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The Soldier's Curse

Book One, The Monsarrat Series
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( 706 ratings, 99 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
The Soldier's Curse by Meg Keneally and Tom Keneally is a gripping historical mystery set in a remote 19th-century Australian penal colony. The story follows Hugh Monsarrat, a convict turned clerk, who uses his unique skills to investigate a murder that threatens the fragile community. With the help of the clever housekeeper Mrs. Mulrooney, Monsarrat uncovers a web of secrets, reflecting the harsh realities and challenges of life in the colony.
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

This book may appeal to you if you love intricate historical mysteries with vivid period detail. It combines the deft weaving of crime and history as it follows a series of intriguing events in a penal colony. Enthusiasts of richly constructed characters and suspenseful plots will likely find this a captivating read.

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Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

In the Port Macquarie penal settlement for second offenders, at the edge of the known world, gentleman convict Hugh Monsarrat hungers for freedom. Originally transported for forging documents and passing himself off as a lawyer, he is now the trusted clerk of the settlement's commandant.

His position has certain advantages, such as being able to spend time in the Government House kitchen and being supplied with outstanding cups of tea by housekeeper Hannah Mulrooney, who, despite being illiterate, is his most intelligent companion. Not long after the commandant heads off in search of a rumoured river, his beautiful wife, Honora, falls ill with a sickness the doctor is unable to identify.

When Honora dies, it becomes clear she has been slowly poisoned. Monsarrat and Mrs. Mulrooney suspect the commandant's second-in-command, Captain Diamond, a cruel man who shares history with Honora. Then Diamond has Mrs. Mulrooney arrested for the murder.

Knowing his friend will hang if she is tried, Monsarrat knows he must find the real killer. And so begins The Monsarrat Series, a fast-paced, witty and gripping series from Tom Keneally and his eldest daughter, Meg.

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

The Soldier's Curse by Meg Keneally and Tom Keneally is widely appreciated in the Crime & Thriller genre for its vivid portrayal of colonial Australia and its richly developed characters. Reviewers praise the authors' skilful blend of historical fiction and mystery, noting the intricate plot that keeps readers engaged. The book is lauded for its atmospheric setting and the thoughtful exploration of themes related to justice and morality.

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780857989383

Publisher: Random House Australia

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 27 February 2017

Country: Australia

Imprint: Vintage (Australia)

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 35.0mm

Width: 129.0mm

Height: 195.0mm

Weight: 288g

Pages: 384

About the Author

Meg Keneally (Author) Meg Keneally started her working life as a junior public affairs officer at the Australian Consulate-General in New York, before moving to Dublin to work as a sub-editor and freelance features writer. On returning to Australia, she joined the Daily Telegraph as a general news reporter, covering everything from courts to crime to animals' birthday parties at the zoo. She then joined Radio 2UE as a talkback radio producer. In 1997 Meg co-founded a financial service public relations company, which she sold after having her first child. For more than ten years, Margaret has worked in corporate affairs for listed financial services companies, and doubles as a part-time SCUBA diving instructor. She lives in Sydney with her husband Craig and children Rory and Alex. Tom Keneally (Author) Tom Keneally won the Booker Prize in 1982 with Schindler's Ark, later made into the Steven Spielberg Academy Award-winning film Schindler's List. His non-fiction includes the memoir Searching for Schindler and Three Famines, an LA Times Book of the Year, and the histories The Commonwealth of Thieves, The Great Shame and American Scoundrel. His fiction includes Shame and the Captives, The Daughters of Mars, The Widow and Her Hero (shortlisted for the Prime Minister's Literary Award), An Angel in Australia and Bettany's Book. His novels The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith, Gossip from the Forest, and Confederates were all shortlisted for the Booker Prize, while Bring Larks and Heroes and Three Cheers for the Paraclete won the Miles Franklin Award. The People's Train was longlisted for the Miles Franklin Award and shortl

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