Review: THE WIREGRASS, Adrian Hyland

• 
   this edition made available as an e-book on BorrowBox by my local library
  
• published 2023 by Ultimo Press
• eISBN 978-1-76115-036-4
• 322 pages

Synopsis (publisher) 

A murder made to look like an accident. A disgraced cop trying to forget his past.

My eyes sprang open. What was wrong? Something had been hovering down in the backwoods of my brain. A disturbing image that only rose to the surface when I began to relax. Wild winds, wet hair, black bark, blood. A crushed body. The poor bastard killed by the falling tree at Wycliff Rise. Something about that scene wasn’t right.

Nash Rankin is a disgraced cop trying to escape his past – his career was destroyed when he chose to take justice into his own hands. Now he’s living a quiet life in a small town, caring for the local wildlife and trying to stay away from trouble.
 
Jesse Redpath has a new job in a new town: Satellite. The stormy weather that greets her first few days on the beat seems like a sign of what’s to come. A local has died in what looks like an accident, but Jessie isn’t so sure that the ‘accident’ wasn’t planned. All the evidence points to Nash, but Jesse’s not sure about that either.
 
Seems like Nash has enemies. And what looks like a close-knit community might just be a cover for dark secrets.

No amount of rain will wash this town clean.

The new Jesse Redpath crime thriller from the bestselling author of CANTICLE CREEK.

My Take

Readers looking for authentic Australian crime fiction will not be disappointed.

Central protagonist Jesse Redpath is an interesting character who brings intuition to a police procedural set in a compelling Australian landscape. The setting is in the northern Victorian highlands not far from Canticle Creek where Jess has family. Her new appointment as a police station head gives Jesse a chance to show what she is made of, but before long she has has a new man in her life, has blotted her copy book, is suspended, and being targetted by those she has been investigating.

Adrian Hyland has a lovely writing style.

Highly recommended.

My rating: 4.7

I've also read

• 5.0, GUNSHOT ROAD
• 4.5, CANTICLE CREEK