Books Into Films

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Review: The Widow of Walcha – Emma Partridge

The Widow of Walcha: A True Crime Story of Love, Lies and a Murder In A small Country Town

Emma Partridge

Simon & Schuster Australia

ISBN: 9781760859428

Description:

The Widow of Walcha is a shocking true story about death, love and lies in the small NSW town of Walcha.
 
All farmer Mathew Dunbar ever wanted was to find love and have a family of his own. That’s why, just months after meeting Natasha Darcy, the much-loved grazier didn’t hesitate to sign over his multi-million-dollar estate to her.
 
When Mathew died in an apparent suicide soon afterwards, in a stranger-than-fiction twist, Natasha’s estranged husband – who she was once charged with trying to kill – was the first paramedic on the scene after the murder.
 
Journalist and author Emma Partridge travelled to the cool and misty town of Walcha in the Northern Tablelands of NSW in the months after Mathew Dunbar’s death, drawn by the town’s collective worry that Natasha was going to get away with murder. Partridge spent months researching the case, interviewing Mathew’s friends, family and Natasha herself in an attempt to uncover her sickening web of lies and crimes.
 
The Widow of Walcha is about one of the most extraordinary criminal trials in Australia’s history and reveals Natasha’s sickening crimes against those she claimed to love, fuelled by her obsession with money.
 

My View:

This story is so bizarre it reads like … a black comedy… how incredulous this is, how unbelievable the actions are in this read … I just cannot believe this actually happened, yet it did and one person is dead and a few more escaped by good luck. I shake my head as I read…how did this happen? How did this woman get away with so much before this last terrible act landed her in gaol? How does her husband (at the time the book was written, they were still married, that I do not get at all) whom she attempted to murder (setting the house on fire whilst he was in it) stay shtum? How? I just cant believe it.

Yet this is true. Follow the stories of her previous relationships, the earlier police charges, her first time in gaol, her next targets….read on as the clues are unraveled. Sit in court and hear evidence and then once the verdict has been delivered read on about the information that wasnt allowed to be shared in court, the other stories of “near misses”. I continue to shake my head in disbelief. What an incredible, true story.

I wish we could hear the Widow’s story ( I guess we do through the evidence and transcripts and interviews) but as she has not accepted responsibility I guess we will never know what was going through her mind,.. intriguing.

Big screen here this comes 🙂

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Review: Muster Dogs – Aticia Grey

Muster Dogs

Aticia Grey

ABC Books

ISBN:9780733341588

Description:

An outback story of kelpies, red dirt and the future of a family farm.

Life on the land is often boom or bust, forever at the mercy of Mother Nature.

Aticia ‘Teesh’ Grey took on the manager’s role on her family’s West Pilbara cattle station a few years after picking up her first team of kelpies. Almost immediately she was faced with a severe and devastating drought that forced her to question everything she thought she knew about the fragile country of her home.

Through the heartbreaking rollercoaster journey that followed, Teesh’s loyal canine companions proved invaluable as she and her family worked towards securing the property’s future. The versatility of these amazing dogs took the station in directions no one anticipated.

In 2020, Teesh got the chance to showcase the potential of working dogs more widely. Joining the ABC TV series Muster Dogs, Teesh and four other farming families took on the challenge of training new kelpie pups and testing their worth on the properties they run. Through this experience they showed the bonds that are formed between human and dog and vividly demonstrated a positive environmental future for farming in rural Australia.

This is a story of love, laughter, loss and hope, as Teesh finds her feet in an ever-changing world with the help of the dogs who have stood by her side through it all.

PRAISE

‘Kick your boots off and settle in for a wild journey of love and heartbreak, from the most inspiring cattlewoman I know …’ Margareta Osborn, author and grazier

‘Evocative, authentic and freshly engaging account of pastoral life … reads like a Wild West adventure story … At the end of this journey Grey recounts her transformative shift to a regenerative agriculture approach that puts the landscape first so as to begin healing ‘Country’. What is optimistically promised is a fuller, less stressful lifestyle and healthier, more productive livestock’ Charles Massy, author and voice for regenerative agriculture.

