Aussie Readers discussion

Bulldust sped up a little and rode down into the deep gully and onto the flat bed of a dry creek. Out of the corner of his eye he saw movement. He glanced over his shoulder; there was a red and white beast standing staring at him. It hadn't been the bull which caught his attention first; rather the menacing horns, which looked like they were about a metre wide, from one tip to the other.

Without a Doubt by Fleur McDonald

Gino followed, tomato sauce plopping to the floor behind him in a bloody trail. "Cops don't believe in coincidence. I heard it on 'Law and Order'"
"Well then, it must be true."

Want To Play? aka Monkeewrench by P.J. Tracy

I remembered Trigeno's words: cut the head off a snake and its body might thrash around wildly, but eventually it would die. Killing Caraquemada would be the true end to all this. And the death of a single man would prevent thousands more.

From Colombiano by Rusty Young

`Yep, that's it. Thanks for talking to me, Ms Archer, I appreciate it. Funny old business, wasn't it? What happened to the little girl...`
`Kids will run off, I suppose.`
Hillier looks at her sharply. `Seem to run off a lot around you, if you don't mind me saying.`
Hazel draws herself up. `I do mind actually. I think it's better if you leave now`.

The Flower Girls by Alice Clark-Platts

Questions. People couldn’t resist. They always wanted to know why there wasn’t a man, or any children, in her life. Just cats.

They Call Me the Cat Lady by Amy Miller

'It's the skeletons in the closet that get people like us out of bed in the morning, isn't it?'
Tayte had to agree. Tragedy, injustice, and misfortune were commonplace in genealogical research, and those elements of people's lives were a part of what made going back through time so compelling.

From To the Grave by Steve Robinson

“Did I mention that Denis Wrycroft, by contrast, was as ugly as a hatful of arseholes? Of course this shouldn’t matter, but naturally it did. He’d fallen out of a tree at the age of three and a half and had his nose flattened back level with his cheekbones. He had very bad skin, few teeth and enormous muttonchop sideburns.”

Simpson Returns: A novella by Wayne Macauley

This is from The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson. The Book Woman who travels to outposts of the Appalachians in the 1930s to bring library books to the backwoods children and families has a complaint from the father of one family:

"The young'uns won't do their chores, and yesterday Martha Hannah was nearly an hour late with my supper. An hour! Them books are doing that - surely making them lazy. The girls are letting the laundry and sewing pile up around their ears, and the boys are reading at the creek when they ought to be fishing and working the garden. Plumb can't get 'em to work 'cause they's so busy sitting and reading them foolish books you bent on bringing. And I can't have it. Won't have it."

Haha! Sounds typical of that era Carolyn :)

Possibly this era too Brenda. My DH has similar complaints sometimes about reading coming before some chores!

At the John Rad, sharp winter sun is streaming through the windows of the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit. As they reach the door, the Giffords pause, daunted by the sheer weight of technology around each bed. The brightly coloured bedspreads and animal murals only seem to make it worse.

No Way Out by Cara Hunter

Carolyn wrote: "Possibly this era too Brenda. My DH has similar complaints sometimes about reading coming before some chores!"

Haha!! He shouldn't dare ;)

Julian cast his eye over their group on the corner. "I see Graham didn't show up. And why'd you invite Nigel? You know I can't stand him."
"Now is not the time to be funny, Jules. Now's the time to fake being a normal human being. Mouth shut, smile on your face. Nice and big."

From The Tiger Catcher by Paullina Simons

I decked the girls at school who called me Chink and ripped my blouse. The principal pushed through the circle of kids around us chanting,Fight! Fight! and pulled me off her. Before he sent me home he said, Katie, you're fifteen. You're too old for that. Fighting is very unladylike.
He always liked Ma though she did not have a husband. He said Ma had exemplary community spirit because she volunteered in our school library every Monday afternoon on her day off.
I said, I 'm not fifteen for another month. Those girls said I don't have a father.
Everyone has a father. Anyway, you can't fight. You will get home, and I will call your mother.

