March 12, 2023 – Tasmanian Bibliophile @Large

This month, I’m taking on the ‘100km in March Challenge’ to support babies, children and adults living with cerebral palsy. 👶 🧒 👩

My challenge started yesterday, and it would be amazing if I could count on your support. Every donation, no matter how big or small, will fund life-changing research into the prevention, treatment and cure for cerebral palsy.

Please donate to my page below and help show people living with cerebral palsy a future where the impossible is possible. 💚

https://www.facebook.com/donate/1382434349241729

I have walked 47 kilometers so far and expect to walk at least 200 kilometers during March. So far, I have raised $A225, and hope to raise more. If you can sponsor me (donations $2 and over are tax deductible in Australia) I would really appreciate it.

The photograph above was taken during my early morning walk yesterday (2/3/2023). Today, I’ve had a bit of a rest 😉 (walked 7 kms) and have raised an additional $A125.

Update: 12/3/2023

The photographs above are from my 11 km walk this morning. So far, I have walked more than 170 kms and raised $495.

I am very grateful to those who have donated: every dollar makes a difference! Please consider donating if you can.

Thank you.

‘I need to speak to you, Dr King.’

Okay, so I am working backwards. This is the first novel in the Natalie King series, and the last I have read. I found the latest three books in the series fascinating so I went back to the beginning.

Natalie King is an interesting character: a forensic psychiatrist who sings in a rock band, rides a Ducati and doesn’t always take the appropriate amounts of her prescribed bipolar medication. She’s into a physical relationship with a married crown prosecutor but isn’t looking for anything more serious. In her role as a forensic psychiatrist, she works with victims and perpetrators of violent crime. Right now, she is working with a woman charged with murdering three of her children, and another woman whose daughter is missing. And Natalie is being stalked: someone is threatening her and sending her anonymous notes.

Could her stalker be a former patient? Or someone associated with one of her current patients? As the novel progresses, the stalker escalates. Natalie is also concerned with trying to find the truth about the women she is treating.

‘Natalie didn’t believe in evil. People were complex products of their genes and experiences.’

Ms Buist introduces a large cast of characters in this novel, and it takes concentration to keep on top of the various relationships and history. I recognised some names from the later novels but was mostly focussed on Natalie and her work with her patients. I enjoy novels where the hero is human and not flawless.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith