"Entertaining and thought-provoking": NIKOLAI'S QUEST review

NIKOLAI'S QUEST by Diane Robinson (Rose & Fern Publishing, 2022)

Reviewed by Jacqui Lynne

Russia 1996. 11-year-old Nikolai and his 9-year-old sister, Anna, have lived most of their lives in an orphanage, built inside a 300-year-old former monastery. Their city has changed its name from Leningrad back to St. Petersburg. The teachers and other staff at the orphanage are always grumbling about ‘too much change.’ Some children are being adopted by people from New Zealand. Adoption seems like a good escape. Then, just when Nikolai and Anna are on the brink of being chosen, a stranger tells Anna that she looks like her mother, but then disappears. Could it be that their birth parents are not really dead after all? Mysterious incidents and a secret tunnel. Nikolai and Anna can’t solve the puzzle alone, but who can they really trust to help them?

The subheading of this YA  book, a search for answers and belonging, sums up the storyline very well. Nikolai and Anna are brother and sister in an orphanage in St Petersburg. Or, are they truly orphans? Who is the man they see outside the gates watching them – could he be their father, or is he really dead as they’ve been told? That’s one of the answers they want to know.

Their search for the truth involves a map, secret tunnels and political intrigue. Working around the system, they use methods of information gathering that readers of the target age will identify with. I liked the fact that senior students at the orphanage work with the pair to bring about the conclusion. While all the children hope to find relatives or to be taken into new families, any threat is from outside the walls. Within the institution there is a sense of belonging – a family for children without one. 

The novel is realistic, helped by front papers showing a map of the orphanage’s layout and copies of birth certificates for both children. The New Zealand link to the story is that Nikolai and Anna are to be adopted by a Kiwi couple and brought here to live.

Along with the entertaining and thought-provoking story there’s an opportunity to learn a little about Russian history of the last century. The cover, book design, and readable writing are all good and suitable for YA readers. A slight disappointment is that, despite a note that the book is written in UK English, US convention is used in the case of honorifics.

Recommended as a very good read for ages 10 to 16, or beyond.

This review was first published in FlaxFlower reviews, which focuses on in-depth reviews of New Zealand books of all kinds, and is reprinted here with the kind permission of Flaxflower founder and editor Bronwyn Elsmore. 

Review: JUST KEEP GOING

JUST KEEP GOING by Donna Blaber (2022)

Reviewed by Emily R

Becky always loved visiting her dad in New Zealand until she returns during the pandemic. Now he’s got a baby with her new stepmum and everything has changed. Worse still, her windsurfer hasn’t arrived yet, so there’s nothing for her to do but wait for Mum who is stuck overseas because she can’t get a spot in quarantine.

Then Becky finds a strange stone at Whale Bay and her luck changes. She makes new friends, joins an environmental group, and has several close encounters with a bottlenose dolphin who simply won’t leave her alone. What is the dolphin trying to tell her? Is it sick? And who are the people poaching fish from the marine reserve?

Since Becky arrived in New Zealand recently, she’s felt she is in a foreign country, far from the UK home she knows. True, her Dad is here, but his focus is on his second wife, Becky’s stepmother, and their baby. She has no friends her own age and the pandemic with its lockdown, and the added complication of the MIQ draw, increases her sense of isolation.

She does, though, have a windsurfer and there's a great local beach where she can use it. Not only does this entertain her, but it presents challenges and leads to a mystery.

The story is a very readable light adventure featuring, as well as the joys of windsurfing, environmental concerns, a dolphin that seems to want to communicate something, and a couple of baddies to add to the intrigue. Add to those, a mystical/magical element – not overdone, so acceptable even to sceptics.

The language is colloquial and chosen for the intended audience of 11 to 14 years – yeah na, chur bro.

Just Keep Going is set in Northland, in the Whangarei-Tutukaka-Ngunguru area. 

For those who may need a little help with some terminology, probably overseas readers, there’s a short glossary at the end. The book is attractively produced. Though Just Keep Going fits into the ‘Just’ series of YA titles, this is a stand-alone book.. 

This review was first published in FlaxFlower reviews, which focuses on in-depth reviews of New Zealand books of all kinds, and is reprinted here with the kind permission of Flaxflower founder and editor Bronwyn Elsmore. 

Review: NEANDS

NEANDS by Dan Salmon (OneTree House, 2020)

Reviewed by Alyson Baker

What if evolution got it wrong and the human race was threatened at the very core of its DNA? Charlie (14) is living in a time when a strange virus is affection sections of the Homosapien race. They are becoming more hostile, more aggressive. It seems there is a throwback to the Neand gene that is being transmitted by a virus and altering people’s DNA.

As his parents, schoolmates, friends and authority figures succumb to the virus or disappear, Charlie and his friends undertake a dangerous journey to find some answers.

Charles Feynman Rutherford, the son of scientists, was named after scientists, and was expected to become a scientist. But Charlie is growing up in a world were science is being taught less and less. Science is being replaced by Christian Living classes, “… all about fear and flat earth, and we were taught that evolution and dinosaurs were dangerous theories”. 

And he is growing up in a world where people are changing.

His father has been investigating the changes to humans, the accelerated alterations to their DNA which is making them muscle-bound, smelly, and keen on physical sports and evangelical church meetings. But when Charlie’s father dies under suspicious circumstances, Charlie is left alone with his distraught mother. School is a nightmare, home is bleak. And then his mother disappears.

His mother’s disappearance isn’t that unusual; people are disappearing all over the place. Charlie decides to keep his head down and carry on alone. But then he is visited by Ngaire, a woman who claims to have been friends with Charlies’ parents. She persuades him to go and stay with her and her husband, Alan, and two other rescued teenagers; Ivy and Pru. Charlie once again experiences a kind of family-life. He starts surreptitiously making notes from Alan’s computer, trying to continue his parents’ work working out what is causing the changes in humans. He feels paper will be a more reliable record, as electronic information about the human change is disappearing, with the Internet getting smaller by the day.

Charlie, Ivy and Pru find that school is a nightmare of violent bullying, and there are fewer and fewer human kids to blend in with. Charlie sees that when change happens relatively slowly, odd things can start to feel normal. At his old school people were in denial about the human change, in his new one there is open talk of ‘the Neanderthals’. And it isn’t only the outside changes in Charlie’s world that are bothering him, his hormones are getting jittery, as he is constantly near two young, interesting, women.

The world keeps changing for the threesome, they consider ‘passing’ as Neands to be less of a target, they even wonder if just giving up and becoming Neands might be that bad. They experience the most heart-breaking incident at a zoo.  Charlie realises that if you don’t intervene as soon as you know something is wrong, you start being part of the problem, and “I got that if everything went wrong, sometimes it stayed wrong”. But they also become aware that there are still people secretly working to rectify the changes. When things take a turn for the worse with Ngaire and Alan, the three take off together.

