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Let's. Take a look. To take a look inside the book. Take a look...
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Hello and welcome to Hear This. I'm Frances Keyland, and you're listening to the Vision Australia Library radio show. And today we've got a selection of Christmas titles for you to read and some really gripping Australian mysteries as well. I hope you enjoy the show. It's getting so close to Christmas. This is the last show before Christmas, so let's have a couple of Christmas type books with Christmas themes set at Christmas time.
The first one is The Christmas Guest. This is by Peter Swanson. Ashley Smith, an American art student in London for her junior year was planning on spending Christmas alone, but a last minute invitation from fellow student Emma Chapman brings her to Starvewood Hall, country residence of the Chapman family. She is mesmerised by the cosy, fire lit house, the large family and the charming village of Cleve Moor, but also by Adam Chapman, Emma's aloof and handsome brother. But Adam is being investigated by the local police over the recent brutal slaying of a girl from the village, and there is a mysterious stranger who haunts the woodland path between Stanford Hall and the local pubs. Let's hear a sample of The Christmas Guest by Peter Swanson. It's narrated by Esther Wain.
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Since I have no family of my own, I am yearly asked by friends and colleagues to their homes for the Christmas holidays. I always say no, pleading my case that I am perfectly content to be alone for a week. And mostly I am. I read a good book, maybe rewatch some of my favorite films on Christmas Day. I roast a chicken and eat it with crispy potatoes and Brussels sprouts. My cat Elspeth likes a bit of roast chicken too, and I let her sit on the kitchen counter as a special treat in the afternoon. I often clean my apartment or reorganize my bookshelves.
Sometimes, if the weather is nice, I'll take a walk across Manhattan, see if there is a movie playing that looks interesting. I am not completely alone. The doorman, Howard and I usually find time for a glass of whiskey, and I have a close friend, also without family, who often drops by, although she hasn't for the past couple of years. This year, Christmas Day has arrived on the heels of a wet, sleety nor'easter that rattles the windows of my apartment. So after my roast chicken, I decide to skip the walk and tackle my bedroom closet baths. I am lucky enough to live in a two bedroom apartment, and I'm slightly embarrassed to say that I've turned the second bedroom into a walk in closet.
But I work in fundraising, and sometimes I feel as though half my life is spent at galas and cocktail parties. I need a lot of dresses and a lot of shoes. The closet in my bedroom has become my default storage space, filled with boxes containing mementos of my past lives. All that bric a brac that is impossible to throw away and yet completely useless. I opened the door gingerly, expecting an avalanche of photo albums and souvenirs to tumble out. That would make for quite a New York story. Lonely single woman crushed to death while cleaning closet on Christmas Day.
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So that was the Christmas Guest by Peter Swanson. Peter is [spells author's name]. And that book goes for a nice short one, two hours and 49 minutes, and it comes under detective and mystery, psychological fiction and suspense fiction in the collection. And there are a lot of books by Peter Swanson in the collection are mysteries. There's All the Beautiful Lies, Before She Knew Him, Every Vow You Break, The Girl with the Clock for Her Heart... there's a whole lot of books. Peter Swanson is an American author born in 1968, best known for his psychological suspense books. The Christmas Guest was published in 2023. Fairly, and it's a novella, so that's why it's so short. It's a novella. So maybe just have a little taste of his books and you might want to... borrow some others of his Peter Swanson.
Now to another romance Christmas novel. It's called Snow... the title is Snow Angel Cove, and it's by RaeAnne Thayne. Nothing short of a miracle can restore Eliza Haywood's... Christmas cheer. The job she pinned her dreams on has gone up in smoke, literally. And now she's stuck in an unfamiliar, if breathtaking small town, precariously close to being destitute. Eliza needs a hero, but she's not expecting one who almost runs her down with his car. Rescuing Eliza is pure instinct for tech genius Aidan Kane, at first putting the renovation of his lakeside guest lodge in Eliza's hands, assuages his guilt until he sees how quickly he could fall for her. Having focused solely on his business for years, he never knew what his life was missing before Eliza, but now he's willing to risk his heart on a Yuletide romance that could lead forever.