From Under The Visible Life by Kim Echlin

Andy had heard about people being abused on public transport before, but he'd dismissed the perpetrators as ignorant, or drunk, or both. Now, having experienced it firsthand, he was surprised by how much it affected him. He was less surprised by his fear. He'd long suspected he was a coward--now he knew it to be true. Like everyone, he'd heard about people who, in a flush of adrenaline, had rushed into blazing buildings or lifted cars with their bare hands. But he'd also read about men and women who'd died during acts of heroism. Nobody on the tram had said anything--they'd probably read the articles too. When Andy had looked over at Mrs Hughes, she's averted her gaze, as if she'd been the one shouting slurs.

From Room for a Stranger by Melanie Cheng AA -exp pub. 7th May
FYI, she's also on a couple of panels for SWF which is on next week :)

Morrigan didn’t like the sound of the Goal-Setting and Achieving Club for Highly Ambitious Youth, which met on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday evenings, and all day Sunday. But she thought she could probably get on board with Introverts Utterly Anonymous, which promised no meetings or gatherings of any sort, ever.

From Wundersmith: The Calling of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend

Lizzie's words hit Sylvie like a blow. She had never heard her great-grandmother speak with such vitriol before - at least, never when it was directed towards her. And she'd thought she was Lizzie's favourite! It only went to show that - just like Gigi and Robin before her - one's good standing within the Dearlove family was conditional on what a person made of themselves.

Dressing the Dearloves by Kelly Doust

"Today the water was ten degrees Centigrade, fifty degrees Fahrenheit. Subject Six remained submerged for thirty-three minutes. Her postdive skin temperature, five minutes from exiting the water, has dropped to twenty-seven degrees Centigrade, eighty point six degrees Fahrenheit, while her oral temperature is thirty-two point five Centigrade, ninety point five Fahrenheit." He met my eyes. "That is a remarkable level of hypothermia. Now let's see how long it takes you to return to normal."

From The Island of Sea Women by Lisa See

By all appearances, Burns was an unassuming, hardworking, tenderhearted family man, right up until he pulled a gun and, from three feet away, with a whole chapel watching, shot and killed the Reverend Mitchell.

From the account of a real crime and trial in Furious Hours: Murder, Fraud, and the Last Trial of Harper Lee by Casey Cep

'I also have troubling news. The pope has had visitors. Gail Sassoon and her son, Julian, are in Rome along with Calvin Donovan.'
'So, Celestine is pressing forward,' Malucchi said.
'It appears so,' Lauriat said. 'For the sake of the Church, we must press forward too.'

From The Debt by Glenn Cooper

"I realized just how deeply this place had affected me. The company of dolphins, the brilliancy of light and colour, the constant company of wind and sand, the spare of sunlight reflected off water, the now familiar songs of the birds, all had permeated my being and taken hold."

From the frequently lyrical which is about the dolphins of Monkey Mia by a woman who studied them Rachel Smolker

Don’t faint - it’s Tuesday and I have a teaser!

Claire had been out to the old hunting camp many times before in her youth, but today, it looked different. She eyed it ominously as they drove slowly up the dirt road where it sat shrouded in the darkness of the forest trees, enveloped in the stillness of death.

From A Zen for Murder by Leighann Dobbs

He can't wait for Holly to come home from the grocery store, can't keep his goddamn promise to quit the dope either. He can't stop seeing the anguish and fury in Kyle's eyes, and he's got to stop seeing it. He's got to think how Zeke's ring came to be in Kyle's drawer.

Tell No One by Barbara Taylor Sissel

Did I not check her pulse correctly as she lay on the stairs? Did I make a mistake in the heat of the moment? Could she have been alive when I heaved her body into the water?

from The Nanny by Gilly Macmillan

A long silence. Then, "Why'd you go after him?"
"You're asking me that? Jesus, Nik, you were the one taught me to never leave a fallen soldier behind."
I yanked open the glove box and rifled past sunscreen and lip balm and pills for a stray cigarette, desperate for the burn in my lungs to mask my sudden wounding. My heart hurt with what I didn't want to say, with the fear that I was right about him.

From Blood on the Tracks by Barbara Nickless

Carolyn wrote: "Did I not check her pulse correctly as she lay on the stairs? Did I make a mistake in the heat of the moment? Could she have been alive when I heaved her body into the water?

from [bookcover:The N..."

That sounds intriguing Carolyn. I've enjoyed her work in the past :)

Kylie wrote: "A long silence. Then, "Why'd you go after him?"
"You're asking me that? Jesus, Nik, you were the one taught me to never leave a fallen soldier behind."
I yanked open the glove box and rifled past s..."

