The Dry by Jane Harper

This is one of the best books I've read this year. It's set in the Australian outback. One of three brothers is found dead at a remote spot not far from his car which is full of water and supplies and in full working order. As his brother Nathan tries to work out what happened to Cameron, we slowly find out just how hard and unforgiving life in rural Australia is. The plot is great but it's the charcters that make the book such a page turner. I really wanted to find out what Nathan had done that made the locals hate him and who might have wanted Cameron dead.

All the Hidden Truths by Claire Askew

This 2018 debut novel tells the story of a mass shooting at an Edinburgh college by a young student.  Each chapter is written in the third person from the perspective of the shooter's mother, one of the victims' mothers or the detective that is overseeing the investigation. The first chapters are set the day before the shooting and the book covers the month afterwards. Unlike the novel We need to talk about Kevin, there's very little reflection on the perpetrator's past. The focus of the story is the response of the gutter press and social media, and how that affects the families and the police.

It's a great story and an easy read. I'm looking forward to reading Askew's second novel What you pay for.

The Weekend by Charlotte Wood

I enjoyed this much more than Wood's previous novel. It tells the story of three female friends in their seventies. They are clearing out the home of their fourth friend, Sylvie, who has recently died. Jude is a proud and fastidious restaurateur who has lived the life of a kept women. Adele is a widowed actor with money problems and Wendy is a widowed academic and writer. Wendy brings along her dog Finn who is so old and frail he should probably haver been put down some time ago.

The loss of Sylvie has changed the dynamic of the foursome and they're wondering if their friendship will survive it. The tension slowly builds as the women begin to get on each others nerves. It reaches its climax on Christmas Eve, which just happened to be the day I finished the book. There is very little backfill, the book focuses on the present. The dog acts as a symbol for ageing. He's frightened, frail, messy and constantly needs accomodating for, but Wendy still loves and needs him.

The wife and the widow by Christian White

This is an easy to read crime thriller with a great twist (the sort that has you going back through the earlier chapters looking for the clues). It takes place on a Australian island. Kate (the widow) has a holiday home there and Abby (the wife) is a local. Kate's husband is killed at a secluded part of the beach that is a known gay cruising spot.

The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides

I was expecting great things of this thriller but I have to say I was a little disappointed. The premise is great. A psychologist (Theo) interviews an artist (Alicia) in a psychiartric facility to try and work out why she shot her husband but she hasn't uttered a word since the incident. Theo delves into Alicia's life, her friendships, her family, her marriage and her work. He meets with anyone he can to try and piece together her state of mind at the time of the shooting.

There are great twists but I lost interest in all the interviews Theo was conducting. I've given it 4 stars as it was good but, based on other reviews, I was expecting it to be outstanding.