Annie —
Unbury the Dead by Fiona Hardy
I am a sucker for Australian crime and this one packs a real punch. Fiona Hardy has previously written for children, and her debut adult fiction features all of the zingy dialogue and fast-paced intrigue required to keep younger readers turning the page. But the kid-gloves are off in this gritty, funny and twisty thriller set in Victoria’s shady underbelly.
Teddy and her best friend Alice are guns for hire — they draw the line at murder (probably) but will do almost anything else for their unscrupulous boss Choker (and a hefty fee). While on holiday from the violence of their day jobs, Alice and Teddy each get a call with lucrative, simple and apparently unrelated missions. Teddy is to track down a wayward youth in the suburbs with another sometime colleague, while Alice undertakes to drive the dead body of a wealthy client to his final resting place before anyone gets wind of his demise. As their cases somehow converge, the two friends are forced to face the weight of their own choices and try to unravel the grubby threads that tie these events together. Fans of Peter Temple or S A Crosby will adore this Aussie noir.
Nina —
Rapture by Emily Maguire
Maybe it’s just me, but the idea of running away through the forest, taking on a new name, and living an adventuous life of anonymity and wonder, seems pretty compelling from time to time. This is probably why I picked up Emily Maguire’s latest novel. Set in ninth-century Mainz, the story follows young Agnes, the motherless child of an English priest. Through her eyes, the world harbours a hidden magic that she discovers through an aquiantance with God, twinkling in the woods and the pages of books. At eighteen, to embrace the life she feels she deserves most fully, she adopts a fake identity: John the Englishman. Soon, we bear witness to a girl who becomes a scribe, who becomes a priest, who becomes a leader.
The story is propelled by stakes that continue to rise as Agnes falls deeper into this tapestry of lies, and rise higher still as she tries to ward off her instincts as a woman and an individual; flood, famine, romance, and rivalry all hazard her survival. Through writing that is vivid and visceral, Maguire also manages to tease out questions about the human spirit, feminism, and the nature of religion. Well researched and incredibly memorable!
Annie —
Miss Caroline Bingley, Private Detective by Kelly Gardiner & Sharmini Kumar
Another crime novel with a very different tone took my interest this month. Miss Caroline Bingley, the spurned love interest of Pride and Prejudice’s Mr Darcy, turns her prodigious mind to the problem of a missing maid, uncovering a murder and a dastardly plot along the way. Austen buffs Sharmini Kumar and Kelly Gardiner have teamed up to recast the snobbish Miss Bingley as a precursor to Sherlock Holmes, albeit with the constraints of her gender and societal position to contend with. On the trail of Jayani, maid to the kind but naive Georgiana Darcy, Caroline explores a much less genteel side of Regency London than she’s used to. When she finds Jayani accused of her brother Sameer’s murder, Miss Bingley sets herself the mission of solving the mystery and clearing Jayani’s name.
This historical crime rollicks along, reprising minor characters from Austen’s masterpiece alongside events like the 1814 Frost Fair and the machinations of the East India Company. While Caroline is clever, she is discovering the art of detection as she goes, and the modern reader is often a step ahead, knowing the genre’s hallmarks. The nuances of the plot still allow for surprises, combining artful twists and a healthy dose of action with considerable character development, while moments of comedy and revelation spring from the contrast between upstairs and downstairs sensibilities. Readers of Abir Mukherjee, Alison Goodman and, of course, Jane Austen, will be right at home with Miss Caroline Bingley, Private Detective.