Category Archives: Sulari Gentill (Aus)

Books of the Month – January 2012

Posted on by

I struggled to choose a single book for the month, feeling like there were several books equally deserving of the title. But in the end I’ve decided on Sulari Gentill’s MILES OFF COURSE which I finished two weeks ago but which still puts a smile on my face when I think of it. There is something I particularly treasure about a book that makes me happy and this combination of whodunnit, exploration of a lesser-known part of our history and old-fashioned fun is an absolute delight.

I finished 12 books for the month and all the rest are  recommended reads (anything rated 3 or more)

The Australian Women Writers Challenge 2012

Two of the books were by Australian woman (counting towards the total of 10 I’m aiming for) and I managed two genres as well

I also kept up as best I could with what other challenge participants are saying about the challenge in these round-up posts

Other, non-review related posts this month

What about you…was January a good reading month? Did you have a favourite book? Or did you acquire anything you’re itching to read? Any issue you need to get off your chest?

If you want to see other people’s crime fiction picks of the month head over to Mysteries in Paradise for the Pick of the Month meme

Aussie Authors Update #2

Posted on by

My reviews of Aussie crime fiction are published exclusively at my other blog, Fair Dinkum Crime, which I co-host with fellow Australian blogger and crime fiction fan Kerrie of Mysteries in Paradise. But I like to do an occasional wrap-up of my recent Aussie crime fiction reads here at Reactions to Reading

HOW THE DEAD SEE by David Owen

Synopsis: Detective Inspector Franz Heineken of the Tasmanian Police Force is nicknamed Pufferfish, described as

A prickly, toxic bastard, ability to inflate and even explode when severely provoked.

In this outing he is confronted by several high-profile cases including the theft of a valuable diamond necklace, the death of a well-known actor which is reported as suicide until the actor’s girlfriend claims it was murder and the vicious beating of a young Indian woman. Heineken and his team, DC Faye Addison and DS Rafe Tredway, think they know which of the island’s criminal fraternity is responsible for the necklace theft but they have a devil of a time proving it as their prime suspect has claimed police harassment before so they must read very carefully indeed. The investigation into the actor’s death meanwhile introduces the police to an entirely.

Review summary: The book makes excellent use of the first-person point of view by showing us both the public face and private thoughts of its protagonist. It also has a really topical and clever mystery element in addition to its great sense of humour and deliciously off-beat characters. A delight to read.

The full review is at Fair Dinkum Crime, My rating 4/5

♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦

BEYOND FEAR by Jaye Ford

Synopsis: Jodie, Hannah, Louise and Corinne plan a relaxing weekend away without their kids or husbands. Jodie has chosen a newly renovated barn in the country town of Bald Hill, a short drive from Newcastle where the women all live, for the annual getaway. The weekend starts to go wrong when the women have a minor car accident on their drive to the barn, though this does provide the opportunity for them to meet Matt Wiseman, working at his father’s garage while recovering from injuries received in his job as a policeman. Though they do manage to squeeze in some some of the champagne-drinking and chocolate-eating they planned, the weekend turns very grim for the four friends when two men turn up at the barn and won’t leave.

Review summary: A debut novel by a former journalist, Beyond Fear is a fast-paced psychological thriller and an easy read that I gobbled up in a single sitting. The strong female characters are a highlight, though I did think the first half of this one was stronger than the second.

The full review is at Fair Dinkum Crime. My rating 3/5

♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦

VIOLENT EXPOSURE by Katherine Howell

Synopsis: Paramedics are called to a domestic disturbance at the suburban home of Suzanne and Connor Crawford one night only to have the couple explain the incident away as nothing more than a disagreement. The next evening Police and paramedics are again called to the address only this time Suzanne Crawford is dead and her husband is missing. Detective Ella Marconi and her partner start to focus on the missing husband as a suspect in his wife’s murder. They are hampered  by not being able to discover much about the husband’s past and then then learn about some bizarre behaviour that Suzanne was engaging in prior to her death. Although a very focussed policewoman, usually to the detriment of her personal relationships, Ella is troubled here by her father’s health problems and there’s also a minor but thought-provoking thread involving the paramedics who were called to the Crawford house on the night of the murder.

