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Jack Heath weaves humour into this crime fiction novel, in which a small-town librarian’s death is cleverly tangled with a historic disappearance.
Crime writer Jack Heath and picture book author Amelia Tonta (formerly McInerney) are known for their judicious use of humour while telling stories with serious intent or themes.
Jack Heath’s latest – Kill Your Boss (Allen & Unwin, Australia 2025; cover design Luke Causby/Blue Cork; cover images Ken Jacobsen/Getty Images; Jemastock/AdobeStock) – begins with the death of head librarian Neville Adams in a small town under the watch of the redoubtable Detective Sergeant Kiara Lui.
It soon emerges that he is a detestable character with a slew of enemies, any of whom could have killed him, and the question of whether the death was accidental is soon dismissed.
In fact, everyone hates him, except for his mum and dad, who think he’s a lovely, quiet boy. Kiara’s sensitive approach to this is but one of her endearing qualities.
The investigation quickly leads the reader down many rabbit holes and bodies pile up as the killer covers the tracks. Larger-than-life characters abound, and we are fascinated by the complex network of relationships in the library and, indeed, the small town – marriages come under the spotlight again, as in the previous book, but the central concept is power in relationships.
The work hierarchy and its potential to create a state of misrule (as in Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, but more gruesomely) is the driver of this story and the crimes that ensue, like falling dominoes.
Family violence, in particular coercive control, is central to the plot. The author provides the reader with a couple of different models of this to contemplate while whirling us along on the pacy crime spree, which spins off the murder of the initial victim and his fatal character flaws.
The present case of the librarian’s death is cleverly tangled with a historic disappearance. Rumour and misdirection are at play here, with the case of Emmylou Chisholm. Small town secrets and hidden alliances are difficult to crack, even for one as perspicacious as Kiara. Family bonds create powerful motivation to protect the guilty as much as the innocent. And in turn, they put our crime-fighting heroine in danger, as she doggedly pursues the truth and puts her body on the front line.
Perhaps it’s a fault of crime readers to enjoy the genre as entertainment when it is such a serious thing in real life. But we are always seeking justice in this reading choice. If the author can lighten the mood with humour and yet respect the seriousness of actual criminal behaviour and the pain of victims, then it’s successful crime writing.
I await with eagerness the next Kiara Lui, with Jack Heath’s dashes of humour that humanise his fictional crime fighters and create a genuine connection with the world of the page. She’s an absolute winner for me. She even has a personal life intact, unlike many of the Golden Age detectives!
A large and hungry pet python, a birthday puppy, stray cat and goldfish are the elements of this highly amusing children’s book about problem-solving.
In Lucky, author Amelia Tonta and artist Peter Baldwin (Affirm Press, Australia 2025; cover design Natasha Carty) play with the familiar concept of being ‘lucky’ when something goes right – but then there are unforeseen consequences. This author likes to set up ludicrous situations and place them in common domestic settings so they become relevant to all her readers.
Most of her readers, for example, won’t have large pet pythons causing havoc (this one called Samantha), but they may be able to identify with or at least laugh along with the comedy of errors that starts with a fulfilled birthday wish in the form of a puppy. The family’s good-natured approach to problem solving and optimistic life view are, for me, the charm of this book, along with the skilfully executed illustrations.
The artist captures the chaos of all that Amelia’s storyline throws up and beautifully renders the facial expressions of the characters, as they deal with a weeing puppy, a loose and hungry python, the swallowing of Aunt Ruth (the vet) by said python, Samantha’s ongoing rogue eating activities, the involuntary rehousing of the pet goldfish, the arrival of the fire brigade and the acquisition of a stray cat.
It’s all delightful rollicking fun and will highly amuse children and their reading grownups.
Barbie Robinson is co-founder and a content creator for Living Arts Canberra, a not-for-profit media outfit supporting arts and community in the Canberra region and books worldwide through its website, podcast interviews and a 24/7 internet radio station, at Living Arts Canberra.
