The Palazzo

 The Palazzo

Kayte Nunn

Reviewed by Helen

This one was intriguing and kept me turning the pages, newly widowed beauty entrepreneur, Vivi Savidge is about to celebrate her fortieth birthday and decides with the help of her ever faithful assistant Jade to book the Palazzo Stellina in the foothills of The Italian Alps for a week of celebrations with some of her family and closest friends but this week will end with a body and these people uncovering secrets that they have all held for many years, who died and was there a murder?

Vivi’s sister Alice and her sixteen year old twins Mia and Isla, old friend Carolyn who lives in Turin and also Pete and his new husband Nick from Boston arrive at this beautiful Palazzo owned and run by disgraced chef Marco who lives there with his elderly grandmother Stella.

The book starts with the discovery of a body and then goes back each day of their visit there is a lot going on with each guest and also Vivi has been getting mysterious text messages and emails that are threatening blackmail, Vivi is worried that the blackmailing threats are coming from one of her guests, could it be?

The week is hot, the food is fabulous there is plenty to drink and entertain the guests but answers need to gotten, this one did certainly keep me turning the pages, I don’t think I liked any of the characters much they all seemed a bit selfish to me but it is a great story and one that I would highly recommend to any reader of a good mystery, thriller.

4 stars

June 4, 2025 by HarperCollins Au

Final Exit

 Final Exit

Martha's Vineyard Murders #4

Raemi A Ray

Reviewed by Helen

We are back on Martha’s Vineyard with Kyra and Tarek, it is winter and freezing, Kyra really isn’t used to this weather, but it is Tarek’s birthday soon and she wants to give him something that she is sure he will love she organises a meet and greet with two of his favourite true crime podcaster Murder and MayFemme, they are here to investigate a years old murder cold case.

Forty years ago a teenage actress at a summer theatre camp is found bludgeoned to death and her roommate vanishes, the case seemed to have been closed very quickly and the podcasters want to get the answers, but at their first meeting Kyra and Tarek are not convinced that this is true, do they want answers or something else?

Kyra and Tarek are right onto this and the more they investigate the more they uncover, then both the podcasters are found murdered and Kyra and Tarek must uncover the truth and find out what happened all those years ago, and who is trying to keep I unresolved, of course Chase is in there helping out and then one of them is in series danger, will they come out alive, will they get the answers to what?

This is another awesome story in this fabulous series, they are so well written and plotted out, the author pulls her readers into tales of mystery, murder and mayhem and I do highly recommend this one and the series and I am thrilled that there are going to more in this series, I can’t wait to read them, I love Kyra, Tarek, Chase, Grace and Charlie and all of the fabulous characters who live on Martha’s Vineyard.

My thanks to Tule Publishing for my digital copy to read and review.

5 stars

May 28, 2025 by Tule Publishing

Vanish

 Vanish

PI Lane Holland #3

Shelley Birr

Reviewed by Helen

I thoroughly enjoyed the first two books in this series and this one as well, I think Lane Holland is a fabulous character and I do hope that there will be more books in the series.

Lane Holland is a private investigator who is now residing in a correctional facility after his last case although parole is due soon he is keen to get out but his thoughts are on what he will do when that happens, investigating is what he does and does well, he has one case that he is keen to solve and that is a missing persons case of Matilda Carver who vanished two decades ago and her father happens to be the warden at his facility and soon he finds himself residing on a farm near Albury and doing a re-training course to learn to become a farmer and this happens to be the last place Matilda was known to be.

Lane starts doing what he does best as soon as he arrives and what he uncovers leads him to more and more, and someone else is here that he should not be with, his parole is on the line here if he steps over the line, will he uncover what happened to Matilda and the other people who have vanished from the farm as well, is the owner of the farm hiding things, or is it a commune or a cult?

Lots of twists and turns in this one as Lane uncovers clues along the way, this one is intriguing as Lane gets to know some of the people living on the farm and stress levels jump as he puts his parole on the line. I really enjoyed this one and it is one that I highly recommend to anyone reader who loves a good mystery.

4 stars

April 30, 2025 by Hachette Australia & New Zealand

In The Blood

 In The Blood

Detective Margot Phalen Series #4

Kate Wiley

Reviewed by Helen

I am loving this series and this one is no exception, in this one Margot finds herself pushed into visiting her serial killer father Ed Finch again, something that she said she would never do again but when he dangles clues she must get the answers and then her young brother turns up on her doorstep asking her to do a documentary with him about their father, not to mention the murders from the park that she is still working on and then another horrific attack on a woman, this one will keep you turning the pages.

Margot is struggling big time in this one and there seems to be more and more happening, her partner Wes Fox is a rock someone that she knows she can lean on, could there be more to the relationship other than a work one, Margot is way too busy to find out at the moment, the tension mounts and Margot never stops uncovering clues to solve the cases, and of course meeting her father is very hard, where will it all end?

