Sherryl Clark

She hasn't seen her brother in years. Now, he's dead.

When Judi Westerholme finds out her estranged brother has been murdered, she assumes it's connected to his long term drug addiction. Returning home, she is shocked to discover he had been clean for years, had a wife – now missing – a child and led a respectable life. But if he had turned his life around, why was he killed in a drug deal shooting? And where is his wife?

Desperate to know what really happened, Judi sets out to uncover the show more truth, even though it means confronting her own traumatic past. But she's not the only one looking for answers...

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Shortlisted for the 2018 CWA Debut Daggar, TRUST ME, I'M DEAD, is the first crime novel from New Zealand born, Australian resident writer Sherryl Clark, best known for her children's writing, although I understand there's now a sequel to this novel planned for this year. Any possible sequel should be regarded as a very good thing, whenever it is released.

Judi Westerholme leads a secluded life, out in a rural area, working her vegetable patch, and mostly minding her own business, she's a woman with a past of her own. She hasn't seen her brother for years, having been heartily disappointed with his drug addiction and life choices, so she's surprised to find that it looks like he turned his life around. He's been holding down a job, bought a house, got married, they had a baby. Which makes the fact that he was shot dead in what looks like a drug deal gone wrong, his wife gone missing, seem even more inexplicable.

As their mother lives in a nursing home and isn't quite with it anymore, Judi is called back to Melbourne, to arrange his funeral and sort out his affairs, hoping that his wife will turn up eventually. Only to find a weird set of circumstances involving their grandmother's home, a missing toolbox, questions about his lifestyle, and a policeman investigating his death. To say nothing of a baby that his will has left in Judi's care - the last thing in this world she thought she'd be lumbered with.

There is so much potential in this novel it's hard to know where to start. I did see a summary somewhere where the author has great fondness for the character Judi Westerholme, a wonderfully grumpy, matter of fact, determined, bloody minded sort of a woman, secretly modelled on a young Judi Dench, and it's not hard to see how you could have enormous time for that person. She's resourceful without being super-woman, she's flawed without wallowing in it, she's strong and grumpy and knows how to take bloody minded to the edge of bloody annoying without tipping over. Even a bit of unresolved sexual tension with the investigating police officer manages to avoid the dreaded inevitability.

Alongside good characters, there's a good sense of place, with most of the action taking place in inner Melbourne suburbs, although a brief visit to a medium sized town that I know pretty well these days made me laugh at the observations of lack of activity after dark. There's a good, clever, plot at the heart of everything, and pace is never sacrificed to personal or character development. There's menace aplenty and it's a real page turner.

TRUST ME, I'M DEAD was sadly one of those books that I'd missed much commentary about when it was shortlisted. Hope that changes, and I hope we're not waiting too long for the sequel.

https://www.austcrimefiction.org/review/trust-me-im-dead-sherryl-clark show less

DEAD AND GONE is the 2nd in the Judi Westerholme series, following on from TRUST ME, I'M DEAD. There are some events in the earlier book that would be useful to know about before starting this one, although it's not absolutely vital - there should be enough context to keep you moving forward with what's a really good plot, peopled by very real characters.

When I reviewed the first book I did say:

"There's a good, clever, plot at the heart of everything, and pace is never sacrificed to personal show more or character development. There's menace aplenty and it's a real page turner."

Could apply here as well really, when in this outing we move from inner Melbourne suburbs to her country town location in Victoria where Judi is now the manager of the local pub, and primary carer for her orphaned niece (how that came about is one of those things that the first book will explain fully). Life seemed to be settling into a nice routine for Judi and her niece relatively quickly as they sort out the major challenges life has dealt them, when along comes another one. This time tragedy strikes Judi's boss and pub owner, Macca, who is brutally murdered and dumped at the back of the pub on a busy night when they are all working there. As you'll quickly come to realise, Judi's not one for sitting back and letting the cops get on with it, particularly when she really questions whether the big-town cops know what they are doing. She does her own digging, and the more she digs the bigger the hole she's trapping herself in starts to become. Not helped when Melbourne homicide assistance turns out to be the same love-interest she encountered when her brother was killed in the first novel.

It's worth noting that the author has expressed a real fondness for the character she's created in Judi. Matter-of-fact to the point of brusque, as grumpy as some of us aspire to on a daily basis, she's bloody-minded, determined, and resourceful along with it. She's also gloriously, unashamedly flawed, loyal to a T, questioning herself constantly, and uncomfortably attracted to the same cop that she sort of hooked up with, but not really, getting closer to it here, from the first novel. Also, as with the first novel, the balance between character development and plot is nicely done, you learn more about Judi by following her investigations and the progress of the case than you do in by being told about Judi. You actually learn quite a bit about all the characters in the same way - and they are a good mix of believable, suspicious, incomers and locals, known quantities and absolute mysteries.

This is a series that has a lot of potential. It's really good, character based crime fiction, that doesn't stint on plot.

https://www.austcrimefiction.org/review/dead-and-gone-sherryl-clark show less

A charming story about a girl who may not have the classic ballerina body but whose passion for dancing makes her FEEL like one.

Merry dreams of being a beautiful, graceful ballerina, complete with all the accoutrements. So when Miss Lane announces she will offer a ballet class at school for interested students, Merry signs up right away. Merry doesn’t have the classic ballerina’s body: she is round and chubby and the ballet clothing her mother can afford aren’t exactly true ballet show more style. But Merry loves her classes and wants to solo for an upcoming competition. Shortly before the competition, she tries on her performance tutu and suddenly sees that she is not graceful or elegant, just fat. The joy goes out for her but on the day of competition, when she feels the energy of the audience and hears the music, all she knows and feels is that she is a ballerina, no matter her appearance. She dances from her heart and does beautifully. show less

Judi Westerholme is working hard to get her life back on track and set up a gastro pub with friend Andre in the rural town of Candlebark. She has been receiving some threatening phone calls but is prepared to ignore them as a prank until her waitress, Kate is murdered. Judi is thrust into a new and dangerous mystery as she attempts to locate Kate’s missing daughter and provide safety for her young ward, Mia.

Mad, Bad and Dead is a rollicking ride that keeps you on your toes from start to show more finish. It is an easy read and a captivating story that is hard to put down. Clark offers a tantalising visual taste of rural life in Australia, with colourful (and accurate) descriptions of both rural Victoria and Melbourne. Her characters are well-rounded, deeply flawed and immensely likeable (well, most of them).

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Mad, Bad and Dead is the third book in the Judi Westerholme series. It is a stand-alone story and can be read without the benefit of having read the first two (although once you start, you’ll want to.) It is a great addition to the growing collection of Australian Rural Noir. I am looking forward to going back to read the first two books in the series. show less