My View:

Escape to the country where the land is hard, dry, red and barren. Escape to the country to find your best friends. This read is engaging, heartwarming and will open your eyes to a landscape you only thought you knew before your opened this book or watched the TV series ( I haven’t watched the TV series, but you don’t need to to appreciate the honest, visual writing here in.) This is a love story between a woman, her working dogs and they land they inhabit.

A great read.

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Review: Bluey – The Beach – Bluey

Bluey – The Beach

Bluey

Puffin

Penguin Random House

ISBN: 9781760894054

 

Description:

“Based on the hit ABC KIDS TV show!

 

Join Bluey for a fun day at the beach. What will you discover along the way?

 

While Mum is off for a walk along the beach, Bluey discovers a beautiful shell. She runs to show Mum and has a series of encounters that will both excite and test her in unexpected ways.

 

Bluey has been a phenomenal success since airing on ABC KIDS in October 2018, amassing legions of dedicated fans and taking the coveted position of being the most watched program ever on ABC iView, with over 100 million plays. It has also topped the Australian iTunes Kids Chart with the series peaking at #1 and consistently remaining in the Top 5.” https://www.penguin.com.au/books/bluey-the-beach-9781760894054

 

 

My View:

Delightful! WE all love Bluey – young and old. This book has a charming colloquial Australian voice and is full of humour and of course great lessons for the young people.

 

I think this book will be the hit of Christmas – the BEST present! And the good news – there are more in the series to make birthday gift buying during the year easy.

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Review: Every Time He Dies – Tara East

Every Time He Dies

Tara East

Tara East – self published

ISBN: 9780648581512

 

Description:

Daphne Lawrence is haunted. Two years ago, her fiancé died in a terrible accident, her mother passed away from cancer and she stopped speaking to her father. As an embalmer, Daff is used to the company of dead people, but she isn’t used to them talking back. In fact, Daff isn’t used to anything that could be considered woo-woo including, but not limited to: psychics, crystal, meditation, tarot cards, vision quests and coincidences. Too bad that’s everything she’s experiencing.

 

Daff is forced to confront her own long ignored grief when she discovers a haunted watch buried in the sand at Golden Beach. The problem is, her ghost has no memory of his former life or how he died.

 

As Daff seeks to discover the spectre’s identity, dangerous truths and hidden secrets are revealed. Soon, she finds herself in the middle of an on-going homicide investigation led by Detective Sergeant Jon Lawrence, her father. A story about grief, time and identity, Every Time He Dies will leave you wondering whether our dearly beloveds ever really depart.

 

My View:

A brilliant debut!

 

This is a multilayered, deeply moving narrative of redemption, forgiveness, identity, moving on, grieving, bikies, lies, mysteries and ghosts. What a fabulous read and oh so satisfying.

 

Tara East is a very visual storyteller; I watched this story play out in technicolour 3D in my head, the locations, very Australian, (is it coincidence that the most readable speculative fiction I have come across are based in/around Brisbane, Queensland?), the characters so vibrant (I love you Daff and Liam, well mostly Liam but Daff you are a very engaging protagonist) and the mysteries, intriguing.

 

I do hope that this is the start of a series, I can’t wait to read more about Daff’s adventures as she assist the newly dead on their quests.

 

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Review: The Long Call – Ann Cleeves

The Long Call

(Two Rivers #1)

Ann Cleeves

Macmillan

ISBN: 9781509889570

RRP $29.99

 

Description:

The Long Call is the captivating first novel in a brand new series from Sunday Times bestseller and creator of Vera and Shetland, Ann Cleeves.

 

In North Devon, where the rivers Taw and Torridge converge and run into the sea, Detective Matthew Venn stands outside the church as his father’s funeral takes place. The day Matthew turned his back on the strict evangelical community in which he grew up, he lost his family too.

 

Now he’s back, not just to mourn his father at a distance, but to take charge of his first major case in the Two Rivers region; a complex place not quite as idyllic as tourists suppose.

 

A body has been found on the beach near to Matthew’s new home: a man with the tattoo of an albatross on his neck, stabbed to death.

