Review: Pieces of a Lie by Rowena Holloway

Adelaide author Rowena Holloway's debut crime novel is a tale that comes with a very macabre twist ... a twist that is best not read while one is alone in semi-darkness. Mina Everton is a young woman who has suffered some tough blows in her short life--first she was deserted by her criminal father and then her beloved mother died after a long illness. An outcast in her home town, she gets by collecting and selling antiques, a job that eventually brings her to into contact with the criminal underworld and Detective Lincoln Drummond, a man with troubles of his own ...

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Pieces of a Lie. Although some parts of the story early on felt a little slow, the story soon gained momentum and the last hundred pages were a real roller coaster ride with lost of surprising twists and turns, including one very macabre discovery that I was not expecting.  It is difficult to go into detail with this one without giving too much away, though I will say that Mina is an interesting heroine--Mina is nobody's fool, though she can often find herself in dangerous situations. She may also be a perfect match for Linc, a strong willed but honest cop ... if only she could admit it. I loved the South Australian setting, the use of Australian slang and some of the descriptions of smaller, little known things about life here--it's not often that I read a book where the heroine is reading the same community newspaper that I get delivered to my doorstep every week. 

A solid debut novel. Recommended. 

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