I'm looking forward to reading this one Kylie :)

Brenda wrote: "Kylie wrote: "A long silence. Then, "Why'd you go after him?"
"You're asking me that? Jesus, Nik, you were the one taught me to never leave a fallen soldier behind."
I yanked open the glove box and..."

I'm enjoying it so far Brenda :)

Brenda wrote: "Carolyn wrote: "Did I not check her pulse correctly as she lay on the stairs? Did I make a mistake in the heat of the moment? Could she have been alive when I heaved her body into the water?

from ..."

I agree, it does sound intriguing!

Kylie wrote: "Brenda wrote: "Kylie wrote: "A long silence. Then, "Why'd you go after him?"
"You're asking me that? Jesus, Nik, you were the one taught me to never leave a fallen soldier behind."
I yanked open th..."

Good to know :)

My teaser is from The Trouble With Witches by Kristen Painter - only came out yesterday and all other books have been put aside!

“Em shook her head. “Oh, it’s definitely something. Are you saying you’re a witch?”

Amelia sighed, folded her hands in her lap, and made a snap decision. “We are all witches, my dear.”

“We?”

“The Marchand women.”

Em snorted. “Um, maybe in, like, the metaphorical sense, but not—”

“Yes, we are. In the very literal sense. My grandmother was, my mother was, as am I and your mother. And you.”

“No.” Em reached for the arm of the chair nearest to her and held on. “That’s not possible.”

“Sit down, Emeranth. We clearly have much to discuss.”

The woman didn’t move.

“Oh, sit down. I’m not going to hurt you or turn you into a toad.”

Em’s brows rose. “Can you do that?”

“Yes. Now, sit. Please. I’m getting a kink in my neck from staring up at you.”

Sally, that sounds really good!

Butter wouldn't melt in this girl's mouth and I find myself wanting to believe every word that comes out of it.
I feel a lick of envy, too. If she's not telling the truth she's missed her calling, because Ellie Canning is a much finer actress than I'll ever be.

The Accusation by Wendy James

James stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her, holding her tight. The emotional warmth of his hug touched her heart, and she relaxed into his embrace.
Over his shoulder she saw a battered yellow car with the bright blue eyes of Starlight Creek's resident artist staring at her as he drove past.

From The Cinema at Starlight Creek by Alli Sinclair

Gamache had grown very still. Listening. The monastery, always quiet, seemed to be holding its breath.
But with the first notes of the chant, it breathed.
"Not again," sighed Beauvoir. "Didn't we just have one? Honestly, they're worse than crackheads."

The Beautiful Mystery by Louise Penny

Five of the several dozen prospective jurors had to be dismissed right away, because, in addition to being summoned, they’d been subpoenaed: four were character witnesses for the defendant, and one was an eyewitness to the shooting. Those dismissals were telling. As with any small-town trial, the lawyers had to weigh not whether people knew one another but how well, in what way, and what degree of sympathy or antipathy.

Furious Hours: Murder, Fraud, and the Last Trial of Harper Lee by Casey Cep

Marianne wrote: "Sally, that sounds really good!"

It is - I have just finished it and given it 5 stars - and preordered book 2!

Ruth Robinson is going for her 12 week scan (ultrasound) and both her uncles insisted on coming along:
But while it has occurred to me that one or other of my uncles might well do or say something inappropriate, I never considered the affect that two identical elderly men would have on a waiting-room full of pregnant women and their partners. There are the double-takes, the whispers, the covert and then not-so-covert glances, and the outright stares. I wish with all my heart that Eric and Silas could have worn different clothes, or brushed their hair in different ways, or at the very least, sat at opposite ends of the room. But no. Here they sit, side by side, reading old copies of Woman’s Own and pausing occasionally to beam at their audience.
Ruth Robinson's Year of Miracles: An uplifting and heart-warming read by Frances Garrood

More from Ruth Robinson (I quite liked her voice and some of her observations):
I have often thought that the Catholic church would be much happier if there were no such thing as sex; if instead of having babies, people simply divided in two, like those micro-organisms we studied in biology at school. Clean, simple and straightforward, with no messy relationships or the ‘impure’ thoughts and deeds to which my Catholic friends felt obliged to confess.

