Review of Sandy Meredith's A Death in Custody

Blood on the Streets as a Town Explodes' boomed the front page of the Sydney Morning Herald one winter's morning in 1987. Heavily armed police had been dispatched to quell a 'race riot' in a northern New South Wales town after yet another young Aboriginal man had died in police custody. Intent on learning the real story behind the headlines, Lou Williams, aspiring investigative journalist, goes north. Each character she meets -- country and western singers, community elders, militants and mechanics -- give her a fragment of the truth. In 'a death in custody' these fragments combine into a mosaic stained with entrenched and deadly racism.


This story is a fictional account of events that ignited anger, suspicion and outrage across Australia, and that led to the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody which investigated the deaths of 99 Aboriginals in police custody in the 1980s. Little has changed since then.

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Where do I start, this book has a really important message in it about racism and the unfair treatment of Aboriginals. A problem not unique to Australia. My problem with this book is Lou the main character. I really couldn't relate to this girl, who seemed to be this bipolar, chain smoking alcoholic. Lou's point of view made it really hard to get through this book. I can't tell you how many times I face palmed because this girl was such an idiot. Through the voices of the other characters the author dumps a lot of important facts surrounding Aboriginals in the 80s.  However since I found it not to be focused the message got lost and for me this book read more like an essay than a work of fiction. I would recommend this book for those who are interested in knowing about Aboriginal situation in Australia in the 80s. 3/5 diamonds

Review of Keigo Higashino's Malice: A Mystery

悪意

Acclaimed bestselling novelist Kunihiko Hidaka is found brutally murdered in his home on the night before he’s planning to leave Japan and relocate to Vancouver. His body is found in his office, a locked room, within his locked house, by his wife and his best friend, both of whom have rock solid alibis. Or so it seems.

At the crime scene, Police Detective Kyochiro Kaga recognizes Hidaka’s best friend, Osamu Nonoguchi. Years ago when they were both teachers, they were colleagues at the same public school. Kaga went on to join the police force while Nonoguchi eventually left to become a full-time writer, though with not nearly the success of his friend Hidaka.
As Kaga investigates, he eventually uncovers evidence that indicates that the two writers’ relationship was very different that they claimed, that they were anything but best friends.  But the question before Kaga isn't necessarily who, or how, but why. In a brilliantly realized tale of cat and mouse, the detective and the killer battle over the truth of the past and how events that led to the murder really unfolded. And if Kaga isn't able to uncover and prove why the murder was committed, then the truth may never come out. 

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This is the only book in Higashino's Kyoichiro Kaga series available in English. It's book 4 in the series. Even though it's the fourth book in the series you do get a back story for the main character Kyoichiro Kaga. This story is entirely character driven and from the start like in his Detectitive Galileo series you find out who the killer is. The best part of the book is finding out why he did it. My main problem in this book is that it spent too much time explaining, there were parts that I just had to skim over because it when into (in my opinion) over explanation mode. Besides that it was a decent read I gave it.  3/5 diamonds

Review of Keigo Higashino's The Salvation of Saints

聖女の救済 (Seijo no Kyusai)

Yoshitaka, who was about to leave his marriage and his wife, is poisoned by arsenic-laced coffee and dies. His wife, Ayane, is the logical suspect—except that she was hundreds of miles away when he was murdered. The lead detective, Tokyo Police Detective Kusanagi, is immediately smitten with her and refuses to believe that she could have had anything to do with the crime. His assistant, Kaoru Utsumi, however, is convinced Ayane is guilty. While Utsumi’s instincts tell her one thing, the facts of the case are another matter. So she does what her boss has done for years when stymied—she calls upon Professor Manabu Yukawa.

But even the brilliant mind of Dr. Yukawa has trouble with this one, and he must somehow find a way to solve an impossible murder and capture a very real, very deadly murderer.
Salvation for a Saint is Keigo Higashino at his mind-bending best, pitting emotion against fact in a beautifully plotted crime novel filled with twists and reverses that will astonish and surprise even the most attentive and jaded of readers. 

