Call it impatience, or fear of commitment but I generally can not read a series anymore with 2, 3 or 4 books revolving around the same story, there are A LOT of books out there that I want to read and l don’t want to be stuck in the same story book after book waiting for an ending to unfinished business.
After really enjoying The Secret She Keeps by Micheal Robotham I actually felt duty bound to start his new release series starting with Good Girl, Bad Girl, Cyrus Haven 1.
I have always preferred a crime driven by physiological drama rather than one that is Detective led, the main protagonists could not be more interesting or more different.
Cyrus Haven is a forensic psychologist, called into investigate the murder of a local teenager, but do not be fooled into thinking he is a one dimensional character as he has his own shocking and backstory surrounding the bloody murder of his parents.
Cyrus is called into court case to determine if a minor called Evie is demanding the right to be released as an adult, Cyrus must be the one to determine if Evie is ready to go free.
Evie was discovered hiding in a secret room in the aftermath of a terrible crime, half-starved and filthy, she won’t tell anyone her name, or her age, or where she came from, maybe she is twelve, maybe fifteen.
Evie doesn’t appear in any missing persons file, and her DNA can’t be matched to an identity, six years later, still unidentified, she is living in a secure children’s home with a new name, Evie Cormac.
There are so many threads in this book to follow that I cast aside my rule and immediately dived into book 2, When She Was Good, followed swiftly by Laying Beside You, I am now eagerly awaiting the next release in June.
When we have a customer wanting a recommendation for a crime novel, I never go past the Cyrus Haven series, (sorry other authors!)
These books have everything, and draw on a gamut of emotions, the characters are so multi-faceted, there is drama, tenderness, loss, love and laughter, you desperately hang out for the next instalment and are slightly miffed at one of your favourite authors when they drop in a standalone novel in-between books.
So as you can see I am a bit of a Michael Robotham stalker, to the point that when he went on holiday to Africa I was quite put out that he wasn’t at home writing.
Every year our wonderful writers festival Words on the Waves have invited him to the coast but his other commitments have sadly stopped him from attending, drum roll, he will be attending Words at Wagstaff on March 16th, it is going to be a fantastic day with true crime writer Dan Box, Sarah Barrie and award winning author Susan Duncan, tickets won’t last long https://wordsonthewaves.com.au/words-at-wagstaffe-2024.
Julie Chessman – The Bookshop Umina