Product Description

Prudence Green is a troubled woman. Stifled by her existence as an RAF wife, she’s dying for a bit of excitement. When one of the other women on the base commits suicide (having discovered that her husband is having an affair with a male comrade in Iraq), Pru and her best friend Lena are prompted to set off on a memorably surreal journey – a criminal investigation, a search for love and an exploration of Pru’s own dark past. The discontented pair escape the base and arrive in a blighted seaside town, Allcombe, determined to find out the truth behind the supposed suicide of one-time TV star Crystal Tynee. But as they explore the lawless town, Pru and Lena find that Allcombe hides more than one hideous secret. Light Reading is a wickedly clever detective story and a pitch-black mystery, seething with grotesque and unforgettable characters, and concluding with a twist that will leave you breathless.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #780649 in Books
• Published on: 2008-02-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 295 pages

My Weekly
`This dark detective story is full of mystery and intrigue with a truly shocking twist.'

Now magazine
`A weird page turner with a surprising ending'

It's a Crime!
'Light Reading makes an interesting read and I believe that Aliya Whiteley is one to watch within the crime scene.'

Customer Reviews

Whiteley wows
Aliya Whiteley comes into her own with this quirky crime comedy about a pair of RAF wives who scarper from the base after one of them purchases the suicide note of a minor child celebrity-gone-bad off of Ebay. This an addictive black comedy about trying to make the most of a friendship founded on common discomfort and facing the past. Whilst getting shoved down basements with bin bags possibly containing body parts of course. A top read and surely the first in a long line of 'Lena & Pru Mysteries'. The No1 Ladies' Detective Agency it ain't.

Well worth it
Light Reading begins on a British RAF airbase. The men have flown away to fight in the desert. This leaves their wives with little to do but gossip, try to survive the long, dark tea-times of coffee-and-walnut cake, and commit suicide. This last option is selected by only one of the wives, but it sends the protagonists, acerbic Pru and sexy Lena on a quest to the sleepy Devonian town of Allcombe.

You understand, reader, that a town described as 'sleepy' in such a book is far from sleepy; it's often lively in quite unexpected ways.

That's as far as I can go with the plot. It's genuinely interesting and mysteries and revealed, yet deepened, in much the same manner as Lost, without the concommitant desire to hunt down J J Abrahms and smother him with his own mystery box.

This book has some fantastic dialogue. There is a real tension between the protagonists and Aliya is skilful in her management of the two points of view. There are some moments when this device doesn't quite work. For example, in her diary, Lena reports the contents of a letter verbatim despite having read it one over another character's shoulder. But the duality of the narrative is itself a mystery that keeps the reader wanting to know more.

The ending is subversive and clever. Well worth it.

A talented writer to watch
I was blown away by this book. It seems to have everything: laugh out loud funny, but with a deep and dark soul. It's a clever take on people and the weaknesses that make them (and us) human, and chock-a-block with quirky characters who never become charicatures. It's also well plotted mystery that kept me turning the pages to see what happened next. The end is moving and surprising, but all so right. I really think Aliya is a writer to watch and will go far.