Let's have a listen to snow Angel Cove by RaeAnne Thayne. It's narrated by Celeste Caiola.
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Oh, this wasn't good at all. Eliza Haywood stood with sleet pelting her like hard little pebbles, gazing at the blackened, charred bones of her future. Cold dread wormed its way beneath her coat like the wintry wind blowing off Lake Haven just a few hundred yards away. I don't like this place, Maddy muttered, gripping her hand tighter. It's ugly and scary. Yes. Yes it is. This couldn't be real. She had driven the two hours from Boise with such eager anticipation, singing Christmas carols all the way. Loud and silly enough to make a five year old giggle. She had been so excited about this new chapter of their lives in this lovely Idaho town, nestled in the raw and stunning Redemption Mountains.
It had been an amazing opportunity all the way around. A big jump career wise to her first hotel manager position, but also a nice salary increase. A really attractive benefits package and best of all, an included apartment on the property for her and for Maddie so she could keep her daughter close. Now that cute apartment, the salary bump, the insurance, everything had disappeared in a puff of smoke. Literally, though, she couldn't see any flames, tendrils of smoke still curled from the rubble of the building. The air smelled harsh and acrid, far different from the sweet, citrusy scent of pine she remembered permeating the town when she had visited the month before.
During the interview process, the fire had to have flared within the past few hours. Fire crews still worked busily all around the burned hotel, coiling hoses stretching yellow crime tape around the perimeter, putting out a hotspot here or there.
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And that was Snow Angel Cove... sorry, by RaeAnne Thayne. RaeAnne is spelt [spells author's name]. A bit of Christmas romance there, and that goes for nine hours and 45 minutes. And there's another Christmas book by, another Christmas novel by RaeAnne Thayne called Christmas at the Shelter... in another Christmassy romance, pure romance there... and Snow Angel Cove is part one of the Haven Point series, so there may be more coming. Let's hope so. Fingers crossed for that one. Snow Angel Cove part one. Snow Angel Cove is one of her earlier books. It was published in 2014.
And I'm here on RaeAnne Thayne's website. Just raeannethayne.com ... Book two in the snow Angel Cove series is Redemption Bay, and on her website, she says Haven Point is a series of books that explores healing in its various forms healing hearts, healing bodies, healing families, and healing a town. And while we only have three of the books of of her books in the collection, she does have quite a lot of books in different series. Quite a few series going. Always a nice idea to explore healing and redemption to in books. I love that sort of theme.
And another Christmas book that I love because of its theme of redemption, but it's also got supernatural elements. Is the classic Charles Dickens book, A Christmas Carol. And I can remember being really scared of the film when I was a kid. We have that in the collection, beautifully narrated as well.
If you want a Christmas book about healing and redemption, the next Christmas book is No Time to Be Alone. And this is by Daniel Hurst. Christmas, a time for family, friends and enemies. Nicola is returning to her family home for the Christmas holidays to spend the festive season with her loved ones for the first time in several years, but she gets a shock when she discovers that there will be an unexpected guest joining them for dinner on the big day. Their elderly neighbor Barbara will be present at the table, too. After receiving an invitation from Nicola's parents because they hated to think of the old woman spending the day alone. That is a big problem for Nicola, although she struggles to let her family members know why. As far as they're concerned, Barbara is just the sweet old lady from next door.
But Nicola knows the truth. That woman is not all she seems, and now she is in their house, forced to confront several demons from her past. Nicola struggles through Christmas Day, but as difficult, difficult as it is to face the past, nothing is as hard as what happens next. It seems that Barbara has been waiting for Nicola to return home after all these years. Now she has. Things will never be the same again. Let's hear a sample of No Time to Be Alone by Daniel Hurst. It's narrated by Deirdre Deirdre Whelan.
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The snowflakes that began to fall on the morning of the 24th of December gave almost everybody in this town hope that it might just be a white Christmas after all. Almost everybody, because there were a few people who didn't want the roads and pavements to be covered in white powder, such as nervous drivers and those who found themselves a little unsteady on their feet at the best of times. One of those people was making her way to the bus stop now, and as the flurry grew a little stronger, blowing wisps of white snow around her gray hair, the old lady in the blue coat, clutching a bunch of flowers in her hand, kept her head low and her steps short.
