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Monsarrat #3

The Power Game

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When a boatman is murdered on a remote island off Van Dieman’s Land, the authorities want to blame a famous, and very inconvenient, political prisoner. But the victim’s history of blackmail prompts Monsarrat to look further afield – and not everyone is happy . . .

In this, the third in the Monsarrat series, Hugh Llewelyn Monsarrat and his trusty housekeeper, Mrs Mulrooney, are sent to remote Maria Island to solve the murder of Bart Harefield, the detested cutter skipper responsible for bringing supplies and correspondence to the island. Bart knows that knowledge is currency and he’s not shy about reading the letters he brings across …

When Harefield is murdered with an axe, blame is laid at the feet of Thomas Power, the charismatic Irish revolutionary held in detention – with a lot of privileges – on Maria Island. Monsarrat and Mrs Mulrooney are told to solve the murder. They soon realise their real job is to tie Power neatly to the crime, so he can be hanged without inciting rebellion.

But were there others who also had reason to want to shut Harefield up?

313 pages, Paperback

Published February 26, 2018

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129 people want to read

About the author

Meg Keneally

12 books120 followers
Meg Keneally started her working life as a junior public affairs officer at the Australian Consulate-General in New York, before moving to Dublin to work as a sub-editor and freelance features writer. On returning to Australia, she joined the Daily Telegraph as a general news reporter, covering everything from courts to crime to animals' birthday parties at the zoo. She then joined Radio 2UE as a talkback radio producer.

In 1997 Meg co-founded a financial service public relations company, which she sold after having her first child. For more than ten years, Margaret has worked in corporate affairs for listed financial services companies, and doubles as a part-time SCUBA diving instructor. She lives in Sydney with her husband Craig and children Rory and Alex.

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Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews
Profile Image for Carolyn.
2,762 reviews753 followers
September 30, 2021
In this third instalment of the Keneallys’ Monsarrat historical series, Hugh Monsarrat and his housekeeper Hannah Mulrooney are sent by his superior, the Governor in Parramatta to the penal colony on Maria Island in Van Diemen’s Land. There he is to investigate the brutal murder of Bosun Harefield, the man responsible for bringing supplies and mail to the island from Hobart. An unpopular man, known for smuggling supplies and spreading rumours, he was killed by an axe and thrown over a cliff, but the murderer remains unknown. The Commandant on the island, James Brewster a brutish man, is convinced he knows who the identity of the murderer - Thomas Power, an Irish nobleman sentenced to transportation for inciting rebellion but allowed more freedom than other convicts due to his infamy and pressure from the British press. Hugh will of course keep an open mind and carry out his own investigation, aided by Hannah’s insights.

I’ve really enjoyed the authors superb depictions of the fledgling Australian colony and the convict settlements in the previous two books of this series but felt this one concentrated less on that and more on the murder mystery. Apart from Power and one or two glimpses of other convicts we didn’t really see much of the convict settlement on the island. The murder mystery itself was somewhat slow and Hugh’s investigation felt a bit lacksidasical at first and it’s not until almost half way through the book that he visits the scene of the murder. I nevertheless enjoyed the novel, but it felt more like a cosy mystery set in a historical background rather than the historical fiction with the mystery element found in the previous books. 3.5★
Profile Image for Brenda.
5,096 reviews3,023 followers
June 27, 2019
Hugh Monsarrat and his housekeeper and friend, Mrs Mulrooney were sent to Maria Island off the coast of Van Dieman’s Land to investigate the murder of a man not many people on the island liked. A part of the penal colony, it was run by a hard, vicious man by the name of Brewster who resided with his wife Elizabeth. Her brother Walter helped his sister with the stores for the colony’s inhabitants. When Monsarrat started his investigation, he was blocked on all fronts, mainly because Brewster was determined Thomas Power, an Irish revolutionary held in detention, was the killer.

But complications would arise; escape would be attempted, and secrets would slowly be discovered. They were secrets not meant to be unearthed and much would be done to stop them. Would Monsarrat and Mrs Mulrooney solve the mystery? They dearly wanted to return to Parramatta and leave the shores of a place they had no liking for…

The Power Game is the 3rd in the Monsarrat series by Meg Keneally and her father Thomas and in my opinion, this was the best so far. Monsarrat and Mrs Mulrooney work well together – she amuses me with her comments; “eejit of a man” (to Monsarrat), and the flicking of her dishcloth at him at his indiscretions. An entertaining read, The Power Game is a captivating historical mystery which I recommend.

With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my digital ARC to read in exchange for an honest review.
Profile Image for Jülie ☼♄ .
544 reviews28 followers
February 2, 2020

This is book #3 of 4 in the Monsarrat series, and although it closely follows on from the previous two, I feel it does depart somewhat from the previously established typecasting of the two main characters [Monsarrat and his housekeeper Mrs. Mulrooney] insomuch as they are working more as an amateur sleuth team now in a murder investigation.

