The Wrong Girl, by Zoe Foster

The best thing about Australian chick lit is that it is Australian, meaning local readers of the genre can enjoy the cultural familiarity – no translation required. Zoe Foster’s characters are well drawn and their relationships are largely believable. The use and abuse of drugs and alcohol is a strong underlying theme that is very relevant to contemporary Australia, but the sexual references are surprisingly coy. At its best Foster’s writing is wryly amusing, but every aspect of the plot is completely predictable. Set in the world of TV chefs, The Wrong Girl is entertaining enough - in the manner of fast food – easy, tasty, but ultimately not really satisfying. Overall it is pretty bog standard chick lit, so it’s surprising that it is apparently being filmed for channel 10. Just goes to show that success really is about who you know.

Jonathan Unleashed, by Meg Rosoff

The smartest and most interesting thing about this book is its title. It is quite possible the title was devised first and the story was dreamed up to fit it. In a wicked twist, the hapless protaganist is a ditzy male in the wrong job and with the wrong partner, instead of a ditzy female. The characters are thinly drawn, with the dogs more believable than most of the humans. Jonathan’s romantic dilemmas are ludicrous. There are occasional funny moments to get you through what is otherwise predictable chick lit.

Recipes for Love and Murder, by Sally Andrew

Alexander McCall Smith is quoted endorsing this Tannie Maria mystery and you can see how it fits into his oeuvre, if somewhat self-consciously. Unusual African setting – check; quirky and homely amateur female detective – check; challenging and lovable circle of friends and colleagues – check; unlikely romance – check. Racism is apparently almost a thing of the past in this small country town in post-Mandela South Africa. Domestic violence is not, and former victim Tannie Maria earns her keep as an advice columnist and cookery writer at the local paper. When one of her advice seekers is murdered, Tannie Maria feels she let her down and is determined to help gain justice. Use of Afrikaans dialect and slang is excessive and annoying, particularly as the glossary is at the back – too late to be helpful. The history lessons are shoehorned in and don’t really add to the story. But Andrew evokes a strong sense of place with almost poetic descriptions of scenery and wildlife that do belong among the action. Delicious recipes are well woven into the plot and help to flesh out the appealing characters and their motivations.