Batthew Aromascent and the Missing Corpse Flower
By Ella Mulvey and John Roebuck
$17.99 Ages 8+
When the world’s largest and most pungent flower goes missing right before its grand unveiling, the smell-mad city of Candlenut is in uproar. Luckily, Batthew Aromascent, 11-year-old heir to the famed Olfactory Fragrance House, and his best friend, Lavender, are on the case.
This novel was a sensory delight to read, filled with so many imaginative descriptions of scents that I swear I could smell what I was reading. With whiffs of adventure, mystery, and some truly spectacular and fun world-building, I’m not surprised that so many kids have already connected with this book. The plot was also fast-paced and kept me guessing until the end.
If you’re after a middle-grade read with fun and lovable characters where you can escape into a world truly unlike anything you’ve read before, this is the book for you!
The Creeper
By Margaret Hickey
$34.99
From the award-winning author of Cutters End and Broken Bay, The Creeper follows young Detective Constable Sally White, the only officer at Edenville’s modest police station in Victoria’s High Country.
It’s the ten-year-anniversary of the Mountain Murders, a horrific massacre where five hikers were murdered. It is ruled a murder-suicide when the body of Bill ‘Creeper’ Durant, expert deer hunter and part of the notorious Durant family, was found nearby. When Bill’s brother Lex Durant starts to publicly protest his innocence, Sally pursues new lines in the closed case and dark secrets of the murdered hikers come to light.
This is a slow-burn thriller with an intriguing mystery at its heart. Taking place in the perfect rural setting, the small town is isolated and tense, and comes with a colourful community of friends and suspects. Clever and unexpected, it has many twists and turns that kept me guessing and the last few chapters glued me to my seat!
Batthew Aromascent and the Missing Corpse Flower and The Creeper reviews from the Sun Bookshop – sunbookshop.com
Long Island Compromise
By Taffy Brodesser-Akner
It is 1980 and Long Island businessman Carl Fletcher is kidnapped on his way to work at a Styrofoam factory he owns and runs, and has made his family the wealthiest in town. He is held for ransom, brutalised and returned five days later; told to forget what has happened to him and go on with living his life.
Yet, the kidnapping triggers decades of knock-on effects, and not only for Carl, suffering undiagnosed and untreated PTSD for forty years. The dreams and desires of his wife Ruth are put aside, as she is forced to care for him, and each of his three children are affected in different ways by the trauma of their upbringing and the trappings of wealth.
And then, the money runs out.
Told with Brodesser-Akner’s trademark wit, each member of the family is forced to examine how their wealth has buffered them, corrupted them and stunted their growth; both as a family unit and as individuals navigating the world and interacting with those around them.
The Haters
By Robyn Harding
Camryn Lane’s debut novel ‘Burnt Orchid’ is about to hit the shelves. Then, every author’s worst nightmare – a disparaging one-star review on a social-media book website is published and begins to gain traction. Everyone tells Camryn to ignore the trolls – yet the attacks are unrelenting and personal. Camryn decides to take matters into her own hands and the situation begins to totally spin out of control.
This suspenseful, twisty thriller will have you hooked from the first page, as it examines the dark side of social review sites, the impact of online mob attacks on the individual and how our actions on the internet can unintentionally bleed into our ‘real’ lives, with devastating results.
Long Island Compromise and The Haters reviews from Chestnut Tree Bookshop – thechestnuttree.com.au