 

Finding the killer is Venn’s only focus, and his team’s investigation will take him straight back into the community he left behind, and the deadly secrets that lurk there.

 

 

My View:

Ann Cleeves introduces to a new set of characters and protagonists in this the beginning of a new series set in North Devon. Cleeves takes her time to provide backgrounds of her characters and very visual descriptions of the settings, you will be transported to the locations; the various significant workplaces, the beaches, the lonely villages, the Woodyard.

 

This is a very contemporary telling of a murder/mystery; the protagonist (Matthew) is an openly gay man – but this is just a fact not a significance, some of the pivotal characters have disabilities and have an important role in the narrative; modern communities are represented on these pages, this is very refreshing to read.

 

Whilst the pace slowly builds you will soon find yourself immersed in the lives of the main characters; Matthew and Jen (a detective/single mum) – I wonder who will play them in the TV series, the works have just been optioned for TV). Someone gutsy, intelligent, sensitive but fun.

 

All in all a good read, some interesting new charters and a resolution that is poignant – this is one instance where I actually felt incredibly sorry for both the victim and the perpetrator. There is much to consider in the narrative, I hope you enjoy it too.

 

**Stay tuned for a fabulous #Friday Freebie for your chance to win a copy of this title. Read it before it hits the screens.  **Offer open to Australian residents.**

 

 

 

 

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Welcome Jack Heath to My Blog

Listen as this exciting new talent in crime fiction/thriller writing introduces his Timothy Blake series.

“Jack Heath lives in Canberra and is the bestselling author of more than 25 acclaimed fiction titles for middle-grade and YA readers. His books include the real-time series 300, 400 and 500 Minutes of Danger, the choose-your-own-ending Countdown to Danger books (Scholastic), a collaboration with international illusionist Cosentino, and YA novels such as The Fail Safe and The Cut Out, a multi-award-nominated espionage thriller. His books have sold more than 200,000 copies worldwide and been translated into several languages. First published as a teenager, in the course of his research Jack has trained with firearms, performed street magic, visited morgues and prisons, travelled through eleven countries and read only books by women for a year. jackheath.com.au ”  https://www.allenandunwin.com/browse/books/fiction/crime-mystery/Hunter-Jack-Heath-9781760527082

 

PS -Thanks Jack for appearing on my blog. I cant wait to start reading the book – your enthusiasm is infectious. And on a different note-  love the art work in the background.

 

PPS:

follow @jackheathwriter on social media

free ebook at jackheath.com.au

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A Special Announcement

I am so pleased to hear some great news from the talented Western Australian author – Sasha Wasley (S D Wasley).

Dear Banjo and True Blue are about to be joined by Love Song in the Daughters of the Outback series.

 

Love Song

About Love Song

Out June 4, 2019

When she agreed to tutor Charlie Campbell, falling in love was the last thing on her mind.

At 17, Beth Paterson had just lost her mother and was working hard to get in to university. She didn’t expect to lose her head over a boy – and she certainly didn’t expect him to vanish without even saying goodbye.

These days, Charlie is a big star on the alternative rock scene, while Beth is a respected doctor in her hometown. But her ordered life is thrown into turmoil when Charlie comes back to fight for the tiny community where he was raised. They can’t stop crossing paths any more than Beth can ignore the resurgence of that wild attraction they once shared.

However, Beth Paterson swore no man would ever screw her over again – least of all this man. She’s been protecting her heart since he left and she’s not about to let her guard down now.

Author’s comment on the cover: I love that the cover has gone back to the amazing red and blue spectrum of the Kimberley region. Beth is perfect – strong, solitary and sexy. And the best bit is the handwritten musical notes peeping through, reminding us that Charlie Campbell’s voice is always whispering in the back of Beth’s memory.

 

 

And there is more exciting news. 

The series, which has been a hit in Australia, is currently in bookstores in Germany and will soon be available as an audio book. 🙂

Even more exciting, Sasha has just sold the film rights to all three novels and we are hoping to soon see Willow, Free and Beth on the screen!

 

Fantastic news Sasha!!!

 

 

Now available for pre-order from your favourite store as paperback or ebook.

