October Picks

Ware, Ruth (2025) The Woman in Suite 11. Gallery/Scout Press.

This is a book where it would have been advantageous to have read its prequel The Woman in Cabin 10 (2016), now a Netflix movie, as many of the Cabin 10 characters crop up. Lo Blacklock, 10 years on, is invited to the opening of a luxury hotel on Lake Geneva owned by billionaire Marcus Leichman. Lo is now a 40 year old mother trying to reestablish her journalism career by getting an interview with the evasive Marcus. When she gets a late-night call to come to Marcus’ hotel room she puts herself in jeopardy. A cross-border adventure ensues. A gullible and stupid protagonist. Tortuous and annoying tale.

Rating: 2/5

Wynn-Williams, Sarah (2025) Careless People: A Story of Where I Used to Work. Macmillan.

After reading this I was all set to unfriend Facebook and unfollow Sheryl Sandberg’s Lean In (actually I have now unfollowed). This memoir is shocking in its exposure of the sheer callous approach taken to build the tech giant that is Facebook, now Meta. For seven years from 2011 Wynn-Williams, Facebook disciple and former New Zealand diplomat, was involved in the growth of Facebook from niche social network to a global power without any boundaries. Mark Zuckerberg’s “move fast and break things” philosophy exposes the amoral and irresponsible approach that the platform has taken to profit from human naivety and vulnerability. Although most of us are not ignorant of the pervasive power of this company, are we complicit? Strong indictment.

Rating: 5/5

Paris, Rachel (2025) See How They Fall: Perfect Family. Perfect Weekend. Perfect Murder… Moa Press.

Skye is the wife of one of the powerful Turner brothers. The Turner dynasty owns a luxury goods empire. After the death of the family’s patriarch the family are invited for an Easter weekend at his palatial north Sydney property. When tragedy strikes with one family member dead, and her young daughter in danger, Skye must rely on homicide detective Mei to unravel the family’s dark secret. Intriguing tale of corruption and manipulation.

Rating: 3/5

Feeney, Elaine (2025) Let Me Go Mad in My Own Way. Harvill Secker.

Following the death of her mother Claire O’Connor moves back to her family home in Athenry, in the west of Ireland. In her grief she commits to a new life surrounded by memories of childhood and place. However O’Connor family trauma has left its traces on her home, and the surrounding landscape, and gradually in this story within a story we are taken back to a violent past. Meanwhile, in a sub-plot, the intrusion of Claire’s ex-partner brings an element of romance and she begins to heal. Complex but rewarding.

Rating: 3/5

Amphlett, Rachel (2025) A Fatal Silence. Saxon Publishing.

A mutilated young woman’s body found at a music festival brings DI Kay Hunter and her team into a lengthy painstaking investigation. With thousands of potential suspects they must piece together the last hours of the victim’s life. 14th book in the Detective Kay Hunter series. Good thorough procedural although the cover doesn’t match the story.

Rating: 3/5

Dirsus, Marcel (2024) How Tyrants Fall and how Nations Survive. John Murray.

Tyrants are powerful but they are constantly haunted by the fear of death. Most of these authoritarian leaders are rational and supported by palace elites, generals, family and advisors. They operate within a system – and they need the system to stay in power. Tyrants pay most attention to eliminating threats but tyranny is hazardous. And, when a dictator is gone chaos often follows. In the modern world tyranny would seem to have diminished with less than 12% of countries now in closed autocracies, but recent history is evidencing that tyranny never sleeps. Dirsus expertly explores the vulnerability of dictators and their regimes – how they survive, how they fall and what comes next after they collapse. Fascinating and accessible.

Rating: 4/5

Hayter, Rebecca (2025) High Heels and Gumboots: A City Girl and a Lot to Learn. Harper Collins.

City dweller and yachting journalist Hayter, on a whim, bought a 10-acre lifestyle block on a beach in Golden Bay, at the top of the South Island of New Zealand. The realities of farming life soon hit home as she adapts to the many challenges of wrangling sheep, hens, ducks and a garden whilst surviving floods, drought, and a Massey Fergusson 135 tractor, with much help from her friends. Middle-aged coming of age adventure. Rousing.

Rating: 3/5

Finlay, Alex (2025) Parents Weekend. Minotaur.

Five families of first year students gather for a Parents Weekend at a small private college in Northern California. But where are the five Campisi Hall students? They were expected to show up for dinner but as hours tick by panic ensues, the campus police are called, search parties formed and reinforcements brought in. Previous Finlay hero FBI Special Agent Sarah Keller makes a return appearance. As the authorities investigate the rumour mill flourishes with podcasters, bloggers and TikTok sleuths adding to the confusion. Told from multiple perspectives the story explores family and student dynamics. Complex tale with plenty of threats, thrills and action.

Rating: 3/5

Miranda, Megan (2025) You Belong Here. Rucci Books.

Beckett Bowery never planned to return to the college town of Wyatt Valley in the Virginian Mountains. A tragedy had occurred in her senior year when two men died in a fatal fire. Her roommate was accused of being the perpetrator then vanished, and Beckett was forced to complete her studies elsewhere. Now, her daughter has earned a full scholarship to the same college and Beckett can only hope that the past has been forgotten. But unfortunately the town has a long memory. Suspenseful thriller.

Rating: 3/5

Disher, Garry (2025) Mischance Creek. Text Publishing.

Constable Paul Hirschhausen (“Hirsch”) is doing his rounds in South Australia’s Mid North, undertaking welfare checks and auditing firearms, when he comes across a tourist near the Mischance Creek ruins. However Annika Nordrum is no ordinary tourist. She is searching for the body of her missing mother. Heather Nordrum had gone missing seven years ago. At the same time her husband, and travelling companion, was found dead at the bottom of a mine shaft on the Breadbox Plain. This cold case, sovereign citizen rebels and local political ructions soon have Hirsch rushed off his feet. Another paced riveting Australian outback tale. The fifth in the Hirsch series. As always a great Disher read.

Rating: 5/5