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The Salvation of Saints is book 5 in the Detective Galileo series. This is a really engaging book. Like his other books you already know from the first chapter who committed the crime. It's how they went about committing it and then covering it up that is the most interesting part. In this book the Detective Galileo is less present and less annoying then in the Devotion of Suspect X, which for me makes it a better read. I definitely recommend this book, if you’re going to read just one of Higashino's books in the Detective Galileo series that are available in English this is the book to read.  4/5 diamonds 

Review of Keigo Higashino's The Devotion of Suspect X

(容疑者Xの献身, Yōgisha Ekkusu no Kenshin)

Yasuko Hanaoka is a divorced, single mother who thought she had finally escaped her abusive ex-husband Togashi. When he shows up one day to extort money from her, threatening both her and her teenaged daughter Misato, the situation quickly escalates into violence and Togashi ends up dead on her apartment floor. Overhearing the commotion, Yasuko’s next door neighbor, middle-aged high school mathematics teacher Ishigami, offers his help, disposing not only of the body but plotting the cover-up step-by-step.

When the body turns up and is identified, Detective Kusanagi draws the case and Yasuko comes under suspicion. Kusanagi is unable to find any obvious holes in Yasuko’s manufactured alibi and yet is still sure that there’s something wrong. Kusanagi brings in Dr. Manabu Yukawa, a physicist and college friend who frequently consults with the police. Yukawa, known to the police by the nickname Professor Galileo, went to college with Ishigami. After meeting up with him again, Yukawa is convinced that Ishigami had something to do with the murder. What ensues is a high level battle of wits, as Ishigami tries to protect Yasuko by outmaneuvering and outthinking Yukawa, who faces his most clever and determined opponent yet. 


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This is my first Keigo Higashino novel and my introduction into the Detective Galileo series. Now I think I need to warn people who can't read Japanese for this novel is not the first in the series it's the third so you don't get a back story. There no explanation on how or why detective Galileo (who isn't even a detective but a physicist)  is involved and to be honest I wish for a huge part of the book that he wasn't involved at all.  I find that the whole story would have been just fine without that character. Any way I really do love the different approach that Higashino takes in his novels, he tells his readers from the start who committed the crime. The real mystery is how they've (the criminals) covered their tracks and how the police try to uncover the truth.  3.5/5

Japan June Wrap up

Hey Everyone,

This month I participated in Japan June which was started by Sabrina +unmanagedmischief Mercedes' +MercysBookishMusings and Colleen +LittleGhostCreations  on Youtube their channels are below if you want to get more details

Mercedes' video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RyF8D6mVXpM
Colleen's video  https://ww.youtube.com/watch?v=RVyiwC2pk

The books I read this month were all by Keigo Higashino since he is the only Japanese author on my TBR shelf at the current moment.

The books I read were

    

In the next couple of weeks I'll be posting my reviews for all of these books

Cheers

Review on Paula Hawkins' The Girl on the Train

Three women, three men, connected through marriage or infidelity. Each is to blame for something. But only one is a killer in this nail-biting, stealthy psychological thriller about human frailty and obsession. 
Just what goes on in the houses you pass by every day? 
     Rachel takes the same commuter train every morning and evening, rattling over the same junctions, flashing past the same townhouses.The train stops at the same signal every day, and she sees the same couple, breakfasting on their roof terrace. Jason and Jess, as she calls them, seem so happy. Then one day Rachel sees someone new in their garden. Soon after, Rachel sees the woman she calls Jess on the news. Jess has disappeared. 
     Through the ensuing police investigation, Rachel is drawn deeper into the lives of the couple she learns are really Megan and Scott Hipwell. As she befriends Scott, Rachel pieces together what really happened the day Megan disappeared. But when Megan's body is found, Rachel finds herself the chief suspect in the case. Plunged into a world of betrayals, secrets and deceptions, Rachel must confront the facts about her own past and her own failed marriage. 
     A sinister and twisting story that will keep you guessing at every turn,The Girl on the Train is a high-speed chase for the truth.

