Fiction When We Fall

Aoife Clifford: Ultimo Press, $33

Under-employed barrister Alex Tillerson is in her home town to assess a mother who might be dipping into dementia when she makes a grisly discovery on the beach. The police chief dismisses it as accidental, but Alex learns there has been another death, oddly related and not explained. As she starts to research the crimes – the police seem remarkably accepting of her sleuthing – there will be more deaths and Alex will face mortal danger. The dead women were artists and Breugel’s wonderful Fall of Icarus plays an intriguing part in a mystery that also uncovers old family secrets. Amid the mayhem, Clifford regularly delights with her vividly original similes: “currawongs, black wings folded like businessmen’s umbrellas”.