Review: Under the Midnight Sky

Title: Under the Midnight Sky

Author: Anna Romer

Publisher: 1st May 2019 by Simon & Schuster (Australia)

Pages: 416 pages
How I Read It: ARC book
Genre: mystery

My Rating: 4.5 cups

Synopsis:

Chilling secrets buried deep in wild bushland drive this thrilling new novel from bestseller Anna Romer

When an injured teenager goes missing at a remote bushland campground, local journalist Abby Bardot is determined to expose the area’s dark history. The girl bears a striking resemblance to the victims of three brutal murders that occurred twenty years ago and Abby fears the killer is still on the loose.

But the newspaper Abby works for wants to suppress the story for fear it will scare off tourists to the struggling township. Haunted by her own turbulent memories, Abby is desperate to learn the truth and enlists the help of Tom Gabriel, a reclusive crime writer. At first resentful of Abby’s intrusion, Tom’s reluctance vanishes when they discover a hidden attic room in his house that shows evidence of imprisonment from half a century before.

As Abby and Tom sift through the attic room and discover its tragic history, they become convinced it holds the key to solving the bushland murders and finding the missing girl alive.

But their quest has drawn out a killer, someone with a shocking secret who will stop at nothing to keep the truth buried.

My Thoughts

‘... at Ravensong we’re the stars in the midnight sky that everything else revolves around.’

I am a HUGE Anna Romer fan, her books are always amazing - her latest is no different.  Under The Midnight Sky is her fourth novel and once  more delves deep into mysterious occurrences in the Australian setting.

Anna presents us with another captivating psychological thriller, that will keep you guessing right to the very end. Comprised of two timelines, that not only compliment each other, but will also converge to a very enthralling conclusion. The secrets of Deepwater Gorge will slowly unfurl with a haunting and mesmerising tale that I highly recommend.

Anna is now a proven master storyteller who weaves a tale full of suspense and slowly unravels long buried secrets that have impacted on both past and present characters. There are plenty of twists that will keep you second guessing. This is crime fiction at its best, where the use of setting provides some mystic gothic overtones on a small country town.

Combined with the mystery, Anna brings not only the setting of a bush landscape but even the house itself to life, they seem like characters in themselves, taking on a story of their own. A little romance is offered but does not take away from the core of the book. Do yourself a favour and partake in this dark mystery full of secrets, trauma and families in a tragic tale, but not without glimmers of future hopes.

‘Was there a source of evil, a source of blame? Or was there just a long chain of random events, leading a person inevitably towards their fate?’

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher and provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The quoted material may have changed in the final release.

Review: Beyond the Orchard

Title: Beyond The Orchard

Author: Anna Romer

Publisher: 1 November 2016 by Simon and Schuster

Pages: 464 pages

How I Read It: ARC book

Genre: historical fiction, romance, mystery

My Rating: 5 cups

Synopsis:

A haunting story of yearning, love and betrayal from the bestselling author of Thornwood House

Lucy Briar has arrived home in turmoil after years overseas. She’s met her fiancé in London and has her life mapped out, but something is holding her back.

Hoping to ground herself and find answers, Lucy settles into once familiar routines. But old tortured feelings flood Lucy’s existence when her beloved father, Ron, is hospitalised and Morgan – the man who drove her away all those years ago – seeks her out.

Worse, Ron implores Lucy to visit Bitterwood Estate, the crumbling historic family guesthouse now left to him. He needs Lucy to find something– an old photograph album, the very thing that drove Ron and his father apart.

Lucy has her own painful memories of Bitterwood, darkness that has plagued her dreams since she was young. But as Lucy searches for the album, the house begins to give up its ghosts and she is driven to put them to rest.

And there, held tightly between the house, the orchard and the soaring cliffs, Lucy uncovers a long-hidden secret that shattered a family’s bond and kept a frightened young girl in its thrall ... and Lucy discovers just how fierce the lonely heart can be.

My Thoughts

This is Anna Romer’s third book and I couldn’t wait to read it. I am happy to say that the high standard she set from the very beginning of her literary career has continued. What an amazing author she is proving to be, with this instalment cementing her in the upper echelon of Australian writers.

“Drinking in the night air, he blinked to clear his eyes, clutching her to him, wishing he could turn back time, wishing . . . but no; he would not let his mind revisit what he had done.”

I was hooked from the first page as she deftly wove a superior tale of secrets that seamlessly went from past to present. That takes skill. For you see this is a historical mystery with a touch of romance of the very highest calibre. A story that will draw you in and keep you glued to the very end.

“Through the orchard I went, following the torch beam along the path and down the slope to the dank clearing.”

Beyond the Orchard is yet another atmospheric tale of past tragedies, betrayal, love and of secrets. There is such great depth and character to both the players and plot. At its heart it is a mystery and you are the passenger, as Romer deftly moves the puzzle pieces around the board, with revelations slowly unfolding. It’s so engaging and authentic with snapshots from three past generation, all woven together to a fulfilling conclusion.

“Instinct told me that the developed photos –along with the other items –were all pieces of a much larger puzzle.”

Romer can now be called a master of contemporary and historical family stories with her latest, Beyond the Orchard, up there with her previous two novels. I have no hesitation in highly recommending this book. Much like the main character, as a reader you will be ....

“... drawn into a vortex where past and present existed simultaneously. It made me giddy, made my pulse thunder in my ears, made my skin damp with anticipation. Made me ever more determined to find the explanation.”

