Good Money (J M Green, Scribe)

Stella Hardy is a not-quite-hardboiled social worker operating in Melbourne’s inner west. She likes a drink (usually from the box) and also has an addiction to DVD box sets. When the teenage son of one her clients is murdered, Stella finds a notebook in his room with her address on it and panics, believing that a guilty secret from her past is about to come to light. When her next-door neighbour goes missing, it appears the secret is driving her to find out why. Dirty deals and a shootout in the desert ensue. I enjoyed Stella as a character. Her thought processes read—sometimes literally—like a YouTube binge. However, I was never quite convinced of her motivation, both as a social worker or an amateur sleuth. The rest of the characters remained fairly two-dimensional and the plot kept losing momentum. This is a good Melbourne-flavoured debut that will appeal to readers with a taste for chick-lit crime. I’m hoping Stella’s character continues to get fleshed out as she seems poised for a series.

Viki Dun is editor of Gleebooks’ Gleaner

Category: Reviews