Aussie author Colleen McCullough is probably best-known for The Thorn Birds and while I enjoyed that book every bit as much as everyone else in the world, I wasn’t such a great fan of some of the later offerings, particularly the Masters of Rome series.
However, I ended up reading the first in the Carmine Delmonico novel (On, Off) a couple of years ago after stumbling across it while fossicking through a pile of discounted books at my favourite “always having a sale” bookshop on the Gold Coast.
I was impressed and since then have been patiently waiting for the second book in the series: and it’s finally here.
Set during the late 1960s during a beautiful spring in a beautiful little city in Connecticut, the story roars into action with a dozen murders in just one day.
The victims seem to be random: adults and children, rich and poor, men and women. With no apparent connection between the murder victims, or even the method of murder, the police are under immense pressure.
This page-turner had me hooked from the start and is a good reminder of why McCullough is such a successful author. The story has everything: murder and suicide, drama, romance, espionage, a good bunch of red herrings and more.
Once you’ve read the first page you won’t want to put it down until you’ve finished the book.