welcome to
 Aussiereviews.com

Google Custom Search
 
  Reviewing the best of Australian books, films, music websites and more.

Home
See All Reviews
Free update
Links
Feedback
Link to us

see all...





Fishpond



www.fishpond.com.au

Aussie Authors
Links to Australian authors on the net.
Picture Books
See all reviews for children's picture books.
Children's Books
See all reviews of children's novels and chapter books.
Young Adult Fiction
See all reviews of young adult titles.
Fiction
See all reviews of adult fiction.
Nonfiction
See all reviews of non-fiction titles.
DVD and Video
See all video and DVD reviews.
Music and Software
See all music and software reviews.
Educational texts
See all reviews of educational texts.
Audiobooks
See all reviews of audiobook titles.

  

YA Book Review: Murderer's Thumb, by Beth Montgomery
Reviewed by Sally Murphy

An intriguing murder mystery.



Adam’s hand and neck were suddenly clammy. He stumbled closer, fighting back an urge to flee. But there was no mistaking what he saw. It was bone. He ran over to the black object, which lay on the soft bed of fallen silage. It was a boot. A black boot with a metal buckle. His eyes swung back to the silage in the grab/ the idling tractor had shaken free more of the dead grass. Adam could make out the curving bones of a ribcage.

Adam is not impressed when he and his mother have to move to rural Falcon ridge. They are on the run, hiding from Adam’s violent father. This is supposed to be a safe place for them, but a few days after his arrival, Adam discovers a body buried in a silage pit on the farm where they live.

Unsettled by the find, Adam is nonetheless intrigued. He likes mysteries, and here is one right under his nose. Helped by the diary he finds hidden in his house, Adam sets out to figure out who killed the girl, the teenage daughter of the farm owner, who disappeared six years previously.

Murderer’s Thumb is an intriguing murder mystery for teen readers, but it also something more, exploring the issues of secrets in small communities, and of being an outsider in such a place, among others. There are several twists and a diverse and interesting cast of characters.

Murderer's Thumb

Murderer’s Thumb, by Beth Montgomery
Text Publishing, 2008

This book can be purchased online from Fishpond. Buying through this link supports Aussiereviews.

 Sponsored by:

The Floatingest Frog, by Sally Murphy, illustrated by Simon Bosch
Available now from Fishpond.


The Big Blowie, by Sally Murphy
Available online from Blake Education.