As well as the genetic changes around them, the kids are also in the world of devastating climate change, and while sheltering from a violent storm they end up in a church offering food and shelter to the needy. They start running with a couple of boys from the shelter, and Charlie has a chat with an artist who finds himself in a world with no art, and Charlie starts to think that human DNA might be the culprit as much as any remnant of Neanderthal DNA: “How did we come to this – the species that gave the world Shakespeare and space travel and sour worms”. Charlie’s notes are interspersed through the narrative and give a picture of human-caused disasters.

The reader of NEANDS (unfortunately) recognises the Neands’ behaviour: bullies at school, Trump supporters storming the U.S. Capitol, idiots taunting animals incarcerated in zoos … The teenagers are great characters, especially Charlie. He is angry that he must grow up so quickly, angry at adults “I was only fourteen. We were only kids. Where were all the bloody adults?” – angry at them for leaving their kids, for creating the ecological mess that is his world. He has a conscience, always arguing with himself and others about the right thing to do.

NEANDS is a debut novel, and is a cracking adventure story, and a scientific mystery, and a moving read about a group of lovely teenagers: “Before things changed, we would have been the type of kids who did well at school, the science monitors, library assistants, drama club or band members; a bit geeky, but the cool geeks”. There is a glimmer of hope; the teenagers are good in water, and the Neands hate water. And there is also a glimmer of a sequel! NEANDS is a YA novel but would be enjoyed by all ages.

Alyson Baker is a crime-loving former librarian in Nelson. This review first appeared on her blog, which you can check out here. 

Review: A TRIO OF SOPHIES

A TRIO OF SOPHIES by Eileen Merriman (Penguin, 2020)

Reviewed by Alyson Baker

Secrets, lies and love. 

The last time I saw Sophie A, she was kissing James Bacon. She could have any guy she wanted, but she was kissing an English teacher who was eight years older than her.

Right back when Sophie MacKenzie started primary school, she was befriended by Sophie Twiggs and Sophie Abercrombie. Although they developed different interests, the threesome have stuck together through high school. But now Sophie Abercrombie is not just The prettiest Sophie, she is also The missing Sophie. As Sophie MacKenzie confides to her diary, Sophie A went missing sixty-four days ago and, despite police investigation, she has not been found.

The Trio of Sophies is no more.

Ever since Sophie Mac first arrived at Eastbrook High School, feeling excluded as her solo Mum had no money for things like nice shoes, she has always stuck with the first two girls who befriended her: Sophie A and Twiggy (Sophie Twigg). The trio of Sophies are tight friends, that is until Sophie A disappears, and Mac starts writing a diary …

We read Mac’s diary in reverse for a good part of the book, counting down the number of days till Sophie A disappears. But the diary entries also flash back to earlier events, the events that led up to the disappearance, and include nightmarish dreams which add to the complexity of the narrative. And after day 0 the story continues in its tangled and tense way.

Sophie A has the looks Mac wishes she had, and Twiggy the money. Mac works part time at a supermarket, and makes a bit of money off Twiggy, helping her with her schoolwork – she is the bright one of the three. They are in their last year of school and Mac has an interest in being a forensic pathologist, which adds a background of bleakness to her outlook. There is another moving force in the lives of the Sophies, an English teacher, James Bacon. He first encounters Mac when she is out running, and not realising she is a school student, he draws her into a relationship. But soon after he gets a job at her high school, and all excuses for continuing the relationship are gone.

James is manipulative and violent – but he is Mac’s first relationship and all her peers, such as her friend Will, pale in comparison. After Sophie A’s disappearance, Twiggy drifts away, leaving Mac along with her thoughts and fears. Mac has become proficient at lying due to her having to keep her illicit relationship secret, and she finds she is adept at fabricating the past – after all, memories are malleable. A TRIO OF SOPHIES deals with coming of age, honesty, jealously and most of all the destructive results of teacher/student relationships, where the adult has such power over the student. Mac is not the only victim of the relationship; her weaving of a convincing and false reality leads to others being hurt terribly. And even while she is plotting her revenge on him, Mac still sees James as her first love, he still has power over her.

The structure of the novel is excellent, complex and mind bending. And the reader is finding out crucial information right up until the end. It is an engrossing read, and occasionally you get a glimpse of the innocent last year of high school which might have been had Mac not gone running that fateful day. 

A TRIO OF SOPHIES is marketed as a young adult novel, and would suit the older range of that category, and adults.

Alyson Baker is a crime-loving former librarian in Nelson. This review first appeared on her blog, which you can check out here. 

Review: THE SECRET SEVEN - THE MYSTERY OF THE SKULL

THE SECRET SEVEN: MYSTERY OF THE SKULL by Pamela Butchart (Hodder Children's Books, 2018)

Reviewed by Craig Sisterson

Solve the mystery with the Secret Seven - everyone's favourite detective club! A brand-new, action-packed Secret Seven adventure by prizewinning author Pamela Butchart.

When Peter discovers an old skull hidden in his bedroom, it's time for an urgent meeting of the Secret Seven. Setting off to investigate, the friends see a gigantic hole in the grounds of a local hotel. Could there be any connection between the two strange events? The Secret Seven are determined to solve the mystery.

It's time to look behind the green door of the Secret Seven's shed again. Enid Blyton's much-loved detective club are back in a superbly entertaining new adventure

Growing up in New Zealand, the first mystery series I was really into was the Hardy Boys, even before Sherlock Holmes and Agatha Christie. But I also had a couple of Secret Seven books, which I enjoyed. 

So a couple of years ago when I spied a new Secret Seven tale, written by award-winning kids author Pamela Butchart more than fifty years after the conclusion of the original Enid Blyton series, I couldn't resist grabbing it for my then three-year-old daughter's 'future reads' bookshelf. I thought maybe she'd like the kids mysteries too. I read MYSTERY OF THE SKULL back then, and thought it was a fun tale - it had been so long since I'd read a Secret Seven story I wasn't sure how close to Blyton's original characters and stories Butchart's continuation tale was, but it was a good fun read. 

Recently I read it to Miss Now-Six, and she absolutely loved it. She's already a big Scooby Doo fan, so understands the idea of groups of kids banding up to solve mysteries, and MYSTERY OF THE SKULL just really clicked with her. We tore through it even faster than some other recent reads involving witches and magic etc (other favourite things), and she's really keen to read another. 

It's been thirty-plus years since I've read a Secret Seven book, so I can't accurately weigh up just how close or far from the original series this new instalment is in tone and atmosphere etc. But the 'old gang' are all back - Peter, Janet, Jack, Barbara, George, Pam and Colin. As well as dog Scamper and youngsters Susie and Binkie, who live to annoy the older sleuths.

It's a simple story, of course, but full of fun and some spookiness and low-level danger or heroes-in-peril to provide thrills for the younger readers. After a skull is found, the Secret Seven decide to investigate, and link the discovery to a local hotel which is under new ownership. The kids get up to all sorts of hijinks as they try to find out the truth, coming up with plans then seeing them go well sometimes, and badly awry at others. There's plenty of fun for little readers, with chases and secrets and events that can make you laugh and sneaking around and disguises and more. 

For me, THE MYSTERY OF THE SKULL read relatively timeless (eg no massive reliance on or reference to technology etc), while feeling somewhat modern rather than old-fashioned in tone.

It's a nice little mystery with some spookiness running through it that could delight younger readers. The kids are at the forefront, the heroes who drive the story with their actions. There's plenty of action and intrigue, and some funny moments. Tony Ross's quirky illustrations add further flavour.

Overall I think younger readers would enjoy this mystery, and be prompted to give Blyton's original books a go. There's enough crossover for it to feel like part of the same whole, while not feeling out-of-date. We tore through this quickly, and both had smiles on our faces throughout. Blyton created an interesting dynamic between her adolescent sleuths, and Butchart has picked up the baton well.

A fun, easy read recommended for younger mystery lovers, while still being a light and enjoyable palate cleanser for adult readers in among all the darker and more serious crime tales.

Craig Sisterson is a lapsed Kiwi lawyer who now lives in London and writes for magazines and newspapers in several countries. He’s interviewed hundreds of crime writers and talked about the genre on national radio, top podcasts, and onstage at festivals on three continents. Craig's been a judge of the Ned Kelly Awards, McIlvanney Prize, is founder of the Ngaio Marsh Awards and co-founder of Rotorua Noir. His book SOUTHERN CROSS CRIME, was published in 2020.

Review: KATIPO JOE: BLITZKRIEG

KATIPO JOE:BLITZKRIEG by Brian Falkner (Scholastic, 2020)

Reviewed by Alyson Baker

Young Joe is living in pre-WWII Berlin, with his British father and NZ mother, attending school and witnessing the excitement of his friends who are enthusiastically joining the Hitler Youth Movement. Joe feels uncomfortable with the growing mistreatment of local Jews, and after the arrest of his father as a spy, he is forced to escape from Berlin with his mother. Joe is separated from his mother and evacuated to New Zealand, and, while war looms in Europe, he is frustrated by his distance from the action, and his inability to do anything about finding his father. After a harrowing route back to Europe, Joe attempts to infiltrate the Hitler Youth movement in Germany while at the same time searching for his mother and father in wartime Berlin.

Joseph St George is enjoying his life as the son of British diplomats in late 1930s Berlin. His only regret is not being allowed to wear long trousers like his older friend Klaus, and not being old enough to join the Hitlerjugend, the Hitler Youth. But then things change suddenly – his father is arrested. Joe is shocked and worried, but he has good mates at school and enjoys bullying other kids as much as his friends do. He even joins in when they decide to harass the local Jewish baker, but when Joe sees brown-shirted soldiers beating the baker and making him and his wife clean their own blood off the cobbles, he can’t help but intervene.

Klaus comes and helps Joe to defend the baker, which is probably the only reason the brown-shirts stop, and the boys get away – Klaus is Martin Boorman’s nephew. Joe and Klaus become blood brothers. But soon after Joe and his mother must flee, and his mother seems to have extraordinary skills at evading followers. They have a nerve-wracking escape, and afterwards Joe is sent to New Zealand out of harm’s way. Joe doesn’t appreciate the peace of rural Aotearoa and can’t stand the idea of being away from all the action, so he stows away on a vessel taking food to besieged Londoners. He has an adventure on the high seas when the boat comes under fire from German U-boats.

Once in London, Joe befriends a group of kids and they help him trace his mother, who appears to be up to some strange goings-on. London during the Blitz is getting a bit too much for Joe when he manages to escape – by being kidnapped! He eventually ends up being enlisted into MI5, Joe’s fluency in colloquial German making him a valuable asset. After rigorous training, including how to kill people, he is sent on a top-secret mission to Paris. Joe finally gets to be a member of the Hitler Youth and re-unites with Klaus.

KATIPO JOE is a rip-roaring adventure story; we first meet Joe on the torpedo-threatened cargo vessel, and apart from when he is being billeted by a lovely young woman during his training, he is never really out of danger for the rest of the book. Joe soon finds out that there is a huge difference between the life of the spies he reads about in his adventure books and the life of a real spy. And he ends up confused and guilt-ridden rather than feeling himself a hero. And this is where KATIPO JOE is so good; at pointing out the blurriness around goodies and baddies, and the sometimes-horrific things people do to further what they see as the greater good.

The book is poignant in a way, we see glimpses of the childhood and friendships Joe might have had, had not things gone insane. And you really do get a feel for the surreal as Joe wanders around London: him seeing a zebra wandering through Camden Town; seeing his mother shoot someone; seeing the immediate ghastly results of the bombing of London, and the long term results, with many of those he meets having lost people. There is a great scene in a bomb shelter when Winston Churchill’s rallying speech receives a less than enthusiastic response. For Joe “The world is a crazy place and it is slowly driving him insane.”

Through the book there is a clear demarcation those who have enlisted to fight and innocent bystanders, and what motivates Joe is that the latter are as much in the firing line as the former. And what distresses him is that the indiscriminate killing is happening on both sides. And there is a shocking act by Joe that really gets you thinking through the rights and wrongs of it all. But this is all background to a thrilling read, and Joe acquits himself extraordinarily well, he reminded me of Alex Rider. And it appears this is not Joe’s last outing – a series is in the offing. The book is suitable for older children and YA readers, and is illustrated, and has a glossary and bibliography.

Alyson Baker is a crime-loving former librarian in Nelson. This review first appeared on her blog, which you can check out here. 

Review: THE CARLSWICK MYTHOLOGY

THE CARLSWICK MYTHOLOGY by SL Beaumont (PWP, 2018)

Reviewed by Karen Chisholm

When recently recovered Syrian antiquities are stolen in the Greek Islands, Stephanie Cooper and boyfriend James Knox find their vacation interrupted as they help archaeologist friends Kerry and Nico try to recover the treasures. But when one of the missing artefacts turns up in London, suspicion falls on James, who is in financial strife following the death of his grandfather.

With a crime syndicate also hunting for the relics, Stephanie and her friends become the target of their search. An irresistible clue sees Stephanie going against her better judgement and following a trail that leads to Geneva and Rome. Too late, she realises that there is more at stake than just two precious ancient artefacts.

The 5th in the Carlswick series, THE CARLSWICK MYTHOLOGY is a young adult (at the upper end of the age range), slightly female orientated series, based around main characters Stephanie Cooper and her rock drummer boyfriend James Knox. Whilst it's not absolutely necessary to have read any of the earlier books (THE CARLSWICK AFFAIR, THE CARLSWICK TREASURE, THE CARLSWICK CONSPIRACY and THE CARLSWICK DECEPTION), it did help that I'd read the 4th book, and therefore had a bit of an inkling of these two and how their version of a rock star lifestyle works.

