- This edition made available by my local library as an e-book on Libby
- e-book published 3 August 2021
- ISBN: 9781761044168
- Imprint: Penguin
- Pages: 384
- WINNER OF THE DANGER PRIZE 2022
- SHORTLISTED FOR THE NED KELLY AWARD FOR FIRST FICTION 2022.
Synopsis (publisher)
An award-winning crime thriller, set in the South Australian outback town of Cutters End. A mysterious death on New Year’s Eve 1989 leads to a shocking murder investigation 32 years later . . .
A desert highway. A remote town. A murder that won’t stay hidden.
New Year’s Eve, 1989. Eighteen-year-old Ingrid Mathers is hitchhiking her way to Alice Springs. Bored, hungover and separated from her friend Joanne, she accepts a lift to the remote town of Cutters End.
July 2021. Detective Sergeant Mark Ariti is seconded to a recently reopened case, one in which he has a personal connection. Three decades ago, a burnt and broken body was discovered in scrub off the Stuart Highway, 300km south of Cutters End. Though ultimately ruled an accidental death, many people - including a high-profile celebrity - are convinced it was murder.
When Mark’s interviews with the witnesses in the old case files go nowhere, he has no choice but to make the long journey up the highway to Cutters End.
And with the help of local Senior Constable Jagdeep Kaur, he soon learns that this death isn’t the only unsolved case that hangs over the town...
My Take
There is always something fascinating about reading crime fiction set in a geographic area which you know well, in this case, the Australian state in which I live.
Back in the days when we thought hitching rides was relatively safe, Ingrid Mathers took a ride she will remember for the rest of her life.
32 years on Mark Ariti, an Adelaide Detective Sergeant, temporarily promoted to Acting Inspector, is asked to investigate what appears to be a cold case. A television personality has insisted that the police should thoroughly investigate a death death 30 years earlier which she is convinced was murder. Mark is the perfect choice because he knows one of the people who gave evidence back then when the case was fresh.
Mark Ariti agrees to take the case as he feels it may get him out of the career slump he is currently in. It take him north to Port York (fictitious town) and then up the Stuart Highway to Cutter's End, a fictitious ex-opal mining town.
What chance does Mark have of finding new evidence? None you would think, but that is not quite true.
An excellent read. Certainly an author to watch.
There is an extra bonus of Reading Group Questions at the end of the book, as well as some Author Q & A.
Rating: 4.7
About the author
Margaret Hickey is an award-winning author and playwright from North East Victoria. She has a PhD in Creative Writing and is deeply interested in rural lives and communities. She is the author of Cutters End and Stone Town.
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