Welcome is a fictional town, named after the famous (real) gold nugget. Vanessa Walton is the town’s human nugget – a singing, dancing and acting star since childhood, who’s returned to Welcome due to the pandemic.
The town appears idyllic, but Vanessa’s suspicious death throes a rock into its tranquil pond. Waves of trouble are created and a sediment of secrets is disturbed, unsettling the townsfolk. The town will never be the same. Vanessa is found dead at the bottom of her stairs after a stellar performance at the town’s fundraising gala. The coroner rules an accidental death. An ensemble cast share different views of Vanessa.
Her best friend from school, Frankie Birnam, is distraught. Less upset is Frankie’s long-term friend, Meredith (Mer) Davis. Vanessa rented a cottage from the Langridge family. Barton Langridge is the local MP and feels as important as his name sounds. His stepdaughter, Jasmine, detests him.
Her schoolfriend, Brianna, follows Jaz’s rebellious lead. Vanessa’s cousin, Beth, is fighting cancer.
Into this town comes a new police sergeant, Carole Duffy: a canny literary device allowing a fresh set of eyes to study the town. By contrast, Billy Wicks has policed the town for decades. Duffy is open to investigating the death after Jaz claims Vanessa was murdered. Jaz’s plans to expose the killer get out of hand.
There are numerous threads within the narrative. of It Takes a Town Clifford weaves them together extremely well, while also providing several unexpected twists. Clues lead to Frankie, and her actions in trying to help Vanessa’s family and her unintended clumsiness in the presence of the police further incriminates her. Readers will know she’s not the killer … but who is?
Reviewed by Bob Moore
Release 3 April 2024
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Aoife Clifford was born in London of Irish parents, studied Arts/Law at the Australian National University, and now lives in Melbourne. Aoife is the author of best selling literary crime novels, Second Sight, runners up in 2019 for Crime Book of the Year in the Davitt Awards, and All These Perfect Strangers, which was long listed for both the ABIA General Fiction Book of the Year and the Voss Literary Prize.
She is an S.D. Harvey award winner, has won the Scarlet Stiletto and been shortlisted for theUK Crime Association’s Debut Dagger among other prizes. Her award winning short stories have been published in Australia, UK and US.
Her new novel is When We Fall.
(And if you are wondering how to pronounce Aoife here is a helpful link – Aoife )
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