the form is that of a black dialect. The writing changes to what would be acceptable speech for a white policeman when the aspect is from Packard's point of view.

The book could scarcely be called a 'police procedural' since, despite Packard's profession, the policeman does not seem inhibited by any job restrictions. There is no mystery, but a great deal of tension. Readers with an interest in the historical aspect of race relations in the US as well as a love of suspense fiction would do well to read this award winning writer's book.
                          BACK TO BOLOGNA
                                by Michael Dibdin
                                 ISBN 0571227767
                                        223 pages
                                   faber and faber
                                 November 4 2005
                                             $29.95
                            reviewed by Denise Pickles
                                   November 7 2005

British writer Michael Dibdin has sent his series character Aurelio Zen BACK TO BOLOGNA in this, the tenth episode of the doughty detective's adventures. Mind, an interview with Dibdin on the Net says the author found Bologna 'spookily uninfested with crime'. Still, he does his best for Zen, the man who made his debut in 1988 with the publication of RATKING.

Dibdin has invented a very vivid cast of characters for this adventure. There is a set of football hooligans who are more than a little relieved when the owner of their favourite team is murdered. After all, he was responsible for eviscerating the team and removing all its spirit. One of the fans, barely tolerated by the remainder but he is rather rich, which can remedy a lot of faults, is Vincenzo Amadori, who shares a flat with student Rodolfo. Rodolfo has a girlfriend, an illegal immigrant who styles herself Princess Flavia of Ruritania.

Vincenzo's wealthy parents hire a private detective, Tony Speranza, an investigator who takes his craft seriously, modelling himself along the lines of the protagonists of hardboiled American detective novels. It is unfortunate that Speranza's abilities do not quite match those of his favoured heroes.

Perhaps the most delightful invention in this novel is the TV singing chef, Romano Rinaldi. He finds himself in a cooking contest with an intellectual, Edgardo Ugo. What the world doesn't know is that Romano can't cook so an off the cuff remark from Ugo that hypothesises that possibility hits a raw nerve.

Aurelio Zen's comfortable domestic arrangement with his girlfriend Gemma is becoming disarranged. It doesn't improve when Zen is sent to Bologna to investigate the death of the football entrepreneur and finds himself entangled, to one degree or another, with the eclectic group of characters invented for the occasion.

It's not as though there is any great mystery to be found in this novel. The killer, early in the peace, makes no bones about his responsibility (irresponsibility?) for the killing. To a select few, that is. The richness of this book lies in the wealth of colour of the characters and the humour of the incidents.
                                          END GAMES
                                        by Michael Dibdin
                                   ISBN 9780571236169
                                               335 pages
                                         faber and faber
                                          August 30 2007
                                                    $29.95
                                   reviewed by Denise Pickles
                                          September 6 2007

All things must eventually meet their end and now both Michael Dibdin and his creation Aurelio Zen have played out their last acts. Dibdin died some months ago so that Zen's last game has also been played.

Aurelio Zen has been posted to Calabria. He couldn't have been sent much further, taking his authority displeasing self away from the eyes of his superiors, and still remained in Italy. Naturally, the dubious peace of the area could not endure for long, under the circumstances, without a corpse disturbing Zen's tranquillity and so it transpires, when an American (or is he?) is kidnapped, dressed as a corpse, then executed. The man, Peter Newman, is ostensibly working for a movie company but the company is  camouflage  for a search for buried treasure, the fabled hoard of Alaric.

Tom Newman, son of the late Peter, arrives in Cosenza and almost immediately is caught up in the action as a translator for the Americans. Young and impressionable, it doesn't take him long to fall for the charms of one of the local beauties -- although her choice of profession might not be compatible with his own employment.

Being an Aurelio Zen novel, there are, of course, discourses on food. I certainly learned something about the uses of the humble tomato in Italian cuisine. I was surprised to discover that it is of relatively recent origin.

The fact that hatreds run deep in the south, to the extent that they can pertain for hundreds of years, is made quite clear. An octogenarian, Maria is a strong character and her observations aid Zen in following the case.

This is not the strongest Dibdin novel I have ever read but the plot is, nevertheless, competent and the characterisation adequate. Consider, though, the fate of the unfortunate Zen. Now devoid of his creator he stands on a railway platform in Cosenza, forever separated from his Gemma and never to be recalled to a more hospitable part of Italy  unless Dibdin's literary executor has made provision for the series to be continued by another hand.
 
