Razorhurst by Justine Larbalestier

Title: Razorhurst

Author: Justine Larbalestier

Release Date: 1st July 2014 (March 2015 in the US)

My Rating: 4/5

Blurb:

The setting: Razorhurst, 1932. The fragile peace between two competing mob bosses—Gloriana Nelson and Mr Davidson—is crumbling. Loyalties are shifting. Betrayals threaten.

Kelpie knows the dangers of the Sydney streets. Ghosts have kept her alive, steering her to food and safety, but they are also her torment.

Dymphna is Gloriana Nelson’s ‘best girl’, experienced in surviving the criminal world, but she doesn’t know what this day has in store for her.

When Dymphna meets Kelpie over the corpse of Jimmy Palmer, Dymphna’s latest boyfriend, she pronounces herself Kelpie’s new protector. But Dymphna’s life is in danger too, and she needs an ally. And while Jimmy’s ghost wants to help, the dead cannot protect the living . . .

In A Nutshell:

A thrilling, danger-filled historical crime novel with all the glitz and grime you would expect, as well as a touch of the paranormal to add a new spin. Razorhurst sees 1930’s Sydney through the eyes of a couple of teenage girls, one from the streets and one from the fold, as the world went from the roaring twenties to the dirty thirties.

My Review:

I don’t usually read stories set in the past as I am a contemporary girl at heart, but I couldn’t pass up Razorhurst. Firstly, it’s Aussie YA (Yay!). Secondly, I love crime stories and I thought that since I unexpectedly loved The Diviners, which was set in the 20’s, I should really give Razorhurst a go.

Kelpie lives among the abandoned buildings of Surry Hills. Orphaned at birth, and her age unknown, she has been raised by the kindness of strangers and ghosts. You see, Kelpie can see and talk to ghosts. She has no idea why she has this ability. She just knows that some ghosts ignore her while others actively try to get involved in her life.

Those that help Kelpie have taught her to read, found her places to hide and pointed her in the direction of food. But sometimes, others like to mess with her and that’s what happens the day she is directed towards a supply of apples and instead finds the eviscerated body of Jimmy Palmer, mob-boss Gloriana Nelson’s right-hand man.

As police descend on the building, Kelpie, and Jimmy’s girlfriend Dymphna (who also came upon the body as she arrived for a pre-arranged meeting), flee the scene, hiding in backyards until they can break away from the police patrols. Caught in the middle of an organised crime mob-war, Kelpie’s life just got a whole lot more complicated than hiding from the authorities and finding food.

With help from her friend Snowy and writer Neil, Kelpie and Dymphna attempt to escape the dangers of the city whose controlling powers, Mr Davidson and Gloriana Nelson (having watched a few episodes of Gotham on TV, my mind kept likening Gloriana and Mr Davidson to Fish and Falcone), have eyes and ears everywhere, as well as most of the city’s police force in one of their pockets.

Kelpie is forced to grow up quickly as she finds herself in far more unsavoury and unfamiliar places than she is used to. The events and revelations that occur around her have Kelpie musing over what makes a good person and realising that there is a blurry line between what is right and wrong.

I have some unanswered questions that lead me to hope there will be a sequel to follow Razorhurst. Certain things are alluded to so maybe the reader is supposed to be left to make their own assumptions. But I really would have liked to know more details, especially about the mythology surrounding the ghosts that Kelpie interacts with such as why do some people become ghosts and others simply die? And why can Kelpie see them? Also, if certain people survive the inevitable bloodshed as the mob-war threatens to consume the city.

Overall a thrilling, danger-filled historical crime novel with all the glitz and grime you would expect, as well as a touch of the paranormal to add a new spin. Razorhurst sees 1930’s Sydney through the eyes of a couple of teenage girls, one from the streets and one from the fold, as the world went from the roaring twenties to the dirty thirties.