Aubrey Nye Hamilton Reviews: Outback by Patricia Wolf

Patricia Wolf is a journalist, a regular contributor to The Guardian, the Financial Times, The Independent, The Telegraph, and other newspapers. She grew up in a mining town called Mount Isa in far north-west Queensland and left Australia after university to travel. She now lives in Berlin, Germany, but she calls the outback home. Her debut novel introduces DI Lucas Walker of the organized crime unit of the Australian Federal Police in Canberra.

In Outback (Embla Book, 2022) Walker is on compassionate leave to visit his dying grandmother in his home town of Caloodie in remote Queensland. His grandmother raised him and her approaching death is hitting him hard. He’s grateful for the distraction when his supervisor calls and asks him to help the local police in their search for a pair of tourists from Germany who have disappeared. Rita Guerra and Berndt Meyer were backpacking through Asia and Australia, taking short-term jobs as they went. The owner of a tiny ranch near Caloodie reported them missing when they did not show up to work as scheduled.

Careful not to step on sensitive toes, Walker represents himself to the town constable as a liaison for the Foreign Service and the families in Germany. They both know that tourists often underestimate the heat in central Australia during the summer and the distances between towns. They assume the two had car trouble and begin tracing their driving routes. When that doesn’t pan out, Walker begins searching for them in earnest.

Rita Guerra’s older sister Barbara is a Detective Sergeant in the Berlin State Criminal Police Office or Landeskriminalamt (LKA). She telephones Walker a few times and recognizes the platitudes she herself has used in talking to worried families. After a few days she flies to Australia to help with the search, which becomes unexpectedly complicated when Walker learns a major drug dealer is hiding in the region.

This is an outstanding read with a strong setting. The often-used theme of the illicit drug trade gets a fresh spin here. Walker and Guerra are rounded characters and the supporting cast are also realistic. The local innkeepers and the naïve tourists are especially good. Wolfe conveys the beauty and the danger of Queensland clearly and convincingly. The next book in the series is scheduled for publication in May 2023 and I am looking forward to it. Recommended.

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/3BaN1qJ

 

·         Publisher: ‎Embla Books (November 8, 2022)

·         Language: ‎English

·         Paperback: ‎320 pages

·         ISBN-10: ‎1471411702

·         ISBN-13: ‎978-1471411700

 

Aubrey Nye Hamilton ©2023

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

Aubrey Nye Hamilton Reviews: Blood Moon by Gary Disher

Garry Disher has published over 50 widely translated books in a range of genres: crime thrillers, literary novels, short-story collections, YA/children’s novels, and writers’ handbooks. His awards 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.

His series characters include Wyatt, a Melbourne career criminal, in nine books so far and the Peninsula Crimes police procedural series with Inspector Hal Challis and Sergeant Ellen Destry in seven books set in Waterloo, Queensland. In the fifth Challis outing, Blood Moon (Soho Crime, 2009) the team has two major crimes to solve. The first is the brutal attack on the chaplain of a private school. The chaplain turns out to be greatly disliked, with good reason, and the police have a number of suspects to check out.

The chaplain’s case slips in priority when the disappearance of a woman who was responsible for enforcing land use regulations culminates in the discovery of her badly beaten body. A historic house was razed just as a preservation court order was being processed, angering the building protectors and resulting in a confrontation. The police wonder if she got caught in the middle somehow. The victim suspected that someone in her office was slipping the property developers advance information about preservation orders, which would be a violation of their position of trust. She had begun saying to her friends that she should request an investigation. Feelings for and against development are running high in the area, and Challis and his team have to wade in.

On the personal front Challis and Destry are living together in defiance of rules against fraternization. When their boss finds out, Challis fears one of them will be sent across the continent to separate them. Their subordinates are pairing up too, creating friction.

Disher can’t write a bad mystery. The plot neatly weaves the professional and personal threads together and incorporates enough twists to keep the reader alert. The police team members are especially well done. Each detective has his own investigative strength, and each one is given a moment to shine in this ensemble story. I noticed the slang that had me consulting Google in the Wyatt books is missing here. Recommended, particularly for fans of police procedurals.

·         Publisher: ‎ Soho Crime; First Edition (April 1, 2009)

·         Language: ‎ English

·         Hardcover: ‎ 368 pages

·         ISBN-10: ‎ 1569475636

·         ISBN-13: ‎ 978-1569475638

 

Aubrey Nye Hamilton ©2021

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