Book Review: The Last Truehart by Darry Fraser

The Last Truehart

by

Darry Fraser

 

Publisher: Harper Collins 

Imprint: Mira-AU

Publication date: 2nd December 2020

Genre: Historical Fiction

Pages: 416

RRP: $29.99AUD 

Format read: Paperback

Source: Courtesy of the publisher via Beauty & Lace book club 

 

About the book

 

1898, Geelong, Victoria. Stella Truehart is all alone in the world. Her good-for-nothing husband has died violently at the hands of an unknown assailant. Her mother is dead, her father deserted them before she was born, and now her kindly Truehart grandparents are also in their graves.

Private detective Bendigo Barrett has been tasked with finding Stella. He believes his client's intentions are good, but it is evident that someone with darker motives is also seeking her. For her own part Stella is fiercely independent, but as danger mounts she agrees to work with Bendigo and before long they travel together to Sydney to meet his mysterious client where they discover more questions than answers.

What role do a stolen precious jewel and a long-ago US Civil War ship play in Stella's story? Will sudden bloodshed prevent the resolution of the mystery and stand in the way of her feelings for Bendigo? It is time, at last, for the truth to be revealed...

 

My review

 

This was my first book by Australian author Darry Fraser and I was drawn into Alice and Stella's story from page one. Darry Fraser's writing is descriptive and powerfully evocative.

I love reading Historical Fiction set in Australia and The Last Truehart did not disappoint.

 

Stella is alone after the recent death of her beloved grandparents. Her mother had died years earlier and she had never known  her father. She did have her dear close friends Constance and Isabella Leonard. These young women were great characters, women before their time, confident and full of life, declaring they didn't need a man to complete them.

 

PI Bendigo Barrett is hired by his Sydney client to find Stella. Bendigo finds himself enamored by the outspoken Stella but he can see a vulnerability behind her tough exterior. however after an abusive marriage Stella is reluctant to open her heart to any man.

 

Their journey to uncover the mystery of her father is fraught with danger and by the time it is all uncovered more than one life will be lost.

I enjoyed the contrast between the way of life in country Bendigo and Ballarat with that of the characters living in Sydney. 

 

Darry Fraser effortlessly weaves historical events throughout including lively debates around women's votes and talk of the coming federation of Australia.

The Last Truehart is filled with treachery, murder, family secrets, hidden riches, a dying man's confession and a touch of romance making it a must read for historical fiction fans. 

 

4.5/5  ⭐⭐⭐⭐ ½ 

 

Meet the author

 

Darry Fraser's first novel, Daughter of the Murray, is set on her beloved River Murray where she spent part of her childhood. Where the River Runs, her second novel, is set in Bendigo in the 1890s, and her third novel The Widow of Ballarat, takes place on the Ballarat goldfields in the 1850s. In The Good Woman of Renmark, she takes us to the rural riverland of South Australia, while Elsa Goody, Bushranger, journeys from South Australia into Victoria. Darry currently lives, works and writes on Kangaroo Island, an awe-inspiring place off the coast of South Australia.

 

 

Challenges entered:

Aussie Author Challenge  #AussieAuthor21

Australian Women Writers Challenge #AWW2021 

Historical Fiction challenge #HistFicReadingChallenge