Review: Great start to a new series
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 08 30, 2013
NEFARIOUS DOINGS is the first book in Ilsa Evans’ new Nell Forrest Mystery series and it is a damn good start too. I really enjoyed it, especially with a glass of Australian Shiraz at my side. It is easy to read with very likable and believable characters. Nell’s interaction with her daughters and mother are spot on; I could almost imagine they were my daughters and Ilsa had been listening underneath our windows as the conversations were so similar! The mystery is fascinating – for what possible reason could her mother’s house be burned down and the dead body of a neighbour discovered in her garage? In a quiet country community, where normally you can’t even sneeze without everyone discussing if you have the plague, nobody hears or sees anything. Or did they? A second neighbour is found a few days later so everyone becomes a suspect ,even Nell’s mother. So of course Nell is honour bound to prove her mother’s innocence. I had to really laugh when Nell went sleuthing and her sister, daughters and dog all came along in the car! Majic comes over as a typical Australian country town and is named for a Mr Majic who founded it and not because anyone has any magical powers. There is suspense, danger, a touch of romance and enough wine mentions to keep this little wine-lover happy. I hugely enjoyed NEFARIOUS DOINGS and have the next book in the series, Ill-Gotten Gains, on pre-order for its release next month. I am more than ready to pour a wine and settle down to learn more about Nell and her activities