Whisky Valley by Joan Sauers is set vividly in the Southern Highlands of NSW. In this strongly depicted landscape, we follow Rose McHugh as she makes discoveries about herself while investigating a murder.
Rose is battling intense levels of anxiety as a result of nearly being murdered last year. She’s getting professional help, but it’s still hard, and it’s affecting all aspects of her life.
She thinks it’ll be a great distraction when her son’s childhood best friend, now a famed violinist, is set to perform at a local music festival. And so it is, until he and his valuable violin go missing. This is followed by the discovery of his body, and Rose finds herself with an urgent need to shield her son by finding the killer.
My only complaint about this novel is something that some others will regard as a plus. That is, the murder, the discovery of the body, even the funeral, are all conducted “off-stage”, so to speak. This means Rose often feels emotionless about it. But, fans of cosy mysteries will appreciate this, as a lack of gore is a fundamental element for that sub-genre.
In contrast, other elements of Rose’s life were vividly and realistically portrayed. I think it’s true that a murder wouldn’t necessarily consume an amateur detective’s entire life. Rose is also distracted by a new romance, friends, family conflict, her son’s needs, her job, and her difficulties with anxiety. Sauers balances all these well, leaving us with a strong picture of a busy and full life.
Other characters are also strong, and the setting is vivid and almost a character in itself. The sense of place is strong, and the setting is critical to multiple plot points. The two are well interwoven.
The storyline is well worked out and will ring true to most readers. The pacing is realistic; investigations like this would take time.
I hesitate to call this a crime novel because it feels like much of the novel is preoccupied with other elements of Rose’s life. However you classify it, I found it enjoyable.
A selection of our Beauty and Lace Club Members are reading Whisky Valley by Joan Sauers. You can read their comments below, or add your own review.
I’ve loved books for as long as I can remember, and I love sharing that joy.
I’ve been an avid reader for as long as I can remember, across all genres. There’s not much I won’t at least try. I’ve been an enthusiastic book reviewer for years. I particularly enjoy discovering writers new to me, and sharing good writing with others.
My career has included time spent writing and editing technical documents, but it’s fiction that really moves me. I’ve reviewed for a number of different outlets over the years, and have been a judge in literary competitions.
I’m now raising little bookworms of my own, which brings a whole new kind of joy to sharing books.
More of my reviews can be found on my review blog www.otherdreamsotherlives.home.blog .
This new title ‘Whisky Valley’ by Joan Saunders is a sequel to ‘Echo Park’ where the reader is first introduced to Rose McHugh. ‘Whisky Valley’, however, can be read as a stand alone title but I would recommend reading ‘Echo Point’ as it is a great read.
Rose, a historian, is the protagonist of the book and is suffering anxiety/panic attacks due to a horrific event in her life.
Her son Sam who is at University and her sister Kim visit from Sydney one weekend to attend a music festival where one of Sam’s old school friends, Billy, is the star event. Billy is a renowned violinist and plays a violin worth over $10million. Billy goes missing and is found dead and Rose cannot help but become involved in the search for his killer, especially as her son is the last person to see him.
‘Whisky Valley’ is set in the beautiful Southern Highlands and if you know the area you will feel as if you are part of the story. The author delivers an engaging read with wonderful characters and a terrific small town mystery that will keep you reading into the night.
Thankyou Beauty and Lace and Allen&Unwin for the opportunity to review ‘Whisky Valley’ by Joan Saurers.
This book is the sequal to ‘Echo Lake’ which first introduces the character Rose McHugh a NSW historian turned detective.
‘Whisky Valley’ finds Rose (employed at Highlands Area Museum) recovering from an attempt on her life, and despite therapy with Nestor Valk, still suffering panic attacks,
Nestor’s wife Sonja, at Rose’s appointment with Nestor, enquires how Rose knows the musician, famous violinist Billy Mah. Rose explains that Billy was her son Sam’s best friend at school.
Billy is to perform at the Spring Chamber Music Festival.
It’s a few years since Sam has seen Billy and together with Rose’s sister Kim they attend the festival for Billly’s String Quartet’s performance.
The following day Billy arrives for an invited lunch at Rose’s home accompanied by his brother Jesse and bringing with him his very valuable violin.
The next morning Rose is alerted to Billy’s disappearance when Jesse phones to explain that Billy has failed to show up for their run.
Knowing that Billy was unsettled and looking for a less stressful lifestyle, Rose feels that maybe Billy just needed some time out. However, as time drags on she becomes more concerned.
The characters in the book are great, Rose and her sister are so relatable, it’s an exciting read, very intesting and one I thoroughly enjoyed.
