THE CAST AWAYS OF HAREWOOD HALL
Karen Herbert (Fremantle Press, $32.99)
Feel-good fiction set in retirement communities — exemplified by Richard Osman’s blockbuster Thursday Murder Club series — has become something of a publishing sensation in recent years, tapping into the rich narrative and comedic possibilities offered by a scenario which places a bunch of distinct personalities in close proximity as they grapple with the ups and downs of growing older.
Among the latest additions to the genre is The Cast Aways of Harewood Hall, the second novel by WA author Karen Herbert. It’s quite a different book to her atmospheric 2021 crime debut, The River Mouth, combining affectionate satire with a cosy mystery set at an upmarket retirement village in Perth’s western suburbs.
Drawing on her own experience of working in the…