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher and provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The quoted material may have changed in the final release

Review: Lyrebird Hill by Anna Romer

Title:  Lyrebird Hill

Author: Anna Romer

Publisher:  September 1st 2014 by Simon & Schuster AU

ISBN: 9781922052421

Pages:  416 pages

How I Read It: ARC ebook

Genre: historical fiction, mystery, contemporary

Our Rating: 4 1/2 cups

Synopsis:

From the bestselling author of Thornwood House

When all that you know comes crashing down, do you run? Or face the truth?

Ruby Cardel has the semblance of a normal life – a loving boyfriend, a fulfilling career – but in one terrible moment, her life unravels. The discovery that the death of her sister, Jamie, was not an accident makes her question all she’s known about herself and her past.

Travelling back home to Lyrebird Hill, Ruby begins to remember the year that has been forever blocked in her memory . . . Snatches of her childhood with beautiful Jamie, and Ruby’s only friendship with the boy from the next property, a troubled foster kid.

Then Ruby uncovers a cache of ancient letters from a long-lost relative, Brenna Magavin, written from her cell in a Tasmanian gaol where she is imprisoned for murder. As she reads, Ruby discovers that her family line is littered with tragedy and violence.

Slowly, the gaps in Ruby’s memory come to her. And as she pieces together the shards of truth, what she finally discovers will shock her to the core – about what happened to Jamie that fateful day, and how she died.

A thrilling tale about family secrets and trusting yourself.

Our thoughts:

This novel was such a treat! After reading and being engrossed in Anna Romer’s first book, ‘Thornwood House’, we were eager to see what this second tale would bring. We were not disappointed! We can clearly state that any time in the future we would not hesitate to buy anything this author produces. ‘Lyrebird Hill’ follows on from Anna Romer's successful debut novel and without doubt, it keeps you on the edge of your seat page after page. It is so very engaging yet, as the end draws near, you become hesitant to finish it, finding it difficult to extract yourself from the mystique Romer has wrapped around your literary soul. For you see this is a tale full of wonderful surprises, unexpected twists and turns that had us emailing each other frantically thinking about events that transpired long after the chapter had closed.

“Features began to emerge on the paper, the charcoal lines almost too faint to see at first, like marks made by the random fluttering of dusty moth wings".

Lyrebird Hill is a compelling story, evocative of the rural Australian landscape; it’s easy to hear the song of the now departed lyrebirds, smell the eucalypt trees in the morning dew or hear the gurgle of the water down a rocky crevice. All your literary senses will be engaged with this rich and sumptuous prose:

“It was a lyrical painting, magical - a summer song rendered in pigment and light".

A stunningly beautiful tale with tragic secrets – past and present - Aussie author Anna Romer paints the Australia bush in such vivid imagery that it forces you to pause and ponder. The blending of the two stories, related by Brenna in 1898 and Ruby in 2013, was done seamlessly. We found ourselves madly flipping pages as the mystery and intrigue is so very gripping and intense, yet conversely, events transpired that were sad and at times sorrowful:

“The fabric of my life began to fray, develop holes. Through those holes I caught glimpses of a past I had not, until now, considered”.

The concept of secrecy is not confined simply to the occurrences within the story, as the author insightfully explores the way in which we all, to some extent or another, and for reasons ranging from sympathetic to nefarious, hide our true selves from the world at large.  Romer brilliantly uses the notion of masks, both literal and figurative, to illustrate that not all are as they seem, and a pleasant façade can hide a distasteful interior and vice versa.

“The mask you wear might be grotesque, or quirky, or plain; or it might be one of extraordinary beauty – but it’s still only a mask. If you peel it away and look in the mirror, who do you see gazing back?”

Romer slowly lays out all the puzzle pieces and begins to assemble them, piece by piece, with the final placement ever so magical. A story steeped in sensational revelations, we waited with bated breath for the concluding downpour of truth:

“In its place, was a faint feeling of completeness, as if a tiny, overlooked puzzle piece had slotted perfectly into the larger picture of who I really was.”

The slight tarnish of a half star removal is because we felt there were characters that may have possible links, events that needed fuller disclosure, connections that were not complete in our own minds – but maybe, that was what the author intended after all – a story to keep you thinking long after the final page is turned:

“A jumble of disjointed events, a jigsaw puzzle with most of the its pieces still rattling around in the box…I had hoped to find answers here at Lyrebird Hill, and I had – but they still weren’t slotting as neatly into place as I had hoped”.

What Romer produces here is inspiring and the supplemental material provided by her at the end of the book sheds great light on the process she goes through in bringing these tales to life.  Australia should be excited! Lyrebird Hill cements Romer’s reputation at the forefront of Australian fiction. Here is hoping those scrapbooks of stories untold get dusted off by this exceptionally talented writer. We loved this book and highly recommend it to all who love a well-told and cleverly crafted mystery.

Thank you to Simon and Schuster, and NetGalley for the advanced copy to review.

Teaser: Lyrebird Hill

(Credits: #craftybuttondesigns)

 We are currently reading the most beautiful and cleverly crafted book! LYREBIRD HILL, by talented Aussie author Anna Romer, has us completely engrossed and reading feverishly to see how the story unfolds. Australian release date is September 1, 2014, but until then take a look at this gorgeous trailer to get a glimpse of the mesmerizing tale that awaits you within its pages:

Video Link