Murder With the Lot, by Sue Williams

A take-away shop in a decaying country town in rural Victoria is an unlikely setting for a murder mystery, but it makes for a good jumping off point. There is an enormously appealing heroine in Cass Tuplin, a hard working widow, put upon, but flawed, who finds out that her husband was not quite who she had thought he was. Her loving but troubled relationship with her sons is very credible; although the eldest is so frustrating you want to thump him. A slightly tongue-in-cheek style sets the scene for an entertaining tale, but somehow it doesn’t quite work. The author seems to be trying a bit too hard for laughs, from the truly stupid names of the towns – Rusty Bore, Hustle and Muddy Soak - to the almost impenetrable stupidity and grossness of the town’s characters. It’s a pity because there are a lot of good elements – a fast-paced story, sympathetic heroine, some well-drawn supporting characters, but it’s all a bit too deliberately quirky in a way that doesn’t ring true.