Blood Men | Paul Cleave

I live in Christchurch, New Zealand, where this story is set. Cleave is a good crime writer but I think for me, the portrayal of the city as dark, sinister and Gothic seemed a little strained, as I live here and it doesn't seem that bad! I 've been thinking a lot about the book as I am trying to figure out why I didn't love it outright, as with Paddy Richardson's crime books set in Christchurch.
I think that with Cleave's type of serial-rapist story if it had been set in New York or Los Angeles it would have been a lot more believable for me. maybe other readers who live there would be ok with reading of a far off city which seems steeped in darkness where horrid things happen. Our city is called "The Garden City" and its genteel calmness (others would call it boringness) just doesn't seem to match the story.
In this crime novel a serial rapist's son is caught up in a bad bank robbery where his wife is shot. He spirals out of control and in a matter of days has come to acknowledge that some of the violence he knows is in his father, is coming out in him. He makes contact with his father in hope that he'll know who was involved and then the body count starts to mount. It is mostly resolved but as i turned to the last page I was left with the feeling this was going to lead into a sequel. I hope it's a good one, as I will read it, in support of a local author. But I hope I like it a bit more than this one. It's not a bad read, it's well written, but not as satisfying as Richardson, whom I've read concurrently.

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Hunting Blind | Paddy Richardson

I'm so glad I've discovered this author. Richardson is a Newzealander, writing from the city of Dunedin and she has set this gripping story in familiar territory around the city of Dunedin, Central Otago, Kaikoura and the West Coast.
It is the story of a family in Wanaka,who at a school picnic, lose Gemma their four-year old daughter. It is devastating for the family and the community. No trace of her is ever found and the general belief is that she drowned in the lake. Stephanie, her older sister, becomes the main narrator of the rest of the book as she studies in the city of Dunedin to become a Psychiatrist. In one of her rounds she comes across a woman who eventually reveals her sister disappeared in the middle of the night and was feared drowned. She mentions a teacher who was friends of the family at the time...on a hunch Stephanie takes leave from work and wanders around the South Island hoping to answer some questions and come to terms with what she fears happened to Gemma. It is totally gripping and I couldn't put it down.
Totally engaging, intelligent and gripping (what DID happen?) this book is very well written. For those who have traveled in the South Island, the landscapes, town and cities described are familiar and the story takes on different dimension for being so recognizably set in New Zealand. I highly recommend this story and will look for her other books to read.

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Dead People's Music | Sarah Laing

This book took me by surprise. I'm not sure what I was expecting but it certainly delivered a great read. The story is well structured and is told in three voices: young Rebecca in Wellington, New Zealand, Rebecca a bit older in New York and Rebecca's grandmother Karla in New York and New Zealand from the 1930's onwards.

Rebecca is a gifted cellist who wants to become a concert performer. She struggles with diabetes and the usual teenage angst as she trains and sits exams to study in London.  London is too much of a challenge and she returns home discouraged, but still believing in her talent which she believes is inherited from her grandmother. Her voice is clear and believable.

We meet Klara as a young child, a German Jew sent away just as the war began. With her sister they grow up in New York with an Aunt and other refugees from Europe. She learns the cello and is very gifted. A brilliant career as a soloist is hers for the taking except she meets and marries a New Zealander. Off she goes to the antipodes. We get a very good idea of what life in Wellington must have been like in the 50's and 60's.
Rebecca eventually goes to New York in the 90's to write and perform a modern composition based on her grandmother's life.

Laing has put together an interesting and engaging story and we are drawn into Rebecca's life and her family and friends. There is a lot of detail about classical music (dead people's music) and what it takes to be a dedicated musician. Both Wellington and New York are well drawn and easy to imagine. This novel is well worth reading.

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Ellie and the Shadow Man | Maurice Gee

Maurice Gee is so enjoyable to read! He’s a New Zealand author of renown and every time I read him I’m reminded of how well he crafts his stories. This one is set in New Zealand. Be warned, any expat reading this overseas will get on the next plane for NZ for sure!

Gee can describe NZ and it’s inhabitants with amazing effortlessness and  we get drawn into the story, the landscape and enveloped by his imagination.

Here we have the story of Ellie, growing up in a boarding house, bottom of the social strata. We get parts of her life, every few pages/chapters is a new era. We see her grow up, her relationships develop and the Shadow Man shadows her through the years.

Ellie becomes a fruit picker in Nelson, meets some artists and then becomes one herself. Her emergence as an artist and as a person are beautifully drawn. Gee is a great author for telling a story simply, getting us to engage with and love his characters.

His other books are well worth a read too.

Opportunity | Charlotte Grimshaw

 I'm not too sure about this one. It's a collection of short stories from a New Zealand author. There is plenty of local flavor in the stories but I'm not sure that's enough.

They are engaging enough but I feel frustrated that they are only short glimpses of the characters. I keep comparing it in my mind to Tim Winton's book of short stories, The Turning, which somehow is a more satisfying read.

I've managed to read two other books in between trying to finish this one off, not a good sign.

As the Earth turns Silver | Alison Wong

In the middle of our dreary grey winter I wanted a book to curl up with in front of the fire and be taken into a different world...I picked up this book and loved it from the first chapter.

The story is set in Wellington,New Zealand, from the late nineteenth century to the 1920's. Some chapters dash back to China to give background to the Chinese characters.

The writing is clear and the language handled in such a way that it's very easy to see the characters and the Wellington described.

The main character is Katherine, recently widowed. At a time when women were challenging traditional female roles in society, she begins a clandestine relationship with the local Chinese grocer,Yung.

She is employed by Mrs Newton, who is an advocate for women's rights and civil rights in general and is a colourful, assertive character who brings change into Katherine's life and opens a whole different set of opportunities for Edie, Katherine's daughter.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading As the Earth Turns Silver and count it as one of the better reads of the year!

Alison Wong is a New Zealand poet and this is her first novel. She has drawn heavily on her family's history both in New Zealand and in China for this story which gives it authenticity and great feeling for the characters.

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