4.5★s
The Cast Aways Of Harewood Hall is the second novel by Australian author, Karen Herbert. It’s probably an inebriated impulse that moves Josh to take two lab mice in their carry cage from the University’s medical research lab one night. And the back of Meira Jacobs storage unit in the basement of Harewood Hall is the best place he can think of, when he sobers up, to keep them. Shouldn’t be a problem really, although one of them seems to be putting on weight quite quickly…

Together with her liaison on the Residents Committee, Paul Kelly, Fiona Boston, manager at Harewood Hall, does her best to keep her residents happy while containing costs to reasonable levels. Her diplomacy is often put to the test by residents who want to plant certain trees, make sure others are not pruned, don’t keep their pet dogs under control, and predict catastrophic collapses of retaining walls.

Valid concerns, though, that vigilant residents raise, are the spike in water charges and the mysterious boxes that arrive and leave via the owner’s handyman company. Fiona is also worried about something she accidentally came across: the large sums moving in and out of the village’s Reserve Fund: could there be a financial fiddle going on?

Harley, the grey stray cat knows he’s on a pretty good wicket at Harewood Hall. It’s taken some patience, but he has most of the residents trained to provide his favourite food and a warm, comfortable place to sleep. As he observes all the comings and goings with interest, Harley’s narrative gives a unique perspective on events.

This cast of characters, their concerns and their behaviour, will feel quite authentic to anyone who has lived in or visited a retirement village, and demonstrate that it doesn’t do to underestimate the elderly, to forget that might have been people of knowledge, skill and influence before they got old. If Herbert aims to illustrate positive ageing, she certainly achieves that.

The back-cover blurb may be a little misleading with some things it hints at: the story really is a bit of a slow build cosy mystery, filled with quirky characters, plenty of intrigue and some anti-climactic-if-satisfactory resolutions. There is some domestic drama but, as with Alexander McCall Smith’s Botswana series, it’s the characters and their interactions that make this such an entertaining and enjoyable read.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by Better Reading Preview and Fremantle Press.