Charlotte Pass in Aussie Readers

Jan 25, 2020 Brenda rated it it was amazing

Shelves: mystery, suspense, aussie-authors, 2020-release, romantic-suspense, arc, own-read

Ski patroller Vanessa Bell was shocked when she found human bones at Charlotte Pass ski resort. They were high up on Mount Stilwell in an area near the old abandoned chair lift and when it was determined the body was of a young woman who went missing back in 1964, little did Vanessa realise her life was about to change dramatically. Homicide Detective Sergeant Pierce Ryder from Sydney arrived with his partner to begin the investigation and when the forensic pathologist informed him the victim ha ...more

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Mar 14, 2020 Helen rated it it was amazing

WOW this is an exciting page turner firstly what a fabulous setting the Snowy Mountains, I love Charlotte Pass it is a fabulous resort and I do love a story that is set when it is snowing and MS Christine has done brilliantly with her characters and the unravelling of mystery when human bones are found by ski patroller Vanessa Bell, I do hope that you will pick this one up, you will not want to put it down till you get to the bottom of the mystery, this one had me guessing till the very end.

Vane ...more

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Jan 20, 2020 Tanya rated it liked it

Shelves: arcs

In 1964, Celia Delaney goes missing from the snow fields of Charlotte Pass after a fight with her husband. 54 years later, remains believed to be hers are discovered, and Detective Sargeant Pierce Ryder is sent to investigate.

Charlotte Pass follows Ryder on his investigations through this isolated land. It's a solid crime story, filled with twists and bends that I didn't see coming.

Unfortunately this book still wasn't a stand out for me. I guess the problem I had with this book is that it didn't ...more

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Feb 10, 2020 Bree T rated it it was amazing

Shelves: crime, australian, mystery, arc, rural-lit, romance, aww2020

I love book set in Australia but in different places from the norm – away from the capital cities and small coastal towns that are often common. This book is set in Charlotte Pass, a town in the NSW Snowy Mountains. I grew up in NSW and on the news each night they would give the state temperature high and low. For a large portion of time, the low was almost always Charlotte Pass, so that was all I knew about it – that it was often the coldest place overnight! I’m not a cold weather girl – I’ve b I love book set in Australia but in different places from the norm – away from the capital cities and small coastal towns that are often common. This book is set in Charlotte Pass, a town in the NSW Snowy Mountains. I grew up in NSW and on the news each night they would give the state temperature high and low. For a large portion of time, the low was almost always Charlotte Pass, so that was all I knew about it – that it was often the coldest place overnight! I’m not a cold weather girl – I’ve been to the Snowy Mountains just once, to Thredbo and Perisher and Mount Blue Cow on a school excursion but Charlotte Pass is also a really interesting setting because in winter, it’s snowbound and access is via ski lift, snowmobile or special buses run by the village. It gives a wonderful atmosphere for a crime novel.

Detective Sergeant Pierce Ryder finds himself temporarily nearby because he believes a fugitive he hunts is somewhere in the locality, stealing from properties and dossing down in barns. He is removed from that however, when bones are found at Charlotte Pass because it’s just a short little trip for him to head up and investigate. There are a few possible options but one involves an unsolved case from many years ago, something that a close friend of Ryder’s, a mentor of sorts who is now retired from the police force, is closely connected to.

I really enjoyed this story – it has a lot of elements. The mystery was really interesting – I love a cold case setting. A young woman vanished many years ago after an argument with her husband and no trace of her has ever been found, until now. All of the key players are also back at the resort as well, the same people who were there many years ago when she vanished into the night. The second murder adds a new depth and complexity to the case, especially for both of the main characters.

I loved Detective Ryder and Vanessa together. They had a good dynamic from the very beginning. Vanessa is the one who discovered the bones, so Pierce needs to talk to her and after that, they keep kind of bumping into each other which helps push the attraction a long. Pierce has a troubled past and I really felt his pain and guilt and suffering over it, and it actually kind of made sense that because of it he wouldn’t really want to put himself out there again. Something happens to Vanessa in the novel that also gives her the experience of pain and guilt as well – it’s not the same sort of pain as Pierce’s but I think it also helps them understand each other, puts them in a position to empathise with each other as well as share in some feelings of surviving when others did not and feeling that weight of blame over it.

It’s been an oppressive summer here – long, very humid with plenty of fires and now, crazy rain. It was good to actually escape to a snowy community, to immerse myself in that sort of setting where it’s subzero temperatures, the difficulty of getting in and out and gathering evidence due to both the isolation and the weather. It was something really different to what I was experiencing in real life and it would be just as cozy as a winter read as well, tucked up under a blanket. The ski lodge has a great atmosphere, a bit sinister and insular and the staff work and socialise in close proximity. Ryder faces a lot of stonewalling at times, plus the added, well I want to say pressure but it isn’t really…..the added knowledge really, that he has a chance to solve ‘the one that got away’ for someone very important to him. An older, distinguished cop that he cares about, who has been wonderful to Pierce during very a difficult time for him. I think probably most, if not all police have cases that they couldn’t crack that haunt them I think and for Pierce, this is the chance to lay one of those to rest for someone (who he even gets in to help him). It’s a chance for a lot of people to know the truth, including the young girl’s parents, who are still alive and well into advanced age. To give them closure, so that they might know what happened to their daughter before their own time is up, is a powerful motivator in some regards.

There’s something for everyone in this one – a strong setting which will be both new to some readers and yet familiar in many aspects as well, very well fleshed out main characters and a good mystery where you end up wanting to find out what happens just as much as the police do, plus there’s a little bit of romance too. It was a perfect read for me, engaging and well written with a gripping story and characters I really wanted to find the answers.

***A copy of this book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review***
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Jan 27, 2020 Cathleen Ross rated it it was amazing

This is a brilliant read about a murder many years ago. Vanessa Bell, a ski patroller, finds a body at Charlotte's Pass. In comes sexy Detective Sergeant Pierce Ryder who is determined to find the murderer. Suddenly the sleepy village of Charlotte's Pass is awake with rumours.

I really enjoyed this book and it kept me guessing right until the end.

Love Lee Christine's work and I'll certainly be reading more of her work in this series. What I particularly enjoyed was the characterisation and the s ...more

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Apr 25, 2020 Janine rated it liked it

Shelves: audiobooks

I listened to this book on audiobook but must admit that due to the corona virus it took me a long time to finish listening to it in the car so I definitely lost the momentum of the story. It was quite a good murder mystery and I will probably read the actual book at some time in the future to get a better understanding of the plot.

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