Powerful, brutal, captivating and charming. And did I mention well written??

The Holiday Murders: Robert Gott- Scribe.

The Holiday Murders

Robert Gott

Scribe

ISBN: 9781922070258

Description:

ON CHRISTAMS EVE, 1943

The newly founded but undermanned Homicide division of the Melbourne Police force is called to investigate the vicious double murder of a father and son. When Military Intelligence becomes involved, Homicides Inspector Titus Lambert must unravel the personal from the political.

If only the killings had stopped at two. The police are desperate to come to grips with an extraordinary and disquieting upsurge of violence. For Constable Helen Lord, it is an opportunity to make her mark in a male-dominated world where she is patronised as a novelty. For Detective Joe Sable, the investigation forces a reassessment of his indifference to his Jewish heritage. Racing against the clock, the police uncover simmering tensions among secretive local Nazi sympathisers as a psychopathic fascist usurper makes his move.

 An Open Letter to Robert Gott

Dear Mr Gott

I am ashamed to say I knew nothing about you as an author until after I read the schedule of the Margaret River Readers and Writers Festival (May 2015) where I noticed your name against a session titled “A Season to Die For.” This session sparked my interest and I decided to research your work and consequently decided to try and read a few of your books to see if I liked your narratives and style before committing to the session. I am committed! What a brilliant writer you are. Why haven’t I come across your name before?

I have just finished reading The Holiday Murders, it is two o’clock in the morning and I should be going back to bed…I am really tempted to start the next book in this series, The Port Fairy Murders…what a dilemma…sleep V reading….in the end I decided I had better try and get some sleep- I knew if I started this next book I would still be reading at sunrise or however long it took me to finish reading this book.

What did I love about The Holiday Murders I hear you asking? Everything! Characterisations, interesting plot touching on the changing role of women’s place in society, politics, prejudice, Nazism, history, bullying, power over, murder, co dependence in a violent kind of way … …and I was alerted to so much domestic and international history/politics that I wasn’t even aware of in Australia at that time (coincidently this also was referred to in a recent read by Peter Carey – Amnesia: re migration/White Australia policy) funny how thing resonate…as a baby boomer, I mostly was unaware of these issues…times were changing before I became aware.

So back to the book; great writing, engaging characters, authentic settings,enlightening social commentary and an amazing twist at the end and did I mention that as you know from the start who did it – you spend the rest of the book trying to figure out why; intriguing. Bring on the next in this series – I can’t wait.

PS

Did I mention up until know I thought I didn’t like historical crime fiction?? I am converted.

Kind regards and looking forward to hearing you speak at the Margaret River Reader Writer Festival.

Carol