In this outing James has invited Stephanie to a short holiday on a small Greek island where a good friend of hers is working on an archaeological dig. Right at the end of the holiday, friend Kerry discovers stolen Syrian antiquities, the recovery of which Stephanie and James soon become involved in. As they believed they were unsuccessful in recovering them, it comes as a big surprise to all of them when James is arrested on their return to London, in possession of one of the statues, accused of theft. Meanwhile Stephanie's summer job with New Scotland Yards' Art Fraud squad is tailor-made to get her into the right circles to investigate these statues and clear James. Add in some organised crime gang activity and a lot of chasing about and this is action packed without being overly taxing, romance that's not overly cloying, and a slight lack of Mythology which didn't occur until much later.

This is a solid YA series overall. It can sometimes be a little clunky when drawing facts into play, but the characters more than make up for any slight glitches there. The central pairing of Stephanie and James is lovely - romantic without being annoying and clingy, these are two equals despite Knox's rock star persona. The interweaving of the life of an indi-musician and that of Stephanie who is more of the investigator, the thinker of the pair works well, as do the plots overall. Well worth considering if you're in the upper age reaches of YA market, and looking for something that's got action, romance and a bit of daring doing.

Karen Chisholm is one of Australia's leading crime reviewers. She created Aust Crime Fiction in 2006, a terrific resource - please check it out. Karen also reviews for Newtown Review of Books, and is a Judge of the Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Novel. She kindly shares her reviews of crime and thriller novels written by New Zealanders on Crime Watch as well as on Aust Crime Fiction. 

Review: BETWEEN

BETWEEN by Adele Broadbent (One Tree House, 2018)

Reviewed by Karen Chisholm

Olly lives with his Mum. When he is grounded and unable to go to soccer camp he keeps running into Mad Martha who wanders the streets with her shopping trolley. He is forbidden to speak with her. Who is she, and what aren't they telling him?

As a young adult novel, BETWEEN, is a little firecracker of a story, mostly because Olly is a wonderful character. Grounded, a lot, in the relationship between the slightly naughty Olly, who is constantly drawn to Mad Martha, despite the blanket family ban on contact, the other side of that is the sort of mildly exasperated, slightly amused/confused manner of mums the world over.

That he's forbidden to speak to Mad Martha is, exactly as you'd expect, a red rag to a gentle, kindly little bull, who knows his family is a bit fractured, that his father died before he was even born, and his aunt is a tattletale, but he loves his Mum, everything about soccer (football), and likes spending time with his mates. It's just that he has less than zero impulse control - in a good way.

For people looking for crime fiction styled novels, this is much more of a family mystery, and even then it's considerably more on the what nobody is saying side, than tricky to nut out side. It is, however, an extremely engaging book and would have been tremendous fun to read although exactly what age group is somebody more qualified's call. Olly's a great kid and the slightly naughty side seemed to fit with those of a younger persuasion, although the mild paranormal/spooky stuff might have some people leaning towards the slightly older age group. I remember as a kid there was absolutely nothing in this world better than naughty kids or ghost stories, but that was a very long time ago, and parenting seems to have changed a lot since then.

From this reader's perspective, BETWEEN is exactly the sort of good-natured, adventuring, slow build, slightly spooky / paranormal style, with a slightly naughty kid from a loving and concerned family (including mildly nutty members) story that was enormously entertaining.

Karen Chisholm is one of Australia's leading crime reviewers. She created Aust Crime Fiction in 2006, a terrific resource - please check it out. Karen also reviews for Newtown Review of Books, and is a Judge of the Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Novel. She kindly shares her reviews of crime and thriller novels written by New Zealanders on Crime Watch as well as on Aust Crime Fiction. 

Review: THE TRESPASSER'S CLUB

THE TRESPASSER'S CLUB by Helen Vivienne Fletcher (HVF Publishing, 2018)

Reviewed by Craig Sisterson

Trespassers Club was just supposed to be a game, but sometimes going places you shouldn’t has consequences …  Laura has always spent her free time playing Trespassers Club with her sister, Katy. But Katy just turned thirteen and isn’t interested in playing games anymore.

When their family moves suburbs, Laura discovers an old abandoned house on her street. It seems like the perfect hideout, but something – or rather someone – is already hiding inside. Laura meets Jacob, a runaway teen in a lot of trouble. Who is Jacob and what is he hiding from … Will Laura get herself into trouble if she gets involved?

My love for mystery began as a schoolkid and library lover who devoured the Hardy Boys books and Enid Blyton's Secret Seven series as an adolescent and younger (for whatever reason I read the Secret Seven rather than the even-more-well-known Famous Five).

So among all the adult crime novels I read nowadays, it's nice to revisit middle grade and YA mysteries now and then. The books obviously tend to have a different level of violence and complexity, among other things, but they can still be cracking fun stories even for adult readers.

Wellington author Helen Vivienne Fletcher, a 2018 finalist for the Ngaio Marsh Awards for her debut young adult thriller BROKEN SILENCE, a harrowing and emotional tale about teen bullying, shows an equally good knack for middle grade fiction with THE TRESPASSER'S CLUB. This is a charming wee page-turner about Laura, a youngster who loves to go adventuring with her thirteen-year-old sister, struggles when the family moves and her older sister starts withdrawing, and then stumbles over a runaway teenager in an abandoned house. The runaway is wanted by the cops and is on the news, and Laura may unwittingly have made things much worse when she tries to help.

While THE TRESPASSER'S CLUB may not have the gut-punch issues of Fletcher's YA tales (appropriately so, given the younger audience), it is threaded with plenty of issues that will resonate with middle grade readers: sibling rivalry, accepting yourself and others, struggling with change. There's some good adventure and tension, some bad kids that Laura and the others have to thwart. The characters are well-drawn and there's a nice sense of the suburban environment. Overall this is a quick, fun read for adults and I expect it would be a really excellent read for 9-13 year olds.

One to buy for your kids, or nieces or nephews. And maybe read yourself too.

Craig Sisterson is a lawyer turned features writer from New Zealand, now living in London. In recent years he’s interviewed hundreds of crime writers and talked about the genre on national radio, top podcasts, and onstage at books festivals on three continents. He has been a judge of the Ned Kelly Awards and the McIlvanney Prize, and is founder of the Ngaio Marsh Awards. You can heckle him on Twitter. 

Review: CASSIE CLARK, OUTLAW

CASSIE CLARK: OUTLAW by Brian Falkner (One Tree House, 2018)

Reviewed by Alyson Baker

Cassie has survived a hit and run but now she hears her father has disappeared - supposedly run off with a news reporter. As a senior congressman and Speaker of the House, her father is an important player in the tense world of American politics. Cassie knows he would not walk away from his career or his family and she is determined to find out what really happened. But there are bigger players who are equally determined to stop her, and she no longer has a security detail ...I  am outside the law. And I'm coming for you. 