Monsarrat has been charged with the task of investigating the mysterious murder of the regular passenger and supply transport boatsman of a small remote island off Van Dieman’s Land. He will have to travel with his trusty and faithful housekeeper Mrs. Mulrooney...as much for his faith in her deductive skills as her tea making and housekeeping skills...he doesn't relish the idea of informing her, given her understandable hatred for boats and sailing of any description.

The not too popular Bart Harefield is the captain of the cutter which ferries passengers, mail and supplies...often sly grog...to the island which is specifically used to detain convicts who pose a lesser degree of danger.
Because of his unique and largely unquestionable position, Bart has managed, through his indiscreet perusal of the mail he transports to and from the mainland, to enjoy a position of some small notoriety as the go to man for anything, be it information or contraband. Thus he enjoys a sort of freedom only a holder of secret information can enjoy...one not unaccustomed to employing the threat of blackmail should the need arise.
When Bart's partially dismembered body was discovered on the rocks at the bottom of the cliff where the passing boat's signal light is kept lit, the powers that be decided that due to the very small population of the island, an independent investigation should be undertaken to maintain an unhindered search for clues from an unbiased representative.
And so, Monsarrat's powers of deduction were once more called into employ.

Although I thoroughly enjoyed reading this third installment in the Monsarrat series, I was a little surprised at the dramatic shift towards the amateur sleuth type depiction of Monsarrat and his housekeeper Mrs. Mulrooney, as a team.
Rather than elevate the story, I thought it took a good solid background story and shifted it into a more light detective type read...more in the realms of Midsomer Murders or Prynne Fisher type stories...not that I have anything against those type of mysteries, just that, until now, I thought this series brought a more unique flavour that set it apart from your cosy mystery type.

Still an entertaining read and one I would have no problem with recommending.

4⭐️'s

Many thanks to Netgalley and the Publishers for my digital copy to read and review.
Profile Image for Andrea.
1,088 reviews29 followers
September 8, 2019
This is the third instalment of the Monsarrat series I've read this year, and it's yet another triumph for the writing duo of Meg and Tom Keneally. The reason I've read 3 in such a short period of time is because this is the one I wanted to get to! Set in the former penal colony of Maria Island (that's /məˈraɪə/ in case you didn't know), off the east coast of Tasmania, I couldn't resist.

The Power Game begins immediately where The Unmourned finished, with Monsarrat and Mrs Mulrooney making their way to Van Diemen's Land to investigate the murder of Bosun Harefield. The weapon is known to be an axe, but the identity of the perpetrator is less certain. It would be convenient for administrators if the blame could be laid at the feet of gentleman revolutionary Thomas Power, but if we know anything about Monsarrat and Mulrooney by now, it's that nothing but the truth will do. The pair arrive on Maria Island where they find the inhabitants are - while not obstructing - less than helpful in the investigation.

The Keneallys are really hitting their stride by now; the pace is fast and even, the plot reasonably tight, and there is a fairly even roll call of goodies and baddies (and maybe one or two who change during the story...). Clues are dished up at decent intervals, leading to a satisfying conclusion, and then at the end an almost-cliffhanger. No sooner has Monsarrat set foot on NSW land again, than he is told of his next assignment. Off we go to solve the next mystery!

A while back I saw Thomas Keneally interviewed on TV, and he said they have plotted 15 instalments for this series. I'll be there, for sure.

With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a digital copy to read and review.
Profile Image for Steve lovell.
335 reviews18 followers
April 15, 2018
Initially I felt the father daughter combo Meg and Tom Keneally had hit on a winning formula – and obviously, so did they. They have planned for twelve books, in total, for the 'Monsarrat' series and so far have released three. After reading the first two I was hooked – I thought they were really onto something. 'With the 'Soldier's Curse' we were introduced to soon to be ticket-of-leave man Hugh Llewelyn Monsarrat whom, with his incisive housekeeper, added to his own smarts, was part of quite the investigative team for colonial times in early Australia. By the third novel they had already put away a couple of souls who wouldn't have faced their comeuppance otherwise without their input. First this occurred in early outstation Port Macquarie, then later, in Sydney, at the Parramatta Female Factory in 'The Unmourned'. In these we are given a colourful taste of life in the first half of the Nineteenth Century, in a new land (for Europeans), for both convicts and those overseeing them. The sparky relationship between the two redoubtable sleuths was a delight. As a bonus, in the second title, there is more than a hint of developing romance between feisty Grace O'Leary and our main man.

