‘Wings Over Valletta’ by Tracy Cook
In my four visits to Malta, my husband’s homeland, I have not yet made it to the Lascaris War Rooms. After reading this historical novel set during the appalling bombardment of the Maltese islands during WWII, I will make sure to visit this site of global significance next time.
Why global significance? Because tiny Malta is located in a spot in the Mediterranean Sea of such strategic importance that whoever controlled it, had a huge advantage during wartime. As a result, the people of Malta endured raids by both Italian and German planes, the islands becoming the most bombed places in the whole war.
Under British control, the authorities set up a command centre deep beneath the capital Valletta, utilising tunnels dug centuries earlier by the order of Knights who then ruled the islands. This is where novelist Tracy Cook set much of the action in her story. She chose to tell of the heroic efforts of the ‘plotters’, Maltese and English women who took on the vital work of plotting air battles and missions.
We have probably all seen footage of plotters in Britain, who showed the movements of enemy and Allied planes by pushing markers around huge maps, allowing those responsible for battle strategy to get a visual representation of what was happening. This was well before the age of digital screens and instant information transmission as we have today. In Malta, the women who did this work were not employed by the RAF. Rather, they were civilian women recruited from towns and villages across the islands.
The Ops Room, Ladscaris War Rooms. Source: ‘Historia Magazine’ https://historiamag.com/women-siege-malta/ They worked long hours in difficult physical conditions under immense pressure. At the end of a wearying shift, they faced even more stressful conditions when back above ground: the destruction of their homes, local services, constant air raid sirens requiring a fast exit to the nearest shelter. They worried about their families, friends, neighbours…Sworn to secrecy about their work, they were unable to share their worries with anyone outside.
Wings Over Valletta portrays all this through the eyes of the protagonist Kitty Campbell, whose father is a senior figure in the British Navy in Malta. Kitty is at home in Malta, with local friends and a job, until the war interrupts her normal life. It is then she signs up for work as a plotter and descends into the War Room tunnels for her first shift.
The enormous challenges faced by the Maltese people are skillfully portrayed: loss and heartache; hunger as the seige bit hard; anxiety over a possible German invasion. The internal political divisions are also shown: Malta had been a British colony for over 150 years and even in wartime, there were people agitating for independence, which was eventually achieved in 1964. Yet the country as a whole was awarded the George Cross for their bravery in 1942: the only nation to have ever been so collectively honoured.
Kitty nurses her own private loss and heartache: a child she unwillingly gave up for adoption years before, and her determination to find this little girl. She also faces betrayal from people she trusts and the hurt of knowing she’d been lied to. Like all the women plotters in the War Rooms, she has to find a way to navigate her own problems while staying focused and strong in her mission to help the war effort.
When she meets a British flying officer, romance blossoms, which adds to the story but doesn’t detract from the themes of danger, worry and commitment to duty .
This book is an emotional testament and tribute to the courage and tenacity of the people of Malta. It’s also chock full of references to Maltese lifestyle, food, culture and language, resulting in a wonderful portrayal of a tiny country which played a very big role on the world stage.
If you’d like to find out more about this amazing chapter of WWII history, you can read more about the Lascaris War Rooms here.
Wings Over Valletta was published by Allison & Busby Publishers in 2026.
My thanks to the publishers and to NetGalley for a review copy.Connections: ‘Three Reasons for Revenge’ by Dervla McTiernan
Fans of Irish-Australian crime writer Dervla McTiernan will welcome the arrival of her latest book, Three Reasons for Revenge. Her previous book (2025) continued the Cormac Reilly series, and she has also written stand-alone stories such as What Happened to Nina? (2024).
This is another stand-alone, pleasingly set in Australia, and featuring as protagonist Detective Sergeant Judith Lee, who could well become the centre figure of another series. She is an experienced and able police officer, but the case that opens up when she takes the complaint of young Alexis Turner, is unlike any other she has dealt with.
Alexis has alleged sexual improprietry on the part of a university clinic counsellor, a man who has been on Judith’s radar since a similar complaint years earlier. But no sooner has Judith opened the inquiry, than Alexis disappears. And then the case turns into a murder investigation.
She must work against the clock to connect three seemingly disparate individuals to the case and to each other. The only thing they appear to have in common is that they have been recipients of a beautifully wrapped parcel with an ambiguous object inside, along with a cryptic note.
This author excels at weaving intricate tales in which the obvious answers are the wrong ones and the unexpected is sure to happen. This one is no different. There are several twists and surprises, before the mystery is solved.
