{"id":72086,"date":"2025-08-16T22:38:13","date_gmt":"2025-08-16T22:38:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/72086\/"},"modified":"2025-08-16T22:38:13","modified_gmt":"2025-08-16T22:38:13","slug":"book-talk-dark-secrets-violence-and-a-seaside-salon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/72086\/","title":{"rendered":"Book talk: Dark secrets, violence and a seaside salon"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>This week, Jeff Popple reviews three entertaining Australian novels about dark secrets, violence and a seaside salon. More of Jeff\u2019s reviews can be found on his blog: <a href=\"http:\/\/murdermayhemandlongdogs.com\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">murdermayhemandlongdogs.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p>High Rise by Gabriel Bergmoser<\/p>\n<p>Harper Collins, $34.99<\/p>\n<p>Gabriel Bergmoser\u2019s High Rise is another full-throttle thriller by an author who seems incapable of writing a boring book. After a year of searching, rogue ex-cop Jack Carlin has finally found his estranged daughter, Morgan, holed up on the top floor of a rundown, grimy Melbourne high-rise. She is in trouble and Carlin is coming to save her. Unfortunately, Morgan does not want saving and, to make things worse, Jack has a huge bounty on his head. As bounty hunters and gang members converge on the building, father and daughter are thrown into a desperate fight for survival through fifteen storeys of deadly enemies. Good fun.<\/p>\n<p>Stillwater by Tanya Scott<\/p>\n<p>Allen &amp; Unwin, $32.99<\/p>\n<p>Tanya Scott\u2019s Stillwater is the latest impressive Australian crime debut to grace bookshop shelves this year. Eschewing the current fashion for rural murder mysteries, it is a tough, gritty story with a strong urban feel. Luke Harris is trying to restart his life with a new name and career. However, a chance encounter with the brutal criminal he worked for as a teenager drags Luke back into his old life as he tries to track down his father and a missing chunk of money. Skilfully utilising a dual timeline, Stillwater moves along at a good pace with a real depth to its storytelling. Recommended.<\/p>\n<p>Lessons in Love at the Seaside Salon by Sophie Green<\/p>\n<p>Hachette, $34.99<\/p>\n<p>Sophie Green has established herself as a leading Australian writer of warm-hearted, long-titled tales about female friendship and second chances. In her latest novel, Lessons in Love at the Seaside Salon, four women come together at a small hairdresser salon in the sun-soaked coastal town of Terrigal in the 1980s. They are of different ages and stages in life, but each of them is looking for a new chance at love and fulfilment. Together they move through heartbreak and happiness in this enjoyable book that readily engages the reader\u2019s heart and mind. A good spring choice for book clubs.<\/p>\n<p>Feeling social? Follow Canberra Daily: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/canberradaily\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Facebook<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/canberradaily\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Instagram<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/canberra_daily\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">X (Twitter)<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@canberradaily\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">TikTok<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCV8n9ACoih6idMLZgSVz8Hw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">YouTube<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Get all the latest Canberra news, sport, entertainment, lifestyle, competitions and more delivered straight to your inbox with the Canberra Daily Newsletter. <a href=\"https:\/\/canberradaily.com.au\/subscribe\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Sign up here.<\/a><\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><script async src=\"\/\/www.tiktok.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This week, Jeff Popple reviews three entertaining Australian novels about dark secrets, violence and a seaside salon. More&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":72087,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[37152,457,96,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-72086","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-books","8":"tag-book-talk","9":"tag-books","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-uk","12":"tag-united-kingdom","13":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72086","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=72086"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72086\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/72087"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72086"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72086"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72086"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}