In the high-stakes world of politics and business, who can she trust?

Cassie Clark is an eighteen-year-old university literature student with a depressed mother, a prickly younger sister, a great friend called Jackson from Jackson, Mississippi, and a bodyguard. She is still recovering in hospital from being knocked off her bike when Cam, the bodyguard, tells her that her Speaker of the House of Representatives father has gone missing.

Cassie refuses to believe the reports that her father’s disappearance is connected to an infidelity, and she and Cam do a bit of investigating. But when Ethan Arbuckle, the husband of the journalist her father is supposed to have had an affair with who has also disappeared, sneaks her a note: trust no one, both Cassie and the reader start double guessing everyone’s motives.

Cassie enlists her mate Jackson, and his friend who is a conspiracy theorist and computer geek, to help her work out what story Janice Arbuckle might have been working on that made her a target. And she unearths a conspiracy theory of massive proportions, centred on agents so powerful they seem unassailable.

Cassie is loyal to her mother, despite her depression making her quite unpleasant, and to her sister whose vindictiveness is bottomless. But she inadvertently puts them, and her friends, in great peril, as she is determined to get to the bottom of the plot, which doesn’t end with her father, but reaches up to the highest echelons of US politics.

“I got brains. I got the ability to figure stuff out, to solve problems.” And Cassie does, without Cam, without Jackson, she battles on – and it comes in handy that she has done gymnastics and Kendo training! CASSIE CLARK: OUTLAW is full-on action; dams and bridges blowing up, forests set alight, snipers shooting through windows … yet Cassie still finds moments to ponder the beauty of the Joshua tree desert in the starlight, and to have regrets she didn’t recognise the writing talent of her sister, or the loneliness of her mother.

Despite the outlandish plot and daring actions of Cassie, the reader is drawn along, even Cassie is shocked at the pace: “I can’t believe that just a few weeks ago I was worrying about my end-of-year exams and my weight.” And she negotiates some pretty hairy situations, including having to make a snap decision which of two extremely important people to save.

CASSIE CLARK: OUTLAW is a YA novel, the language is quaintly softened (although it doesn’t avoid violence or death), and Cassie has a bit of a crush on Cam, but it would suit anyone of any age who likes a good adventure/thriller. And there is a big hint that there will be more Cassie Clark adventures to come.

Alyson Baker is a crime-loving librarian in Nelson. This review first appeared on her blog, which you can check out here. 

Review: UNDERWATER

UNDERWATER by Helen Vivienne Fletcher (2018)

Reviewed by Alyson Baker

Bailey has a lot of secrets, and a lot of scars, both of which she’d like to keep hidden. Unfortunately, Pine Hills Resort isn’t the kind of place where anyone can keep anything hidden for long.
When Bailey arrives, she just wants to get through summer quietly, spending as much time in the water as she can. Then she meets Adam.

Bailey’s not looking to make friends, but Adam isn’t easy to ignore. Neither is his ex-girlfriend, Clare. As Bailey grows closer to Adam, she draws Clare’s animosity. Will Bailey be able to keep her past a secret, or will Clare discover and reveal the sinister truth about how Bailey really got her scars? 

Bailey and her young sister, Tilly, have been taken by their Gran to multi-generational Pine Hills Resort to try and get over a traumatic experience.  They could stay in a cabin together, but Bailey opts for splitting up by demographic, and she enters the world of teenagers on their annual break – bitchiness, crushes, pranks and jealousies.  But Bailey also has her young sister to worry about, and the lasting effects of that terrible night …

Bailey used to be a competitive swimmer; she would literally submerge herself in her passion: “I never remember anything except the water.”  Her father used to criticise her for it – saying she used the water as a way of cutting herself off from her family.  But after the awful night when her parents were murdered, everything changed.  Realising that being amongst people she didn’t know meant she could lie, the lie she tells is that she can’t swim – not because she doesn’t want to; she doesn’t want people to see her scars.  She knows that people always want the gory details, but after that “they didn’t know what to say, and things got weird.”

Bailey makes friends: Adam who is there with his little brother Jack, and who has a lot in common with Bailey; Freya her cabin-mate; Amber and Jenny who have the cabin next door; and Clare, the most complicated, destructive and wounded of her new acquaintances.  All these people come to the resort every year, and it leaves Bailey playing catch-up, and vulnerable to mis-information.

Underwater is a ‘teenagers dealing with issues’ novel, Bailey sorting out what sort of relationship she wants with Adam, and shyness, sexual orientation, self-harm and gender difference all get an airing: “I guess they don’t realise the things that impress girls aren’t the same as the silly things other boys are impressed by.”  But beneath all of this is the slow burning dread of finding out what happened that night in Wellington, the consequences of extreme violence, the inability to talk about traumatic experiences – not even to counsellors, the guilt, the regret, and the nightmares.  And the realisation that your focus might be wrong, that a vital clue to what happened that night might be right there in front of you.

As well as being party to Bailey’s thoughts, there are clues to her state of mind: Seeing red board shorts at the pool as blood in the water, telling Tilly unbowdlerised versions of fairy tales, considering self-harm as a distraction … “… memories are like being underwater. You can see the real world, but it’s so remote you don’t feel connected to it” – like remembering how her mother used to wake her up in the night each year at her birth time – and turning seventeen and recognising for the first time “I had missed the moment I was born.”  Taking on the mother role for Tilly adds another veneer of sadness for Bailey.

I found myself wondering a bit about the existence of Gran and Tilly when they were apart from Bailey, Tilly and Jack spending a lot of time on the jungle gym, and I was hoping Gran wasn’t alone swigging G&Ts in her cabin.  But apart from that, Underwater is an absorbing read, there is a truly upsetting climactic scene, and the horror of what Bailey and little Tilly have lived though is skilfully revealed.  Another YA novel that will appeal to a wider group of readers.

Alyson Baker is a crime-loving librarian in Nelson. This review first appeared on her blog, which you can check out here. 

Review: MISTLETOE AND MURDER

MISTLETOE AND MURDER by Robin Stevens (Puffin, 2016)

Reviewed by Craig Sisterson

Daisy Wells and Hazel Wong are spending the Christmas hols in snowy Cambridge. Hazel has high hopes of its beautiful spires, cosy libraries and inviting tea-rooms - but there is danger lurking in the dark stairwells of ancient Maudlin College.

Two days before Christmas, there is a terrible accident. At least, it appears to be an accident - until the Detective Society look a little closer, and realise a murder has taken place. Faced with several irritating grown-ups and fierce competition from a rival agency, they must use all their cunning and courage to find the killer (in time for Christmas Day, of course).

