Book Review Bad Monkey

Author Carl Hiaasen has come up with a novel concept for his books; a well worked out crime thriller overlaid with hilarious comedic moments. The combination works, the reader is at once hooked on the serious drama and chuckling at the situations of some of those involved find themselves in. It takes a skilful writer to carry this off, and Hiaasen does.

The story is set in Florida and  the Caribbean islands and features a former detective who for a bad discretion has been demoted to restaurant inspector. The story opens with a tourist on a chartered fishing launch hooking a human arm. To go further would be to spoil the story for future readers, suffice to say there is murder, kidnapping and the usual page turning moments. 

Entwined in the very serious murder investigation we have parallel, and sometimes intersecting, sub stories. A very shonky property developer, a Sheriff who only wants a  quite life, a pair of inept minor crooks, a voodoo woman, a pilot with a pontoon equipped plane who specialises in illegal flights between the Caribbean and the mainland – and a monkey.  … Continue Reading

An Anniversary Coming Up

The little white Natusch-designed building that houses Martinborough’s museum on The Square was built in 1894 and for its first 80 years it served as the town library. 

In 1975  the Library moved to more modern premises on Jellicoe Street and the building sat empty for several years.    In 1978 it was re-opened as the Martinborough Colonial Museum, thanks to the dedication of a group of locals who wanted to preserve the town’s heritage.

Now the building’s approaching its 125^th birthday and we’re looking to capture personal stories about its history.  We’d love to hear from you if you have memories of visiting the library in the old building. Maybe you remember the librarians, the atmosphere, or the books you loved to read.   We will be running a story telling programme in October so think about those old times and get in touch if you would like to contribute. 

Chris Cassels on 06 306 8286 or email ccassels@gmail.com