Mululuk’s new bridge is meant to connect both halves of the town. When it collapses, Janice Harding is the only one there to witness its fall, and she is in a coma. Mululuk’s citizens suspect sabotage, but is that really all there is to it, or is there a more nuanced explanation? The priest’s teenage niece, Rachel, newly arrived from Melbourne and with no friends in town, tries clumsily to immerse herself in the politics of this situation. Meanwhile, another local, Charlie, is watching and waiting for the inevitable recriminations that will follow the collapse of the bridge.

All Fall Down is more of a slice of small-town life than a mystery. Father Nott’s temper, Rachel’s (at times unconvincing) crush on her neighbour Shane, and the love story between Gussy and Charlie, although all interesting in their own right, are thrown off kilter by the weaker main plot.

The author successfully captures the gossip of small-town life and the oppressive heat of the Australian outback. Rachel’s explorations of Mululuk were among the highlights of the novel; descriptions such as ‘She didn’t know dirt had such a strong smell: gritty, powdery and sunny’ place the reader squarely in an Australian mining town.

The writing, however, falls short in places. There are sections of dialogue that seem like filler and confuse more than they illuminate. The perpetrator of the collapse of the bridge – and their motivation – are also revealed in the second chapter. The conceit of the ruined bridge is, moreover, not strong enough to stand up to the demands of the plot. The impending construction of a McDonald’s outlet or something similar might have offered a more convincing reason for divisions among the locals.

Reviewed by Tanvi Valenkar