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The Girl on the train is page turning thriller where the narrative of the different points of view is unreliable. I really love Rachel's voice in this book as it's her character that pulls you along. She's a very real character with real problems and who doesn't always do the right or smart thing. This book is completely character driven, however it does give you great description of the world that Rachel lives in. I really recommend this book for those who love mystery where the narrator is not trust worthy. 

Japan June

Hey Everyone,

This month I will be participating in Japan June that was started by Sabrina +unmanagedmischief Mercedes' +MercysBookishMusings and Colleen +LittleGhostCreations  on Youtube their channels are below if you want to get more details

Mercedes' video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RyF8D6mVXpM
Colleen's video  https://ww.youtube.com/watch?v=RVyiwC2pk

The books I'll be reading this month are all by Keigo Higashino since he is the only Japanese author on my TBR shelf at the current moment.

The books I'll be reading are

    

Unfortunately the only challenge that I may participate in is read a graphic novel, I haven't decided which one yet so I would let you guys now what I decided to read during my month end wrap up 

Also I would be going a review on all the books I read so stay tune

Cheers

the Bookish Summer Vacation Tag

 Starting a new tag

Or at least I hope it's new

It's called the Bookish Summer Vaca (Vacation) Tag

You can use books that you already have on your TBR or on your bookshelf or a book that you would like to get and you have to pair it with a drink unique to the country you're visiting

-what book would you take to a tropical island?

****I would take a book to French Polynesia and while there I'll be sipping on some fresh coconut water  about mermaids I'm currently trying to decided between Anne Banks' of Poseidon series,  Sarah Porter's  the Lost Voices series and Amanda Hocking's the Watersong series. If anyone has any recommendations let me know (no spoilers please)

    

-what book would you take on a road trip?

****I would take a road trip to New Orleans and I would have a coffee at Cafe du Monde, while rereading Anne Rice's Interview with the Vampire

-what book would you take on a camping trip?

****On a camping trip I would read Holly Black's The Darkest Part of the Forest while drinking Vietnamese ice coffee (^.~)

-what book would you take on a trip to Europe? (if you’re not from Europe)

****On a trip to Scotland while drinking a good cup of tea I would read Diana Gabaldon

-what book would you take on a trip to North, Central or South America? (if you’re not from there)

I live here

What book would you take on a trip to Asia? (if you’re not from there)

****While on a trip to Japan drinking some green tea I would bring Keigo Higashino's Malice

What book would you read on a staycation, where you don’t leave your city but are relaxing at home?

****While relaxing at home I would read Paula Hawkins' The Girl on the Train

Now I tag you all whether you have a youtube channel or a blog. #tagBookishSummer

Cheers

Review of Robert Galbraith The Silkworm

When novelist Owen Quine goes missing, his wife calls in private detective Cormoran Strike. At first, Mrs. Quine just thinks her husband has gone off by himself for a few days—as he has done before—and she wants Strike to find him and bring him home.

But as Strike investigates, it becomes clear that there is more to Quine's disappearance than his wife realizes. The novelist has just completed a manuscript featuring poisonous pen-portraits of almost everyone he knows. If the novel were to be published, it would ruin lives—meaning that there are a lot of people who might want him silenced.

When Quine is found brutally murdered under bizarre circumstances, it becomes a race against time to understand the motivation of a ruthless killer, a killer unlike any Strike has encountered before.

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This is the second book for Robert Galbraith (aka J.K Rowland) and an excellent follow up from her previous book The Cuckoo's Calling. The book is really fast paced and engaging. Its set a couple of months after the end of the first book and you have Strike dealing with his new found fame and his other personal problems. The mystery that Strike is now trying to solve leaves you guessing till the very end. The only thing about this book is that to understand some of Strike's and the other characters history you have to read the first book The Cuckoo's Calling another excellent book. I really recommend this book to anyone who loves a good mystery and those you want to start reading mystery novels.  5 out 5 diamonds