Hell and High Water

Hell and High Water by Tanya Landman (Walker Books)

PB RRP $17.99

ISBN 9781406366914

Reviewed by Anastasia Gonis

The brilliant Buffalo Soldier won Tanya Landman the Carnegie Medal. Here is an equally brilliant and exciting adventure in three parts, about courage, resilience and race, and secrets and truths.

Fifteen year old Caleb is the dark-skinned son of a fair-skinned man. Pa protects Caleb from the racist attacks he frequently faces. All that Caleb knows about his mother is that she died at childbirth. In fact Pa has shared very little about his own life. They are a loving pair that wants nothing more than what they have.

The two make their living by travelling through the country with a wagonload of hand-made Punch and Judy puppets, entertaining crowds.

Pa is set up and arrested for theft. He is taken to jail and condemned to seven years in America. Caleb must reach his aunt Anne, a person he has never heard mentioned before.

In Tawpuddle, Anne lives a frugal life as a dressmaker with her young daughter and stepdaughter Letty, while her husband is at sea. Another mouth to feed is the last thing they need.

‘It’s astonishing what a person can get used to if their circumstances change’, Anne tells Caleb. His sewing skills come in handy when he can’t find work in the poverty-stricken town due to his colour.

When Caleb finds Pa’s body washed up on the beach, slowly secrets and truths are unwrapped.  Caleb and Letty are determined to discover the real story behind the treachery and lies they have been forced to accept as truth. But he is surrounded by corruption and deceit and can find no justice. Who can be trusted when no one is who they appear to be?

Yet his strong sense of right and wrong learnt from his Pa never wavers. His belief in truth as its own reward is what keeps him from giving up.

Tanya Landman has the ability to create characters that readers immediately fall in love with. Their situations are carefully crafted individual storylines that weave into a larger story that continues to expand. Once you’ve read her work, you will never forget it.

Buffalo Soldier

Buffalo Soldier by Tanya Landman (Walker Books)

PB RRP $ 16.95

ISBN 9781406314595

Reviewed by Anastasia Gonis

Many things inspire artistic and memorable works like this one. Strange things, personal things, and things we’ve seen, read or experienced. Tanya Landman was mistaken for a boy until the age of fourteen. She was also inspired by the real life of the slave, Cathy Williams, who disguised herself as a man to become a Buffalo Soldier.

Landman courageously explores the notion of freedom and its complexity; the misuse of absolute power and its corruption, and the blood lust of the war era. She thrusts the history of man’s inhumanity in our faces and says, ‘I dare you to look.’

All the characters in the book regardless of colour, class and position in life, have things in common. Each group has ranks; there are levels of authority in place with orders to be obeyed without the option of choice. This common thread is an important element in the story.

The young slave girl Charlotte becomes Charlie O’Hara to join the army; her only means of survival after being freed. We travel with her from just before the Civil War until the removal of the last Apache from their reservation. This gut-wrenching and desolate content is explosive and heartbreaking. The injustices experienced by slaves and Indians at the hands of soldiers are painful. I had to stop frequently and set the book aside due to the overwhelming sadness that engulfed me.

But these dismal components share the space with a moving love story. Past all the slaughter, ugliness and desolation of war crawls love. Unexpected and uninvited, it surprises Charlie and with its power, and changes the look and feel of everything she’s part of.

This is an outstanding book that will be returned to again because of its superb narrative voice, confronting yet undeniable truths, and strong historical content. A brilliant piece of work based on history, it is one of the best books I have ever read.

Caution: this book contains highly graphic and disturbing scenes.

The Scent of Blood

The Scent of Blood by Tanya Landman (Walker Books)
PB RRP $ 13.95
Reviewed by Anastasia Gonis

The Scent of Blood is another sensational murder mystery by Tanya Landman for the 12+ age group which revolves around the circus.

The narrator Poppy Fields is always accompanied by her best friend and walking encyclopaedia Graham. His brilliant mind is able to draw on unlimited information whenever it’s needed while Poppy’s extraordinary powers of observation serve to collect and retain data. These amateur sleuths love solving murders and their incredible tenacity and questioning minds assist police in catching criminals.

Poppy’s mum has just won first prize in a charity raffle. This sees Poppy and Graham experiencing the pleasure of a long weekend at Farleigh Manor Zoo. Formerly a stately home, the heir to the property has turned it into a New Age retreat combined with a zoo. As usual, they seem to be a magnet to murder.

After the death of several keepers, the two young sleuths move into action. ‘We’re going to find out what happened’ is their motto. What secrets is the new owner hiding and why are these deaths occurring?

This series of excellent dramas have all the excitement and activity of an adult book without the excessive blood and gore. The leading characters are intelligent, resourceful and observant youngsters. The stories are enriched with a wonderful flow of information about the chosen subject. This creates a terrific background setting and serves well in engaging the reader from the first page to the last.

Certain Death

Certain Death by Tanya Landman (Walker Books)
PB RRP $13.95
ISBN 9781406347432
Reviewed by Anastasia Gonis

The posters advertising that Brady Sparkle’s circus was coming to town ‘promised that the first performance would end in Certain Death.’ Someone had blacked out the word almost.

Studying human behaviour is a hobby of Poppy Fields. As soon as she read the posters, she became suspicious. Nobody else had noticed the wording. Poppy, with Graham her best friend and companion sleuth, decide to look into the matter.

There is a death as predicted at the first performance but not of the intended victim Irena, the aerial acrobat. But was Irena the intended victim? The bullet ricocheted and hit the lady sitting next to Poppy. Who fired the shot?  It certainly wasn’t Yuri the sharpshooter. Another performer is arrested and the case is closed. Poppy and Graham have a different opinion on who the culprit might be.

There are too many people who want to dispose of Irena. Spying, eavesdropping, searching and analysing, uncovers a plethora of clues. The investigative would put Sherlock Holmes in the shadows. Their persistence and intelligence uncovers a motive that even they wouldn’t have considered.

Certain Death is a fantastic read, fast-paced with a clever complex storyline. The characters are exceptional, even the bad ones. Readers of all ages will enjoy these riveting murder mysteries by Tanya Landman. They’ll keep you in suspense till the last page.