dnf @50%
I loved the Australian setting but the story itself was not gripping me at all - a very slow burn thriller and i just wasn’t invested enough

When circumstances conspire to send Jo Sharpe back to her hometown, she'll find it easy to pick up her life exactly where she left it several years ago. Wendy James has built a realistic small town environment and populated it with characters that seem familiar right from the first page. Jo finds work at the community newspaper writing local interest pieces that not many in the local area are interested in. Taking care of her ailing father and picking up prior friendships will bring Jo to question why no trace was ever found when her mother and young sister disappeared so many years ago. Her mother's family are prominent members of the community that disowned her when she married beneath them. Jo will use her newspaper job to conduct her own investigation into her mother's disappearance and the history of her mother's family.

Wendy James flexes her writing skills to bring readers into Jo Sharpe's life and care that she's stepping into danger as the investigation continues. The back story of this small community adds to the pull of the mystery that no one wants solved. A LITTLE BIRD was a great read that I've now recommended to my reading circle. I'm sure they will love it as much as I did.

A Little Bird is a great addition to the Australian literary canon. I'm so glad I finally got around to reading this book. I hope that others out there are picking up this book and getting the same enjoyment from it that I did.

This book takes readers on a captivating journey through dual timelines. Jo Sharpe, the present-day narrator, seeks answers about her mother's disappearance while reconnecting with her hometown. With likable characters and a touch of nostalgia, this cozy mystery unfolds gradually, building suspense until the thrilling climax. Despite a slow pace and minimal landscape descriptions, the book is a pleasant choice for fans of the genre.

I enjoyed reading this book. It had a good plot that played out well. Very original. It’s very well written and flowed well.

I grabbed this book in the “read now” feature because I absolutely enjoyed An Accusation but I was disappointed in this one and gave up about half way.

A Little Bird by Wendy James, published by Lake Union Publishing, is a stunning story. The full length, stand-lone is a romance with thriller elements, a beautiful second chance story full of twists and unexpected turns that had me in suspense fresh from the start till the last page.
Jo is a woman in her thirties who's back in her small home town. A lot has changed and a lot is still the same.
The storyline is set in Australia, the characters are great and the plottwists had me guessing till the last page. A great read

A bit slow for me but still enjoyable to read, I liked the main character tho was also driven mad by her haha, thought this was an easy read with a few twists and turns and in all a good book

I love outback noir and this book certainly exceeded my expectations having not loved The Accusations by the same author.

After her relationship ends badly Jo Sharpe, laves the city to return home to the country home town when her father is sick but being back brings up her past, especiallythe unexplained disappearance of her mother and baby sister when Jo was eight years old. Her journalist instincts kick in and as the events pile up Jo is forced to find out the truth of what happened all those years ago.

The book is interesting and fast paced with an element of who dunnit, an interesting and well written book with realistic characters and a good interpretation of the Australian country life style and I was very satified with the ending. A solid 4 stars.

A little bird is a great mystery story with a character that challenged me at times but also made me root for her in finding out the truth about her mother and sister.
A slower pace that I am used to read but a wholesome story overall. Many twisted moments that kept me engrossed and a very unexpected ending I would say.

Very grateful to the publisher for my review copy

First time reading this author. I’m a fan. This book kept me hooked from chapter one. Just when you think you’ve solved the mystery, another layer is uncovered leaving you second guessing everything. The slow build of the story kept me interested, I didn’t want to put the book down. Definitely recommend to anyone who likes a good mystery.

This story is slow paced and I liked that. I also liked the cast of characters and their personalities. The mystery was good and kept me tagging along, looking for answers to secrets.
Many thanks to Lake Union Publishing and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

An enjoyable book. Jo moved back home after a disappointing turn in her job. She found that things had changed with the people, the town and her feelings. Her mother and baby sister had died years before leaving Joe with her father. Jo embarks on the task of solving the mysterious death of her mother and sister. There are many twists and turns and suspense throughout the book.

