Mistress, by James Patterson and David Ellis (Century, RRP $37): Here’s another decent read from the prolific James Patterson, this time in a standalone novel with David Ellis. Ben Casper sees his best friend fall to her death from the balcony of her apartment…
Author: Jillian Allison-Aitken
Hilarity amid deluded need for bucket list
When Mr Dog Bites, by Brian Conaghan (Bloomsbury, RRP $29): Life for the average 16-year-old can be pretty tough, and for Dylan Mint, it is tougher than most. Dylan isn’t particularly average. In fact, he has Tourette’s and his life…
Gory, dark but compelling
A Song for the Dying, by Stuart MacBride (HarperCollins, RRP $35): Scottish author Stuart MacBride has delivered yet another gritty, gruesome and somewhat uncomfortable murder mystery in A Song for the Dying. Detective Inspector Ash Henderson was on the trail…
On the bookshelves: March 2016
New releases coming in March. FICTION Wild Pork and Watercress, by Barry Crump: Film tie-in to the movie Hunt for the Wilderpeople, which is based on this Crump classic. Directed by Taika Waititi and starring Sam Neill, Oscar Kightley and Rima…
Mystery that will keep you guessing
The Stranger You Know, by Jane Casey (Ebury Press, RRP $38): Three women have been murdered in their own homes, all have been strangled with no sign of a break-in. For Detective Constable Maeve Kerrigan, it looks like the victims…
■ REVIEW
Born to a Red-headed Woman / The White Clock
Music can evoke memories and emotions and using that ability, Kay McKenzie Cooke has created a collection of poetry that highlights people and places from her past. Cooke grew up in the rural Southland of the 1950s and 60s and…
Thriller with the good, the bad and the ugly
Bad Blood, by Arne Dahl (Harvill Secker, RRP $37): For years the “Kentucky Killer” managed to elude the FBI, leaving a trail of victims with terrible injuries that haunted the agents looking for him. With a method of highly specialised…
Guide to paradise isle
Ulva Island: A Visitor’s Guide, by Ulva Goodwillie (Craig Print, RRP $39): There’s no doubt we live in a beautiful part of the world, but even a born-and-bred Southlander like me can be taken aback at times by just how…
Family secret unleashes punishment
The Son, by Jo Nesbo (Random House, RRP $38): Set in sunny summertime Oslo, a prison-cell confession to a fellow inmate reveals a hidden secret about his father and spirals Sonny Lofthaus’ life out of control. For years Sonny had…
Revelations rocked newspaper industry
Hack Attack: How the Truth Caught Up with Rupert Murdoch, by Nick Davies (Chatto & Windus, RRP $40): While the 2011 News International phone-hacking scandal might not have been the huge news here that it was in the northern hemisphere,…