Paperback

 

 

 

 

 

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Flashback Thursday: Review – Since We Fell – Dennis Lehane

Since we Fell

Since we Fell

Denis Lehane

Hachette Australia

Little, Brown

ISBN: 9781408708347

 

Description:

Since We Fell follows Rachel Childs, a former journalist who, after an on-air mental breakdown, now lives as a virtual shut-in. In all other respects, however, she enjoys an ideal life with an ideal husband. Until a chance encounter on a rainy afternoon causes that ideal life to fray. As does Rachel’s marriage. As does Rachel herself. Sucked into a conspiracy thick with deception, violence, and possibly madness, Rachel must find the strength within herself to conquer unimaginable fears and mind-altering truths. By turns heart- breaking, suspenseful, romantic, and sophisticated, Since We Fell is a novel of profound psychological insight and tension. It is Dennis Lehane at his very best.

 

My View:

 WOW!!!!

 I am so sorry that I am late to this party. This book has been sitting on my TBR forever – through no fault of its own it got passed over, left on the shelf, buried by new releases. I am so sorry. Dennis Lehane is a great writer, I was already aware of his fabulous narrative writing skills from a previous read but this standalone takes the rating up a notch or two, it is outstanding.

 

So if you have this book sitting somewhere amongst your To Be Read pile, sitting on a shelf, languishing in the dark – I implore you, set it free, read it, you will not be disappointed.

 

 

 

 

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Sidetracked…

In the mail this week I received a copy of  The Girl Who Takes and Eye For an Eye – David Lagercrantz (continuing the Steig Larsson triology). All good except I then realised  that this is book 5 and I hadn’t read book  4.  A bit of googling and I came across a copy in the local area – quick into the car and was immediately sidetracked by a pop up cellar door – open today only.  We had to stop.  What delightful wines.

 

Pop up cellar door and books

 

 

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Post Script: The Seagull – Ann Cleeves

A superbly written police procedural with a very human protagonist and contemporary narrative.The Seagull

The Seagull

A Vera Stanhope Novel 8

Ann Cleeves

Pan Macmillan Australia

ISBN: 9781447278351

 

Description:

The Seagull is Ann Cleeves’ searing eighth novel in the bestselling Vera Stanhope series, about corruption deep in the heart of a community, and about fragile, and fracturing, family relationships.

 

A visit to her local prison brings DI Vera Stanhope face to face with an old enemy: former detective superintendent, and now inmate, John Brace. Brace was convicted of corruption and involvement in the death of a gamekeeper – and Vera played a part in his downfall.

 

Brace promises Vera information about the disappearance of Robbie Marshall, a notorious wheeler-dealer, if she will look out for his daughter and grandchildren. He tells her that Marshall is dead, his body buried close to St Mary’s Island in Whitley Bay. However, when a search team investigates, officers find not one skeleton, but two.

 

This cold case takes Vera back in time, and very close to home, as Brace and Marshall, along with a mysterious stranger known only as ‘the Prof’, were close friends of Hector, her father. Together, they were ‘the Gang of Four’, and Hector had been one of the last people to see Marshall alive. Vera must confront her prejudices and unwanted memories to dig out the truth, as the past begins to collide dangerously with the present . . .

 

AUTHOR INFORMATION

 

Ann Cleeves is the author behind ITV’s Vera and BBC One’s Shetland. She has written over twenty-five novels, and is the creator of detectives Vera Stanhope and Jimmy Perez – characters loved both on screen and in print. Her books have now sold millions of copies worldwide.

 

 

My View:

A superbly written police procedural with a very human protagonist and contemporary narrative.

 

Is it because I have watched an episode or two of Vera (the Detective series based on the novels in this series) or merely the fantastic way that Cleeves writes location, character and  intrigue that I am enamoured with this novel? I don’t know – maybe it is a combination of the two and that I can clearly picture and hear Brenda Blethyn as I turn the pages. I read this in one sitting.

 

Start reading this novel and enter a captivating world where sins of the past juxtapose and intersect a current investigation. Cold cases are reviewed and personal memories are awakened in this thrilling narrative where corruption is served as the main course, redemption is a too sweet dessert.

 

A five star read.