Small Australian town settings - 3 new books to get excited about

 

WAKE by Shelley Burr

 

Small, remote Australian towns are among my favourite settings for crime novels because they create a claustrophobic element that adds tension to an already emotionally charged story. With the fictional town of Nannine, Burr has created not only an authentic Australian atmosphere but also all the elements that make for a cracking good read. The simmering tension and hidden malice in the small town secrets that make up every remote, isolated settlement made this tale unputdownable.

The town has almost managed to paper over its cracks when private investigator Lane Holland arrives, eager to shake out a few secrets related to the disappearance of young Evelyn McCreery’s disappearance nineteen years ago. Initially reluctant to let Lane into her life, Evelyn’s sister Mina is still hopeful that some new truths may be revealed that help solve the mystery that has defined her life.

And thus the stage is set. What follows may not be new, but it is written well, slowly following clues and unearthing new information. What added to the mystery was Lane’s own motivation for coming to Nannine, which provided a refreshing perspective to the cold case investigation.

I thoroughly enjoyed WAKE and was surprised to hear that this is the author’s debut novel. I am sure that we haven’t heard the last from Shelley Burr and look forward to finding out what she will come up with next.

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DIRT TOWN by Hayley Scrivenor

 

What was the last book that totally took you by surprise? Since I read A LOT of thrillers, I’m often disappointed by predictable endings. Well, I am very happy to say that Scrivenor totally blindsided me! 

DIRT TOWN follows in the wake of a spade of atmospheric, small-town Australian thrillers that delve into missing persons cases. Here, it is a young schoolchild who fails to return home after school and is eventually found buried in a shallow grave just out of town. In a place where everyone knows one another, it is hard to believe that a child killer is on the loose. 

The story is being told through various POVs, including two of the 12-year-old victim’s friends, her mother, the police detective investigating the case and the collective of the town’s remaining children (referred to as “we”), which brought some interesting insights into the case. As you can appreciate with a case of a dead child, the story was sad and tragic, with that melancholy air that also characterises a lot of Australian crime fiction. Child characters’ POVs often don’t ring true for me, but Scrivener nailed it with the voices of both her young protagonists, who appeared authentic and believable with their 12-year-old view of life and death. I also loved the way the author portrayed the dying small town and the way its residents clung to life there, trying to make things work. 

Hayley Scrivenor is an exciting new voice in Australian fiction, and I can’t wait to read more from her in future!

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THE WHISPERING by Veronica Lando

 

If you love your thriller with a slight spicing of the supernatural, then THE WHISPERING should definitely be on your list (disclaimer: for those of you who love a good dose of spook, this may be a bit too mild). As an added bonus, it also features a delicious small town Australian setting in a remote region just as a cyclone is about to hit. With all those elements adding tension, this story was a definite must-read for me. 

Callum Haffenden is an investigative journalist who – just like thousands of mystery protagonists before him – falls into the trap of returning to his old hometown to help with the investigation into the mysterious death of one of his childhood friend’s son. OF course, Callum has plenty of his own secrets and demons, and we will learn in the course of the book why not many people are excited to welcome him back into their fold. 

I mentioned a supernatural element, which was one of the main reasons I was instantly drawn to the premise of the book. In the vein of PICNIC AT HANGING ROCK, a cluster of boulders in the vicinity of the town has been the cause of many a local legend, and linked to the disappearance and death of a few locals in the rainforest. Amongst the town’s children, it is well known that the “whispering” may lure you to your death, so they have taken to wearing small friendship bracelets with bells to drown out the boulders’ siren song. I won’t give any more away, because this was one of the best aspects of the book, albeit one I thought could have used a bit more to create a spookier vibe (I am not easily spooked these days, so it takes a bit to raise my goosebumps). 

I was very quickly drawn into the story, even though I thought that aspects of it could have been edited a bit more to move the story along at a better pace. I also had a few issues with credibility, for example the fact that if you’ve been an amputee for 30 years, you would have adapted much better to living with this reality than Callum has. A few other things grated a bit, but all in all the mystery central to the story kept me reading eagerly to find out the answers. Mostly, I loved the remote atmospheric setting, despite the fact that this must have been the slowest ever cyclone to approach a town and the worst prepared locals ever in Australia, flitting about the countryside despite the storm and the flooding (I have been through several natural disasters and believe me, you would not merrily drive around as a Cat 5 cyclone hits your town). Oh, to be able to suspend disbelief! 

But don’t listen to my moaning. THE WHISPERING will appeal to readers who love a remote atmospheric setting and a small-town mystery where everyone has something to hide. There were quite a few surprises in store and the premise of the mysterious boulders was most intriguing. Just like a strange mix between PICNIC AT HANGING ROCK and THE DRY, THE WHISPERING is a worthy recipient of the 2021 Banjo Prize.

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