So, with all that, I was looking forward to another knotty problem for the duo to unravel. An added interest would be the promise of a VDL setting with hopefully the romance factor blossoming in Hobart Town. This, on all accounts, was not to be. In 'The Power Game' all too soon we were transported from my local turf south(?) to Maria Island where we remained. It therefore became largely reminiscent of the two authors' first outing, complete with another presumed poisoning of a beautiful commandant's missus. And Grace was hardly mentioned, being stuck back in Sydney, although our hero did plenty of pining. The two duly solve the case, as is to be expected. For much of the tale the main suspect was Thomas Power, an Irish rebel roughly modeled on William Smith O'Brien (whose real story is well worth investigating.) To me this outing seemed to plod along without any of the freshness of the first two. The only really entertaining elements being the repartee between our two investigators and the antics of the local geese. In the end, job done, we discover that the editor of the Sydney Chronicle has been done away with so our duo set sail for bustling Sydney where (spoiler alert) our dapper hero discovers that Grace has been dispatched to the back country. I'll take advice, though, but I think this is where I'll leave the pair to go on solving their crimes without me. I don't think I'll be lining up for No.4.
Profile Image for Angelique Simonsen.
1,447 reviews31 followers
June 7, 2018
I just love this series! Historical mystery solving with two main characters who are portrayed so well and once again a great lead into the next novel.
Profile Image for Annette Chidzey.
373 reviews7 followers
March 13, 2018
The third in The Montserrat Series, the narrative was set on Maria Island with the authors’ own admissions that “(they) had taken more liberties with history... than we have in previous Montserrat books”. This possibly shaped my reaction in that while an easy and entertaining read, it was a little less compelling or plausible than the earlier offerings. This also maybe the result of committing to write one new novel every year whether the authors are ready to or not.
Having noted this potential weakness, the two protagonists - Hugh Montserrat and Hannah Mulrooney- have become a formidable colonial ‘detective’ team based as they are in a distinctive historical context. They complement each other very well and have assumed joint importance in the mind of the reader, whether this was the original intention or not.
Unresolved murder assumes a central focus in each new novel’s plot and the forerunner for novel four has been foreshadowed by Eveleigh on the final page of this account when he reveals to ticket-if-leave Montserrat that he will be assigned to solve the murder of the editor of the Sydney Chronicle and denied the chance to search for his potential female ‘romantic’ interest Grace O’Leary who has been reassigned to an unknown destination by the manipulative Reverend Buller.
I look forward to instalment four in the series but hope it will not become overly predictable or formulaic.
Profile Image for MaryG2E.
396 reviews1 follower
November 20, 2018
A solid 4 star read.
Great historical fiction, set in the early colonial days of Australia. Thorough research into the details of the period add a great flavour of authenticity to the story.
Poor Hugh Monsarrat - his fortunes continue to yo-yo, and his visit to the isolated penal colony at Maria Island, off the coast of Van Dieman's Land is not a happy one.
His highly regarded housekeeper, Hannah Mulrooney, on the other hand, goes from strength to strength as this series of novels unfolds.
Perhaps it should be called The Mulrooney Series instead.
862 reviews1 follower
April 12, 2021
I am thoroughly enjoying the adventures of Mr Monsarrat and Mrs Mulrooney. In each book so far they have solved mysterious murders in early colonial times, often only with the help of Mrs Mulrooneys special brew of tea as they ponder the goings-on.
I have not read the books in order, but had no trouble getting the gist of the situations, and am looking forward to more - especially the subtle humour.

When a boatman is murdered on a remote island off Van Dieman’s Land, the authorities want to blame a famous, and very inconvenient, political prisoner. But the victim’s history of blackmail prompts Monsarrat to look further afield – and not everyone is happy . . .
In this, the third in the Monsarrat series, Hugh Llewelyn Monsarrat and his trusty housekeeper, Mrs Mulrooney, are sent to remote Maria Island to solve the murder of Bart Harefield, the detested cutter skipper responsible for bringing supplies and correspondence to the island. Bart knows that knowledge is currency and he’s not shy about reading the letters he brings across …
When Harefield is murdered with an axe, blame is laid at the feet of Thomas Power, the charismatic Irish revolutionary held in detention – with a lot of privileges – on Maria Island. Monsarrat and Mrs Mulrooney are told to solve the murder. They soon realise their real job is to tie Power neatly to the crime, so he can be hanged without inciting rebellion.
But were there others who also had reason to want to shut Harefield up?
Profile Image for Deb Omnivorous Reader.
1,994 reviews180 followers
June 26, 2018
This is the third in a series, The Monsarrat series which I do thoroughly enjoy.

In this Historic fiction whodunnit, Hugh Monsarrat and his feisty friend, masquerading as housekeeper Mrs Mulrooney are dispatched to Maria island to solve a murder.