In the past year or two I've been seeing more and more about Robin Stevens and her 'Murder Most Unladylike' mysteries for younger readers. So when I was going through a bit of a festive reading phase over the holiday period, I decided to buy this Christmas-themed tale and give it a go. I'm so glad I did. Although I mainly read adult crime fiction and this is more of a book for younger readers, I still really enjoyed it. I grew up reading the Hardy Boys and Secret Seven books, so this was like a walk down memory lane, while also being a fresh and fascinating take on middle grade mysteries.

The fifth in a series starring young friends and schoolgirl detectives Daisy Wells and Hazel Wong sees the plucky pair visiting Daisy's older brother at Maudlin college at the University of Cambridge for the Christmas holidays. It's the mid 1930s, and things are quite segregated at the famed university, so Daisy and Hazel stay with Daisy's great-aunt at one of the women's colleges, while also hanging out (with escorts) at brother Bertie's historic, all-male college, when they can. As the holiday festivities unfold Daisy and Hazel get involved in investigating a series of 'unfortunate accidents' that then become a murder case when a friend of Bertie's is killed. With another young detective pair, Alexander and George, also on the scene, the race is on to uncover what really happened within the walls of Maudlin College, and between the friends and siblings staying there over Christmas.

This was my first Wells & Wong mystery, but it certainly won't be the last. Stevens has a lovely storytelling style, easing readers into the mystery with great evocations of setting and establishing characters. There's more than a hint of Golden Age mystery about the whole thing, perhaps slightly knowing or tongue-in-cheek at times. It's great to see plenty of representation in this younger reader mystery - Hazel and another character are from Hong Kong, and there's a pair of brothers of Indian descent. It's a truer description of the times than other mysteries which whitewash history. The prejudices towards women, and those of different races, religions, or 'classes', are threaded throughout the story without overwhelming it or becoming soap-boxy.

Stevens really brings 1930s Cambridge to vivid life, as well as the festive season. I absolutely adored reading this over the Christmas period, but I think you could enjoy it any time of year (that just added a lovely extra layer). The mystery itself is good without being amazing, but the overall blend of characters, setting, events, and underlying issues is really top notch. An excellent read for younger mystery lovers (I'd put it in the must-read category), and a good read for anyone.

Craig Sisterson is a lawyer turned features writer from New Zealand, now living in London. In recent years he’s interviewed hundreds of crime writers and talked about the genre on national radio, top podcasts, and onstage at books festivals on three continents. He has been a judge of the Ned Kelly Awards and the McIlvanney Prize, and is founder of the Ngaio Marsh Awards. You can heckle him on Twitter. 

Review: RAIN FALL

RAIN FALL by Ella West (Allen & Unwin, 2018)

Reviewed by Alyson Baker

I'm not running late like I usually am. Maybe that's why I look in the river, maybe that's why I stop when I see it. A dark-coloured raincoat, the arms spread wide, floating, hood-first down the river. And then it starts to rain.

Fifteen-year-old Annie needs to get to her basketball match, but the police have cordoned off her road. Is her neighbour, who she grew up with, still alive? What has he done to have the police after him? 

A murder investigation brings new people to Annie's wild West Coast town, including a dark-haired boy riding the most amazing horse she has ever seen. But Annie is wary of strangers, especially as her world is beginning to crumble around her. In setting out to discover the truth Annie uncovers secrets that could rip the small community apart.

RAIN FALL is set in rain-soaked Westport, amidst mine closures and the decline in dairy prices. The town in depressed; the residents trying to make the best of things. But when 15-year-old Annie misses an important basketball game when her mate’s house across the street blows up while surrounded by the Armed Offenders Squad, and it looks like her Dad’s job might be the latest victim of the Stockton Mine staff reductions, and when she meets a rodeo star, things are never the same again.

RAIN FALL is a YA novel, told from Annie’s point of view. She is a realistic young woman, describing what it is like to be one of her peers: “You are all just the same. You are all just nobodies.” And of living on the Coast “This is the West Coast, … Anything can happen tomorrow. We take what we can get today.” Her descriptions of Westport are great, when asked when the wet season is: “It starts about the first of August and goes through until about the end of July”, and if the Buller River floods “Nothing survives if caught in its waters”.

So, a great environment to set a mystery, the young lad who blew up his house is generally thought to not be capable of hurting anyone: “Doesn’t sound like the Pete we know.” And the townsfolk keep information close, they are a besieged lot, they are pro-mining, pro-hunting, and not just anti ecological activists but pro Rimu-logging. Annie has picked up the secrecy bug and fails to tell her parents several things, including her knowledge of vital clues, and about her relationship with Jack, the rodeo star she meets on the beach while riding Blue, her horse – and yes, we are in pro-rodeo territory as well.

Once Annie and Jack meet, we are in a real YA romance novel; first kisses, mistaken beliefs, not knowing whether to trust or divulge secrets. Jack’s father is the detective sent up from Christchurch to find the missing Pete (no human remains being found in what’s left of his house), as well as blowing up his house Pete is known to have shot up the local Police station. And Jack’s dad is also there to solve a suspected murder that is somehow connected with the explosion. The Police think maybe a drug deal gone wrong, but they are struggling finding out what has happened.  And all we know is via the conversations Annie overhears, or the things she works out, or that she sees on TV between reports of conflicts in Syria and Iraq.

The Coast is a real character in the story, and its history is hauntingly evoked: People struggling on farms their families have been on for over a hundred years, the moving roll call of mining disasters, and the five layers of wall paper coming down in Annie’s house, in preparation should they have to move.  Annie has been in Westport forever, but her parents only moved there when she was a baby, so they are much more comfortable about moving should her father lose his job, while Annie is in a state of trauma about a possible move. She is a young woman amidst a whole lot of change, and she makes some quite rash decisions that get her, and Jack, into danger.

RAIN FALL is a love story, a murder mystery, a thriller, a book for horse-lovers, but what I most liked about it was its portrait of a town struggling with massive social change, and the character of Annie, she can ride, she can shoot (guns and basketball goals) and yet she has a lovely teenage fragility. It is a YA novel but is a good read for older people too!

Alyson Baker is a crime-loving librarian in Nelson, New Zealand. This review was first published on her blog, which you can check out here. 

Review: SCAVENGER HUNT

SCAVENGER HUNT by Meg Buchanan (Junction, 2017)

Reviewed by Craig Sisterson

Train hard. Ride fast. And win! That's what moto trials rider Josh Reeves usually lives for. But lately, even with coaching and a new bike on offer, life keeps getting in the way. When a game of dare gets out of control, Josh can't see a way out without looking weak in front of his mates. But now the cops are getting too close for comfort. To top it all off, he crashes his bike, so it looks like his season is over. Can he find a way to make everything right? Or are the police going to work out who is behind the random weekly thefts?

This is an exciting Kiwi young adult tale, full of action and some danger, with interesting characters who are struggling to find their place as they grow up and their lives are going through plenty of changes. I'm not really the target audience for this book, but I thoroughly enjoyed the read. I think it would be ideal for keen adolescent and teen readers looking for interesting and exciting reads.

