Sanctuary
by Garry Disher (Text, $40)
Garry Disher, the quiet king of Australian crime writing, returns with another absorbing tale, about a small-time thief looking for a normal life; the owner of a rural shop looking for safety; and the dangerous men looking for each of them. A rich, character-driven story, Sanctuary is an apt title – it’s what various characters crave. Grace is a woman of many names who’s used to passing through. She passes through cities and towns, through windows and locked houses, pilfering small, highly valuable items. An expert thief, she even passed 13 years ago through a prior Disher novel, Whispering Death (the sixth in his Challis and Destry series set on Mornington Peninsula).
Now, Grace is at the heart of the tale, looking to lie low in the Adelaide Hills after a run-in with an old associate. Could Erin Mandel’s antiques shop be a perfect haven? But Erin has her own secrets, local cop Les Liddington wants to slap the handcuffs on again before he retires, and the past is inescapable for everyone.
Disher draws readers in not with explosive intros or blurb-worthy hooks or high concepts, but through the quality of his writing. He crafts a rich portrait of small-town life and various characters, steadily building intrigue. Though the likes of Jane Harper and Chris Hammer – whose debuts The Dry and Scrublands have both been adapted for the screen – sparked a global appetite for “outback noir”, and even fresher talents such as Hayley Scrivenor, Gabriel Bergmoser, Emma Styles and Shelley Burr fanned the flames, Disher is a giant on whose shoulders they’re standing. And here he again shows that he remains top of the game.
Body of Lies
by Sarah Bailey (Allen & Unwin, $37.99)
In the glittering treasure chest of Australasian crime writing that’s cracked open over the past decade for readers at home and abroad, Melbourne author and ad agency director Sarah Bailey first grabbed attention with 2017′s The Dark Lake, which introduced troubled small-town detective Gemma Woodstock and won Ned Kelly and Davitt awards for best debut. Bailey grew the series with two further novels, then turned her talents to a psychological thriller and an original tale done for audiobook.
Now, DS Woodstock is back on the page, in her home town of Smithson, and on maternity leave. When the body of a car crash victim is stolen from the morgue, Gemma is urged by her journalist friend, Candy Fyfe, to get involved. Her reluctance evaporates when Smithson is hit with another shocking crime. As Candy and Gemma try to discover the dead woman’s identity, devastating secrets are unearthed that land close to home.
Bailey again has delivered a polished crime novel. Gemma is a flawed and fascinating protagonist: very human, though her insecurities, obsessions and choices may grate on some readers. Bailey’s delivery of the detective on maternity-leave scenario also pales a bit in comparison with excellent recent versions by fellow Antipodeans Dinuka McKenzie (The Torrent) and Otago’s Vanda Symon (Expectant). But there’s plenty here to keep the pages turning and encourage readers to suspend disbelief as the story reaches a crowded conclusion to a solid Aussie detective series.
The Shadow Network
by Tony Kent (Elliott & Thompson, $45)
For those who prefer explosive openings and high-octane action, British barrister and former heavyweight boxer Tony Kent delivers a ripsnorter of a thriller with the fifth instalment in his very good Dempsey and Devlin series.
A mass shooting at the Grote Markt in the heart of The Hague spikes public fears about terrorism, but something more insidious may be afoot, as the lawyers for an alleged war criminal are gunned down in the massacre.
Irish-born barrister Michael Devlin and deadly UN agent Joe Dempsey are called to action as a result of personal and professional connections. They become further entwined in conspiracy and intrigue as they try to find the mystery man the lawyers were meeting, protect his stateside wife (Dempsey’s former lover) and themselves from deadly assassins, and uncover the identity and network of a mythical foreign agent, the Monk, who apparently has been operating unseen for decades.
It’s all complicated by various agencies, including the CIA, wanting a piece of the action and the narrative.
Kent’s storytelling packs a wallop, maintaining a high tempo while providing some fascinating characters and set pieces; the pages whirr by on a litany of secrets and lies, double-crosses, cover-ups and fight scenes.
Readers who love action-packed crime à la Lee Child or the globe-trotting spy thrills of Ludlum and Forsyth should give Kent’s books a whirl. There’s lots to savour, and like any top boxer, this novel offers a great blend of brawn and brains.
