mandylovestoread's review against another edition
5.0
Aussie crime fiction is so good! I just loved this book set in the Snowy Mountains. I was twisty, clever and fast paced - everything that I love in a book. I am already quite attached to the main characters in this book so I hope that we may see them again in a follow up book. I started this Friday night and finished it Saturday night, finding it hard to put down.
It begins with DS Pierce Ryder from the Sydney Homicide team being re-assigned from the hunt of a serial killer to the discovery of human bones on Mount Stillwell at Charlotte Pass. Vanessa Bell, a ski patroller at the resort found the bones high up on the mountain. It is determined that these are the remains of Celia Delaney who disappeared in 1964 in a fierce winter storm. So many years later are they going to be able to find the killer? It comes as the resort is packed with guest there to celebrate Winterfest and the original suspects in her case are all there. When there is a second murder in the resort Ryder cannot help but think that it is the same killer.
The setting of the snowy ski resort, full of visitors and staff is so well written that you feel as if you are there. As an Aussie, many of the places this book takes place in are familiar. The characters in this book are realistic, damaged and with their secrets. Put all together this is binge worthy read. Highly recommend it.
Thank you Allen and Unwin for my copy of this book to read. All opinions are my own and are in no way biased.
It begins with DS Pierce Ryder from the Sydney Homicide team being re-assigned from the hunt of a serial killer to the discovery of human bones on Mount Stillwell at Charlotte Pass. Vanessa Bell, a ski patroller at the resort found the bones high up on the mountain. It is determined that these are the remains of Celia Delaney who disappeared in 1964 in a fierce winter storm. So many years later are they going to be able to find the killer? It comes as the resort is packed with guest there to celebrate Winterfest and the original suspects in her case are all there. When there is a second murder in the resort Ryder cannot help but think that it is the same killer.
The setting of the snowy ski resort, full of visitors and staff is so well written that you feel as if you are there. As an Aussie, many of the places this book takes place in are familiar. The characters in this book are realistic, damaged and with their secrets. Put all together this is binge worthy read. Highly recommend it.
Thank you Allen and Unwin for my copy of this book to read. All opinions are my own and are in no way biased.
spookshow's review against another edition
3.0
You can find this review and all of my others over at www.readbookrepeat.wordpress.com
I received a copy of this book from the publisher, Allen & Unwin, exchange for an honest review.
Actual rating of 3.5
When human bones are uncovered up at Charlotte's Pass in the Snowy Mountains, the possibility of solving a fifty year old case is real. In 1964, Celia Delaney apparently walked out of Charlotte's Pass on her way to Perisher after having a fight with her husband, she was never seen or heard from again. When Detective Ryder Pierce is put on the case, he heads up to Charlotte's Pass to see what he can uncover, what he doesn't expect, is to come face to face with yet another murder. Are the two murders related? And if so, why has it taken fifty years for the second one to occur?
I was pretty excited about this book, one, it's a murder mystery so that would have been enough, but the second reason is because I live in the High Country of Victoria, so I'm nearby to these areas, that was the biggest selling point, if I'm honest. I must admit, it made me giggle a little at the beginning of the book to be reading about a manhunt happening in Khancoban, as I live in a neighbouring town. So the familiarity of the towns and areas that were being mentioned in this book did tickle my fancy a bit, and also made the story a little bit more relatable, I feel as well.
The story starts off with ski patrol Vanessa Bell stumbling across human bones near an area that is about to be opened as a tube run. Our ruggishly handsome detective Ryder is actually working on a different case to begin with, he's on a manhunt and is less than impressed when he finds out he's being taken off his current job and being put up on Charlotte's Pass to help a colleague solve a case that happened fifty years ago. Once there however, Ryder Pierce jumps straight in and does what he does best, solves the damn thing.
The scenery was incredibly well described and it really put you in the location. I felt the cold, and as said above, I got a bit of a giggle out of actually knowing where the author was writing about. Though I must admit, I'm not much of a snow bunny, so I haven't actually been up to the brilliant skiing and snowboarding areas surrounding me, I prefer to spend my winters indoors, under a blanket with my cat, a blanket and a cup of tea. But this book definitely made me kinda wish that I was more inclined to get out and into the white stuff. As someone who knows nothing about skiing, I loved how much information was actually included that explained about it all, Christine mentions in the acknowledgements section at the end of the book that her daughter helped her with all the skiing information, so I love that she's done a bit of research into it, it adds that dimension of realness to the story.
