The Waterhole by Lily Malone is a beautifully descriptive small-town detective novel that takes us through a discovery of bones, and exploration of all that occurred.
Detective Marley West uses the discovery to reignite his career, and with his partner, Brigit, they begin to dig for answers from twenty years prior.
The family that owned the land, the Ross family, is in the spotlight. Brothers Bill and Jack are now old men, but in their youth, they were frequently competitive.
Bill fought in Vietnam, and Jack always managed to attract the girls. And of course, this competition led to a complex relationship with one woman in particular.
And this makes the book a real page-turner – alongside the mystery.
I’ve read some of Lily Malone’s previous books – small-town romance novels. I was very excited when I first heard about The Waterhole, and it didn’t disappoint.
The depth of characters typical of Lily’s stories remains. The setting is remarkably Aussie, the writing is superb and the interactions between the characters are fascinating. Readers of mystery novels, suspense and family sagas will no doubt enjoy this book.
Thanks to Beauty and Lace and Lily Malone for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Author: Lily Malone
ISBN: 9780995400559
A selection of our Beauty and Lace Club Members are reading The Waterhole by Lily Malone. You can read their comments below, or add your own review.
Raechel is a Professor, mother of 5 and avid reader. She always has at least four books on the go at any one time – an audio book, a fiction e-book, a non-fiction e-book, and an ‘actual’ book. She is often criticized for this behaviour!
The Waterhole by Lily Malone is a gripping crime story that uncovers all sorts of long held secrets, sinister dealings and trysts in the small West Australian town of Cowaramup. It is compelling reading – I couldn’t put it down!
Human bones are uncovered at the site of an old waterhole, and Detective Marley West and his partner Constable Brigit Winger are determined to find out how they got there and who it is… They soon discover that a lot has been hidden in the seemingly sleepy town of Cowaramup, and at the heart of it all is the Ross family.
It has been many years since the developers of the subdivision had cleared the bush, and filled in part of the local creek and waterhole. So it seems clear that the bones have been there for some time.
Making the investigation tricky is the fact that the original owners of the land, the Ross family have been feuding amongst themselves for the past 30 years. Now in their 70’s the two Ross brothers Bill and Jack barely speak to each other.
The story cuts across several timelines as it gradually reveals whose bones lay rotting in the waterhole, what led to Bill and Jack’s estrangement and other family secrets. This is a completely enthralling read, that I thoroughly enjoyed.
This was my first Lily Malone read, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Flipping back and forth between the decades, made for an enthralling tale of lies, deceit, lost love, betrayal, intense family feuds and secrets, and at the crux of it all, murder, or was it!!.
The story packed in everything, yet was so well written, it was an absolute page turner, without being long and heavy. My only criticism, was the story was telling you about the characters, but in one chapter it is written as the character telling the story, which I found not so much confusing, but it out of place.
Besides that, a great read basically for the reader who enjoys all genre of books.
Thanks to Beauty and Lace and Lily Malone for the opportunity to read this book.
Another great Australian book written by Lily Malone
Set in Western Australia in a town called Cowaramup a new estate is being developed when an excavator digs up some human bones, hence the title of the book cause once many years ago this was a waterhole,
The town is full of great characters past and present some good some bad When the police Marley and Brigit start looking into the discovery of the bones and into the past they discover lies and family secrets especially between the Ross brothers Bill and Jack
No more spoilers from me
Lots of characters in this book , but easy to read and follow
A great book which I enjoyed reading
Thanks
I enjoyed The Waterhole by Lilly Malone. I was a bit hesitant at the beginning but as I got into the story, it became hard to put down. It kept me wondering what would happen next and kept me on the edge of my seat.
Sorry I’m a bit late with my review.
I started reading this book and had trouble getting into it at first. But after picking it back up and finishing it in 2 days I now realise it was definitely my brain space at the time of first read attempt as the story gripped me once I continued. If this happens to you try and continue as it’s well worth the read.
The Waterhole by Lily Malone is a gripping story that flicks from past to present and back again while unfolding the story of bones that were discovered in an old filled in waterhole.
In the story we meet brothers Bill and Jack who both fall in love with Annette. What follows is trickery, deception, blackmail, heartache and love. I have previously read Lily Malone’s book and highly recommend this book. I will look forward to more from this author.
This story may trigger some readers as it contains sexual assault.
Thanks to Beauty and Lace and Lily Malone for the book and a chance to review.
The Waterhole by Lily Malone is a new genre for this author and I enjoyed the mystery and trying to work out what happened but I did get confused with the jumping around of characters and timelines. I could identify with life in a small Australian country town especially in the 60s but one small thing that annoyed me was the colloquial language used at times although I realise that is exactly how some of these characters would speak.
Following the discovery of bones in a filled in waterhole this story takes us through three time lines focusing on the interesting past of the Ross Brothers, Bill and Jack and their shared love interest Annette along with Detective Marley West and his disgraced Police Sergeant Grandfather Alan.
There are lots of dark secrets being dug up from the past in this WA town.
Finding the bones is just the beginning as the secrets start to unravel.
Who are the good guys and who are the bad and just who was buried in the waterhole!
A book to keep you guessing until the end!
This is the first novel by Lily Malone that I have read but I would be very interested to read some more!
Thanks to Beauty and Lace Book club for sending this great book to me.
This is a compelling mystery novel set in south Western Australia. It flipped between the past and present and it was hard to guess what actually happened in the “Waterhole” until the very end. I love Cowaramup and will be looking for the places in the novel. This is my first read of a novel by Lily Malone, but it won’t be the last!
I am a huge fan of Lily Malone and was very excited to read and review The Waterhole. It did not disappoint!
I will admit I found it a little hard to get into in the beginning but I persevered and am glad I did. I had no idea what was going to happen, the book kept me guessing right until the end!
Thank you for the opportunity!
Thank-you Beauty & Lace for giving me the chance to read & review ‘The Waterhole’ an e-book by Lily Malone.
Bones are discovered on the old Ross property when a new development occurs. Detective Marley West & his constable partner Brigit are assigned the case, unravelling the mystery of the bones of two bodies from different times – but are they connected?
This is a great mystery read with lots of twists & turns, great character set-ups get you thinking in one direction for it then to be turned in another direction. The result was very satisfying, family secrets are revealed, but also left me thinking if only the truth came out sooner would things have changed?
I really enjoyed this book and look forward to reading more from Lily Malone. Thank-you ‘Beauty & Lace Bookclub’ for the opportunity to read ‘The Waterhole’ an e-book by Lily Malone.
I really enjoyed ‘The Waterhole’ by Lily Malone. I love a good crime story and this kept me guessing until the very end. I love books written with a setting of somewhere in Australia because it makes me feel like home, like I know where they’re talking about, or what they’re describing – we all know that disgusting, dry heat, don’t we? This was a really enjoyable, quick read for me and I will be looking out for other books by the same author. Thank you Beauty and Lace for letting me review this book >:o)
The Waterhole by Lily Malone (ebook) was a great book a real page turner, Australia has some amazing authors and I can’t wait to read another book by Lily Malone