Expert Witness, by Dr Anna Sandiford (HarperCollins, RRP $33): With programmes such as Bones and CSI, we all feel familiar with the inner workings of the forensic side of police investigations, but the real thing is somewhat different. Expert Witness…
Category: General non-fiction
A story of hope
Les Tres Riches Heures de Mrs Mole, by Ronald Searle (Blue Door, RRP $25): Author/illustrator Ronald Searle is perhaps best known for being the creator of fictional boarding school St Trinian’s and co-creator of the Molesworth series, along with Geoffrey…
Humour tinges sad story
Shaken, Not Stirred: Family Survival in a Quake Zone, by Amanda Cropp (Wily Publications, RRP $30): For those of us who do not live there, it’s hard to imagine the fear and uncertainty that has swamped Canterbury since the quakes.…
System failings the issue now
Trial by Ambush: The Trials of David Bain, by Joe Karam (HarperCollins, RRP $45): On June 20, 1994, David Bain called emergency services to report finding his entire family dead. His parents Robin and Margaret, sisters Arawa and Laniet and…
Celebrating the bond between man and dog
Dogs Make Us Human, by Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson and Art Wolfe (Bloomsbury, RRP $50): Dogs have been getting some bad press lately, with a few wayward canines making headlines for all the wrong reasons. However, as the author of this…
Memoir tells of turbulent past
This is a Call: the life and times of Dave Grohl, by Paul Brannigan (HarperCollins, RRP $40): Back in 1990, when Dave Grohl joined a little-known band as the new drummer, few people would have expected the band was about…
Kiwi detectives give hard-hitting insights
NZ Detectives, by John Lockyer (Penguin, RRP $42): If the growing number of fly-on-the-wall, reality cop shows on television is anything to go by, then I think it’s safe to say we have a fascination with cops and how they…
Hard rocker plays it straight now
No Regrets: A Rock ‘n’ Roll Memoir, by Ace Frehley, with Joe Layden and John Ostrosky (Simon & Schuster, RRP $40): You probably know the name better than you know the face. In fact, it’s safe to say that at…
Who ‘ghosted’ this doesn’t matter
Justice: Speaking Up for Crime’s Silent Victims, by Garth McVicar with Michael Larson (Penguin, RRP $42): This book sparked a bit of controversy when it hit the shelves because while Garth McVicar is listed as the author, he didn’t actually…
The early stories of a very clever man
The Fry Chronicles: An Autobiography, by Stephen Fry (Penguin, RRP $37): Stephen Fry is one of those horribly intelligent people who manages to make it very clear that he knows a lot about a lot without coming across as a…