THIS WEEK’S CANBERRA WEEKLY COLUMN: 24 OCTOBER 2019: Michael Connelly, Sara Foster and Jane Cockram

In this week’s Canberra Weekly, I review new crime novels by Michael Connelly and two Australians: Sara Foster and Jane Cockram

Michael Connelly’s The Night Fire is another master class in crime writing and will keep you happily engaged from beginning to end. See my longer review at
https://murdermayhemandlongdogs.com/the-night-fire-by-michael-connelly-allen-unwin-32-99/

Jane Cockram makes a promising debut with her combination of domestic suspense and Gothic novel, The House Of Brides. The central character, Miranda, is probably a bit too self-obsessed and hapless, but otherwise this is a very enjoyable novel full of drama, past and present tragedies and mystery. There are also some nice wry comments and amusing touches. Good fun.

Sara Foster continues to improve with each book and You Don’t Know Me is a very engaging novel. The dual storyline about Noah’s and Alice’s past lives and secrets works well, and once the Coronial Inquest into the long missing Lizzie Burdett gets underway the pace really picks up. The twist at the end really took me by surprise and I thought that Foster packed some nice emotional power into the final two pages. Personally, I thought that more grit and less corny romance would have elevated it into Dervla McTiernan and Jane Harper territory, but overall it was enjoyable. The interweaving of the podcast into the story, a increasingly frequent device these days, gave it a nice modern feel and helped to move the story along without too many flashbacks. Four stars out of five for those who enjoy romantic suspense.