greed

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Post Script: If She Did It aka Lacy Eye – Jessica Treadway

If She Did It

 

If She Did It aka Lacy Eye

Jessica Treadway

Sphere

Little, Brown

Hachette

ISBN: 9780751555240

 

Description:

What if you began to suspect your child of an unspeakable crime?

 

When Dawn introduces her family to her new boyfriend, Rud, they hide their unsettled feelings because they’re glad that Dawn, always an awkward child, seems to have finally blossomed.

 

Then Dawn’s parents are savagely beaten in their own bed, and though Hanna survives, Rud stands trial for Joe’s murder. Claiming her boyfriend’s innocence, Dawn initially estranges herself from everyone she knows, but when Rud wins an appeal, Dawn returns home saying she wants to support her mother.

 

Hanna knows that if she could only remember the details of that traumatic night, she could ensure her husband’s murderer remains in jail. But Hanna hadn’t realised that those memories may cause her to question everything she thought she knew about her daughter…

 

My View:

A great premise and hook– did she (in this case the daughter) or didn’t she, if she did what does that say about my life? The title sets the tone of foreboding, as you read, in your mind you are already starting to question the narrators ( mother/Hanna’s) perception of the brutal events that happened three years earlier, events her mind has protected her from remembering. As you read further and Hanna starts to question her vague memories, you say to Hanna, “Listen to your instincts” but you are also complicit in your willingness to believe that in this loving relationship – and Hanna really loves her family, Dawn must be innocent, that there must be an explanation for the incidents that are starting to seem a little strange or do not quite add up. Eventually the reader is provided with enough evidence to challenge the narrators view but the story does not end there…now we want to know why. And the tension increases as we realise the imminent danger that Hanna is in.

 

The beauty of this read is how the tension just keeps ratcheting up. The characters stand out- for their ordinariness and perhaps, for their oddness too – for their beliefs that stifle, control and place pressure on the individuals of the family. But the family is not made up of brutes or monsters – the parents are loving and want the best for their children (don’t we all?), they are not abusive to each other or to their children but they are rigid in their beliefs . The children…almost ordinary but with hints that something is not quite right with Dawn. It is the hints that keep you turning the pages…

 

In all a great evocative and page tuning read with a very satisfying ending.

 

PS this book has also been released as Lacy Eye – a title that I could not understand the meaning of until I read the book – Lacy Eye- this family’s euphemism for hearing what you want to hear….

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Post Script: No Name Lane – Howard Linskey

Great Twist!

No Name Lane

No Name Lane

Howard Linskey

Penguin

Michael Joseph

ISBN: 9780718181543

 

Description:

The hunt for a serial killer unearths an unsolved cold case from over sixty years ago.

 

Young girls are being abducted and murdered in the North-East. Out of favour Detective Constable Ian Bradshaw struggles to find any leads – and fears that the only thing this investigation will unravel is himself.

 

Journalist Tom Carney is suspended by his London tabloid and returns to his home village in County Durham. Helen Norton is the reporter who replaced Tom on the local newspaper. Together, they are drawn into a case that will change their lives forever.

 

When a body is found, it’s not the latest victim but a decades-old corpse. Secrets buried for years are waiting to be found, while in the present-day an unstoppable killer continues to evade justice…

 

 

My View:

A very engaging and compelling story of murders -past and present, secrets and the huge burden that guilt imposes on our lives and mental health. I liked that this book was more than just a murder mystery; there were interesting characters and relationships – work and personal, that we might all be able to relate to. Ethical behaviour was also spotlighted. There was also plenty of local history and commentary on the social mores of the time of the older murder and a glimpse of how the past can and does effect the present.

 

This narrative presents a few interesting scenarios – the main investigators in this instance are the journalists, more so than the police. They have the energy, they are not bound/restricted by the same protocols as the police and they have a connection with the community which gives them opportunity to discover more about those concerned with the crimes – past and present. I liked the factor of redemption that played a vital role in this narrative.

 

 

And the twist at the end in unique and surprising- I did not see this coming!

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Post Script: Reality – Ray Glickman

Bold, slick and acerbic.

Reality

Reality

Ray Glickman

Fremantle Press

ISBN: 9781922089373

 

Description:

Six people have been chosen at random. Without their knowledge, Kathy, Mario, Garry, Hannah, Robert and Julia are about to participate in the ultimate game of manipulation.

 

A stranger brings them together, but can this ruthless puppeteer really be held responsible for the choices each makes? In the end, who is to blame for their actions: for their deceit, infidelity and crime?

 

At the heart of this thought-provoking novel lie questions of fate and self-determination.

 

 

My View:

 

I love that Ray Glickman has successfully (I hope) rid himself of all the angst and frustration his working life has heaped onto his shoulders by writing this witty, honest and scathing attack on the mindless, selfish, irresponsible actions of the individual (and the Corporate) and how easily we can all be manipulated to serve the purpose of …well anyone if you know how to play the game.

 

I really enjoyed reading about local haunts that I too was aware of – Milk’d café, The Department of … best leave that one there it sounded very much like more than one government department I have worked in – full of self-serving egotists…always worried about the bottom line and their own job “The Department was paralysed by inertia and stultified by ancient rules and regulations” (p. 31) …Glickman makes fun of everything and everyone – no one is safe, “The Britney Generation” (p.18), “Wait A-while WA” (p.14), lawyers, executives…no one is spared. And it is all so familiar to the cynic in us all.

 

I admire Glickman’s sarcasm, his wit and his sense of humour. He plays with his characters, plays with the culture that is Perth and produces a read that is for the most parts engaging and enlightening. Where would we be without ego? How much ego is too much of a good thing? How easily do we display our secrets under the guise of social media “sharing” and “likes”, and who or what can be trusted or manipulated here? Everyone it seems.

 

This is a thought provoking read which only loses momentum for a short while in the middle section before bursting back to life. Thank you Ray Glickman for saying all those things we secretly say to ourselves and don’t have the courage to say out loud…and for extolling the virtues of so many exceptional Western Australian wines amongst your storytelling.