Catherine Raynes: The Book of Guilt and Nightshade

The Book of Guilt by Catherine Chidgey

The first NZ-published book to hit number one this year. From the author of Pet. Set in England in 1979, identical 13-year-old triplets are part of a Government scheme where they're constantly monitored and medicated.

Nightshade by Michael Connelly

Los Angeles County Sheriff's Detective Stilwell has been 'exiled' to a low-key post, policing rustic Catalina Island, after department politics drove him off a homicide desk on the mainland. But while following up the usual drunk-and-disorderlies and petty thefts that come with his new territory, Detective Stilwell gets a report of a body found wrapped in plastic and weighed down at the bottom of the harbour. Crossing all lines of protocol and jurisdiction, he starts doggedly working the case. Soon, his investigation uncovers closely guarded secrets and a dark heart to the serene island that was meant to be his escape from the evils of the big city.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:07):
You're listening to the Saturday Morning with Jack Team podcast
from News Talks at me.

Speaker 2 (00:12):
Now it's time to get your book picture. This weekend,
Kathy Rains has two great reads for us, starting off
with the first New Zealand published book to hit number
one in twenty twenty five. And this won't come as
a great surprise, Catherine. It is Catherine Chidgy's latest tell
us about the Book of Guilt.

Speaker 3 (00:30):
It's fantastic, is what I'm going to start out saying.
But it's sived in the nineteen seventies and it follows
these three brothers who are living in a care home
in the New Forest, and they have these desires and
hopes and there triplets. They're Vincent, William and Lawrence. And
they've lived in a place called Scott House, named after
the explorer, since birth. And they're part of this project
called the Sycamore Project, which is this government funded scheme

(00:52):
to monitor particular children. And the boys are cared by
three mothers named Morning, Afternoon and Night Mother, and their
actions are monitored and their dreams are recorded in a
book and mister Menas are noted in the Book of Guilt.
And other children live in different sycamore homes and not
all as it seems, and the residents believe that when
they reach a certain stage, they are set to this

(01:14):
wonderful world of Margate to live life in the big house.
And the boys rarely leave this house, but they have
the odd visit to the village and they meet this
mister Webb, the local baker, and he slips up and
he says something that he shouldn't have, and slowly the
boys start to see the cracks in their everyday lives
in the facade that there's life, and there's these links

(01:36):
to some very dark historical events and a sanity and
obsession of experts and governments to create these better societies.
And the Book of gil is quite shocking in this
and it has this very almost creepy, unsettling feeling as
the story unfolds, and it is brilliantly written and it
weaves you into this spellbinding tale and expiration of this

(01:59):
really interesting world where lives, some lives are less ullied
than others. And couldn't recommend it highly more highly?

Speaker 2 (02:07):
Yeah that sounds so good. Cathinigg is incredible, so yeah,
not surprised to hear that this is amazing but the
Book of Guilt is out now and number one, the
first New Zealan published book at number one this year,
which is a real achievement. Next up, Nightshade by Michael Conley.

Speaker 3 (02:25):
So in this you meet a new protagonist La County Sheriff,
a guy called Detective Stillwell, and he was normally a
homicide detective on the mainland and then he's been sent
to this very rustic Catalina Island, and so you get
this backdrop of this island and following Detective Stillwell who's

(02:46):
been exiled effectively to this Cataline Island after pursuing a
close case that involved police corruption. But however, when he's
there on Catalina and these routine duties, he discovers this
woman's body in the harbor and it starts to draw
him into this very complex investigation, and he's flacing a
lot of criticism for his past mistakes, and his captain
actually ends up assigning this to his arch enemy and

(03:08):
he's instead sort of pushed off to poaching and stolen
statue cases, and he's determined to get back involved in
this case and find a lead, and he ends up
pursuing it and it ends up in some very unpredictable situations.
So you get this very dangerous storeline and this opportunity,
you know, to meet this new protagonist from Michael Connolly,

(03:28):
and he's a really complicated hero and he's this dogged
determination and moral center. And I think that fans of
Harry Bosh, who's Connolly's main character, will really enjoy this.
And he's planted some really good sort of hooks for
an ongoing series, and if he carries on with us,
I think it'll be very very good.

Speaker 2 (03:46):
Nice, Okay. Cool. So that's Nightshade by Michael Connelly, Catherine's
first book, the Book of Guilt by Catherine Chidgee, and
both of those books will be on our website. Don't
forget anything that you hear on the radio will also
be online, so newstalkszb dot co dot in z ed
Ford Slash Jack is the easy way to go to
the homepage for our show and mid all of our

(04:07):
recommendations up there.

Speaker 1 (04:09):
For more from Saturday Morning with Jack Tame, Listen live
to News Talks at b from nine am Saturday, or
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