Review summary: In my view Katherine Howell has risen to the upper echelons of crime writing story tellers, having now produced four very accomplished tales which just keep getting better. Here she manages the multiple plot threads expertly and creates credible suspense out of the lives of average people and throws in a moral conundrum or two.

The full review is at Fair Dinkum Crime. My rating 4.5/5

♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦

MATTER OF TRUST by Sydney Bauer (audio)

Synopsis: In his youth Boston-based lawyer David Cavanagh had two best friends, Chris Kincaid and Mike Murphy, though he hasn’t kept in close contact with either. However there is a shared history that binds the three together and when Chris is arrested for the murder of a woman they all knew, David can’t help but go home to Newark, New Jersey to help. Deeply buried family secrets need to be investigated before there’s even a glimmer of hope that Kincaid can be successfully defended.

Review summary: A fairly standard legal procedural/thriller that had a little too much of a TV sensibility for me to be fully engaged with it, though the story did have a decent pace and the complex plot was logical even if it was a bit predictable and tended towards the soap opera at the end.

The full review is at Fair Dinkum Crime. My rating 2.5/5

♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦

THE PERICLES COMMISSION by Gary Corby

Synopsis: A dead man falls from the sky and lands at the feet of Nicolas son of Sophroniscus the sculptor one Athens morning in 461AD. The body is that of Ephialtes, creator of the world’s first, and still fledgling, democracy and his death could mean civil war. In the absence of a family member to do the job Pericles, a politician and fellow supporter of the move towards democracy, commissions Nicolas to investigate Ephialtes’ death with the hopes of quickly being able to discover the responsible party and bring them to justice. Of course the most obvious suspects are those old-guard politicians who weren’t to keen on handing political power over to the people, so Nicolas is literally putting his life at risk by taking on the job. However he’s young and idealistic and also sees it as the perfect opportunity to get a foothold in politics himself which would mean he doesn’t have to follow in his father’s profession.

Review summary: Corby has woven and intriguing and plausible fictional tale around the real events of the time in this debut historical mystery. The engaging young hero and humour of the book are definite highlights of the book.

The full review is at Fair Dinkum Crime. My rating 3.5/5

♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦

A DECLINE IN PROPHETS by Sulari Gentill

Synopsis: It’s 1932 and the luxury ocean liner RMS Aquitania is making its way to Australia with Rowland ‘Rowly’ Sinclair and his travelling companions on board. Their fellow passengers include an octogenarian political activist and former head of the Theosophist movement, several other members of the movement, a Catholic Bishop and a couple of priests. When there is a grim murder on board Rowly is at the centre of things, mostly because he’s a bit too polite for his own good. The boat stops in New York before making landfall in Australia but things go from bad to worse for Rowly and his friends and at one point it looks like  poor Rowly will hardly be considered a suitable godfather for his newest nephew.

Review summary:  Highlights of this book include thoughtfully drawn characters, a gentle but clever humour, fantastic insight into the period and a real Australian feel to it.  A very satisfying read for me and one I would recommend widely.

The full review is at Fair Dinkum Crime. My rating 4/5

♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦

I’m trying to read as many books as I can that are either nominated for this year’s Ned Kelly Awards (best Australian crime fiction) or are eligible for this year’s Davitt Awards (I can vote in the Reader’s choice category of the awards for crime writing by Australian women) so there will hopefully be lots more Aussie books to come in the next few weeks.

Aussie Authors Month

Posted on by

April has been designated by someone as Aussie Authors Month, a fact I have been neglectful of here at Reactions to Reading. But over at Fair Dinkum Crime, the blog I host with fellow Aussie crime fiction fan Kerrie to focus only on Australian crime, mysteries and thrillers, we have been celebrating in style.