For some adult readers, the main characters could come off as 'silly kids' early on, but Buchanan does a good job drawing readers into the story, and providing some nice depth and character arcs. The pages fly. You may roll your eyes at the antics Josh and his mates get up to, or the decisions various characters make, but there's a good sense of authenticity throughout. Characters make mistakes and poor choices, but it feels real, not author hand. Buchanan makes you care about the characters.

I liked the inclusion of the moto trials sport, and the way Buchanan took us into that world, providing plenty of detail and education about what goes into it, why people love it, and how it's different to other types of motor racing, without overwhelming the forward motion of the tale. I think she got the balance right, very well done, and that the setting could interest teen and adult readers alike.

While Josh and many of his moto trial mates are male, there are also some interesting female characters, and Buchanan again does well here, being realistic about teenagers without falling into stereotypes. Buchanan sets the hook well early on, and keeps the revs high throughout.

A good read, especially for those that like young adult tales with adventure and intrigue.

Craig Sisterson is a lawyer turned features writer. He’s interviewed hundreds of crime writers and talked about the genre on national radio, top podcasts, and onstage at books festivals on three continents. He's been a judge of the Ned Kelly Awards, the McIlvanney Prize, and is founder of the Ngaio Marsh Awards. You can heckle him on Twitter. 

Review: HOW NOT TO STOP A KIDNAP PLOT

HOW NOT TO STOP A KIDNAP PLOT by Suzanne Main (Scholastic, 2017)

Reviewed by Craig Sisterson

Michael is on a mission. After a run-in with his sworn enemy, Angus, Michael’s brilliant payback plan BACKFIRES. Now he’s in the school production–as a tree–his WORST NIGHTMARE! When Michael discovers a twisted KIDNAP PLOT, his troubles soon multiply. It’s obvious that rich-kid Angus is the target. Can Michael and his motley bunch of mates solve the kidnap mystery and destruct a planet-threatening plan BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE? A high-tech adventure by the award-winning author of How I Alienated My Grandma.

My love affair with mystery stories began three decades ago with the Hardy Boys books, before flowing through Agatha Christie and Nils Olof Franzen as a keen adolescent reader. But I don't tend to read much if any juvenile or young adult fiction anymore. Maybe I should, as I loved the David Wallaims and Matt Haig books I read as 'palate cleansers' last year among crime judging and reviewing, and I was also delighted by this recent read from Kiwi kids author Suzanne Main.

There's a misperception in some circles that writing for kids is 'easier' than writing for adults, perhaps because the language may not be as complex or the plotlines not quite so multi-layered or the themes not so subtle or nuanced. Frankly, that's bullshit. Many young readers are very smart and can cope with all sorts of content and plot twists, and the crime authors who try to cater to them need to deliver not only compelling plotlines packed with mystery and intrigue, but engaging characters that resonated with the younger readership, while also offering humour and not patronising the readers.

Across the board, Suzanne Main delivers with HOW NOT TO STOP A KIDNAP PLOT.

This tale sees the return of young high schoolers Michael and Elvis from Main's award-winning debut (HOW I ALIENATED MY GRANDMA). They're an engaging pair of friends, struggling to negotiate all the trials and tribulations of growing up as suburban kids. Needing revenge on his stuck-up schoolmate Angus, Michael plots a suitable prank, only to end up imprisoned as a tree in the high school production. When he overhears a kidnap plot, he assumes that Angus - his mortal enemy, sort of - is in danger. So what does a young man do? Should he try to save his foe, or let whatever happens happen. Would anyone believe the outrageous story anyway, after the prank Michael pulled?

It's a tricky spot for Michael and Elvis, made even trickier as they try to protect Angus without letting him, or any parents or teachers, know of the kidnap plot. As their best efforts just make the situation even worse, they're forced to confront some real-life criminals who are up to no good.

But who is behind it all? Can the kids be safe if they don't find out?

This was a great read that made me smile throughout. I loved the characters of Michael and Elvis, along with Angus and the other school kids. There was a great sense of the confusion, good intentions and embarrassing outcomes that often occur during adolescence. There are laugh out loud moments in among plenty of mystery and intrigue. Main salts in plenty of modern touches (eg spibots, drones, computer technology) that will fascinate younger readers, alongside timeless themes of being a youngster, having good friends and adventures, and being worried about how you're seen by others.

Just a great read, whether you're a keen kid or an adult who wants to mix up your menu.

Craig Sisterson is a lapsed lawyer who writes features for newspapers and magazines in several countries. In recent years he has interviewed 200 crime writers, discussed the genre onstage at books festivals on three continents, on national radio and popular podcasts, and has been a judge of the Ned Kelly Awards, the McIlvanney Prize, and is the founder of the Ngaio Marsh Awards. You can heckle him on Twitter: @craigsisterson

Review: THE CONTEST

THE CONTEST by Carne Maxwell (2017)

Reviewed by Carolyn McKenzie

Martin Fallaway is dying. With no family to whom he can leave his surplus fortune, he holds a contest on his tropical island, where ten families compete to be the last team left in order to claim the prize of thirty million dollars. Arriving on the island, the contestants’ need for shelter is paramount, but the warm, sunny days, powder-white sand and crystal clear waters cloak their perspectives. When a storm hits, causing the first departure, the remaining contestants realize their time on the island might not be as idyllic as they first thought.

As the days tick slowly by, hidden dangers begin to manifest themselves; insecurities creep in, personalities change, inquisitive minds take over and secrets become lies. Reckless decisions made change their lives forever and when the unthinkable happens and their very existence is threatened, the island becomes their darkest nightmare. With time running out and the remaining contestants’ trust in one another challenged, can they bury their consciences and risk everything, or will the emotional sacrifice be too great? 

Like survivors of a shipwreck, ten hugely disparate families are conveyed to an idyllic deserted island somewhere in the Pacific Ocean. All they have to do is build a shelter and survive for three months. At the end of that time, the families that are still on the island will have a chance to win $30,000,000.

To help them survive, each family has some supplies provided by the contest organiser and some more supplies that they have chosen themselves. As well, the island has plenty of fresh water, an abandoned orchard providing exotic fruit, and chemically designed green bins.

The contest is the idea of Martin Fallaway. Although he is dying of cancer, his love of adventure and mischief prevents him from simply donating his fortune to the needy. Instead he has pitted these families, chosen at random, against nature and each other.

Once conveyed to the island, the dangers of the tropics emerge along with the nastier side of human nature. In The Contest Carne Maxwell’s families interact with each other, figuring out who to like and trust and who to avoid. Inevitably there is deceit, spitefulness and kindness; mistrust, bigotry and romance.

Maxwell uses a range of unfortunate events and misadventures to gradually reduce the number of competing families, but right down to the last pages there is no real clue of how the contest is going to end. Maxwell keeps up the pace, alternating tragedy with moments when the teams come together and forget they are competing, or when the adults and teenagers muse on their feelings and their family dynamics.

