Just So Stories

Random Reviews and Ramblings from Redcliffe

  • The Garden of Lost Girls- A. L. Tait

    Scholastic Australia September 2026 ISBN: 9781761729485 RRP: $18.99 Anyone who knows me also knows my obsession with cosy murder/mystery stories. This new one caters to a younger readership of middle grade – think Year 6 upwards – straddling a gap often in this genre. Sam and his cousins, Archie and Grace, have grown up with…

  • Web of Spies: S.I.G.M.A. #1 – Tim Ayliffe

    Affirm Press September 2026 Distributed by Simon & Schuster ISBN13: 9781761636615 LIST PRICE: AU$ 16.99 / NZ$ 19.99 With a promo that offers the reader a ‘Australia’s answer to Alex Rider’ this will entice many thrillseekers. And, being a fan of Alex Rider myself, I was keen to read this ARC. Two swift sessions as…

  • Eleanor Jones is Not Drowning – Amy Doak

    Penguin Australia June 2026 ISBN: 9781761357305 Imprint: Penguin RRP: $19.99 Amy Doak’s thrillers, especially the Eleanor Jones series, have been smash hits from the start and you could bet that when this one arrived on Thursday 18th, it wasn’t going to languish on the shelf for long unread. In fact, I took it away with us up the…

  • Good Young Men – Gary Lonesborough

    Allen & Unwin March 2026 ISBN:9781761182174 Publisher:A&U Children’s Imprint:A & U Children RRP: $22.99 Once again Gary brings his own upbringing as a young gay Koori in a regional setting [from the same part of the country as my family] as well as his professional experience working with Aboriginal youth in a skewed justice system,…

  • The Wolf Who Cried Boy – Mark Mupotsa-Russell

    Publisher: Affirm Press August, 2025 Distributor: Simon & Schuster ISBN13: 978192313567 I read several fantastic adult books over the blog break, a few of those just free-range reading and not for review, but this was one I had seen in Affirm’s catalogue and requested because it sounded intriguing. Can I just say it’s been a…

  • What Rhymes with Murder?Penny Tangey

    Simon & Schuster S&S/Summit Books February 2026 LIST PRICE: AU$ 34.99 / NZ$ 39.99 ISBN13: 9781761634031 Yesterday (as of time of writing this 21/1), I was treated to a guided tour of the stunning new Caloundra library [Thank you to Karen and Fran, my exemplary tour guides and instant friends!] and, at the mention, of…

  • Oxford Blood — Rachel Davis Featherstone

    Walker Books Synchronicity yet again. For one thing my other YA review for Halloween is also dark academia, full of privilege vs scholarship, ruthlessness, power-hungry educational institutions, murder/s, set in an elite institution. And, also, as I’ve just re-read via audiobook The Book of Dust #1 & #2 and the setting of Oxford with references…

  • Murder on North Terrace:a Petticoat Police Mystery #2 – Lainie Anderson

    Hachette Australia Sep 30, 2025 | 9780733652097 | RRP $32.99 Around this time last year, I reviewed the first Petticoat Police mystery after thoroughly relishing it, so I was extra keen to get my hands on this one. And it is no disappointment. Equally engaging as the first, cleverly weaving in fact to the fictional aspects, with a little…

  • The Poisoned King: Impossible Creatures #2 – Katherine Rundell

    Bloomsbury ISBN 9781408897454 (p/b) Imprint Bloomsbury Children’s Books RRP: $18.99 (P/b) $29.99 (H/b) $15.19 ebook editions I have raved over Impossible Creatures since I first ate it up greedily and, trust me, I am not the only one. Evidence of that is in the fact that it was the Children’s Book of the Year in…

  • Eleanor Jones is Playing with Fire – Amy Doak

    Penguin Australia July 2025 ISBN: 9781761350634 Imprint: Penguin RRP: $19.99 Anyone who has read the first two Eleanor Jones books will know exactly how pleased I was when this one arrived. You would also know exactly why the first two titles have been so highly acclaimed. Amy Doak has a great grip on the whole YA crime/mystery genre…