She had to be careful not to slip on this icy pavement, and not just because she didn't want to spend Christmas in hospital listening to some doctor tell her which bone she might have broken. It was because she had an important job to do today. It might have been the holiday season, but some people never took a day off from their duties, and the woman with the flowers in her hand was one of them. Having made it to the bus stop without incident, the lady took refuge under the shelter and checked the thin watch on her wrist to see what time it was. Seeing that it was 10:00, she knew that the bus should be along here in a moment, and it couldn't come a minute too soon. It really was cold, and there were much better places for a woman in her 70s to be than standing on a frosty street waiting for a lift.
But as the minutes ticked by, it became clear the bus was running late. It had to be. It had never been early in all the years she had lived here. It was a little after ten when the elderly lady boarded the bus that would take her from the corner of her street, all the way to the church across town baths. She secured her fare by taking out her bus pass after removing it from her handbag. The bag her husband Bill had bought for her for her 70th birthday three years ago.
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And that was the psychological suspense fiction No Time to Be Alone by Daniel Hurst. Daniel is [spells author's name]. And there's one other book by Daniel Hurst in the collection, The Wrong Woman. A bit of a warning with No Time to Be Alone: it does have the main character returning home, and she's grown up in an abusive household. So just a bit of a warning there. And if you visit Daniel Hurst books - all one word danielhurstbooks.com - you can find a free copy of a book, a free thriller he's got up there. Just one second... it's called... so An Offer of a Free Thriller for Christmas. Just one second. I'm assuming it's an e-book, so I don't think it's an audiobook.
He's known as a best selling author of fast paced psychological thrillers. So you just if you go to his website, you'll be able to find a link to just one second. So you click on that and then it says, get your free copy of just one second. So you click on Get My eBook, and then you just enter your email address and it says, Where shall I send you a free ebook? Email address. And it says... but you'll also be just to... let you know, you'll also click I understand that I'm signing up for Daniel Hurst's email newsletter, and I'm free to unsubscribe at any time. So you will get emails about his upcoming works, which are sometimes great. I quite like getting email alerts about authors that I like. So anyway, it's a free ebook and maybe over Christmas time. And if you enjoy No Time to Be Alone, it might be worth a read.
Now to a couple of Australian mysteries. The first one is Clarke and this is by Holly Throsby. On a hot morning in 1991, in the regional town of Clark. Barney Clark, no relation is woken by the unexpected arrival of many policemen. They are going to search his backyard for the body of a missing woman next door. Lenny Wallace and Little Joe watch the police cars through their kitchen window. Lenny has been waiting for this day for six years. She is certain that her friend, Ginny Lawson, is buried in that backyard under a slab of suspicious concrete.
But the fate of Ginny Lawson is not the only mystery in Clark. Barney lives alone in a rented house with a ring on his finger. But where is Barney's wife? Lenny lives with four year old Joe. But where is Joe's mother? Clark is a story of family and violence, of identity and longing, of unlikely connections, and the comedy of everyday life. At its center stands Lenny Wallace, a travel agent who has never travelled. A warm woman full of love and hope and grief, who must steer Joe safely through a very strange time indeed. Let's hear a sample of Clark by Holly Throsby. It's narrated by Sarah Blasko.
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Next door, Barney Clarke was half woken by the sound of knocking. He sat up in his bed and listened. Knock, knock. There it was again. The seed of hope sprouted in Barney's chest. He went quickly down the hallway in his bed. Shorts. Deb? He thought implausibly. Ben. Oh, but the bright day in a policeman on his doorstep. Barney squinted. Barely awake. This was not what he'd expected. Who would? The policeman looked a bit like every man who worked at the bowling club, but tall and with a navy hat on. Two other policemen were on the front lawn and on the street.
