Sharp Turn continues the adventures of twenty something fledgling investigator, Tara Sharp who was introduced in Sharp Shooter. With three new cases and a new romance, things are finally looking up, then her clients girlfriend is murdered, her boyfriend's first modelling job pairs him with Tara's nemesis and Tara is targeted by an assassin known as 'The Finisher'. It's all downhill from there.

With it's blend of humour, action and romance, the Tara Sharp series is proving to be an entertaining read. The plot is just a touch improbable, but perfectly enjoyable as Tara uses her newly discovered skill at reading aura's, and undercover investigating, to help her clients. In Sharp Turn, Tara's cases involve the owner of a local brothel, Madame Vine, sabotage at Wanneroo Raceway and troublemakers at a nightclub. As she searches for clues she also has to contend with a narcoleptic bodyguard, an illiterate teenage runaway, the tempting (but very...

read more

Tara Sharp is back! We met this flighty trainee PI in Sharp Shooter and she is up to more outrageous antics in the sequel, Sharp Turn. If you are a fan of the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich and haven’t discovered Marianne Delacourt yet, then you are missing out! Set in Perth, Australia, Sharp Turn takes us on another adventure with Tara Sharp, 28 years old; living at home with her parents and near broke.

I loved the chemistry between these two in Sharp Shooter and the tension continues in this sequel, but Tara is very much inexperienced in dealing with emotional issues and so chooses to deal with them via avoidance. This suits her impulsive personality perfectly, as she is always jumping from one thing to another and winding up in situations that are impossible to escape from. I liked that Cass, the unruly teenager who turns up on Tara’s doorstep had a much bigger role in the sequel. Tara, Cass and her bizarre bodyguard Wal make...

read more

Tara Sharp is a gust of fresh air in the local crime fiction scene. While it is wonderful that our more literary crime writers are finally getting the attention they deserve, there’s still plenty of room for fast-paced commercial female-oriented Australian crime fiction. And Marianne Delacourt (aka sci-fi writer Marianne de Pierres) has certainly nailed that brief. Sharp Turn is the second book in this amusing crime/romance series (after Sharp Shooter). Tara is a heroine very much in the tradition of Janet Evanovich—as the cover line points out in very bold type—with a hint of the paranormal. She has an ‘unusual gift’ that allows her to read auras, making the series a good recommendation for readers of paranormal romance looking to move on. Tara’s ability is as much a liability as an asset in her unorthodox PI business though—she’s still learning to control her unusual power and it gets her into as much trouble as it gets her out of. Likeably...

read more