Category: Reviews

Book review: Who Killed Bianca? by Emma Darcy

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Who Killed Bianca? by Emma Darcy is a mystery that riffs on the locked room mystery concept. The book won the 2002 Ned Kelly Award for best new novel.

K.C. Gordon is a romance novelists who likes to travel to recharge her batteries, see new places and meet new people. Travel provides inspiration for her stories and she wants to set her next book in the Australian outback so decides to join a trip from Sydney to Alice Springs on The Ghan. K.C. is joined by a host of privileged passengers, and Bianca Bernini, a gossip columnist who’s motive is to out a few secrets of some of the other passengers.

Bianca Bernini had only 36 hours left to live. She didn’t know it. No one knew it at this point in time. Her death hadn’t been planned, yet.

The story’s characters include the quintessential wealthy sisters, a French ex-nun, a gay couple, and a handsome cad with a naive neurotic wife and her supposed best friend. Each of these main characters have some kind of hidden connection to one another and they want to keep secret.

The wealthy do not like their indiscretions being exposed and soon after Bianca starts to reveal them she is killed and thrown off the train. While no one particularly misses Bianca, K.C. soon finds herself trying to unravel the mystery and flush out the murderer.

Who Killed Bianca? is a rollicking multi-point-of-view tale of deceit, betrayal and death, and it’s a quick read.

Book review: The Agathas by Kathleen Glasgow & Liz Lawson

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The Agathas by Kathleen Glasgow and Liz Lawson is a fun twisty young adult mystery.

Alice Ogilvie is a financially privileged A-lister but her upbringing is largely outsourced. She has been ostracised by the popular group at school after disappearing when her best friend stole her basketball star boyfriend. Now she refuses to talk about it and just needs to stay out of trouble.

Three hours back at school and I’m already in trouble? Good lord, I’ve barely had time to pee.

Iris Adams lives in a working class area with her single mum who works hard to provide for her daughter. Iris is asked by the school to become Alice’s tutor. The two are an unlikely pair, but soon become friends as they bond trying to solve a mystery – the disappearance of Alice’s best friend Brooke.

Well,” I say, “I once saw a show about a guy who bludgeoned his mother to death in the kitchen and then cooked a full meal of pot roast and mashed potatoes, so anything is possible.”
“Iris,” Alice says wearily. “You seem like such a nice person and her your brain is full of horrible things.

As the title suggests, the book pays homage to Agatha Christie. Alice is a big fan and is inspired by what she’s learnt from the mystery writers novels, using the strategies in her own search to solve the mystery of her missing friend.

We are probably this far from donning trench coats, smoking Lucky Strikes, and slinking furtively around town, taking notes in a little black book.
Which doesn’t actually sound all that bad, truth be told.

When Brooke’s body turns up and her boyfriend is arrested, the girls decide they need to find the real truth and fix the miscarriage of justice. They are aided by the hard drinking, smoking, disheveled female lawyer representing the boyfriend who also used to be Iris’s babysitter.

An English writer known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections. Also known as the bestselling author of all time. Also, one bad bitch.

I really enjoyed the characters, the teenage dramas, the red herrings and the Christie references. Something in this one for young and old.

Book review: Devil House by John Darnielle

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Devil House by John Darnielle is about a true-crime writer who takes his craft to the next level. Gage Chandler buys an abandoned property in small town Milpitas, California. He moves in to write his next book – about a supposed occult double murder that happened in the building two decades prior when it was a pornographic book and video shop.

The future feels dramatic when you think you see a little of it cresting the horizon, the more so if the present feels routine.

After he moves in, Chandler starts recreating the crime scene, interviewing locals and scouring eBay for artifacts from the time of the murders. He interrogates rumours about what happened, searching for scraps of facts to sew together into a narrative.

But few things, at any rate, are more powerful than expectations. Blunt force, maybe. Firepower, certainly. Sword and steel. But even those have their limits. The imagination has none.

The world building is vivid in this story as the lives of disenfranchised small town teenagers are unpacked with a shifting broken narrative and Chandler grapples with the moral dilemma of writing about other people’s suffering.

There is, among the public, a perennial urge to believe the worst about the generation that will eventually replace them.

Devil House is gothic horror meets true-crime and almost fantasy…go there if you dare…bwahahaha!

Book review: Her Lost Words by Stephanie Marie Thornton

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Who doesn’t love a literary novel about fierce feminist writers? Her Lost Words chronicles the lives of mother and daughter authors Mary Wollstonecraft and Mary Shelley.

Words have the power to transform us, Mary. They can lift us from our grief. The ideas they form can even offer humanity the hope for the future,

Teenage Wollstonecraft fled her violent father’s home in 1775 and was taken in by a reverend’s family who encouraged her love of reading and helped her find a life for herself with a job as a governess. She became one of the founding feminist philosophers with her book A Vindication of the Rights of Women in which she proposed that women were equal to men. Vindication was a trailblazing feminist text.