The characters were well written. I had a feeling who the culprit was at about the 2/3 mark, but I wasn't a hundred percent sure as Christine did a good job at throwing in a few possibilities on who could have done it. Ryder is a flawed and general nice guy with a bit of baggage, which I wasn't a hundred percent sure of why the accident he was involved in was added...I'm not sure if it was meant to add depth to his character, or a bit of backstory. Even though it didn't entirely gel for me having added this accident to the character's past, I'll admit, I did get the warm an fuzzies near the end when he seemed to be healing from his ordeal, I just didn't quite understand the point of it being there. Vanessa was a good character, a strong, independent woman who is kind, down to Earth and beautiful, there's honestly not a whole lot to say about her than that. She was a good character, I just didn't feel like I connected with them completely.
This is a murder mystery/Detective novel, with a bit of romance thrown in which actually threw me a little bit. I felt like the story was sort of pulled between these two genres, they weren't really blended together too well. I'll admit, I was invested in the romance by the end, but I still don't quite understand why it was such a big part of the story...I'm not sure if, once again, Christine was trying to make the story a bit deeper, or whether she wasn't too sure which genre she wanted the story to be.
I found the pacing to be a bit slow at times, but once things started to get going after the 60% mark, the pacing really picked up, so I found it to be a satisfying read in the end.
All in all, it's a decent whodunit with a bit of romance thrown in to spice things up. The most appealing thing for me was the location where the story was based because I live in the area. If you like a good murder mystery, give this one a crack.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher, Allen & Unwin, exchange for an honest review.
Actual rating of 3.5
When human bones are uncovered up at Charlotte's Pass in the Snowy Mountains, the possibility of solving a fifty year old case is real. In 1964, Celia Delaney apparently walked out of Charlotte's Pass on her way to Perisher after having a fight with her husband, she was never seen or heard from again. When Detective Ryder Pierce is put on the case, he heads up to Charlotte's Pass to see what he can uncover, what he doesn't expect, is to come face to face with yet another murder. Are the two murders related? And if so, why has it taken fifty years for the second one to occur?
I was pretty excited about this book, one, it's a murder mystery so that would have been enough, but the second reason is because I live in the High Country of Victoria, so I'm nearby to these areas, that was the biggest selling point, if I'm honest. I must admit, it made me giggle a little at the beginning of the book to be reading about a manhunt happening in Khancoban, as I live in a neighbouring town. So the familiarity of the towns and areas that were being mentioned in this book did tickle my fancy a bit, and also made the story a little bit more relatable, I feel as well.
The story starts off with ski patrol Vanessa Bell stumbling across human bones near an area that is about to be opened as a tube run. Our ruggishly handsome detective Ryder is actually working on a different case to begin with, he's on a manhunt and is less than impressed when he finds out he's being taken off his current job and being put up on Charlotte's Pass to help a colleague solve a case that happened fifty years ago. Once there however, Ryder Pierce jumps straight in and does what he does best, solves the damn thing.
The scenery was incredibly well described and it really put you in the location. I felt the cold, and as said above, I got a bit of a giggle out of actually knowing where the author was writing about. Though I must admit, I'm not much of a snow bunny, so I haven't actually been up to the brilliant skiing and snowboarding areas surrounding me, I prefer to spend my winters indoors, under a blanket with my cat, a blanket and a cup of tea. But this book definitely made me kinda wish that I was more inclined to get out and into the white stuff. As someone who knows nothing about skiing, I loved how much information was actually included that explained about it all, Christine mentions in the acknowledgements section at the end of the book that her daughter helped her with all the skiing information, so I love that she's done a bit of research into it, it adds that dimension of realness to the story.
