HarperCollins

Book title: The Italian Secret by Tara Moss

Reviewer: Nataša Aster-Stater

“The secret needed an answer … even if that answer was potentially devastating”.

‘The Italian Secret’, by Tara Moss, is filled with prose and imagery that has all the beauty of Tuscany, but is also grounded in the dark underbelly of a detective crime mystery.‘ The Italian Secret’ is the third instalment of the Billie Walker Series, set in the 1940s, and Moss's latest offering has the reader following a trail which runs through three different storylines and time periods, headed by three different women. It stretches from Naples, 1943, to the Pacific Ocean, 1907, and Sydney, 1948, with the latter being where we meet the often steely and fashionable Private Investigator, Billie Walker.

The novel starts where Walker has recently re-opened the private inquiry office of her late father, Barry. She’s a workaholic, even using her free Sundays to do unpaid work assisting women who need help, whether that be an escape, to be free of someone’s control and belong to themselves again. Walker remembers what Barry once said to her: it was ‘love, lust, loot and loathing’ that brought people to his door, in need of assistance – and now those things bring people to hers. The page-turning twists soon begin, and it’s clear to the reader that the urgent knocks on Billie’s door and strangers’ pleas for aid never stop. Soon the glamourous investigator is embroiled in several mysteries and cases, all of which are soon linked together by Moss like a fine, silk thread.

The plot simmers and sizzles like a champagne cocktail and a whisky, neat, and Moss expertly weaves both humour and tension together like a masterful magician, effectively balancing both the light and dark shades of the story: romance and crime, family and loss. Moss also gives the character of Billie Walker enough breathing room for her to shine, with the feisty investigator holding her own amongst angry men (and also holding her own liquor on dates with a certain charming, chivalrous Detective Cooper).

“It remained to be seen whether trouble would take a holiday – she and trouble being quiet well acquainted.” Like a penny being tossed into the Trevi Fountain, ‘The Italian Secret’ shines, and Moss - like the reader - knows that every coin has two sides: good and bad, light and dark, and in Billie Walker, Moss has written a charming, brave and courageous character who can tread both: and still looks glamours doing so. It’s no Secret why readers will love this latest instalment.

To read more of the Billie Walker Series, follow her story from the start:

Book 1: The War Widow

Book 2: The Ghosts of Paris

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Reviewer’s bio:

​​Nataša Aster-Stater is a writer and journalist. She is a previous editor and director of Western Sydney University Publication (W’SUP). She is a WestWords alumna 2024. Her work can be found in the Living Stories anthology ‘24 and ‘25, and in BAD Western Sydney: The Second Case anthology. She is published in W’SUP News. ​​

Book title: Until the Red Leaves Fall by Alli Parker

Reviewer: Lee McKerracher

Until the Red Leaves Fall is a story about othering, relationships, social expectations, and racism. These issues were prevalent in 1950s Australia, adding tension to communities that were still adjusting to post-World War II life. Alli Parker explores the roles women were expected to play, the impact of discrimination against specific groups, and the pressures exerted on many to conform when choosing a partner. All of these themes thread through the story of Emmy Darling, ​​​​taking the reader on a journey of heartache, joy, anger and empathy.

Emmy (real name Emiko Tanaka) is married to a moderately successful playwright, Sebastian. She plays the dutiful wife, cleaning the house, having dinner on the table at the time her husband requires, and keeping her opinions to herself. In reality, Emmy is helping Sebastian with his scripts, and her contributions improve his work, but of course, no credit is ever given to her. Emmy accepts this as it allows her to write, a dream set aside once she became a housewife. Things start to change when Sebastian is fired and Emmy ends up being commissioned as the writer for a new play. What Sebastian does not know is that Emmy is working at the same theatre from which he was fired.

Emmy wants to tell the story of her family, who were kept in internment camps in Australia following the attacks on Pearl Harbour. Even though most of her family was born in Australia, they were locked up and treated as criminals, threatened with deportation. This is a part of Australian history that many are not aware of. Men, women, and children of many nationalities were taken from their homes and locked up. It did not matter that they had been born in Australia, had their own businesses, and were contributing to their local communities. They all became persona non grata. ​​Alli Parker cleverly weaves this shameful part of our history across the narrative.

This is the story Emmy fights to tell, but she finds that working with an opinionated and dominating employer, in the form of Virginia van Belle, is more fraught than she could have imagined. The tension increases as Isadora comes into her life, and Emmy has many decisions to make. This is a book that will take you on an emotional roller coaster as Emmy’s life unfolds in ways even she could not imagine.

The perfect weekend read.

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Reviewer’s bio:

Lee McKerracher is an emerging writer from Western Sydney who has a passion for historical fiction. Her short stories have been published in the following anthologies: Hiding in Plain Sight and Only I Can Say by WestWords; Small Things and From Eternity to Here by Stringybark Publishing. Her piece, Across Generations, was published in the January 2025 edition of the Society of Australian Genealogists Journal, Descent Magazine. Her first historical fiction novel, Parallel Lives, was shortlisted for the 2025 Gloria Burley Award for Best Unpublished Manuscript. Lee is currently working on her second novel, You’re Not Welcome Here. Both of these feature women who fight to have their voices heard, overcoming personal and societal challenges. Lee is a member of the 2025 WestWords Academy.