 

                                                     THE SLAYERS OF SETH
                                                                by Paul Doherty
                                                                    Headline
                                                         ISBN 0-7472-7291-3
                                                                   $29.95
                                                            September  13 2001
                                                       reviewed by Denise Wels

              Dr. Paul C. Doherty wrote his Oxford doctoral thesis on Edward II and Queen Isabella. Small wonder, then, that this school headmaster chose  historical settings when he turned his attention to writing mystery fiction. He has produced his books under the pen names P.C. Doherty, Paul Harding, Michael Clynes, Ann Dukthas,  C. L. Grace and Anna Apostolou. His novels range from straight historical mysteries to those with a strong supernatural background. All have meticulously authentic detail but do not let it get in the way of gripping plots. Since this amazingly prolific author produces several novels a year I won't even attempt to list the individual titles. His series, however, include the Hugh Corbett sequence, The Sorrowful Mysteries of Brother Athelstan , The Dark Canterbury Tales, The Journals of Sir Roger Shallot  and, latterly, the ancient Egypt mysteries of which The Slayers of Seth follows The Mask of Ra, The Horus Killings and The Anubis Slayings.

              Doherty is renowned for using historical facts as the springboard for his fiction. He fills the unknown factual gaps with his own surmise and fantasy. The Slayers of Seth  follows his earlier fictional fact deeper into the reign of the Pharaoh Hatshepsut, or Hatusu, the more easily remembered short version of that queen's name. Pharaoh's judge, Amerotke, again pursues a villain against the ever fascinating background of mysterious Ancient Egypt and her gods.

            The Panthers of the South, the Slayers of Seth, were instrumental in breaking the powerful Hyksos and driving them from Egypt. The crack force invaded the camp of the sorceress Meretseger  during the reign of Pharaoh Ahmose, Hatusu's grandfather, killed her and removed her corpse as well as various souvenirs including a tray and ten Scorpion Cups. The cups were used by the resourceful lady to contain her enemies' blood and on her death were awarded to her killers. The deed is recounted in a prologue which sees one of the Panthers, Balet, reminiscing in the Temple of Seth. Balet is murdered before he can leave the temple. The scribe Ipumer, has also been killed, but by poison instead of the particularly bloody way in which Balet meeta his demise.

           Amerotke is appointed to try the daughter of  Panther General Peshedu. The Lady  Neshratta is accused of the killing of her discarded lover, Ipumer. Amerotke is also charged with discovering the murderer of Balet. Soon it becomes obvious that the two cases are entwined. Someone is involved in the imaginative murders of all the heroes.

          Doherty does not stint in drenching the landscape with blood: on the other hand he is equally liberal with perfume and jewellery. He instills vivid life into historical figures making believable the powerful, albeit coquettish, Pharaoh Hatusu together with her historical lover, her chief mnister Senenmut and other figures of the court. The author describes  arcane traditions and exotic poisons in the course of this absorbing mystery. It was interesting to note that General Karnac's manservant, Nebamum, himself one of the Panthers, and Amerotke's Shufoy, while both apparently inferior in the social hierachy, are not slaves but men of some wealth. Both play important roles in this thriller.

              There is lots of action and an excellent, if intricate puzzle in this novel. It will be interesting to see if Doherty pursues further the family tree of the Pharaohs.
 

                                                  THE MAN WHO FOUGHT ALONE
                                                                  by Stephen Donaldson
                                                                  ISBN 0-75284-688-4
                                                                         463 pages
                                                                           Orion
                                                                      June 8 2002
                                                                         $29.95
                                                              reviewed by Denise Wels

                  Perhaps I should state my bias here before proceeding with the review of what I at first took to be Stephen Donaldson's first mystery novel. I considered myself a devotee of Donaldson's Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever (Lord Foul's Bane, The Illearth War, The Power That Preserves, The Wounded Land,The One Tree, White Gold Wielder ) although I confess to not re-reading them for several years. I greeted his Mordaun's Need books (The Mirror of Her Dreams, A Man Rides Through ) enthusiastically although I was not quite as appreciative of them as I was of Thomas Covenant. Then came The Gap series ( The Gap Into Conflict: The Real Story, The Gap Into Vision: Forbidden Knowledge, The Gap Into Power: A Dark and Hungry God Arises, The Gap Into Madness: Chaos and Order) and I am afraid I switched off. I did not enjoy them. When I saw a mystery being released in Donaldson's name I greeted the prospect of a return to (what seemed possible) form with enthusiasm and I began reading with pleasant anticipation. I am afraid I was in for a disappointment. It was not until I finished reading the book and began to research the author that things began to make sense. The Man Who Fought Alone  is not  a stand-alone book, nor even the beginning of a series. It is, in fact, the fourth in The Man Who sequence of adventures. The previous tales are The Man Who Killed His Brother, The Man Who Risked His Partner and The Man Who Tried to Get Away. The preceding books were written under the nom-de-plume  of   Reed Stephens. The reason for  this latest release being published under the Donaldson name puzzles me since possibly his mystery fans might miss out on the significance of a book under the other name and fantasy readers could get a severe shock were they to rely on the excellence of Donaldson's work in that genre.