Thanks NetGalley - haven’t had the opportunity to read any fiction by an Australian author yet and this was a good start.
Journalist Jo Sharpe is fleeing a bad relationship and returns to her home town Arthurville. It’s a drought stricken town she left years ago and she’s less than enthusiastic about going back. Soon she’s working for the local paper writing puff pieces and local interest stories that are of no real interest to the local community.
Her relationship with her ageing father has improved and she starts to build friendships but the lingering hurt and uncertainty she experienced when her mother left with her younger sister many years ago soon rises to the surface.
This is a really enjoyable easy read and I found Jo to be such a likeable character. The depiction of small town life where everyone knows each other and their back stories was well depicted.
A solid 4 star read.

This book is absolutely fabulous, a must read for lovers of Australian thrillers, crime or a love of small towns.
The characters had substance, the friendships were realistic and there is loads of emotion rolling off the pages.
I highly recommend this book, join into the small town feel and try to solve the mystery!

Thanks to the publisher, NetGalley and the author for an amazing book to read!
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I LOVED this book.

It's a great mystery, set in Australia with solid characters. I just couldn't put it down. Do yourself a favour and grab this book.
This was one of those books I didn't want to put down. I couldn't put it to the side and I also didn't want it to end.

I will be keeping an eye out for more from this author.

Thanks to Netgalley for a copy of this book for an honest review.

I've enjoyed previous Wendy James books but this would be the best yet!

Jo Sharpe returns to the small town she grew up in...the same town where her mother and baby sister disappeared without a trace 25 years ago. What happened to Merry and Amy and why hasn't she made contact??

This book kept me on my toes. The premise is so interesting, once I got into the rhythm of the writing, I could not put the book down.

Strong characters and a compelling storyline make this tale a fascinating read. Jo Sharpe is finally coming to terms with her mother and her little sister's disappearances twenty-five years ago. A journalist, Jo returns to her hometown to work for the local newspaper, and to get some closure. However, a mysterious clue from the past has revived interest in their vanishings. In this story, set in the rugged terrain of Australia in a place called Arthurville, the telling is in dual timelines. The present is narrated by Jo, the past by her mother, Merry. There is also a column entitled “A Little Bird” written in the past. This is a slow-rolling boil domestic mystery rather than a pacy thriller, with the characters very much at its core. Very highly recommended.

I received a complimentary copy of this novel at my request from Lake Union Publishing via NetGalley. This review is my own unbiased opinion.

A Little Bird is an intriguing, character-driven mystery from Australian author Wendy James.

When the end of her relationship coincides with learning her father is ill, journalist Jo Sharpe reluctantly returns to her home town of Arthurville in western New South Wales to take up a position at the town’s local newspaper. Her father, a grumpy alcoholic, bitter about his wife’s desertion over twenty years ago, hasn’t changed much but the town, in the grip of drought, is in obvious decline.

One of Jo’s first assignments for the Arthurville Chronicle, which is really not more than a community newsletter, takes her to Pembroke, her wealthy grandmothers estate on the outskirts of town. The Beaufort’s are little more than strangers to Jo, given they disowned her mother, Miranda aka Merry when she married Jo’s working class father, and failed to reach out even after Merry vanished, taking Jo’s baby sister Amy with her, in 1995.

Confronted with her past, Jo is motivated to re-examine her mother’s disappearance, and makes a shocking discovery that changes everything.

Shifting between the past and present, as Merry’s history unfolds, exposing her frame of mind prior to her disappearance, Jo’s narrative, set in 2018, is related in the first person.

Jo is a well-developed, likeable character. She presents as resilient, smart and determined, though her vulnerabilities, stemming from her mother’s abandonment, her father’s neglect, and the collapse of her long term romantic relationship, are evident.

The small community of Arthurville is realistically portrayed, a conservative rural town affected by drought and the subsequent economic downturn. Of its residents I was fond of local vicar Shep, with whom Jo rekindles a relationship, as well as the teens he is mentoring.

Jo’s investigation begins as she reconnects with the people from her past, most notably her mother’s friend, Kirsty, who provides Jo with some information that prompts her to look at Merry’s disappearance differently. While I felt the pacing was a little slow through the first half of the novel, there is a gradual increase of tension during the second half. I really liked the way the mystery played out, I thought James’ plotting was clever, and I was anxious to understand Merry and Amy’s fate.

A slow-burning, but gripping domestic thriller, I enjoyed A Little Bird.