- first published by Penguin Australia
- this edition is a paperback published in May 2016
- ISBN 978-0-14-379719-7
- 277 pages
Cadet journalist Stacey McCallaghan is struggling to find anything newsworthy to report on in the small country town of Toomey. Front-page stories consist of the price of cattle and lawn bowls results, and Stacey spends more time laying out the crossword than covering actual news.
Until the first dead body turns up.
While the local police fumble the investigation, ambitious Stacey is just pleased to have something other than cattle sales to write about. Plus, she now has an excuse to spend more time with the arrogantly attractive Detective Scott Fitzgerald. But when Stacey shows up at one crime scene too many, she moves to the top of the most wanted list. Stacey must uncover the truth before anyone else gets hurt – or the police put her behind bars.
Light-hearted and laugh-out-loud funny, this charming novel will have readers falling in love with the surprisingly deadly town of Toomey.
My Take
Stacey McCallaghan is young, inexperienced and a little naive. She seems to have a lot of responsibility in the production of the weekly Toomey Times. and copes with that quite well. Murder is not really her scene but the discovery of a body in a car in a local watering pond brings a frisson of excitement. At first sight it looks as if a gang from a nearby town must be teaching somebody a lesson, and nobody is expecting the next body.
The plot becomes more convoluted and puzzling as there are more murders. Are they connected? Surely so many deaths in such a short time is very unusual for Toomey. The police narrow down their list of suspects and realise that Stacey has been first to the scene at least twice.
I think this novel may go down well with a YA audience, especially young women who can put themselves in Stacey's place. There is romance and an occasional touch of humour.
My Rating: 3.9
About the author
Katie Rowney started out as a journalist in a small country town and saw her first dead body on her second day on the job. After shifting through several community newspapers and freelancing for Fairfax, she joined the dark side as a media officer for the emergency services. Her job involved everything from evacuating towns during cyclones to trying to train firefighters not to swear during live to air interviews. She's currently a senior communications officer at a QLD university, helping engineers and scientists with no social skills share their findings with the world. You can find her on twitter @KatieRowney or online at katierowney.com
FRONT PAGE NEWS is her debut novel.
No comments:
Post a Comment