They do solve the murder, of course, but in the process we are given a lot of vivid background about Maria Island as a convict colony. We also see more of the background of the Irish struggles and the long shadow they cast on the convict settlements of Australia and it was the depth of these things that I particularly loved about this book.

The murder itself was well constructed, well laid out for the reader which many personalities and participants so well written and so vivid that I could not help but be pulled into the plot on every page I read. Honestly it is the settings and the people that intrigue me most about this series and I did feel that the solution to the murder was a bit dragged out toward the end. Not that this in any way detracted from my enjoyment of the story.
Profile Image for Mandy.
3,628 reviews334 followers
February 1, 2020
The third in a series about Hugh Llewelyn Monsarrat and his housekeeper and friend Mrs Malrooney is set in the former penal colony of Maria Island off the coast of Tasmania, where Monsarrat has been sent to investigate a murder. I enjoyed the first in the series, and the second was ok, but this third instalment lacked the verve and originality that made the first two books such enjoyable reading. It feels as though the authors have already run out of steam – and there are many more instalments in the pipeline - and the format and plot felt formulaic and predictable. I think I’m done with Monsarrat and his adventures now. An easy read, but for me an unconvincing and uninspiring one.
Profile Image for Sean.
383 reviews1 follower
July 24, 2018
The third in this series continues to entertain. (Can I say; on page 36 Brewster returns to his office and Monsarrat leaves with Chester to visit the prisoner. But on page 39 it is Brewster and Monsarrat who arrive at the prison and from which Brewster leaves again. I think the editor needs to be flogged. Later in the book another paragraph is rendered meaningless by another editing oversight. Hopefully these are oversights which can be addressed in later editions.) This adventure is an improvement on the last and i look forward to the continuing investigations of our colonial sleuths.
Profile Image for Mary Smith.
109 reviews
April 30, 2019
I'm enjoying this series about Hugh Monsarrat and his adventures in the colonies. This one takes him to Maria Island of the coast of Tasmania to solve the murder of the bosun, the operator of the island's only boat. I've always been keen on history and found this look at the notorious island very interesting. I know the authors took some liberties with the strict historical setting but it is a novel so that's not really a problem. I recommend this book but do read the series in order, it will make it more enjoyable.
Profile Image for Zoe W.
55 reviews
November 24, 2019
A gripping part three to the Monsarrat series leads them on a voyage to Van Demons Land in the midst of Monsarrat finally falling for someone. Another gripping read my Meg and Tom Monsarrat and Mrs Mulrooney are again in super sleuthing form uncovering another mystery and all the heartache that comes along with it. Walters character was written beautifully and it's a credit to the two authors for choosing to incorporate such a lovely component to part three. It seems Monsarrat can't catch a break and I am looking forward to the next installment.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
161 reviews
September 11, 2023
I really loved the first two novels in this series but for some reason I really struggled with this book. To be honest, I found the plot boring and predictable. Unlike the other stories, this one didn’t have the same historical elements such as the setting or even character development. I don’t like giving up on novels and would rather see them through but I this one was hard.
Profile Image for Renee.
29 reviews1 follower
November 8, 2018
Another excellent book in the Monsarrat series! Filled with trademark Mrs Mulrooney sass and shortbread, and a unique insight in to a remote Australian location. I always love catching up on their adventures and can’t wait for book number 4.
424 reviews2 followers
October 20, 2020
The third story about the former convict Hugh Monsarrat and his housekeeper in the early days of settlement of Australia takes him to Maria Island on Tasmania in 1826.
He is still an employee of the Governor and asked to solve another murder, this time of the bosun
504 reviews13 followers
March 29, 2025
Faster pace than book 1 (the only other one I've read), and an engaging mystery. And has wombats in it! Also still quite a grim book - this series is hyper-realistic history not the light and entertaining type.
196 reviews1 follower
July 7, 2018
I have read all 3 Monsarrats, they just keep getting better this one was a corker.
402 reviews
December 26, 2018
I thoroughly enjoyed reading yet another Monsarrat and Mrs Mulrooney crime fighting saga set in Australia in the early 1800’s.
I do hope there will be more in this series!
1,608 reviews18 followers
March 30, 2019
I have enjoyed this series. I love the historical background, and the interplay between Monsarrat and Hannah Mulroney. Another good Aussie yarn!
2,101 reviews9 followers
July 3, 2019
Not as good as parts one or two in the series...felt this was somewhat clumsy in its deliverance.
769 reviews1 follower
October 9, 2019
Great history and I completely accept the corrections at the end. With some memories of visiting Maria Is, it was even more enjoyable
7 reviews1 follower
February 11, 2020
Loved it as I have visited Maria Island a few times.
Excellent historical fiction.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews

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