Bras and knickers come before books
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Bras and knickers come before books

Living, coping and observing in the age of Covid #4 SO many Covid conundrums to confuse and ponder. The more our masters attempt to clarify, the murkier the restrictions become. How far from one’s home is “a reasonable distance” yet close enough to be accepted as an exercise zone? Precisely what qualifies as an “open…

Celebratory cuddle as picture in the Daily Telegraph
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Cuddles for goals but not for grandma

Living, coping and observing in the age of Covid #3 04 Jan 2021: THOUGHT for the day: money does not buy brains. Nor can it buy common sense, or consideration for others or the community at large. Shell out zillions but there’s no guarantee the recipient will be transformed into a truly mature and responsible…

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Resolving not to make a resolution

Living, coping and observing in the age of Covid #2 02 Jan 2021: SAME old, same old. Here we go again. Back on the media roundabout as the familiar format for each year’s beginning is once more regurgitated. Not even all the shifts in lifestyles forced upon us by the pandemic’s restrictions and changes can…

Down to the Woods - MJ Aldridge
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Confused by sleuths of crime-ridden south coast

CONFUSION continues to await avid readers of two popular series of crime fiction tales centred on Britain’s south coast. They can be left flummoxed, not so much by the intricate plotting but rather by the naming of the two main characters. One wonders whether there is mutual admiration or deep rivalry between the books’ authors,…

Book review Bitter Wash Road Gary Disher
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Garry dishes up Outback crime to rival the best

I HAVE been renewing acquaintance with an old friend. As always, it was a rewarding and compelling page-turning experience. It was also thought provoking, making me wonder yet again why so few Australian crime writers make it on to the international stage. Rather than becoming household names they are too often relegated to being the…

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Adrenalin overload, excessive effort and a hangover haze

  NOW here’s a weird, even disturbing, thing; my trusty Garmin records a hilly four-mile run around the city where I live. Yet I have scant memory of it ever happening. How can this be? The watch tells of a continuous jog with every second accounted for. By contrast, my memory presents me with a…

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Delight in old master of writing, and crime fiction

THERE’S nothing like revisiting an old friend. So much forgotten pleasure to be derived from taking giant steps back to the very early years. In so doing we revive  experiences that only now are revealed and recognised for their formative effect on so much that followed. As a youth, I voraciously and randomly devoured almost…