Ogin, KI Spirits

Small distillery gin is just so different from the mass-produced product.
This distinctive offering from Kangaroo Island has a heady herbal bouquet, with a tinge of orange blossom, which promises all that the gin delivers.
This is not one for a classic G&T – the quinine swamps the delicate flavours. It is far better sipped neat, served over ice with the suggested orange and rosemary garnish. Also recommended on the label is using it as the foundations for a martini and this is a great suggestion – stirred, not shaken.
A worthy winner of an international trophy for best contemporary gin, the only quibble is with the rather awkward glass stopper. Once this has been successfully navigated, it’s all good.
KISPIRITS.COM.AU

A Visit from the Goon Squad, by Jennifer Egan

This is a very odd book, a story told in a series of interconnecting vignettes from different points of view. They start with Sasha, a kleptomaniac music industry executive with commitment issues. The vignettes move back in time with snapshots of people closely and distantly connected to Sasha, although at first it’s not at all clear where we are going or how it will all connect. This happens with a sudden leap forward to Sasha’s future and a particularly annoyingly structured entry from her daughter. It all ends back where it started, although much later in time, with the connection of two men who were in Sasha’s life in very different ways. It’s an interesting way to paint a picture of a life - in fragments, memories, perceptions and tangents. The whole does give a movingly bleak picture of how women move through the world, dealing with the damage inflicted by men. It is reminiscent of a Robert Altman film, with a bewilderingly large array of characters and some hit and miss storylines that add up to a not-quite satisfying result.

The Cuckoo’s Calling (BBC)

Glamorous model Lula Landry fell to her death from the balcony of her luxury London flat. It is considered a suicide but her brother is not convinced and he hires private investigator Cormoran Strike to find the truth. What follows is a twisty whodunnit with plenty of juicy red herrings. Adapted from the first Strike novel by Robert Galbraith, the alter ego of JK Rowling , this three-part drama series is very well cast. Tom Burke is just right as war veteran turned private investigator Strike and Holliday Grainger perfect as his new offsider Robin. Both capture the nuances and development of their complex characters, which are actually more interesting than the murder mystery. The series is very true to the book, even down to the plot weakness at its heart. As with the books, London is a major character rather than just a backdrop.

Darkness for Light, by Emma Viskic

Private detective Caleb Zelic is determined to make better decisions. He is in therapy, has reconnected to the deaf community and may be on the verge of reconciling with his pregnant ex-wife. But it’s not so easy to escape the past. The Australian Federal Police and his treacherous ex-partner Frankie will make sure of that. A brutal murder, a violent assault and a child in danger draw him away from his safer choices and back into a world of pain. He risks losing everything he has fought to gain, but there is a child’s safety on the line so good decisions are not an option. It’s satisfying to see Caleb growing and trying, but chilling to realise how a twist of fate could bring it all undone. A few minor plot holes and the odd typo could have been fixed with an extra edit and proofread, but the speedy action skates quickly over most concerns. Sometimes success can extend a franchise beyond its natural life. This is the third outing for Caleb Zelic and it will be interesting to see if there is sufficient energy and appetite for more.

Throne of Glass, by Sarah J Maas

Celaena Sardothian has been an assassin since her tweens, trained to be the deadliest killer in Ardalan. Betrayal sent her to salt mines as a slave, but a year later the Crown Prince pulls her out by to be his champion in a competition to win her freedom. This is yet another fantasy novel that seems to have all the ingredients for success but is let down by mediocre writing. Eyes are obsidian, sapphire, bronze or turquoise. Crowns rest atop or upon heads. Spines regularly straighten in response to danger or fear. The assassin with a heart of ice and a will of steel spends most of her time either furiously angry or mooning after the young men in her orbit, so more like the brattiest adolescent in Ardalan. The trials of the champions are interesting, but the topic is all but abandoned half way through in favour of a bizarre murder mystery, involving supernatural elements and a torn-between-two-lovers scenario. It‘s like a lame romance novel poorly disguised as an action/fantasy tale. There are just too many adjectives in a ludicrous plot with no character development and motivations that change between paragraphs, let alone chapters. There are apparently two sequels and a prequel. Don’t look for reviews of them here.