Aubrey Nye Hamilton Reviews: Black River by Mathew Spencer

Matthew Spencer is an Australian journalist who worked for The Australian for twenty years in multiple roles including running the Foreign News desk and serving as Opinion Editor. He has written for newspapers and magazines in Uganda and Kenya and been published in The Australian Financial Review and The Sydney Morning Herald. His fiction debut Black River was published by Allen and Unwin in June 2022 and by Thomas & Mercer in July 2023.

Black River was shortlisted for the Ned Kelly Award for Best Debut Crime Fiction in 2023, and it won the 2023 Danger Award for Best Debut Crime Fiction. The Danger Awards recognize crime fiction books showcasing Australia in the setting, which Black River certainly does.

When another dead girl was found wrapped in black plastic at an exclusive boys’ school in the Sydney suburbs during the Christmas holidays, popular belief was that the Blue Moon Killer had claimed another victim. Rose Riley, the sergeant assigned to homicide chief Steve O’Neil as part of the task force trying to identify the serial killer responsible for two deaths already, was on the scene with the rest of the forensic team.

Also present was Adam Bowman, a general assignment reporter for a floundering newspaper, whose editor knew Bowman had attended the school and expected him to find a way around the blockades set up by the police to obtain exclusive photographs. Bowman did not disappoint and his stock with his employer shot up, much to the disgust of the crime beat reporter who was striking out in his attempts to get information.

Riley and Bowman cross paths on the school campus and they both try to take advantage of the other’s specialized knowledge to further their career goals.

While I really dislike the current trend of serial killer crime fiction, the serial killer aspect was secondary to the details of the criminal investigation and to the journalistic angles. The dual points of view give simultaneous insight into the police work and into the operations of a traditional newsroom. The choice of the sergeant instead of the lead detective as protagonist is original, just as the selection of a second-string reporter instead of the star crime beat writer is.

As usual, I had to look up the occasional Australian vernacular or catchphrase. And the multiple references to the summer weather over Christmas holidays was disorienting. The Australian landscape is a key part of the book’s context. 

Kirkus (May 1, 2023) liked this edgy, somber piece of crime fiction with a surprise ending, calling it “An engaging police procedural with a little something extra.” The second book in the series is scheduled for publication in August 2024 in Australia and in June 2025 in the U.S.

·         Publisher: ‎Thomas & Mercer (July 1, 2023)

·         Language: English

·         Paperback: ‎303 pages

·         ISBN-10: ‎1662510063

·         ISBN-13: ‎978-1662510069

 

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/3yrEHRZ

 

Aubrey Nye Hamilton ©2024 

Aubrey Hamilton is a former librarian who works on Federal It projects by day and reads mysteries at night.