Book Review: Death by Misadventure

The large photo book is The Heart of Australia by Peter Jarver.

When I was a kid, I had a video game called “Ty the Tasmanian Tiger.” I absolutely adored it. Those years were also pretty much the extent of my video game experience. When I asked my high school classmates if they’d ever heard of the game, all I got was “no” and a sense that I was not a cool gamer.

Being a Tasmanian Tiger, Ty had all his adventures in Australia, which led me to have a huge Australia phase. I had books about the country, made a dictionary of phrases like “g’day mate,” and even had an Australia themed birthday party.

Lately, I’ve been finding a lot of satisfaction in rediscovering old interests. Even though I’m no longer a nine-year-old running around with boomerangs, I still feel drawn to Australia.

I decided it would be great to combine that old fascination with my newer love for 20th century mystery fiction. I hopped on Google thinking I’d find a long list to take on my next bookstore or library run. It ended up taking some more digging. I had to resort to a Wikipedia list of Australian novelists in general and go through it name by name until I found what I wanted.

Once I had my list made, I discovered that locating the books was going to be even more challenging than finding a list of authors. Most of the books seem to be out of print and rare, at least in the States.

I finally stumbled upon one at a used bookstore, and I’ll be reviewing it today. It’ll probably be a while before I get my hands on any others, so the series I’d originally hoped to call “Detectives Down Under” may end up being very piecemeal.

The Book

Now, on to the actual review of Death by Misadventure by Estelle Thompson.  

The story is told in first person by Lyn Sutton, an artist in search of her father who was arrested when she was a child and never returned to his family.

She locates him in New South Wales and finds that he has a new family and isn’t interested in reconciling with her or explaining what really happened the night of the crime he’d been convicted of.

Meanwhile, Lyn receives a note intended for the owner of the cottage she is renting. The note is a plea for help. Unable to contact the owner, Lyn decides to try to help the desperate woman named Vi Norris.

When she locates Vi, nothing seems to be wrong at all. Lyn requests permission to paint the beautiful scenery around Vi’s house in order to keep an eye on things and hopefully earn the woman’s trust.

As Lyn gets to know Vi, her husband Ivan, their foster son Peter, and their Aunt Edith, things only become more baffling.

Lyn gets drawn deeper and deeper into the Norris family’s troubles, as well as her stepfamily’s. Things escalate to a tense and twisty conclusion.

I loved this book. Lyn is a great character. She’s bright, but not a detective genius like many mystery protagonists. It was refreshing to find a relatable female character in a mystery. These days, romance seems to be the main genre aimed at young women, which is frustrating to me.

In addition to being an artist, Lyn has something else in common with me. She suffers from acrophobia, the fear of heights. Thompson does a great job describing the way that feels, especially the physical sensations. Lyn’s description of standing near a cliff was equal parts relatable and stressful for anyone who shares her aversion for “anything higher than a six-foot ladder.”

As I said, I’m not a fan of romance novels. If the whole plot revolves around will-they-won't-they or its various iterations, I’m probably going to have a hard time getting through it. Death by Misadventure, however, had a touch of romance I enjoyed. Lyn meets and begins dating Liam Stuart early in the book. I enjoyed seeing them get to know each other. Thompson did a great job keeping the romance as a subplot and pretty much out of the “mushy” category. Liam was a likable and important character in his own right, not just a love interest for the protagonist.

From a genre perspective, this is a well-crafted mystery. I did not see the ending coming, but once I knew the solution, I could think back over the book and trace a logical course. If you’re a stickler, you may find the way the two big mysteries of the book connect too coincidental, but the explanation is logical, if a tad improbable.

Having read this book, I’m eager to keep my eyes peeled for more books by Estelle Thompson. Lyn and Liam are characters I’d love to spend more time with. And I’m interested in exploring some of Thompson’s earlier work as well. Death by Misadventure was published in the 1990s, but her career began in the 60s.