                I can only assume, although in a cursory search of the Net could find no confirmation of the assumption, that Donaldson is a martial arts aficionado. If you, Dear  Reader, are of a similar bent, then possibly you will enjoy this rather laboured epic. Briefly, Mick Axbrewder  (he abhors his given name and prefers to be addressed as 'Brew') and his sometime partner, sometime lover, Ginny Fistoulari have taken refuge from  el Senor, a gang lord from Puerta Del Sol, where they previously worked, in Carner, a tropical hell hole. Mick is reluctantly being cared for by Ginny and resents the inversion of their positions since he had previously cared for her when she had her hand blown off by a bomb she was holding. Ginny has obtained work from a former friend, Marshal Viviter. Viviter is the embodiment of all things wholesome and amiable and Brew decides on little or no evidence, that Ginny is being bedded by this acme of  masculine perfection. Brew being totally broke and needing to recoup his finances, goes to Marshal seeking employment and is horribly rude to him, which makes the latter's actually putting work in Brew's way somewhat incredible. Brew, who is recovering from a bullet in the guts, is given a job at a martial arts tourney. He is to be responsible for general security while the customary security guards concentrate on protecting some antique 'chops' which are of great idealistic as well as historical  and material value to various sections of the martial arts community. The value of the objects depends on their authenticity. Brew feels personally insulted when the elderly security guard who employed him becomes the first corpse while attempting to overpower the 'drop' in a pickpocket gang who are plying their innocent trade amongst the spectators. Brew therefore, after he has been hired by the insurance company, after the close of the tournament, puts his heart and soul into tracking down the murderer, at, of course, considerable risk to himself and his painful gut (which, fortunately for Brew does not require a colostomy bag.)

                      I felt the entire tale was very far from engaging. There was too much concentration on fighting so that instead of advancing the plot, the martial arts descriptions appeared to be simply showing off the knowledge of the author about the various disciplines. Such illumination did more than slow the action: it brought it to a dead halt for several pages. In fact, remove all the fighting and the largish book would become a slim volume.There was a sick-making scene in a fight club (shades of the movie and book of the same name) at the end of which the purported murderer of the previous corpse found himself dead. The characterisations were far from convincing -  why on earth an attractive, well off woman would fall for someone sweaty and presumably smelly in a suit that was never changed, was beyond me. Why, too Viviter would be so patient with a man who patently loathed him was not made clear. The language used by Donaldson did not, for me, flow. It seemed edgy and unpleasant. The author's description of the heat did not convince me, although the later depiction of heavy rain had me reaching for my brolly (or was that the cause of the reaching?) Another aspect of the narrative was Brew's reliance on his intuition. While it did serve to advance the story and cover some annoying gaps - to a degree - as a plot device it did not enthuse me.

                      And closing recommendation for the reader? If you enjoy martial arts, fine, this book may  be for you. If, on the other hand, you prefer a  mystery with the villain not made obvious in the first half of the book, it might pay to look elsewhere for gratification. In a word, for a heretofore proven author it was a disappointing attempt.
,
                                                             EXPECTING EMILY
                                                                          by Clare Dowling
                                                                        ISBN 0755307127
                                                                               343 pages
                                                                               Headline
                                                                             March 2003
                                                                                $32.95
                                                                 reviewed by Denise Wels
                                                                             July 2003

                         Sometimes an unsolicited book arrives in a reviewer's letterbox, something outside of the normal range of her reviewing so that she may be hard put to it to categorise that book. Expecting Emily by Clare Dowling is one such. Part of the blurb on the back cover states that it is 'commercial fiction' which, I must confess, adds to my confusion. This having been said, perhaps 'women's issues' (if a pun may be excused) would best cover it. Dowling is, apparently, (only apparently as I have been unable to find any biographical material on her)  an Irish writer. A previous novel which, again apparently, was well received is Fast Forward.

