- This title available to me on Libby as an e-book by my local library
- Publisher : HarperCollins (August 1, 2024)
- Print length : 383 pages
- Page numbers source ISBN : 1460765419
Synopsis (publisher)
A brutal murder in a town called Treachery? It's a story most journos would kill for, but for Stuart Dryden, it's a major inconvenience. He didn't take the gig at the local rag for its bustling crime beat. He'd sacrifice a career-making story for happy hour at the pub, but not even he can let a grisly murder through to the keeper. Especially when he keeps getting scooped by a persistent kid with a disposable Kodak.
Life's tough for eleven-year-old Matty Finnerty. His mother's gone, his father's gone most of the time and, as hard as he tries, he just can't get the kids at school to like him. When his favourite teacher Wendy Millburn turns up dead on the beach, it puts his dad Robbie in the crosshairs of a town that never liked him anyway. Worse than the bricks through the window, the dead animals on the lawn and the fish heads in the mailbox is the fact no one seems to be looking for the killer.
Matty starts to wonder whether Robbie knew Wendy better than he's let on. He needs a hero, and Dryden will have to do – that is, if he can just stay sober for a night or two. He might even cast off the ghosts of his own past.
As they stumble their way to answers, can they find the truth about Wendy – and what they're really made of?
My Take
For the most part, this was an interesting told tale, but there were just bits that did not do well. The character of Matty Finnerty was too young for the role that he had to play and for the information that he had to process. It did feel like the plot had too many strands and would have benefitted from less complexity.
However I did read to the end and I thought the Australian-ness of the setting came over well.
My rating: 4.5
About the author
Mitch Jennings is a writer, journalist, radio host, sports commentator, podcaster and comedian. His debut novel A Town Called Treachery was shortlisted for the 2022 HarperCollins Banjo Prize. He was raised on the beautiful Mid North Coast of New South Wales and now lives and works on Dharawal Country in Wollongong with his wife, Angela, their son and their French bulldog, Guinness.