More from Flaxmere Book Chat

At the recent session of Flaxmere Library Book Chat, there was a good mix of favourite authors who had new books, as well as some debut authors we’d never come across before.

Di Morrissey has been a bestseller for decades. Her new book, The Endless Sky was up to her usual high standard, following two women, TV presenter Nicole and producer friend Stacie, both struggling with an arrogant boss. Challenged to create a hit show revealing the hidden heart of outback Australia, the two women face danger when they investigate an archaeological dig and encounter a mining company. Also in the mix, a missing stranger and a love story to round things out.

And Jeffrey Archer showed he still has what it takes with his new book, End Game – the latest in the William Warwick series of detective thrillers. It takes us back to 2012 when Britain hosted the Olympic Games, which sets London up as a target for international conspiracies. Some nations, it seems, would like to see the host country with egg on its face. A deadly game of cat and mouse ensues, with our hero dealing with an assassination threat. Excellent storytelling as usual.

Again, mysteries were a popular genre, but what a range of styles. Two new authors came up with cracking reads. The Wolf Tree by Laura McCluskey is set on a Scottish island, where a suspected suicide calls for two detectives from the mainland to visit and sign off the case. But feisty DI Georgina Lennox smells a rat. Young Alan seemed to have everything to live for. She and DI Stewart get stranded by weather and have to deal with distrust and superstition on an island full of secrets. An atmospheric read and the start of a new series.

The Golden Gate by Amy Chua takes us back to 1940s San Francisco, with the murder of a rich industrialist and presidential candidate at the Clairmont Hotel. The case will also have Detective Al Sullivan reinvestigate the case of a young heiress who also died there and is said to have haunted it ever since. This was a different style of mystery with insight into the Chinese experience in 20^th century America.

Another new author, Lyle Nicholson, scored high on the body count chart. Polar Bear Dawn is set in the Arctic and Northern Canada, where employees at an oil company have been murdered. A chemistry professor with a grudge against big oil and a Mexican gangster are two very different suspects. The story highlights a tension between the Canadian Mounted Police and police detectives, which was interesting, but there were just too many killings for our reader.

It was interesting for one reader to discover an Ann Cleeves mystery that they hadn’t read before. Burial of Ghosts by Ann Cleeves is an early book by the popular author of the Vera and Shetland series, first published in 2003. To start with, the story of a young woman with a troubled past having a holiday affair in Morocco didn’t seem typical of the author. But when the girl’s lover dies and leaves her a legacy with conditions attached, a clever twisty mystery follows.

Mysteries lurked in the background of two historical novels too. The Shadow Key by Susan Stokes Chapman is set in a Welsh town in 1783, where a physician, Henry Talbot, arrives to set up practice after being dismissed from his job at a prestigious London hospital. He can’t speak Welsh, while the locals are superstitious and full of mistrust. There’s a lady of the manor, Linette Tresilian, who lives with her mad mother, and suspects that there’s something wrong happening in the village, secrets that will come out with the help of Henry’s investigations. Our reader found this a brilliant read and is keen to find more by this author.

The Tarot Reader of Versailles by Anya Bergman is an extraordinary story of the French Revolution, as well as based on a true story. It’s the story of two women. Marie is a tarot card reader operating out of a secret room at a bookshop and who can commune with the dead. She has seen Marie Antoinette’s fate in the cards and has to be careful of her own. Then there’s Cait, a scullery maid who has followed her lover from Ireland, and who can read people’s pasts. An interesting read packed with revolutionary history.

In a novel based on the ancient Greek story of Jason and the Argonauts, Natalie Haynes explores the legend, building in the background to Jason’s quest, much of it from Medea’s point of view. No Friend to This House is a story of love, betrayal and vengeance with the usual meddling of the gods in the affairs of humankind. It’s an epic story, but also fascinating and really easy to read.

Meanwhile another reader enjoyed Mary Connealy’s Western Light historical romance trilogy which follows several women escaping west during the wagon train years of America. Chasing the Horizon follows Beth as she rescues her mother from an asylum and joins a caravan of wagons, the two posing as sisters.

Toward the Dawn follows Kat and Sebastian as they flee on a wagon train from an unknown gunman and hiding in a canyon. Into the Sunset picks up the story of Ginny, under threat of being recommitted to an asylum, and helped by friends Maeve and Dakota, who are grappling with a complicated shared history and a dangerous mission.

A couple of historical sagas meant some welcome light relief for another reader after some dark mysteries. No Greater Love by Margaret Dickinson tells the story of Lady Elizabeth Ingram who experiences a sudden reversal of fortune and has to make a living as a nanny. Little Charlie needs plenty of understanding, a wild child who screams and kicks. Things settle down as Lizzie connects not only with the child, but the brother of the master of the house. However World War I is looming, threatening everyone’s happiness.

The Housekeeper’s Promise by Evelyn Hood is set in Scotland, 1928. Young orphan Elizabeth works for the Montgomery household, first as lady’s companion and later as housekeeper. The family has a shawl manufacturing business, there are family tensions and secrets, and if that isn’t bad enough, a cholera epidemic sweeps through the town. An excellent read.

Flaxmere Library Book Chat meets on the second Tuesday of the month at 10:30 – all welcome.

Posted by JAM

Back to Library Blog