Garry Disher is one of my favorite
contemporary authors. He has published dozens of widely translated books in a
range of genres: crime thrillers, literary novels, short-story collections,
YA/children’s novels, and writers’ handbooks. He writes a series about a
professional thief named Wyatt, a procedural series with DI Hal Challis and DS
Ellen Destry, and a third series about outback police officer Constable Paul
Hirschhausen, all set in Disher’s native Australia. His one-off crime novels
are works of art. Awards for his books include the Ned Kelly Lifetime
Achievement Award in 2018; the Ned Kelly Award for Crime Fiction in 2007, 2010,
and 2021; the Crime Novel of the Year, Germany in 2020; and German Crime
Fiction Award in 2002 and 2016.
See The Guardian’s
interview with Disher here:
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2024/apr/06/australian-crime-author-garry-disher-interview
Sanctuary (Viper,
2024) is his 60th book, the latest stand-alone crime novel. Grace was a minor
character in one of the Challis and Destry stories and here she takes center
stage. She’s a professional thief and con artist, trained from youth to
recognize and extract highly portable valuables. She’s on the run, having
almost been caught at a rare stamp convention in Brisbane. She ends up in Battendorf,
a community that is not much more than a wide place in the road. Erin Mandel
has advertised for help in her antiques store and with all of her knowledge of
collectibles Grace seems to fit the bill. For awhile Grace begins to believe
she can go straight and put down roots in this tiny town. She isn’t the only
one with a history, however, and first Erin’s catches up with her, then the
people chasing Grace find her.
Grace and
Erin are wonderful characters, both trying to escape brutal pasts. The details of
setting up and executing a scam are fascinating. As usual, Disher throws one
curve ball after another, always when they are least expected. The ending is amorphous,
leaving the opportunity for Grace to re-appear.
Sanctuary was named The Times Crime Book of the Month, a
2025 Steel Dagger Award finalist, and a finalist for the 2025 Ned Kelly Award
for Best Fiction.
Another
great book from a master. Recommended.
·
Publisher:
Viper
·
Publication
date: August 15, 2024
·
Language:
English
·
Print
length: 352 pages
·
ISBN-10:
1805222627
·
ISBN-13:
978-1805222620
Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/4323qIK
Aubrey Nye Hamilton ©2025
Aubrey Hamilton is a former librarian who works on Federal It projects by day and reads mysteries at night.
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