                        The novel opens with Dowling's protagonist, a heavily pregnant Emily Collins, attending her obstetrician's office - late, as usual. There she sits in the company of other mothers-to-be, attempting, and failing dismally, to establish some sympathetic common ground with them - a  theme throughout the book.

                       Not too far into the story, Emily is hospitalised with suspected pre-eclampsia. The hospital in which she finds herself, Martha's, is. to the delight of her obstetrician, Mr. Chapman, slated to be closed down (shades of Adelaide's own Western Community Hospital - a threatened closure that has had a happy resolution). Somehow, solicitor Emily finds herself leading the other mothers in an attempt to prevent the closure.This, of course, would not, by itself, make for an interesting story so we have added to the mix the fact that her husband, pianist Conor, had had an affair with another member of the orchestra. Emily is devastated to discover his defection. Back at the office, the partnership which she felt she had been promised goes to someone else, the swinish Gary, lover of Emily's best friend Neasa.

                       Meanwhile, Emily's sister Liz, the mother of five sons (now would anyone, no matter how desperate for a name, inflict the names Bobby and Robbie on brothers? And would a fond sister then call her own son Robert?) becomes desperate when she discovers her builder husband is in dire financial straits.

                      There are some entertaining scenes, not the least being when mothers-to-be, either due or overdue to give birth  confront a television crew covering their battle to save their hospital but I can't say I found my emotions greatly stirred. Women readers may find themselves empathising with Emily as she struggles with the actual birth of her baby but to my mind the characterisations were not terribly strong.

                       For those who like this sort of book, no doubt there will be some appeal
 
 

                        Sydneysider Peter Doyle has earned an illustrious reputation in his admittedly short career in crime fiction writing. His previous novels, Get Rich Quick  and Amaze Your Friends  were both winners of Ned Kelly Awards: for best first crime novel and best crime novel respectively. Considering that his first book won the 1997 award, his is an enviable achievement indeed.

            The Devil's Jump  is set in the '40s... it begins on August 15th 1945, VP Day, in fact. The style is reminiscent of the pulps of the time and the cover echoes the theme, being far less subtle and implying more rugged action than some of the art work of other modern titles.

                    This novel is a prequel to the other outings in the series... Billy Glasheen, the main protagonist of Doyle's books, is only eighteen as the book opens. Glasheen is a 'lurk merchant', or petty criminal, in the making, dealing in counterfeit ration coupons and running errands for Mick 'Misery' Toohey, hotel proprietor and property landlord, as well as dabbling in the Black Market of the time.

                    Glasheen is caught up in the celebrations of the end of the war as he attempts to deliver freshly killed livestock as well as whisky, rum and cigarettes to Toohey's Duke of York Hotel in the centre of Sydney, for a dinner for a State Parliamentary Committee. Billy is driving Mick's Chev and finds it impossible to get to the pub until nightfall, by which time the dinner has been cancelled and most of the goods pilfered. Mick is, surprisingly, untroubled by Billy's defaulting and gives him a further commission. Glasheen is to collect rents on Toohey's holdings for the foreseeable future, manage other business ventures and must also deliver a message to a man staying in a hotel in Kings Cross. He is to say that Mick has 'the register'. As for Mick, he tells Billy he is for 'the Devilí' jump'.

                 The action tears along from here, with lots of crooks, and many of Sydney's more respectable elements, all attempting to force Glasheen to surrender the mysterious register...  of whose nature and location Billy is unaware. Glasheen even meets two of Australia's Prime Ministers of various terms and political persuasions. (No prizes for guessing where Doyle's party allegiances lie after reading of Billy's encounters).

                      The Sydney depicted appears plausible in the way it portrays the revels of the citizens who rejoice at the news of the end of the war, although it is hard for me to reconcile such scenes against my childhood memories... admittedly a good many years subsequent to those delineated... of the city where I spent my school vacations. Still, I doubt a child would have been exposed by doting relatives to that side of cosmopolitan life. One other minor point, probably permissible in the name of poetic licence, or its mystery equivalent: in this book everyone seems to own a telephone yet in the long ago days of my childhood visits to Sydney, private telephones were a rarity... there was only one in the street where my relatives lived.