I loved this one and I do highly recommend it and the series, Margot is a fabulous character, there is so much, it is filled with suspense and so many emotions, Wes is the best partner for Margot and the next one will be the last, and I can’t wait to read it, I can’t wait to see how everything turns out. A fabulous story.

My thanks to Netgalley and Storm Publishing for my copy to read and review.

4 stars

May 14, 2025 by Storm Publishing

Double-Edged Reckoning

 Double-Edged Mystery

Western Edge Mystery #1

Nicole Helm

Reviewed by Helen

What a fabulous start to a new series, mystery abounds and there are many secrets and memories that have been kept for many years in this fast paced story and the fact that it is set in one of my favourite towns, Marietta, makes it even better come along and meet the characters in this one.

Samantha Price was a young teenager when she helped her battered and bruised neighbour, Nate Bennett get out of town after a brutal bashing from his father, now fifteen years later Sam tracks Nate down and asks him to come home and help prove her father was innocent of the murder of his mother all those years ago. Sam is sure that now there has been another murder linked to Nate’s father Ben Bennett that Nate will be the voice needed to get everyone talking and to clear her father.

Nate has not been back to Marietta in fifteen years he is an adult now been in the service had two tours overseas, injury has ended his career and now is thinking about a new life for himself and the last person he expected to show up on his doors step is the person who helped him all of those years ago and what she is asking of him is not an easy task but maybe it is time to go back, face his brothers and his father and clear the past.

Sam and Nate are soon working together to uncover clues new evidence is unearthed and emotions are opening up between the brothers Cal, Landon and Nate, will they all like the answers they find? I really enjoyed this one it kept me turning the pages and the mystery deepens and the twist at the end I didn’t see coming, this is one that I would highly recommend to any lover of a good mystery with wonderful characters and I am very much looking forward to the next book in the series.

My thanks to Tule Publishing for my digital copy to read and review.

5 stars

May 14, 2025 by Tule Publishing

Bowen River

 Bowen River

A Bec Whitfield Mystery #1

Annie Seaton

Reviewed by Helen

A always enjoy an Annie Seaton book and this one is the start of a new series and a duel time line and I loved it, Bec Whitfield is a police officer who wants to be a detective and takes a move to the small town she grew up in and has not returned for twelve years, her parents are still living there and this is one of the problems about moving home, her father and her do not get on, as well as the fact that her partner Gray has come with her. Expecting a fairly quiet start to her move she arrives just as news breaks on a missing woman, Leanne Delaney, who Bec went to school with and was very good friends with Bec throws everything she has at finding her friend.

1925 Elspeth Valentine lives on Strathallyn Station with her mother and father they breed and race horses, but her dreams are to move to England and make her way there, her mother has other ideas but when a new horse trainer, Thomas Delaney arrives life changes for Elspeth and soon finds herself married and a mother but life does not turn out the way she wants sadly but Elspeth stands strong and works hard.

Bec joins ranks with Detectives Todd Davenport and Justin Chapman to find Leanne and the investigation uncovers a hidden past from the Delaney family this gives them some answers to questions they have, and it appears that her father may be more involved than anyone thought but will they find Leanne Delaney before it is too late?

Bec has a few personal issues to work through and there is a bond growing between her and Todd but she never gives up in her investigation, she shows tenacity and strength to find answers, this is such a fabulous story, fabulous characters and setting and I am really looking forward to more in this series and to see if something more grows between Bec and Todd.

I do highly recommend this one to any reader who loves a good mystery.

5 stars

December 17, 2024 by ASA

The Prospect

 The Prospect

Fleur McDonald

Reviewed by Helen

I am a big fan of Fleur McDonald and this new book was absolutely fabulous, this one is set in Kalgoorlie Western Australia and with people we have met before Jack Higgins, police officer and Zara Ellison, journalist, after a scandal in Adelaide Jack takes a demotion from detective to constable when Zara is sent to the small paper in Kalgoorlie and they arrive to a totally different place that they are used to.

It is not always easy to start over again and Jack and his new partner Aiden are at odds after their first day and Zara feels different at this new paper her scandal has followed her but there is no way she will give up her tenacity and courage, she is determined to make her way here and uncover as many stories as she can, and this starts with the terrible accident of a couple towing a caravan, Zara is the first on the scene, here start her mind thinking and soon she is digging up a mystery.

Jack is soon called up to detective again as the caravan crash discovers a link to gold stealing and smuggling, with both Zara searching out clues as well as Jack and the police things are heating up big time, and what they uncover will blow the lid of this case, but will they all be safe? They have really started stirring the pot in this town and the pressure is on.

I loved this one so much, it was very hard to put down, fabulous setting, MS. McDonald made me feel like I was there with her descriptive words, another Fleur McDonald story that I highly recommend she is a must read author for me, and the ending wow, and I am looking forward to more fabulous stories, can’t wait.

5 stars

April 1, 2025 by HarperCollins