Exceptional Aussie crime fiction

 

 ⭑⭑⭑⭑⭑  For those of you itching for addictive Aussie crime fiction, I present the answer to your quest in Wake by Shelley Burr. I have just finished it and am still reeling by the finale. Fans of Jane Harper and Chris Hammer will be thrilled to learn of this debut author who writes in a similar atmospheric tone making the most out of Australia's harsh, isolated and wholly unforgiving landscape.

What makes Australia the perfect setting for crime fiction? In Wake it is all about the carefully hidden secrets, which abound, as most characters have something they work hard to keep hidden. The remote location of a deteriorating farm an hour or so from the nearest rundown town makes the perfect environment for investigating a cold case of a missing local girl. But Lane, a private investigator, has a lot of work to do to bring Mina McCreery, the twin sister of the girl who disappeared nineteen years ago, on side. To say she is resistant is an understatement.

I live on a steady diet of Chris Hammer and Jane Harper. The complexity of their stories, the desolation of the location speaks to me, always leaving me wanting more. I am beyond pleased to welcome Shelley Burr to the club as Wake provides a well-paced drama full of mystery and twists that kept me reading and looking for a place to hide so I could read on and on in peace. I was absorbed by it and feel gutted to have finished. High praise, indeed, for this new author I will be on the lookout for in future.