Many thanks to Beauty and Lace and Allen and Unwin for my copy of Whisky Valley to read and review.
I thoroughly enjoyed following the story of Rose McHugh. Her anxiety is fueled by an incident a year earlier and is exasperated when a friend of her sons from childhood is brutally murdered. Her son is a prime suspect and Rose will do anything to prove his innocence.
Rose even finds love along the way while looking into the history of the surrounding areas. She uncovers family secrets of a friend.
I was drawn to the characters and the beautiful descriptions of the land, foliage and scenery.
I am keen to read the book that came before this one but I definitely didn’t have needed to read it first as this book can be read as a standalone. It was easy to follow and flowed nicely.
Set against the picturesque backdrop of the Southern Highlands of NSW, Whisky Valley is a great murder mystery.
The story centres around Rose McHugh, a compelling protagonist who is still haunted by a very traumatic attack she suffered a year earlier, as she battles anxiety and seeks help to cope.
When her son’s friend, a famous violinist, goes missing during a local music festival, along with his very valuable violin, the whole community is shaken. The mystery deepens when his body is discovered.
Driven by a sense of duty to her son and the victim, Rose takes it upon herself to investigate, hoping to find the murderer. The pacing of the novel is well written and allowed space to explore other well-developed characters.
Overall, I enjoyed Whisky Valley. Thank you very much Beauty and Lace and Allen & Unwin for the opportunity to read and review this engaging read.
Thank you to Beauty and Lace and Allen Unwin for giving me the opportunity to read and review Whisky Valley.
As soon as I started reading I immediately liked the main character Rose. She is someone who has been through a lot so has very high anxiety which I can relate to.
After almost being murdered I can understand why she felt this way.
Through out the novel she experiences loss in a horrific way and finds herself trying to get to the bottom of what happened so this is a great murder mystery as well as a delve into who Rose is as a person whilst also having other characters who play important roles within the novel.
I thoroughly enjoyed the book as a standalone novel but would love the book that preceded this one.
Thank you again.
Thank you Beauty and Lace for the offer to review Whiskey Valley by Joan Sauers.
This novel is a sequel to Echo Park, however it can be enjoyed without reading Echo Park first.
It centres on semi-retired historian Rose McHugh and her family. Rose is spending time with family and friends after having gone through a tragedy as seen in Echo Park. No sooner is she on the road to recovery when another tragedy happens. At a concert on the weekend her son’s friend Billy who is a violinist and performing at the concert is killed, and his expensive violin stolen. Speculation falls on Sam, Roses’s son as he is the last person to see Billy. Rose will do anything to protect Sam and help clear his name.
I enjoyed this book and would recommend it to everyone. I liked that there is a storyline where Rose finds love. It was nice to read about someone older finding love and get a second chance.
Whisky Valley tells the story of Southern Highlands historian Rose & her small town sleuthing. When her son’s childhood friend, violin prodigy Billy Mah comes to town to perform, Rose is shocked and saddened to hear of his murder.
But things take a turn for the worse when Rose becomes entangled in her own investigation, and the clues lead very close to home.
Along the way, Rose meets and falls in love with the dark & brooding Whisky connoisseur Diego, who owns and runs the famous Joadja creek whisky distillery.
I loved the way this novel combined the history of the Southern Highlands with Rose’s need for love and passion and her joy for classical music. She even uncovers a friend’s long buried family secrets during her journey.
A brilliantly written story with flavourful characters, classical music, Australian history and a small town mystery…all of my favourite things in one book!
Whisky Valley is a wonderfully written novel by Joan Sauers and published by Allen and Unwin.
She presents the story of Rose McHugh, who is troubled and conflicted due to previous encounters with a violent past. Rose, tries to overcome her anxiousness by moving to the beautiful Southern Highlands and revamping its local museum.
Along the way we encounter a variety of believable characters including Jazzy, Nestor and Sonja, her friendly neighbour George, her ever faithful sister Kim and of course her only son, Sam as well as a new found love interest in Diego.
The story evolves beautifully and is quite suspenseful, particularly when young Sam, becomes arrested for the murder of his old school friend, Billy.
A terrific read and wonderful gift for anyone who prefers Australian stories.
I totally immersed myself into the character of Rose. There are so many parallels and layers in this soft crime, murder mystery. I was looking forward to reading this and it did not disappoint. I have not read the first in this series, Echo Park but will return to do so.
Rose is a very relatable character and I only wanted the best for her, her side characters and family members. Whiskey Valley is an enjoyable read.