Firstly, we introduced a new feature to the blog, our version of an author interview which we call the Fair Dinkum Baker’s Dozen.  We provide the authors with 13 beginnings and, like the creative geniuses they are, they turn them into sentences (or paragraphs, or full blown essays should the urge arise). We’ve been very fortunate to have a wonderful selection of five Aussie crime writers share their thoughts with us so far. Do head over and learn about their worst jobs, biggest fears and the truly terrible things one of them has done to chickens:

We’re also running a quiz, offering your choice of several recent Aussie crime titles as prizes. The quiz is open worldwide so you’re all welcome to participate. We did go to some effort not to make all the answers entirely ‘googlable’ but we hope you’ll have a go anyway. We’ll give away the prizes even if no one gets all the questions right so you’ve got a decent shot at winning.

Both Kerrie and I are trying to fit in some reading of new (to us) Aussie crime fiction too. So far Kerrie has reviewed Katherine Howell’s Cold Justice and I’ll be reviewing Michael Duffy’s The Tower later this weekend. I think we both hope to finish and review at least one more book by an Aussie Author before the end of the month.

Have you done anything to celebrate Aussie Authors Month? 

Review: A Few Right Thinking Men by Sulari Gentill

Posted on by

After being unable to settle with any of my books since finishing the marvellous Gunshot Road more than a week ago I wandered into a local bookstore to pick something brand new. The title of this called me from the shelves and when I realised it featured a little-explored period in Australia’s political history I couldn’t resist it.

It is the early 1930’s and Australia, like the rest of the world, is in the grip of the Depression. As often happens in such times the political scene has become tense with a newly emerging socialism at odds with the established conservatism. Striding both worlds is Rowland ‘Rowly’ Sinclair, the youngest son of a wealthy landowning family he knows great privilege but he chooses to mix with, even share his house with, artists, left wing types and even members of the Communist Party. When his uncle is savagely beaten and killed the Police seem alarmingly disinterested in finding the culprit so Rowly and his friends embark on their own investigation.

This was a delightful book to read. I’ll admit right up front that the mystery component was a bit on the light side but because it played out against a fascinating and well-drawn backdrop of social and political events it kept my attention from the outset. Australia is not noted for its political unrest but Gentill has done a tremendous job of taking just enough real people and events from one of the few genuinely tense times in our political history and surrounding them with interesting fictional characters and intriguing situations. Rowly and his friends, some of whom are members of the Communist Party which is rising in popularity among the working class, find themselves up against the New Guard, a right-wing group that rose up (albeit briefly) in response to the perceived threat of the spread of Communism and the slightly more real threat from the brand of socialism expounded by the local Premier at the time, Jack Lang. The increasingly bizarre plots to ‘save’ the country are credibly depicted and do indeed demonstrate how easy it is for people who believe a little too fervently to move from doing good works to dangerous ones in the blink of an eye.

The characters too are nicely drawn. There was potential for them all to be a bit stereotyped and one-dimensional but they’re all nicely rounded out. Rowly is an accomplished artist, secretly in love with one of his house guests but she is pursuing her own artistic dreams. While he wants to be his own man he still does have respect for his family name and though he argues with his older brother Wilfred, now head of the family, he doesn’t deliberately set out to upset him. And though Rowly and his friends lived a life of luxury amidst the harshness of the Depression their lives aren’t without sadness, such as having to deal with the fact that Rowly’s mother believes him to be his other brother who died in the war and she constantly refers to him by his dead brother’s name and only ever talks to him about events from his brother’s life rather than his own.

The book is rounded out by a gentle humour and some imaginative interpretations of what might have happened behind the scenes at some well known moments in our history. I was easily and quickly lost in the story and keen to find out how it would all unfold. I read the whole thing in a couple of sittings and would recommend it to those who don’t mind their mysteries taking a back seat to great settings, interesting historical details and warm, lively characters. It’s a delicious treat of a book.

♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦

My rating 3.5/5

Publisher Pantera Press [2010]; ISBN 9780980741810 Length 349

♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦

Aside from being happy that I’m finally over my reading slump I’m also chuffed to have discovered this debut work (of adult fiction though Gentill has published YA fiction) by an author whose work I can now look out for with pleasure. In one of those spooky coincidences I discovered after finishing the book that Sulari Gentill shared a panel stage with Adrian Hyland at last weekend’s Crime and Justice Festival held in Melbourne.

A Few Right Thinking Men has been reviewed at AustCrimeFiction