There were three police cars and two police vans. The policeman on the doorstep introduced himself. Barney forgot the man's name as soon as he heard it. He looked down at the official looking document in his hands. Had the policeman given this to him? Barney could not remember taking it. Occupy his notice. Barney read it over without reading it at all. So basically, we'll be executing a search warrant mostly at the rear of your property. Cockatoos screeched in the street trees, and Barney was informed of his rights. We're acting in relation to a missing person. The policeman was so tall, kind of up there, and Barney looked past him now to the street where a contraption that resembled a lawnmower was being removed from a van.
Any evidence we take from the property will be stored as exhibits. I'm just renting, said Barney. I just rent the house. That doesn't matter, Mr. Clark. You're the occupier. The sound of Comfry trotting softly down the hallway behind him. Barney stepped out onto the porch and closed the screen door. You stay inside, said Barney to Humphrey. And the cat did, frustrated circles on the floorboards. The policeman looked down at Humphrey and then up at Barney. He said, I used to have a tour to show myself, but now I have two blue Burmese. Okay. Said Bonnie Burmese are very muscular cats, said the policeman.
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That was Clark by Holly Throsby. Holly is [spells author's name]. That book goes for seven hours and 50 minutes and the narrator, Sarah Blasko, is the Australian musician - and as is Holly Throsby, she's also an Australian musician and the daughter of very well known broadcaster Margaret Throsby. And there's a couple of other books by Margaret Holly, sorry, Holly Throsby in the collection. The first there is Cedar Valley, which is another mystery set in a small country town in Australia. And there's also Good Wood, which is another one. I read this one a few years ago and I loved it again. It's a mystery set in a country town. Lots of interconnections, lots of history with the families living in this town generation after generation, the knowledge of each other's secrets. That sort of atmosphere pervades these small town Australian mysteries. By Holly Throsby I really enjoyed Goodwood and I think I might give um Clarke a read as well.
The next book is The Nowhere Child and this is by Christian White. On her lunch break in Melbourne, Kim Lamy is approached by a stranger investigating the disappearance of a little girl from her Kentucky home 28 years earlier. He believes Kim is that girl. At first, she brushes it off, but soon finds herself questioning her family history and begins to unravel an unexpectedly dark past. A combustible tale of trauma, cult conspiracy and memory by an exciting new Australian author. Let's hear a sample of The Nowhere Child by Christian White. It's narrated by Stef Smith.
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Mind if I join you? The stranger asked. He was somewhere in his 40s, with shy good looks and an American accent. He wore a slick wet parka and bright yellow sneakers. The shoes must have been new because they squeaked when he moved his feet. He sat down at my table before waiting for an answer and said, You're Kimberley Lamey, right? I was between classes at Northampton Community TAFE, where I taught photography three nights a week. The cafeteria was usually bustling with students, but tonight it had taken on an eerie, post-apocalyptic emptiness. It had been raining nearly six days straight, but the double glazed glass kept the noise out. Just Kim, I said, feeling mildly frustrated. I didn't have long left on my break and had been enjoying my solitude.
Earlier that week, I'd found a worn old copy of Stephen King's Pet Cemetery, propping up the leg of a table in the staff room, and since then I'd been busily consuming it. I've always been a big reader, and horror is a particular favourite of mine. My younger sister Amy would often watch in frustration as I finished three books in the same time it took her to read one. The key to fast reading is to have a boring life, I once told her. Amy had a fiance and a three year old daughter. I had Stephen King. My name is James Finn, the man said. He placed a manila folder on the table between us and closed his eyes for a moment.
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That was the Nowhere Child by Christian White. Christian is [spells author's name]. And that book goes for ten hours. The Nowhere Child was published in 2018, and since then he's penned a few more and we have them in the library as well. So there's The Ledge Again. When human remains are discovered in a forest, police are baffled, the locals are shocked, the wife and the widow set against the backdrop of an eerie island town in the dead of winter, a mystery thriller told from two perspectives. And then there's The Wild Place. In the summer of 1989, a local teen goes missing from the idyllic suburb of Camp Hill. Christian White is an Australian author, screenwriter and producer.