I enjoyed the characters, finely drawn and believable, and the pace keeps the pages turning quickly. Along the way, the novel explores themes of grief, childhood trauma, and psychological distress.
As often the case for me, I wasn’t completely convinced by the reveal towards the end; however that did not stop me finding this one a great holiday read. I hope to meet Detective Sergeant Judith Lee again, too.
Three Reasons for Murder was published in April 2026 by HarperCollins.
My thanks to the publishers and to NetGalley for an advance review copy.
2024: My year in books (and what’s in store for 2025)
In 2024 I participated in three reading challenges again, always a fun way to keep variety in my reading diet. Sometimes the results at the end of a year can be surprising; this is one of those times.
In the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge I undertook to read 15 books of historical fiction – I came in right on target. It is easily my favourite genre of fiction.
For 2025, I will choose that same target in this challenge.
In the Cloak and Dagger Reading Challenge, I chose the ‘Amateur Sleuth’ target of 5-15 books, and hit 14 books, so that’s a giveaway that crime fiction is another favourite of my genres. I’ll go for around that many again this year.The surprise result for me this year was the Non-Fiction Reading Challenge, where I chose a conservative target of ‘nibbler’, aiming for 6 books. Instead I read a whopping 16 non-fiction books in 2024! I’m not sure what that means, but perhaps I should choose a higher target for 2025? Well, I’ll probably aim for ‘nibbler’ again and see how I go.
I have a private challenge of my own, to read more books by First Nations authors, in any genre. In 2024 my reading included 10 works by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander writers: encompassing fiction, non-fiction, and children’s books. In 2025 I hope to equal or better that number.
As always, I am indebted to publishers, especially HarperCollins, and to NetGalley, for sending advanced copies of books for review. I also thank authors who have approached me asking if I would read and review their work.
I know it can be a scary thing to put your writing out into the world and ask for feedback. I never approach the task of reviewing a book lightly. Someone has put months (usually years) of work into research, drafting, rewriting, redrafting, editing, rewriting, editing again, and again, and again…until the finished product is finally put into their hands. For this reason I treat each and every book with the respect it deserves. And I thank each author and publisher for allowing me the opportunity to read and review their work.
So, on to 2025. I wish all my fellow readers a wonderful bookish year ahead.
Photo by Sumit Mathur at pexels Lives of crime: ‘Sanctuary’ by Gary Disher
Gary Disher writes the kind of crime stories I like best: ones that focus on the people more than the crimes. He manages to show the how and why of the crimes committed, sure; but also the impact on both perpetrators and victims. This is meaningful fiction, not showcasing crime for its own sake, but to say something about humans and why they do the things they do.
Sanctuary is unusual for this genre in that the workings of the world of law enforcement are of minimal importance to the narrative. It centres on several people whose stories overlap, though for much of the book we don’t necessarily know how or why.
There is Grace, formerly known as Anita, who grew up in an unlovely and unloving foster home, along with Adam. They become a team involved in petty crime, just the two of them against a hostile world, until Anita meets a man who teaches her the tricks of a higher level criminal life. When she decides she has had enough of this man’s cruelty and control, she becomes Grace and continues her life of crime alone.
But Adam harbours a grudge and when they inadvertently cross paths on a ‘job’, she runs again, fearful of what he might do.
So begins a series of intricate and well planned moves; staying several steps ahead, constantly checking on surrounds and on people, distrusting of others, always looking for an escape, adopting a series of disguises.
Disher vividly conjures the loneliness and insecurity of this life, and we feel some sympathy for Grace as she tries to adopt another way of being, the kind of ‘legitimate’ and ordinary life that she now longs for. It takes enormous mental and physical energy to live like this. I was reminded of Maxwell Smart in the 1960’s cold-war spoof series Get Smart, in which he often says of the ‘baddies’: If only they could use their cleverness for niceness instead of nastiness.
Through the viewpoint of another character we are given insight into the mind of someone who indulges in digital stalking and illegal surveillance of people. It’s an unpleasant place and I was always relieved to move onto another scene, away from this sordid and rage-filled character’s world view. But I am very aware that sadly, technology has provided increased opportunities for people like this to frighten and hurt others.
The tension mounts as the trajectories of Grace, Adam and other characters head towards collision, with complications cleverly woven in.
The resolution does not tie everything up in a neat bow; that would be unrealistic and too tidy. But we are left with a hope that perhaps, at some future time, Grace and Adam can find a more satisfying way of being in their world.
Sanctuary is published by Text Publishing in April 2024.
My thanks to the publishers and to NetGalley for an early review copy.
