false 21 49 27 true 5727536 read 0 true 2763014 currently-reading 22 true 2763013 to-read 49 false 2878885 mystery 19 false 2878889 review-book 4 false 3927618 paranormal 3 false 3164234 non-fiction 2 false 3164233 short-stories 2 false 3927619 young-adult http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/31771835 to: Connie's secret (Paperback) by Anne Lovell
bookshelves: mystery, non-fiction
Author Anne Lovell found out by accident that her aunt, Connie Sommerlad, had been murdered by John Trevor Kelly in 1939. John Kelly goes down in Australian history as having the dubious honour of being the last man to be hung in NSW. Connie’s name had never been mentioned by any of the older members of the family – her life, and death, had remained a secret. Why? As Anne investigates her late aunt’s life, she discovers that it was not the horrific murder that embarrassed the family into silence – but something quite different.

Connie and her brother Eric ran the family farm near Tenterfield in NSW. John Kelly was a farm hand. One Saturday night in early 1939, Kelly hacked Connie to death with an axe, attacked Eric with it and left him for dead, jumped into the farm ute and headed for Brisbane. Here he was quickly apprehended by the police and immediately confessed to the murder. He was sentenced to death by hanging, and this was carried out 24/08/1939.

So if this horrific event was not the cause of the family’s embarrassment – then what was? In the 1930’s marriage and religion were the backbone of society and a woman having choices over her own life were virtually unheard of. So when young Connie fell pregnant her choices were very limited and the resulting illegitimate child was of horrendous embarrassment as Connie chose to not tell the family and have her son. So great was the potential scandal that they were able to convince the doctor who did the inquest to leave out the fact that Connie had had a child and just mention that she had not been sexually assaulted so it would not be on the public record.

The keeping of this secret affected the whole family right down to the current generation. When the truth started to come out in the 1970’s, and Anne Lovell started to investigate the story, she and her cousins were amazed at the attitudes to a situation that no-one would bat an eyelid at today. It was far worse to be an unmarried mother that the victim of a heinous crime. CONNIE’S SECRET gives a absorbing insight into another era, An era from not that long ago, and is all the more poignant because this is a family member relating all the events around Connie and her family and how their impact continues to be felt by those who were involved even today. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/40441361 to: The Murderers' Club (Sophie Anderson, #2) by P.D. Martin
bookshelves: mystery
PD Martin's second novel is simply amazing. It is so chillingly plausible it leaves you feeling very uncomfortable. Most internet users belong to some sort of online discussion group or forum. Many of these forums are for the use of its members only. THE MURDERERS' CLUB opens in one such forum - only this one consists of four members - and they are all established serial killers.

Australian FBI Profiler, Sophie Anderson, is taking a break in Arizona with a colleague and friend, Detective Darren Carter. He knows her secret. That she can mentally connect with the victims through visions and dreams, she actually sees them through the eyes of their murderer.

No sooner has Sophie arrived in Arizona than a body shows up at the University - followed by a second and a third. Darren is assigned the case and Sophie joins him in the investigation . Can her visions of a woman's horrific death help solve the crime and stop any more victims?

The story is propelled through two main points of view. The investigators and the murderers. The reader soon knows what is going on - there is a group of captives that are locked away in an underground bunker. They are being watched by the four members of the murderers' club as they vie for the chance to murder their favourite captive through an auction. The hairs on the back of your neck stand up as you read the lighthearted discussions between the criminals - the complete lack of compassion and guilt.

Sophie and Darren have to work out the secret behind their latest serial killer and then try and catch them and stop them. There are twists and turns right up to the very end. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/40569546 to: The Stupidest Angel: A Heartwarming Tale of Christmas Terror, Version 2.0 (Hardcover) by Christopher Moore
bookshelves: mystery, paranormal
Opening Sentence: "...Christmas crept into Pine Cove like a creeping Christmas thing: dragging garland, ribbon, and sleigh bells, oozing eggnog, reeking of pine, and threatening festive doom like a cold sore under the mistletoe..."

Christmas is coming and Palm Cove in California seem to be half heartedly into the spirit. Instead of a white Christmas looks like there is a huge storm on the way - and the rain is tumbling down. The obnoxious and drunken Dean - all dressed up as Santa - threatens to kill his ex-wife Lena as she digs up a Christmas tree from his pine plantation. In her hurry to get away she whacks him in the neck with her shovel and kills him.

Fortunately for her ,Tucker comes to her rescue and helps her hide the evidence. Unfortunately for her, little Josh has seen Santa killed and prays that God will bring back Santa back to life.

Enter the blond, glowing and incredibly stupid, Archangel Raziel. All he has to do is raise Santa from the dead - what he doesn't know is that it is not the real Santa - and Dean has been buried in the graveyard. When Raziel commands the dead to arise he didn't know it would result in a pack of hungry brain-eating zombies. Can Christmas be saved?

Add to the mix the mad scientist; Gabe, his dog ( a character in his own right),;a policeman who has gone back on pot to raise money to buy his wife a present; and his wife has gone off her medication to buy him a present and now thinks she is a warrior babe and the line between reality and make-belive is blurring.

This hilarious, horrifying send up of Christmas had be rolling on the floor weak with laughter. If you love irreverence, sarcasm, black humour and bizarre plot lines that seem to actually make sense in their stupidity, then you'll love The Stupidest Angel. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/2800-who-s-your-favourite-aussie-author Sally906 made a comment in the Aussie Readers group:

Off the top of my head:
Michael Robotham
PD Martin
Adrian Hyland
Katherine Howell
Leigh Redhead
Leah Giarratano
Felicity Young

These are Australian mystery writers :)
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/40033984 Death in Store (Mass Market Paperback) by Jennifer Rowe
bookshelves: mystery, short-stories, to-read
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/40033887 Book of Moons: A Bast Mystery (Hardcover) by Rosemary Edghill
bookshelves: mystery, paranormal, to-read
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/39668892 Demons Are a Ghoul's Best Friend (Ghost Hunter Mystery, Book 2) by Victoria Laurie
bookshelves: mystery, paranormal, to-read
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