                      I have a few small criticisms... Doyle has perhaps overdone the argot of the day and, like some other of his contemporaries, made the dialogue a bit too ockerish. I was somewhat taken aback, too, by Doyle's use of 'copacetic', which I understood to be an Americanism of recent derivation. His research of the era seems adequate... certainly he does not refer to the Sydney Opera House, but then he does not mention trams, which would have presented a significant traffic hazard for Billy's Chev.

                       This is a hard boiled action stuffed book, and as such should appeal to lovers of that sub-genre.
 
 
 

                                                                        Brain Dead
                                                                     by Eileen Dreyer
                                                                  Harper Paperbacks
                                                                     copyright 1997

                    When reading previous Eileen Dreyer novels I have found myself taking a deep breath on the first page... then holding it. Were there anyone to witness me, I suppose they would see rather an interesting shade of puce on my countenance by about page 5. Intense action usually begins on page one and is maintained through to the end of her longish books.

                    Like her heroine, Timothy Ann Leary-Parker, Dreyer is a forensic nurse trained in death investigation. She puts her training to good use when writing her chronicles of Emergency Rooms being familiar with both the miracles and disasters inherent in such a work place.

                  Dreyer has an interesting style of writing. Disregarding the content of her books, I tried to analyse why I found they maintained such a state of tension throughout. I am not sure if her writing style is deliberately calculated to produce a feeling of breathlessness or if it is a result of her attempting to get down on paper ideas that fairly fight to be written. Her sentence construction is frequently clumsy and some of her sentences make absolutely no sense ... I think Harper should investigate obtaining more efficient proof readers... yet the overall effect does not suffer.

                 This book depicts one of the serious problems of our time... Alzheimer's disease. With the advances in medicine destined to prolong our physical health, problems arising from increased life span have surfaced. Deterioration in mental health is just one of them, but others, such as poverty induced in families attempting to pay for the keep of loved ones, who are no longer the people once loved, in aged care, are shown in this book. This is not to say that Dreyer's book is a didactic, uninteresting tome: far from it. As a writer of medical thrillers, the author is exceptional.

                It is obvious from the dedication of this mystery that Eileen Dreyer has encountered more than her fair share of close and beloved family members who have grown old and become subject to the manifest horrors of old age.

               Timmie Leary-Parker has come home to the small town where her father still lives, in order to work in a local hospital and care for her six year old daughter away from the attentions of her wealthy drug addicted abusive lawyer former husband. She includes as her friends the SSS ... Suckered Sisters Sorority... a group of fellow workers who have suffered as a result of less than perfect men (thought: does anyone know a perfect man?)

              Timmie's father, a larger than life Irishman given to quoting Irish literature and singing Irish songs, has been struck down by dementia and Timmie is attempting to care for him at home as well as look after her young daughter and try to deal with unreasonable legal and financial demands made by her ex-husband, Jason. Her father, Joe, is a character much beloved by the townsfolk, and Timmie finds herself in the paradoxical situation of both loving and hating her father.

              Timmie discovers that there are inexplicable deaths occurring: two of her friends have seen their ex-husbands die, and somehow, by a paper shuffling manoeuvre, an increased mortality in the aged care facility of the hospital has not been made apparent.

              The geriatric installation is now overseen by a doctor, Alexander Raymond, who has long been Timmie's idol. Timmie finds doubts raised in her mind about Alex's probity and teams up with recovering  alcoholic journalist Dan Murphy in order to solve the crimes.

              Dreyer tackles some tough issues in this book as well as seeming to have a rattling good time in throwing in lots of suspense and intrigue. Some of her language is less than felicitous...it took me a moment to realise she was not making a sick joke when she speaks of 'toasting' a victim who has just been severely burned, rather than proposing a toast to him, but all my criticisms are meaningless quibbles in the face of what this book is...an excellent thriller told masterfully by someone who knows whereof she speaks.
                                       ALL THOSE BRIGHT CROSSES
                                                  by Ross Duncan
                                            ISBN 9780330423250
                                                        338 pages
                                                         Picador
                                                     July 3 2007
                                                          $22.95
                                           reviewed by Denise Pickles
                                                       June 22 2007

ALL THOSE BRIGHT CROSSES is something of a morality tale and, in this day and age where compulsive gambling is  such a problem, is singularly apt.

Martin Flint is a journalist; at least, that is his job. His spare time is taken up by a poker machine branded "The Seven Pillars of Wisdom" -- or unwisdom, when it comes to Martin. Flint is addicted to the machine and has no idea how much he has spent on it, although he knows he has a $20,000 limit on his credit card and has passed that.