Mary did know, she’d learned from Claire—who had heard it from her mother—that Mary Wollstonecraft’s life had scandalized society to the point where the entry for prostitution in the conservative publication The Anti-Jacobin Review read “see: Mary Wollstonecraft.”

An independent woman who never bowed to conventions, Wollstonecraft died soon after giving birth to her daughter, Mary. Mary Shelley grew up in the shadow of her mother. Even her lover, Percy Bysshe Shelley, whom she met at a dinner party and then eloped with, first confessed to being a fan of her mother’s writings.

Knowledge is the fairest fruit and the food of joy. You must never forget that. And you must swear a solemn oath that you will never stop reading, or learning, or sharing that knowledge, like the philosophers of old.

Her Lost Words is a historical fiction novel based on the real lives of women who went against the grain and forged their own paths. The story spans England, France during the revolution, Switzerland and Italy. It tells of their loves and loves lost, their relationships with one another and the world around them at at time when women were on the cusp of changing the world and its relationship to them. A touching and inspiring tribute to two literary women of history.

This is a love letter to two brilliant women who lit the way for not just women writers, but all women.

authors note

Fringe review: Spunk Daddy

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I’ve heard a few stories from women friends about having a baby conceived through IVF. However, I’ve never given much thought to the donor of the sperm, jazz, spunk as it’s variously called. Then last night I saw Spunk Daddy, on as part of Melbourne Fringe at The Butterfly Club, a cozy venue perfect for settling in for an intimate story.

Enter the theatre and a young man, Darby James, is sitting there dressed in a sailor suit next to a ships wheel looking a bit like Bob Denver, the hapless first mate of the S.S. Minnow on 60s TV series Gilligan’s Island.

Spunk Daddy is a sweet, heartfelt and funny cabaret that takes us through the story and vulnerabilities of a young queer man deciding to become a sperm donor. From clicking on a random link on Facebook about donating sperm and grappling with the decision, to writing a letter to an unborn child who may never eventuate and that he will probably never meet, and all the dilemmas in between – which I will not venture into as it could spoil the experience.

Spunk Daddy is a clever, fast paced cabaret show. James leaves no stone unturned and fully exposes the ethical and moral dilemmas of having children or of donating sperm so that someone else can. His willingness to expose his inner thoughts and experience uncensored is refreshing and moving.

The Butterfly Club is quirky, kitsch-crammed parlour with a bar. Go early or stay late for a drink while you peruse the decor, and if you’re looking for a close by spot for a bite to eat, I can recommend Little Ramen Bar, a short walk away.

Spunk Daddy runs until the 22 October, so go on, support Fringe and the arts and grab a ticket here.

Fringe review: Leather Lungs: Happy Ending

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It’s not often I see a show that gives me a full visceral response, but last night I laughed, I cried AND I laugh-cried.

I turned up at Trades Hall expecting just another drag show. I have seen a few over the years and I can confirm whole heartedly that Leather Lungs: Happy Ending is not just another drag show.

Sure Leather Lungs: Happy Ending had its share of bawdy jokes, rampant silliness, and of course a great frock made by Leather Lungs’s (aka Jason Chasland) mum, but the show was also a genuine heartfelt and powerful personal story of survival and backing yourself.

The biggest surprise of all was their voice. Beautiful, powerful and with a range that spans four octaves they belted out songs by ABBA, Whitney Houston and Queen selected to accompany their story that talks about serious issues delivered with humour to lighten the tone.

Trades Hall is a great venue for Melbourne Fringe with all its nooks and crannies. I made a night of it with friends by popping across to The Lincoln for a meal and then catching a late show at 9.30 as well – Ned Kelly: the Big Gay Musical – a joyful singing and dancing re-imagining of our iconic bushranger.

So get your Fringe on for an artistic feast. There is so much art on offer to expand, affirm and challenge your thinking – a night of escape into the creative arts is food for the soul.

Leather Lungs: Happy Ending runs untill 15th October so there is still a chance to catch this amazing talent. Tickets available at Melbourne Fringe.

Book review: The Murder Rule by Dervla McTiernan

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The Murder Rule is a legal thriller by seasoned Irish-Australian author Dervla McTiernan.

Hannah Rockeby was bought up by her a sole parent mother, Laura, after a youthful summer love affair with the son of a wealthy family. The boy drowned in a suspicious accident while the two were seeing one another. Laura had been the families house cleaner. She becomes an alcoholic and the mother-daughter relationship between her and Hannah is highly enmeshed.

Hannah moves from Maine to join a group of idealistic volunteers working on the Innocence Project in Virginia. The Innocence Project is an initiative to free wrongly convicted death row prisoners. Her plan is to prevent the man who she believes ruined her mother’s life from being released from jail. Hannah is prepared to do anything including deceiving and undermining colleagues and her boss to succeed in her quest.

Hannah pulled the door slowly closed. There was no creak from the hinges because she had oiled them the day before. She went downstairs, took a folded note from her backpack, and placed it so that it was held in place by the coffee machine.

