Author Archives: alysonebaker

Spare Me the Truth by CJ Carver – 2016

Posted on December 2, 2016 by alysonebaker

CJ Carver describes herself as “half-English, half-Kiwi” and Spare me the truth is the first of her novels I have read, despite it being the eighth she has written.  And I will be reading more!  Spare me the truth is … Continue reading →

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The Salted Air by Thom Conroy – 2016

Posted on November 19, 2016 by alysonebaker

Another beautifully presented novel by Thom Conroy after his The Naturalist in 2014, an historical novel about the German naturalist Ernst Dieffenbach.  The Salted Air is contemporary and takes the form of the journal of 28 years old Djuna, who … Continue reading →

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A Place to Bury Strangers by Grant Nicol – 2016

Posted on November 12, 2016 by alysonebaker

In my last review of a Grant Nicol book – The mistake, also set in Iceland – I suggested a longer novel might allow us more time to get to know his characters, saving them from the “all women are … Continue reading →

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The Second Stage of Grief by Katherine Hayton – 2016

Posted on November 11, 2016 by alysonebaker

The second in Hayton’s Ngaire Blakes series and another great read!  Ngaire is still coming to terms with traumas suffered prior to and during the first installment (The three deaths of Magdalene Lynton) and is working temporarily in a law … Continue reading →

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The Three Deaths of Magdalene Lynton by Katherine Hayton – 2016

Posted on November 5, 2016 by alysonebaker

This is cold case mystery story telling at its best – in fact the case was determined not to be a case at all forty years ago when a determination of accidental drowning was made – but now there is … Continue reading →

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The Last Time We Spoke by Fiona Sussman – 2016

Posted on October 14, 2016 by alysonebaker

How a quick but catastrophic event can set lives careering off at tangents.  For Carla Reid the traumatic events that take place on her farm on the night of her wedding anniversary – when the only glitch had been her … Continue reading →

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The Death Ray Debacle by David McGill – 2015

Posted on October 13, 2016 by alysonebaker

“There was no puzzle to solve, like those lady crime writers devised. This was simply a matter of stopping another effort by other German agents … “ so Dan Delaney muses while holding the fort on Somes Island in Wellington … Continue reading →

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Red Herring by Jonothan Cullinane – 2016

Posted on September 11, 2016 by alysonebaker

  What a cracker!  A noir novel set in tea-drenched 1950s New Zealand.  With the 1951 waterfront strike as the backdrop, Red Herring sets PI Johnny Molloy on the track of a murky character who has supposedly drowned in the … Continue reading →

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The Blackbird Sings at Dusk by Linda Olsson – 2016

Posted on September 4, 2016 by alysonebaker

You just have to let yourself drift with this one – it is beautifully written and nicely plotted, but a little heavy handed with the symbolism and message.  Elizabeth is slowly fading away in her Stockholm apartment when a neighbour, … Continue reading →

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The Seer’s Wolf by Barbara Petrie – 2015

Posted on September 3, 2016 by alysonebaker

Well I was baffled by this book.  The idea of a werewolf tale set in rural Canterbury in the 1950s is very very promising.  But despite the cover telling us this is the story of a werewolf in rural New … Continue reading →

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