The characters were well written. I had a feeling who the culprit was at about the 2/3 mark, but I wasn't a hundred percent sure as Christine did a good job at throwing in a few possibilities on who could have done it. Ryder is a flawed and general nice guy with a bit of baggage, which I wasn't a hundred percent sure of why the accident he was involved in was added...I'm not sure if it was meant to add depth to his character, or a bit of backstory. Even though it didn't entirely gel for me having added this accident to the character's past, I'll admit, I did get the warm an fuzzies near the end when he seemed to be healing from his ordeal, I just didn't quite understand the point of it being there. Vanessa was a good character, a strong, independent woman who is kind, down to Earth and beautiful, there's honestly not a whole lot to say about her than that. She was a good character, I just didn't feel like I connected with them completely.
This is a murder mystery/Detective novel, with a bit of romance thrown in which actually threw me a little bit. I felt like the story was sort of pulled between these two genres, they weren't really blended together too well. I'll admit, I was invested in the romance by the end, but I still don't quite understand why it was such a big part of the story...I'm not sure if, once again, Christine was trying to make the story a bit deeper, or whether she wasn't too sure which genre she wanted the story to be.
I found the pacing to be a bit slow at times, but once things started to get going after the 60% mark, the pacing really picked up, so I found it to be a satisfying read in the end.
All in all, it's a decent whodunit with a bit of romance thrown in to spice things up. The most appealing thing for me was the location where the story was based because I live in the area. If you like a good murder mystery, give this one a crack.
tasmanian_bibliophile's review against another edition
4.0
They had to jump or die.’
Crime fiction set in Australia’s Snowy Mountains? This book was always going to find a place on my reading list.
Human bones are discovered high on Mount Stilwell, near Charlotte Pass, by ski patroller Vanessa Bell. They seem to be the remains of Celia Delaney, a young woman who went missing from Charlotte Pass during a ferocious storm in the winter of 1964.
The case is assigned to Detective Sergeant Pierce Ryder from the Sydney Homicide Squad. He’s at first reluctant to accept the case (he’d been in the area for a different investigation). But when an autopsy reveals evidence of foul play, Ryder has an old murder to investigate.
The investigation coincides with a major celebration, and not everyone wants to assist. Then a second murder occurs, and the resort is locked down. Ryder thinks that there’s a connection between the two murders and that the murderer is still in the village. Can he identify the murderer before anyone else is killed?
The story moves at a rapid pace. There are several potential murderers, and a few twists in the tale. There’s also some interesting history about an old chairlift. Pierce Ryder and Vanessa Bell are both interesting characters, as is the detective who initially investigated the 1964 missing person case.
I really enjoyed this novel: both setting and story held my attention from beginning to end.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
Crime fiction set in Australia’s Snowy Mountains? This book was always going to find a place on my reading list.
Human bones are discovered high on Mount Stilwell, near Charlotte Pass, by ski patroller Vanessa Bell. They seem to be the remains of Celia Delaney, a young woman who went missing from Charlotte Pass during a ferocious storm in the winter of 1964.
The case is assigned to Detective Sergeant Pierce Ryder from the Sydney Homicide Squad. He’s at first reluctant to accept the case (he’d been in the area for a different investigation). But when an autopsy reveals evidence of foul play, Ryder has an old murder to investigate.
The investigation coincides with a major celebration, and not everyone wants to assist. Then a second murder occurs, and the resort is locked down. Ryder thinks that there’s a connection between the two murders and that the murderer is still in the village. Can he identify the murderer before anyone else is killed?
The story moves at a rapid pace. There are several potential murderers, and a few twists in the tale. There’s also some interesting history about an old chairlift. Pierce Ryder and Vanessa Bell are both interesting characters, as is the detective who initially investigated the 1964 missing person case.
I really enjoyed this novel: both setting and story held my attention from beginning to end.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
busyreading's review against another edition
4.0
Charlotte Pass is set in the Snowy Mountains and what a wonderful setting for a book. What’s not to love about this book. Intrigue, mystery, twists and turns, strong characters and the beautiful descriptions of the Snowy Mountains and you have yourself a page turner one in which you won’t want to put down.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. Aussie author Lee Christine is fast becoming another one of my favorite authors. Highly recommended.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. Aussie author Lee Christine is fast becoming another one of my favorite authors. Highly recommended.
jodimiller37's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
robinwalter's review
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
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