A body on a beach
Ann Cleeves’ latest delivers a subtle and satisfying mystery and a new series hero.
Two years ago, Ann Cleeves was awarded the Diamond Dagger, the highest honour in UK crime writing. It was a fine choice, given her 32 novels included the excellent Vera Stanhope and Shetland series that have become popular TV dramas. Cleeves hasn’t kicked back since: last year, she concluded DI Jimmy Perez’s Shetland adventures, and now she’s launched a fascinating series hero in THE LONG CALL
(Pan Macmillan, $34.99). DI Matthew Venn is at his estranged father’s funeral when he’s called about a body on a beach near the home he shares with husband Jon. Things get complicated when the victim is connected to the community centre Jon runs, then a girl with Down syndrome vanishes from the home of the leader of the Barnum Brethren, the evangelical sect Venn renounced as a teen. His past and present collide. Cleeves immerses readers in the Devon setting (where she grew up), delivering a subtle and satisfying mystery aided by great supporting characters.
Legendary Australian crime writer Garry Disher has also been honoured for his longevity, receiving the Ned Kelly Lifetime Achievement Award last year. Likewise, he is not resting on his laurels. His superb new novel, PEACE (Text Publish
ing, $37), marks the return of likeable police constable Paul “Hirsch” Hirschhausen from 2013’s Bitter Wash Road. Exiled from Adelaide to small-town Tiverton, he has a beat that involves long drives, welfare calls and dealing with drunken shenanigans. Things take a nastier turn when someone attacks Nan Washburn’s horses, then a secretive family suffer violence that brings city detectives to the town. Disher delivers sweat-inducing authenticity with both the country setting and its eclectic inhabitants. Hirsch is an engaging hero full of humanity, juggling small-town politics while trying to handle the nastiest of crimes and being marginalised by colleagues who blame him for the fall of other cops. Fresh Australian voices have recently had global attention for their “Outback Noir”, but Disher again shows why he’s the master who paved the way.
‘Every time Mary tried to relax in the bath, a paedophile ruined it.” The opening line of Helen Fitzgerald’s latest thriller, WORST CASE SCENARIO (Orenda Books, $24.99), aptly sets the tone, as the Glasgow-based Australian offers something fresh and original to crime fans. Mary Shields is a menopausal probation officer with a messy life who likes to drink and hates office bureaucracy. Ready to quit her job, she lands a tricky case: wife killer Liam Macdowall, who’s become a poster boy for men’s rights activists after publishing his letters to his dead wife. Newly released Liam becomes a dangerous obsession for Mary, which only worsens when her son starts a relationship with his daughter. Determined to mete out her own justice, Mary kicks over a Jenga tower of consequences that fits the book’s title. Both the character of Mary and the overall tale are quite brilliant. The revs are kept high and readers will feel, like Mary, that they’re barely clinging on throughout. Energetic and darkly hilarious.