Book blurb...
A stunningly compulsive, darkly suspenseful Australian crime novel that asks how far we would go to protect someone we love.

Veronica Cruickshank’s youngest child Roland is her idealistic one – a fighter of lost causes, and the one that always needs protecting, particularly from himself.

So when she hears he is back in Hobart helping an old school friend, Treen McShane, Veronica tries to track him down – but all she finds are second hand reports, whispers of horrific abuse, stories of a small child being hurt.

Then Roland sends Veronica a text message, asking her to go to the Slipping Place, high on Mount Wellington, a picnic spot known only to their family. Here she discovers Treen’s frozen body.

Knowing Roland will be suspected of leaving Treen to die, Veronica resolves to find out what really happened. But as long-buried truths slowly surface, she uncovers a secret that brings the violence closer to home than she could have ever imagined…
My thoughts…
I am sorry to say I found the surfacing of those long-buried truths way too slow for me, while the characters (who lacked concern and failed to take action) didn’t make me care for them in any way. I was often confused as to who some characters were and in what way they moved the story forward.
The conflict also did not seem significant enough to sustain suspense. I felt the issues could have been dealt with through communication, especially between Roland and his mother.
A novel that did not live up to the blurb, in my opinion.

‘What’s the worst thing you’ve ever seen?’

Veronica Cruickshank’s youngest son, Roland, is always the child she’s felt needed most protection. He’s always available to help a friend, even when that is not in his own best interests. Veronica still lives in the family home in Hobart, her children grown and independent. She’s not seen Roland for a while, but when she hears he’s back in Hobart helping an old school friend, Treen McShane, she tries to track him down. But instead of finding Roland, Veronica can only find where he might have been. She’s hearing about violence, about a small child being hurt.

Then Veronica receives a text message from Roland, asking her to go to a place known in the family as the Slipping Place, high on Mount Wellington. Here Veronica finds Treen’s frozen body. What has happened?

‘Roland was no fool, but he’d always been an idiot.’

Veronica tries to find out what has happened. She’s concerned for Roland, and for the little boy orphaned by Treen’s death. She knows that the police will also be looking for Roland. Why is Roland not contacting his mother when he’s clearly in contact with her friend Lesley and her son Paul?

‘The strongest of our childhood memories are often flavoured with sugar.’

Ms Baker brings aspects of Tasmania to life in this novel: from the brooding presence of Mount Wellington/kunanyi which looms over Hobart, to the drive to Spring Beach through Bust Me Gall and Black Charlie’s Opening, I felt like I was there. As for the story itself, while I wasn’t completely satisfied with some aspects, I admired the way in which Ms Baker drew the various strands together. Believable? Not entirely. But by the end my focus had moved beyond Treen’s death, beyond the ‘how’ and the ‘why’ to Veronica’s determination to get to the truth of ‘who’.

I finished the book with mixed feelings. While there are aspects of the story that didn’t work well for me, the setting and Veronica’s sense of loyalty and purpose kept me engaged. And made me think, too, about just how far our perceptions are impacted by relationships and loyalties.

Note: My thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster (Australia) for providing me with a free electronic copy of this book for review purposes.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

Veronica Cruickshank hadn’t seen her son Roland in some time, so when she received a strange text from him, directing her to go to the top of Mt Wellington, near Hobart in Tasmania, to a place she and her children had christened “the slipping place” when they were young, she was bemused to say the least. But it was her arrival and discovery of the body of a young woman known as Treen which started a chain of events Veronica couldn’t have foreseen.

Roland was an artist, but he was always in trouble, so his mother knew the police would suspect him of the young woman’s murder. Her thoughts of clearing his name were hampered by still being unable to locate him – although her friend Lesley had seen him numerous times. Would Veronica be able to sort the truth from the lies?

I found The Slipping Place by Aussie author Joanna Baker a struggle to get into. I couldn’t connect with any of the characters and found the book easy to put down and harder to pick up again. It’s set in a beautiful part of Australia and while the premise was a good one, the execution left me wanting more. A crime/mystery which might suit other readers, but not for me I’m afraid.

With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my digital ARC to read in exchange for an honest review.

An ok murder mystery that she's the body of a young woman found atop Hobart's Mt Wellington, at a location called The Slipping Place. Veronica has found the body after following a cryptic text from her son Roland, who was a friend of the girl. But how did Roland know the girl was there? Was he involved? All of Veronica's attempts to contact him have failed. And what of the stories of an abused child?
What follows is a tale of entanglements, deceit and violence. The story is interesting enough, being set in Hobart, but not really gripping. A passable book for whiling away a few hours, but honestly I didn't connect with any of the characters and didn't really care who killed the girl.
My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.