Category Archives: Historical

The Revelations of Carey Ravine by Debra Daley – 2016

Posted on May 15, 2017 by alysonebaker

A woman’s rise from dupedom in the 1770s.  Carey Ravine is a smart and capable woman who has escaped her dismal teenage years by entering the social swirl, cons, and ambitions of her husband, Oliver Nash.  Carey is not giving … Continue reading →

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The Plot to Kill Peter Fraser by David McGill – 2016

Posted on April 8, 2017 by alysonebaker

I really liked Dan Delaney in his first outing in McGill’s The Death Ray Debacle, and was thrilled to hear he was back.  And I wasn’t disappointed with The Plot to Kill Peter Fraser.  Not only is Dan back, but … Continue reading →

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Overcast Sunday by Christodoulos Moisa – 2016

Posted on March 25, 2017 by alysonebaker

Well I was hoping there was going to be a good murder mystery in here somewhere – buried beneath at least two history books, one books of Greek philosophy and a small collection of extremely offensive Greek proverbs.  Moisa tells … Continue reading →

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My Mother and the Hungarians by Frankie McMillan – 2016

Posted on January 10, 2017 by alysonebaker

For some reason I have never enjoyed the short story form (excepting Conan Doyle) but I read Ninety-nine stories of God by Joy Williams last year and now I am a big fan of the short short story form.  The … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Review, Historical, Short Stories | 1 Comment

The Cloud Leopard’s Daughter by Deborah Challinor – 2016

Posted on December 11, 2016 by alysonebaker

The Cloud Leopard’s Daughter is the third in Challinor’s Kitty / Smuggler’s Wife series, and as well as pushing the story along she packs it full of backstory for those new to the characters, or maybe to remind her readers who … Continue reading →

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London Lies Beneath by Stella Duffy – 2016

Posted on December 5, 2016 by alysonebaker

A tale of London – not the London of commerce, science and suffragettes but that of the slums of Walworth with its overcrowding, costermongers and kids scrounging through the mud of the Thames for the odd useful find; the “Real … 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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First Names Only by Elaine Blick – 2015

Posted on July 3, 2016 by alysonebaker

This novel claims to provide ‘insight into the very sensitive issues surrounding the unmarried mother and adoption’.  The main character, Janice, falls pregnant at 18 and ends up in Sunnyvale, a home for unmarried mothers in Auckland.  It is the … Continue reading →

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Whispers of the Past by Owen Clough – 2016

Posted on June 12, 2016 by alysonebaker

Whispers of the past is a good old Boys’ Own style yarn about three blokes, Bob (‘Brill’), Shane (‘Grunt’) and Sam, all decorated heroes and best mates, who go off on a DOC pig-culling trip in the Tongariro National Park … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Review, Historical | 4 Comments