30 April 2024

Review: THE TORRENT, Dinuka McKenzie

  • This edition available from Amazon on Kindle
  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B09BP1G2R7
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ HarperCollins (1 February 2022)
  • (Detective Kate Miles Book 1)
  • ISBN: 9781804366301
  • winner of the 2020 HarperCollins Australia Banjo Prize

Synopsis (Amazon)

A loving husband lost to devastating summer floods. A teenage girl injured during a robbery. Two seemingly unconnected cases that will push a detective to the brink.

An atmospheric, compelling new voice in Australian crime fiction.

In Northern New South Wales, heavily pregnant and a week away from maternity leave, Detective Sergeant Kate Miles is exhausted and counting down the days. But a violent hold-up at a local fast-food restaurant with unsettling connections to her own past, means that her final days will be anything but straightforward.

When a second case is dumped on her lap, the closed case of a man drowned in recent summer floods, what begins as a simple informal review quickly grows into something more complicated. Kate can either write the report that’s expected of her or investigate the case the way she wants to.

As secrets and betrayals pile up, and the needs of her own family intervene, how far is Kate prepared to push to discover the truth?

My Take

Another Aussie author to look out for. This novel is her debut title, but there are already another couple (in the series) to look out for.

Detective Kate Miles is 36 weeks pregnant and should really already be on leave. This week though, she has 2 cases to take care of, and also her replacement to familiarise with the job.

There is a good Australian flavour to the novel, set in northern New South Wales. The cases and the stories surrounding them feel authentic at the same time as showing empathy to the people involved. There is also a good amount of back story to Kate's life. Characters are well drawn.

My rating: 4.6

About the author

Dinuka McKenzie is an Australian writer and the author of the Detective Kate Miles crime series published in Australia and the UK. She is the winner of the 2020 HarperCollins Australia Banjo Prize. 

Her writing has been shortlisted for the Sisters in Crime Davitt Awards, the Bad Sydney Crime Danger Awards, longlisted for the Richell Prize, and highly commended in the Australian Crime Writers' Association Louie Award. 

Her short fiction has appeared in the 2022 Dark Deeds Down Under crime and thriller anthology. Dinuka lives in Southern Sydney on Dharawal country.

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