The Contest is a well-written, easy but suspenseful read. As well, it is a showcase for Carne Maxwell’s many talents. Not only is she the book’s author: she painted the cover illustration (a slightly sinister abstract scene that is a warning that while the setting may be very beautiful, there is something menacing lurking in paradise) and designed the book’s layout and cover, and did the typesetting.

Carolyn McKenzie is a freelance proofreader, copy editor, and Italian-English translator. She also offers holiday accommodation for writers and others in Thames, New Zealand and Ventimiglia Alta, Italy.  This review was first published in FlaxFlower reviews, which focuses on in-depth reviews of New Zealand books of all kinds, and is reprinted here with the kind permission of Bronywn Elsmore and Carolyn McKenzie. 

Review: THE LIE TREE

THE LIE TREE by Francis Hardinge (Pan Macmillan, 2015)

Reviewed by Shane Donald

Faith Sunderly leads a double life. To most people, she is reliable, dull, trustworthy - a proper young lady who knows her place as inferior to men. But inside, Faith is full of questions and curiosity, and she cannot resist mysteries: an unattended envelope, an unlocked door. She knows secrets no one suspects her of knowing. She knows that her family moved to the close-knit island of Vane because her famous scientist father was fleeing a reputation-destroying scandal. And she knows, when her father is discovered dead shortly thereafter, that he was murdered.

In pursuit of justice and revenge, Faith hunts through her father's possessions and discovers a strange tree. The tree bears fruit only when she whispers a lie to it. The fruit of the tree, when eaten, delivers a hidden truth. The tree might hold the key to her father's murder - or it may lure the murderer directly to Faith herself.

This novel may seem like an odd choice for a blog about crime fiction, given that it could be regarded as a young adult coming of age story. However, The Lie Tree is a novel that works on many levels that go beyond labels such as young adult fiction or crime novel. In fact, this book is hard to categorize, given that it contains so many elements.

On the surface this is the story of a teenage girl living in Victorian England named Faith Sunderly who feels out of place in the social world she inhabits. Her father is a well-known natural scientist with little time for his children and her mother is focused on fitting in with social mores to the point that she is guilty of hypocrisy in the eyes of her daughter who is learning to understand how the adult world functions. Her younger brother is the favoured child because he is male and can expect to carry on the family name when he is older. All Faith can do to honour her family is to marry well. For Faith, this isn’t the future she sees for herself. Seen as difficult by the adults around her, Faith utilizes what she sees as her greatest talent – fading into the background and listening to what others have to say, unobserved.

The story opens with her father disgraced and the family moving to the island of Vane to escape the scandal. Accused of fabricating his academic findings, her father moves his family away, taking with him a box that contains a plant. After alienating many of the island’s inhabitants with his domineering manner, her father is found dead, fallen from a cliff. While many believe he has committed suicide, Faith clings to the belief that her father was murdered. After reading his diary, she is convinced and conceives of a way of finding the truth. The plant her father has hidden away is known as the Mendacity Tree. If she tells a lie enough people believe, the tree will bear fruit and eating the fruit will let her see the truth…

I enjoyed this book a great deal and as I wrote above, this is a book that defies description and can’t be placed in any one particular category. Lies are told, murder is done and a daughter comes to realize that her father was fallible and all too human. Like many people, he is willing to lie in order to get the things he desires. Through investigating his death, Faith is able to come to terms with the man her father was and the person she hopes to become.

The Lie Tree won the Costa best book award in the UK in 2015. Despite being marketed as a book for young adults, I’d recommend this tale to anyone who enjoys a well-written story with realistic characters that stay with you long after the narrative ends.

Shane Donald is a New Zealander living in Taiwan. An avid reader with 3,000 books in his home, he completed a dissertation on Ngaio Marsh for his MA degree, and also has a PhD in applied linguistics

Review: NIGHT VISION

NIGHT VISION by Ella West (Allen & Unwin, 2014)

Reviewed by Craig Sisterson


Viola was born with a genetic condition that makes sunlight deadly. In the dark of night, when most teenagers are tucked up in bed, Viola has the run of her parents' farm and the surrounding forest. She is used to seeing hidden things through her night-vision goggles, but one night she sees something that could get her into a whole lot of trouble...

Like the rare Kiwi or even rarer Kakapo (native New Zealand birds), young Viola is a truly unique creature living a nocturnal life exploring the New Zealand bush. Born with unusual genetic condition Xeroderma Pigmentosum, XP for short, Viola is at risk from anything that emits ultra-violet light, including the sun. Burning, blistering, alterations to her DNA, cancer.

In danger from daylight, Viola is one of 'the moon children', and while her parents sleep she explores the family sheep farm and surrounding forest by night, sharing the natural world with the moreporks, possums, and other creatures prowling the darkness.

One night, she witnesses a vicious and violent crime, and sees the perpetrator bury a sack of money. With her parents in financial difficulties and in danger of losing their farm, Viola decides to take the money to help her family, drip-feeding it to them over time. While the Police are looking in the wrong direction, Viola finds herself in the criminal's crosshairs after a newspaper interview about her and her condition tips off the local drug dealer as to just who might have taken his money. 

I think Night Vision would be a superb mystery thriller for adolescent readers (middle graders for those in the United States) but can also be enjoyed by older teenagers and adults. I certainly liked it a lot, even though it's quite a bit 'simpler' than the adult crime novels I usually read. The tale is smoothly written and West does a great job weaving in lots of interesting characters, themes, and setting in among the page-turning 'how will Viola outwit a dangerous criminal?' plotline.

Viola is the heart of Night Vision, a unique adolescent who's had to face many challenges and restrictions in her young life and has no chance to live the life of a 'normal kid', no matter how much she might want to. Her first person narration draws us into her world, her perspective, her life. Viola's a remarkable 14-year-old who still feels very real, mature for her age but still her age and not too adult or 'author in a teen body' (a flaw in some young adult books). She's engaging and interesting.

I also enjoyed the way West brought the New Zealand rural setting to life, life on the farm and in the forest. The nocturnal perspective on the local bush, the dual serenity and danger of nature, was well evoked and created an atmospheric backdrop to the tale. Night Vision has an eerie elegance to it, absorbing more than helter-skelter thrilling in tone, full of interesting characters and information that is adroitly parsed out in an engaging manner that doesn't disrupt the way the storyline unfolds.

From medical conditions to music, nature to questions of natural justice, Night Vision tickled my mind as I turned the pages, just as Viola tickled my heart. A very good read from a talented storyteller.

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Craig Sisterson is a New Zealander who writes for newspapers and magazines in several countries. He has interviewed 150 crime and thriller writers, discussed the genre at literary festivals and on national radio, and is the Judging Convenor of the Ngaio Marsh Award. You can follow him on Twitter: @craigsisterson