The Nowhere Child won the 2017 Wheeler Center Victorian Premier's Literary Award for Best Unpublished Manuscript, and then since its publication, it was shortlisted for major awards, including the Australian Book Industry Awards, General Fiction Book of the year and the Match, Rachel Ward Award for New Writer of the year. The wife and the widow won the 2020 Ned Kelly Award for Best Crime Fiction, and Christian White co-created the television series clickbait with Tony Ayres, who directed The Slap. This went straight to number one on Netflix.
So rounding off, I guess this year, though, we'll have a New Year show as well. But... I've just had an email from a lovely library client, and she often sends through... just notifications of different anniversaries. And one of them was the 10th of December worldwide, Dewey Decimal Day celebrated on Melvil Dewey's birthday in 1851. Loved by librarians and sometimes cursed by librarians. But that is the way of shelving non-fiction books and cataloging them. So if you ask a librarian, where would I find Australian history? They will know the Dewey Decimal numbers that that include that. So they're always on the spine.
And that puts me in mind of a lovely book that we have in the collection. Dewey Dawe, the Small Town Library Cat Who Touched the World... based on a true story. Dewey is the heartwarming story of Dewey. Read more books. The beloved library cat of Spencer, Iowa As told by his owner and companion of 19 years, Vicki Myron, the librarian who found him on a frigid January morning when he was abandoned as a kitten in the book drop slot. So if you would like to borrow that book, it's Dewey Dawe, the Small Town Library Cat Who Touched the World.
And the 10th of December was the poet Emily Dickinson's birthday, and we have books by Emily Dickinson in the collection. Amazing poetry stands the test of time. In the collection there are the complete poems of Emily Dickinson, Emily Dickinson, poems and letters, and also a choice of Emily Dickinson's verse. Oh, and there's another one. A murmur in the trees. So quite a bit to explore of Emily Dickinson's wonderful poetry. And there's also 10th of December was the first publication of Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn. That was in 1884. We also have that in the collection.
So any of the classics, we tend to have in the collection - I probably don't mention them enough, but we do have a lot of the classics. So if you're looking back at your childhood, reading maybe what you loved at school or maybe your parents read you a particular book, Anne of Green Gables, any of those classics? Little House on the Prairie? They are all available in the library. A nice time over Christmas to revisit some childhood favourites. And this client also said thanks for recommending the lives of Lee Miller. An amazing person and an amazing book, so I'm glad you're enjoying that.
And a very sad news this morning I woke up to that. I'm the Australian young adult author John Marsden has has died. He was born in 1950. Australian writer and alternative school principal. He wrote more than 40 books in his career, and his books have been translated into many languages. He's especially known for his young adult novel Tomorrow When the War Began, which we have in the collection, and that was a series of seven books started from that well known around the Macedon Ranges. He started up an alternative school, very arts focused, the Alice Miller School. And and there's also Candlebark school, in which he was the principal.
Marsden never wrote down to his audience. He his earlier works are aimed at teenage or young adult audiences, and common themes in Marsden's works include sexuality, violence and society, survival at school and in a harsh world, and conflict with adult authority figures. A Very Sad loss, and so, so many of his books in the collection. And if you want to read tomorrow When the War Began, seven teenagers leave the comforts of their homes in the small country town of Wirrawee for a five day bushwalk to an isolated valley known as hell. Upon their return, they discover that the country has been invaded and their families imprisoned. So begins a dangerous game of cat and mouse for these teenagers against the enemy army. That's part one of the tomorrow series. So, vale to John Marsden.
Thank you for joining us on Hear This today, and I hope you all have a lovely Christmas. It's a sad day for the radio station here in Melbourne at Kooyong as well, because we're losing one of our wonderful, wonderful staff members who's been here for a long time, Mark Ridout, so he is the person that puts this show together week after week and has done since the beginning of this program. So I greatly wish Mark the best. He's put in the hard yards and he's been fantastically supportive. Farewell, Mark. And this is the last show you're putting together and I wish you all the best.
If you would like to join the library, you can call 1300 654 656. That's 1300 654 656. Or you can email the library at Vision Australia dot org - that's library@visionaustralia.org - remember the library staff are on break for a couple of weeks. So save your questions for when they get back - and have a wonderful, wonderful, safe and content Christmas no matter what your circumstances or where you are. We'll be back next week for more Hear This.