The novel unfolds with the dual points of view of Hannah’s current life and her mother’s diary from her youth. The Murder Rule is a quick read, and a skilfully plotted story with plenty of twists. The female leads who are complex and engaging (if not always likeable).

The Murder Rule is McTiernan’s first stand alone novel – she is best known for her acclaimed debut, The Ruin.

Fringe review: De-Tours of Melbourne

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I love going on walking tours when I travel – It’s such a great way to really see a city, discover its nooks and crannies, learn about its culture, and get the lay of the land.

De-Tours of Melbourne, part of Melbourne Fringe, turns this idea on its head. Imagine trailing Seraphine (comedian Jenna Schroder), a French detective brandishing a baguette and marching around the CBD trying to solve the mystery of who controls the city. And she was pretty impressive – saved the Amazon rain forest with only one anaconda apparently.

You’ll debate what’s going on behind some of Melbourne’s secret walls, strut down hidden alleyways, visit some of the CBD’s oldest buildings and boutique businesses, pick locks and find out what your comrades favourite TV shows are.

De-Tours of Melbourne is a wacky romp through the laneways and history of the city we love – exercise, fresh air and a good belly laugh. There’s a big dose of clever improvisation in this ‘show’ and it’s just plain old fashioned fun. Plus you’ll get your 10,000 steps in.

So go on, shake off a day at the office by choosing your own adventure and seeing our city through different eyes. I did the mystery tour, but you can also go on a rom-com or spooky stories adventure – and there’s a discount for your second and third outings! But you have to go on your first trip to find out how that works.

De-Tours of Melbourne runs till Saturday 21st October. Tickets at Melbourne Fringe.

Theatre review: Night Sweat

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Over our lifetime we spend about six years in a night time dream state, but we rarely pay it much attention. As Foucault said, ‘every act of imagination points implicitly to the dream’, so it is little wonder that the sleep state is a fascination to artists. And sleepwalking takes the night time subconscious meanderings to a whole different level – remember Lady Macbeth exposing her murderous intentions while walking the castle in her sleep?

Night Sweat, on as part of Melbourne Fringe, is a playful, hypnotic exploration of night wanderings, boundaries and states of transition. A perfect place to abandon control and be taken on a journey.

The audience enters an intimate space and takes their seats around a figure clad in a boiler suit, face down asleep on the floor. The experience of entering the performance space is itself like entering a dream state. The stage technician and musical director (Kyle Muir) is leading an audience meditation and as people take their chairs, they close their eyes and slip into his rhythm.

Michelle McCowage’s performance blends physical theatre, poetry, song and humour, and has the distinct feel of improvisation. It is a little discombobulating in the way that waking in the middle of the night mid dream or somewhere other than your bed can be.

Moments of seriousness are interrupted by comedic delivery so you cannot remain in one state for too long. We meet various characters from the performers subconscious including an angel, a child, a fuck boy and Hugo Weaving playing explorer Ernest Henry Shackleton on an Antarctic expedition. On occasion the stage technician steps forward and becomes part of the performance just to throw the audience of kilter a little more.

Night Sweat is written and performed by Michelle McCowage and produced by Liv Bell. Michelle is an exceptional, engaging and versatile performer who keeps the audience captivated for the duration. Original music by Kyle Muir accompanies the performance.

Night Sweat is on at Trades Hall, which has a great little Bar, the Loading Dock, if you feel like a spot to chat before or after the show. The show runs till 8th October so grab a ticket and go along for an evening of suspended reality. You will not be disappointed.

Photographs by Ainsley Halbmeijer

Book review: The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley

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The Paris Apartment is a slow burn psychological thriller by Lucy Foley told from multiple points of view. The novel is set (you guessed it) in Paris while riots are breaking out in the city.

It’s not about where you came from. What kind of shit might have happened to you in the past. It’s about who you are. What you do with the opportunities life presents to you.

Jess leaves London after an altercation with her boss and goes to stay with her brother in his Paris apartment. When she gets there brother Ben is no where to be found. At first she thinks he’s just gone away briefly, but then she finds blood on his cats fur, a bleach stain on the floor near the front door, his necklace that he never took off, and his motorbike with shredded tyres in the basement.

You know, I read somewhere that sixty percent of us can’t go more than ten minutes without lying. Little slippages: to make ourselves sound better, more attractive, to others. White lies to avoid causing offence. So it’s not like I’ve done anything out of the ordinary. It’s only human.

The cast of characters that live in the apartment block include an old friend of her brothers, a Parisienne socialite, a troubled teenager, an angry alcoholic and a concierge who sees all but says little. The building itself also develops a creepy character of its own as the story progresses. Jess soon discovers that the disperate residents and the apartment block itself are not what they first seemed.

It’s a beautiful building, but there’s something rotten at its heart. Now he’s discovered it he can smell the stench of it everywhere.

The Paris Apartment is an easy read with interesting character development and some unexpected twists. Themes include class, wealth, corruption, betrayal, unrequited love and inner demons.