Title: Either Side of Midnight
Author: Benjamin Stevenson
Published: September 1st 2020
Publisher: Penguin Books Australia
Pages: 336
Genres: Fiction, Crime, Mystery, Suspense, Thriller
RRP: $32.99
Rating: 3.5 stars
An electrifying thriller from an exciting new voice in crime fiction: One million viewers witness a popular TV presenter commit suicide live on air – so why is his twin brother convinced it was murder?
At 9.01 pm, TV presenter Sam Midford delivers the monologue for his popular current affairs show Midnight Tonight. He seems nervous and the crew are convinced he’s about to propose to his girlfriend live on air.
Instead, he pulls out a gun and shoots himself in the head.
Sam’s grief-stricken twin Harry is convinced his brother was murdered. But how can that be, when one million viewers witnessed Sam pull the trigger?
Only Jack Quick, a disgraced television producer in the last days of a prison sentence, is desperate enough to take Harry’s money to investigate.
But as Jack starts digging, he finds a mystery more complex than he first assumed. And if he’s not careful, he’ll find out first-hand that there’s more than one way to kill someone …
Review:
Benjamin Stevenson is an award winning stand-up comedian who has successfully made the transition to crime writing, thanks to his first novel, Greenlight, which was shortlisted for a coveted Ned Kelly Award. Either Side of Midnight is the sequel to Stevenson’s 2018 debut, but it can be read as a standalone release. This latest Australian based crime novel from Benjamin Stevenson is the compelling story of a murder mystery masked as a standard suicide. A complex case involving twins, a television presenter and a connected second murder, ensures that the reader is kept on their toes from start to finish. Stevenson also intersperses the main narrative crux with a glimpse into the personal life of his lead investigator, which adds an extra edge to this pacy crime thriller offering. Stevenson pulls out all the stops in his second novel, which ensnares the reader in plenty of speculation, theories, diversions, ambiguity, blockages and cat and mouse games. The audience is never sure who to trust, or what to believe in this unrelenting crime novel. It is wicked race to the conclusion, which is spread over six thrilling parts, each building carefully on the other in an urgent race to close this investigation.
Either Side of Midnight by Benjamin Stevenson is published on 1st September 2020 by Penguin Books Australia. Details on how to purchase the book can be found here.
*Thanks is extended to Better Reading/Penguin Books Australia for providing a free copy of this book for review purposes.
