The governor's house by J. H. Fletcher

At nearly 500p., this book will stop you doing the ironing for a fair while as you follow the rises and falls in love and fortune of Cat Haggard who was wrongly convicted of a crime and transported to Australia. Over time, and with great risks, she builds a business empire in Van Diemen's Land.

Her current day descendant, Joanne, is tasked with unravelling a mystery Cat left behind but will she be able to decipher a coded notebook? This book reminded me of Judy Nunn's The tiger men' with characters braving adversity to achieve their goals.

Citation: Fletcher, J H The governor's house North Sydney: Harlequin Mira, 2015.

9781743692691

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The long con by Barry Weston

The slightly dodgy Frank Cousins, an ex-Queensland cop turned private investigator, provides an entertaining life for us to ride along with. The owner and sole employer of the Tasmanian Private Investigation Agency cannot seem to stop getting in over his head.

Humour, pathos and a good dose of common sense (courtesy of Frank's old mum and dad) kept me wanting more, and I look forward to more in the Tasmanian Private Investigation Agency series.


Citation: Weston, Barry The long con Bittern, Vic: Clan Destine, 2016.

ISBN: 9780994261960

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LINC Tasmania items by Barry Weston

Barry Weston's website.

The chocolate promise by Josephine Moon

If you are after a light 'chicklit' read, with lots about chocolate, then this is the book for you! (Fans of Livia Day's 'Cafe la femme' series should definitely try it.)

Christmas Livingstone, owner of 'The Chocolate Apothecary' store at Evandale, tempers chocolate and makes her own handmade delicacies. As a sideline she acts as fairy godmother to fulfill others' greatest wishes.

Her life seems complete until Lincoln van Luc, a tall, dishevelled botanist, seeks her help to bring his story of a rare cacao plant from Ecuador to life. Can she do this as well as undertake the scholarship to France she has won to study with world-renowned chocolatier, Maitre Le Coutre, and cope with the antics of her extended family?

Citation: Moon, Josephine The chocolate promise Crows Nest, N.S.W.: Allen & Unwin, 2015.

ISBN: 978 1 74331 800 3

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LINC Tasmania items by Josephine Moon

Josephine Moon's website

Fatal impact by Kathryn Fox

After reading a review of this book in the newspaper, I was eagerly awaiting it's arrival via the library holds system and I was not disappointed. This is the first Dr. Anya Crichton book I have read and Kathryn Fox has delivered a tense thriller.

Anya is a forensic pathologist and while speaking at a conference in Hobart, an old woman pleads with her for assistance to find her daughter and grandchildren. After finding one child dead from a virulent strain of food poisoning, Anya becomes involved in tracing the source of the outbreak. Organic farms and multinationals, combined with political intrigue, provide a compelling framework for the book. The only drawback from this reader's view was the poor editing of some placenames in Tasmania. It is really easy to check the spelling, and there is no excuse for 'Signet' (Cygnet) and 'Bernie' (Burnie).

Citation: Fox, Kathryn Fatal impact  Sydney: Pan Macmillan Australia, c2014

ISBN: 9781742612324

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Kathryn Fox's website

A trifle dead by Livia Day

This was an extremely entertaining book by Livia Day, and is listed as the first in the 'Cafe la femme' series. In the true spirit of a culinary crime novel there are dessert recipes at the end for adventurous readers to try.

It is a cross between chicklit and murder mystery, with main character Tabitha Darling trying to run a hipster cafe in Hobart and simultaneously finding herself involved in a string of crimes across Hobart.

Citation: Day, Livia  A trifle dead : a cafe la femme novel  [n.p.]: Deadlines, 2013.

ISBN: 9780987216298

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Livia Day's website. Livia Day also writes fantasy novels as Tansy Rayner Roberts

Bay of Fires by Poppy Gee

 

A tranquil summer holiday spot on Tasmania's east coast has it's peace shattered when a  young woman is found dead just twelve months after another girl went missing. Gee interweaves the lives of her characters bringing their alliances and disputes to a simmering tension in the hot summer.

 

Sarah Avery is escaping failure in her relationship and her work and becomes obsessed with the girls' fates. Journalist Hall Flynn tackles the task of making sense of the story strands, while also trying to develop an understanding with Sarah.

 

Poppy Gee's first novel builds the suspense and tension as different groups propose suspects and start taking the law into their own  hands.

 

Citation: Gee, Poppy  Bay of Fires London : Headline, 2013.

 

ISBN: 978 0 7553 8784 7

 

LINC Tasmania catalogue record for "Bay of Fires"

 

Poppy Gee's website

 

Bloodlust by Nick Bleszynski

This novelisation of true events depicts a chilling tale of convict life in early Tasmania. Bleszynski creates a strong sense of Pearce's amazing exploits through the 'discovery' of his written memoirs at the remains of Sarah Island penal colony by a rich young American, Daniel Ruth, thirty years after Pearce's death.

 

With a mixture of action, and Pearce's reflections before he heads to the gallows, readers are drawn into an engrossing portrayal of a brutal penal colony and harsh landscape, and the lengths to which people go to survive.

Citation: Bleszynski, Nick  Bloodlust : the unsavoury tale of Alexander Pearce, the convict cannibal  North Sydney : William Heinemann, 2008.

ISBN: 978 1 74166 700 4  387p.

LINC Tasmania catalogue record for "Bloodlust"
LINC Tasmania items by Nick Bleszynski