And one more:
It occurs to me what a huge responsibility it is naming a baby; giving it a label which it has to carry for the rest of its life, and which might not suit it when it grows up. I recall a schoolfriend — large and plain and lumpen — who had been given the name of Grace. Her parents couldn’t have known how unsuitable the name would turn out to be, but in the end, they weren’t the ones who had to live with it.

She put the phone down. It was the first time she'd considered the full extent of her deceit. By going behind Dostoynov's back, she was risking her job. That was a chance she was prepared to take, but Mikhail's job was in danger too. If they were both kicked out, they would be screwed.

From Black Wolf by G.D. Abson

My first interview was on the docks at the Cabrillo Marina in San Pedro. I always liked coming down this way but rarely did. I didn't know why. It was one of those things you forget about until you do it again and then you remember that you like it. The first time I arrived I was a sixteen-year-old runaway.

The Narrows by Michael Connelly

First paragraph from The Rook by Daniel O'Malley:

Dear You,
The body you are wearing used to be mine. The scar on your inner thigh is there because I fell out of a tree and impaled my leg at the age of nine. The filling in the far left tooth on the top is a result of avoiding the dentist for four years. But you probably care little about this body's past. After all, I'm writing this letter for you to read in the future.

Not Tuesday, I know, but I can't resist:
’Can you remember his name?’ the not-Scottish one asked.
‘No, sorry. I can’t even remember yours and you only told me five minutes ago.’ Although it felt like hours.
‘DC Reggie Chase and DC Ronnie Dibicki,’ the not-Scottish one reminded him.
‘Right. Sorry.’ (Did she say ‘Ronnie the Biscuit’? Surely not. It sounded like a London gangster from the Sixties.)

Big Sky by Kate Atkinson

It's Tuesday again already!

"Tell me what is it about your life that is making you so unhappy?"
"I didn't say I was unhappy."
"You didn't need to."
He struggled inwardly for a moment, floundering in the embarrassment of having been seen. It struck him as odd that he'd had to come to the home of a blind woman to be seen clearly. At long last.

From Have You Seen Luis Velez? by Catherine Ryan Hyde, a delightful novel about the friendship between a 92 year old blind woman and a 16 year old boy.

"Bouchercon, Chicago-Style" was the official title of this years 'con, though the nickname "Crime City Capers" had appeared on the advance flyers. Chicago, the "fabulous clipjoint" as mystery writer Frederic Brown had dubbed it, was the perfect setting for a mystery convention: the place where the Outfit was born and John Dillinger died, site of the St Valentine's Day Massacre, home of the Untouchables, setting for the Gat Garson tales. A fitting spot for mystery writers, critics, publishers and fans to gather, and discuss crime and punishment, fantasy-style.

From Kill Your Darlings by Max Allan Collins

From Trust No One by Paul Cleave
Crime writer, Jerry Grey has just been diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's:
You’re still trying to get used to the idea of what’s happening. You have another appointment later in the week … with a counsellor who is going to give you an idea of what to expect. They’ll no doubt tell you about the seven stages of grief – wait, no, it’s seven deadly sins, seven dwarfs, seven reindeer – grief only has five stages. Denial, Anger, Blitzen, Dopey and Bargaining.

My Tuesday Teaser is from Those People by Louise Candlish, where a quiet middle class street becomes a battleground with the new neighbours from hell:

- Well, I'd describe them as chippy. No interest in co-operating with the people around them. They're a law unto themselves. It's a form of sociopathy, I suppose, or narcissism.
- No I'm not a psychiatrist, I'm a stay-at-home mum. There are more parallels between the two than you would think, let me tell you.
Mrs Tess Morgan, 5 Lowland Way, house-to-house inquiries by the Metropolitan Police, 11 August 2018.

Here's my first ever Teaser Tuesday contribution!

I can hear earth being torn up, timber breaking, another bellowing roar. Tyler makes a fist, bringing us to a halt. And peering over his shoulder, my stomach turning to solid ice, I see it.

From

Aurora Rising by Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufman

Krystal wrote: "Here's my first ever Teaser Tuesday contribution!

I can hear earth being torn up, timber breaking, another bellowing roar. Tyler makes a fist, bringing us to a halt. And peering over his shoulder,..."

Wow - great teaser