Black & Blue

Right when we think Blues brother is the culprit - the story ends. Rubbish. Won’t buy another of these, feels like just a new marketing concept to sell snippets of books for more money overall.

Candice Fox is an Australian crime novelist, who won the 2014 Ned Kelly Award for Best First Novel for Hades. I have read and enjoyed at least five of Ms Fox’s solo efforts (Hades, Eden, Fall, Crimson Lake, and Redemption Point.) Since 2015, she’s been collaborating with Mr Money-bags James Patterson on a series about a feisty Sydney detective named Harriet Blue. There are four novels so far, plus a prequel novella (0.5). I made it almost half way through the prequel, less than that for Book 1. Words fail me.

I really enjoyed this short story. Lots of the right stuff going on to keep the read engaged until you run into the inaccuracies of poor research that distract from the experience. As is the case with this author's other stories set in Australia he imposes Americanisms that don't apply in Australia. Specifically in this story he makes several references to the "coast guard" as though it were a para military law enforcement body like America complete with resources like helicopters and water safety compliance officers. The Australian Coast Guard is a purely volunteer operated body devoted mainly to sea rescue and water craft safety training. It does not send out helicopters and vessels in pursuit of escaping criminals. That job is done by the Navy, Customs and Border control and water police. It is typical American arrogance to impose US structures into a story set in another country. Do your research please Mr Patterson.