Martin and his wife, Angelica, lost their little girl, Cali, in a drowning accident in their domestic swimming pool, while Martin was looking after their daughter. Martin had asked Cali to play outside while he was concentrating on writing an article but when he finished, the child was nowhere to be seen -- until her body was found in their filthy pool.

The tragedy has affected the couple in different ways, with Angelica teaching yoga for release. Martin prefers the rush he gets from his favourite poker machine.

Martin had read the story of the shipwreck of the Eliza, which had been carrying a treasure trove of silver dollars. He determines that he should travel to Fiji and see if he can find whatever portion of the coins that might remain and thus recoup his fortunes.

A chance encounter with a conman alters Flint's life since the acquaintance is renewed in Fiji when the crook comes to stay at a motel where the journalist is helping out.

Meanwhile, Flint has made friends with a local girl,  Tabua, and although their relationship is relatively innocent, she, too, has a profound effect on him.

This really is a depressing tale. Flint flounders in Fiji, attempting, through distance, to overcome his addiction to the poker machine while at the same time hoping to find the fabled treasure, despite being convinced that not much of it could remain.

The reader gets to see all of Flint's thoughts (it is another first person narrative) and shares in his general air of frustration and hopelessness. He is depressed at the thought of Tabua who, despite being young and beautiful, thinks of herself as having nothing worthwhile to offer. She has fallen prey to a modern malady, that of self harm, something from which Flint attempts to rescue her.

The treasure might be seen as a metaphor for Flint's own redemption. It is, however, somewhat difficult to imagine him, with the best will in the world, extricating himself from the mire of his own obsessions.

                                     BOOKED TO DIE
                                      by John Dunning
                                              394 pages
                                    ISBN 0731813014
                                         POCKET BOOKS
                                             July 1 2006
                                                  $18.95
                                  reviewed by Denise Pickles
                                         August 14 2006
 

I would hazard a guess that John Dunning has done for books the same thing that Jonathan Gash did for antiques: interested readers to such a great extent that some began collecting. Dunning has a great advantage in that he has spent time as an antiquarian bookseller so knows whereof he speaks. His years as an investigative reporter have done him no harm, either, since his associations with the police have given him material to provide an authentic background for Cliff Janeway, his Bookman protagonist, when he works as a homicide detective for the Denver Police Department.

Cliff Janeway loses sleep because of his work. Someone is killing derelicts and he thinks he knows the culprit: wealthy sociopath Jackie Newton. Frustrated because he is unable to prove the man's guilt, Cliff suffers nightmares which star his nemesis. One of these nightmares is interrupted when his partner, Neal Hennessey, calls him in the middle of the night to report another killing. This time the victim is a bookscout, someone who makes a living finding valuable (but mostly not so valuable) books and selling them to booksellers, Bobby Westfall. Janeway knows the victim because of his own hobby of collecting books. He has seen Westfall selling treasures to the bookstores they both frequent.

The detective pursues Newton but meets complications when caught up in the affairs of  a girl Newton is seeing. He takes unorthodox steps and finds himself in the position of having to leave the department but able to fulfil his dream of opening a bookstore. He is helped with the setting up of his store by two booksellers, ostensibly his rivals, partners Ruby Seals and Emery Neff.

Since Cliff is no longer with the police, he has no official way of gleaning information about the investigation into the Westfall murder but, fortunately, his friendship with his former partner is strong and he is good at arm twisting. When another bookscout falls foul of the killer, Cliff follows an unconventional trail to try to unravel the mystery.

The plot is very well constructed. Dunning has given Janeway  necessary and sufficient cause for his change of profession. The mystery is admirably plotted and I have to admit that I didn't realise the identity of the killer before it was made clear. The characters are vividly drawn, although  the mother of one of the victims was somewhat overdone as were, perhaps,  the feuding brother and sister who owned a collection of apparently worthless books.

Simon & Schuster have obtained the Australia New Zealand distribution rights for the Bookman series so it is a pleasure to see the books re-released for this market. The works certainly deserve a wider audience than hitherto available to them and there is no doubt that they should be well received by the Antipodean crime fiction audience.
                                        THE BOOKMAN'S WAKE
                                                by John Dunning
                                                       432 pages
                                              ISBN  0731813030
                                                   POCKET BOOKS
                                                    July 1 2006