Month: January 2019

Recent Reads: Scrublands by Chris Hammer

Posted on by Pam
My review: ?????

A crime novel set in a small Australian town, plagued by drought.  It is  nearly one year on from when it suffered a disaster, as a priest shot 5 men outside his church, with no one knowing why.

Martin, a journalist sent to do a ‘one year on’ piece gets drawn in by the town and its inhabitants, and so when two bodies are discovered after a wild fire, he is involved.

This was a really evocative read, with the drought, the importance of water, and the poverty that drought can bring to a small Australian town clear.

It was a very good crime novel, and I really enjoyed the visit to Australia!


Scrublands is out now, and is available on Amazon, and everywhere else you can find books!

This was first published in Australia in 2018, and Amazon and GoodReads tells me it was a Number 1 Bestseller there!

Reading it did make me think about Nordic noir, and wonder if there could be a surge of Australian crime novels with Scrublands doing so well, and start pondering what that genre would be called, or perhaps it already has a name!  Let me know if you know!

I was given this book for free in return for an unbiased review, so my thanks to NetGalley and Headline (the publishers) for this book.
Check out my GoodReads profile to see more reviews!

Recent Reads: The Last by Hanna Jameson

Posted on by Pam

My review: ?????

The Last is a very tense, and unsettling post apocalyptic story of survival, and the discovery of a murdered young girl, all seen through the eyes of Jon Keller, who writes ‘A Narrative Chronicle of the Initial Postnuclear Months by Possibly the Last Living Historian’.

I did really enjoy this book,  and Hanna Jameson worked the tension so well in the book that I spent most of the time wanting to know what happened next, but being worried about what it would be.

Jameson has Jon say in his narrative ‘I think it was Stephen King who said that the sum of all human fear is just a door left slightly ajar.’ and yes, I’m sure Jameson pulls every trick to get your heart racing and the page turning.

My advice to you is to not read this book whilst listening to any music that might in any way add to the tension, because it really doesn’t need it, and I might have completely unsettled myself enough to want some Disney to make it all right again!  


The Last by Hanna Jameson is due to be published on 31st January 2019.  Here’s the pre-order link from Amazon!

I was given this book for free in return for an unbiased review, so my thanks to NetGalley and Viking (the publishers) for this book.

Check out my GoodReads profile for more reviews.

My 5 star books of 2018

Posted on by Pam


Isn’t it funny how our brains work!  I decided to write this post, thinking there was going to be two or three books that I had rate 5 stars, and it turns out there’s a few more than that! 

I wanted to share the books that I loved in 2018, maybe to give you new ideas, a nice way for me to reflect on 2018, and a reminder that we don’t always remember all of the good things!

There’s a mixture of genres below, so have a look through, and see if you’re inspired by anything!

GoodReads do a voted for book awards every year, and you can view 2018’s here!

The Bear and the Nightingale and The Girl in the Tower by Katherine Arden, which are books 1 and 2 in the Winternight trilogy, and book 3 is out now!  I’ve reviewed books 1 and 2 here.

Once Upon a River by Diane Setterfield, which I have reviewed here

The Last by Hanna Jameson, which is due out on, and I will be reviewing on here on 24th January.

Five books of Glamorist Histories, that I loved, by Mary Robinette Kowal

Reamde by Neal Stephenson

Turn the ship around! by L. David Marquet

Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik, which I have reviewed here, and was up for the GoodReads Choice Awards 2018

The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Daughter by Theodora Goss

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

Jane Austen at Home by Lucy Worsley

Belgravia by Julian Fellowes

Foundation by Isaac Asimov

Three Bobiverse books by Dennis E. Taylor, which I have reviewed here

Circe by Madeline Miller, which was up for the GoodReads Choice Awards 2018

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman, which was a book everyone was talking about, and worthy of all that talk!

Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow, which I read as I love the soundtrack for Alexander Hamilton the musical, (not seen it yet!), and wanted to understand more about the background for the songs and the plot.  It was a huge book 

The Furthest Station and The Hanging Tree by Ben Aaronovitch

Quite Ugly One Morning, Boiling A Frog, One Fine Day In The Middle Of The Night, All Fun And Games Until Someone Looses An Eye, and Not The End Of The World all by Christopher Brookmyre.  I’ve been re-reading his early books so that I can read his later books, and they’re all really, really good!

Godsgrave by Jay Kristoff

Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur – traumatic poetry, but very good

Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert 

Lovecraft Country by Matt Ruff

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by J K Rowling, the illustrated edition 

If you’re interested enough, here’s the link to my GoodReads, so you can see what else I’ve been reading!

Recent Reads: The Rumour by Lesley Kara

Posted on by Pam

My review: ????

When a rumour starts going around that a female child killer lives in their small seaside town, women of the right age start to be suspected, and the town is enraged.

Joanne passes on the rumour, and the ramifications of that act are horrible, as things start happening to her.

People start to act differently in the town, and Joanne becomes obsessed with articles about the child killer.

This was a very good psychological thriller, and it reminded me of Mary Higgins Clarke, with the protagonist being at the centre of the action, and sweeping you along, through twists and turns.

The Rumour is out now, and is available on Amazon, and everywhere else you can find books!

I was given this book for free in return for an unbiased review, so my thanks to NetGalley and Random House and Transworld (the publishers) for this book.

Check out my GoodReads profile to see more reviews!

Recent Reads: The Wedding Guest (Alex Delaware 34) by Jonathan Kellerman

Posted on by Pam

My review: ????

A Saint and Sinners themed wedding reception at a former strip joint doesn’t scream great taste, but who would have though someone would be tacky enough to commit murder?

Psychologist Alex Delaware lends Detective Milo Sturgis a helping hand, which is definitely needed when everyone claims not to know the victim.

As this was book 34 in the series, I was happy to see that you didn’t have to know anything in order to enjoy it!

This was a good crime story, with characters from the previous books in the same series making an appearance, and if you like crime novels, you’ll enjoy this!

The Wedding Guest is out on 7th February 2019, and will be available on Amazon, and everywhere else you can find books!

I was given this book for free in return for an unbiased review, so my thanks to NetGalley and Cornerstone Digital (the publishers) for this book.

Check out my GoodReads profile to see more reviews!

Recent Reads: The Chestnut Man by Søren Sveistrup

Posted on by Pam

My review: ????

The Chestnut Man is a serial killer, who leaves these seemingly innocent chestnut men dolls at the scene of the crime, with the fingerprint of a girl who went missing a year ago!

This is a well written thriller, with imperfect characters in a race against time to try to find the killer, whilst trying to work out what the fingerprint means!

This is the debut novel by the writer of the TV program, The Killing, and what a great debut!

If you enjoy crime novels, nordic noir or thrillers, then you’ll find this gripping!

The Chestnut Man is out now, and is available on Amazon, and everywhere else you can find books!

I was given this book for free in return for an unbiased review, so my thanks to NetGalley and Penguin UK and Micheal Joseph (the publishers) for this book.
Check out my GoodReads profile to see more reviews!