From GEOFF PARKES, author of When the Deep Dark Bush Swallows You Whole, The First Law of the Bush is a scintillating new rural noir set in 1990’s New Zealand, with a grieving widow searching for answers.

Read on for an extract.

ABOUT THE BOOK

It’s a beautiful day to be alive, Bill Dickerson thought, seconds before he tumbled from the viaduct onto the jagged rocks below . . .

His awful death made national news. But still, one year on, Bill’s widow Carol has received no explanation about what happened. Was it suicide? An accident? Maybe murder?

So Carol hires lawyer Ryan Bradley in her fight for justice. Ryan has just returned to the remote town of Nashville after ten years away, so he’s in no position to turn down work.

Except the case seems hopeless from the start. Bill’s employer is denying responsibility, Carol’s friends are shunning her, and the only witnesses – co-workers Gav Coates and Wati Reynolds – can shed no light on the tragic fall. Even Senior Sergeant ‘Stinger’ Nettle is too busy turning a blind eye to Wati’s illegal schemes to dig deeper into the death.

But in small towns, nothing is quite what it seems. And for one Nashville resident the wrong question will come at a deadly price . . .

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EXTRACT

Carol Dickerson showed dead on 11am, eager to get down to business. Ryan raised his hand to slow her. It was important he get a proper feel for her demeanour and mindset, and her expectations, before diving into the detail.

‘I’m here because of what happened to my husband,’ she said, matter-of-factly.

It was obvious that widowhood didn’t sit well with Carol. Thinner than someone in her forties should be, her skin was dry and patchy. Clearly, she had once been a very attractive woman – still was – but any superficial appeal had since been impinged upon by the ravages of grief. Incessant spells of insomnia, he speculated; perhaps seen off by resorting to medication that, whatever the initial benefit, had only led Carol into a spiral of deeper gloom.

Ryan snapped back into the present. Carol needed a lawyer, not a layman’s medical opinion. ‘Okay, let’s go through this slowly to begin with,’ he said, sitting forward in his chair.

‘Do you know about the coroner’s finding?’ she asked.

Ryan had seen a short report in the local newspaper. An open finding, possible accidental death, some mention of the possibility of suicide, if he remembered correctly. ‘I think so,’ he answered, not sure if there was more to it.

‘I’m just the grieving widow. Most people ignore me. Occasionally someone might tell me how sorry they are, but at the end of the day I’m supposed to shut up and accept whatever they throw at me.’

‘Do you disagree with the coroner’s findings?’

‘Not in the sense of… I mean, what else am I supposed to believe? The way he broke it all down and explained it… I didn’t understand all the legal jargon, but if that’s what he said happened, then that’s what happened.’

‘But, correct me if I’m wrong, he didn’t actually make any conclusive finding, did he? So nobody actually knows for certain what did happen.’

Carol nodded.

‘And, so…?’

‘Why am I here bothering you?’

Ryan smiled. ‘I wouldn’t say “bothering”, but yes. How exactly can I help?’

She gave him the full puppy-dog eyes before they welled up with tears.

‘It’s the bit where the coroner said that there was no fault attributable to Bill’s employer. Or anyone working for The Railways. That’s why they wrote this letter.’

Carol handed Ryan a single sheet of paper, a letter addressed to her with the Accident Compensation Commission logo prominent across the top.

‘It only arrived in the post yesterday. After all this time. Bastards.’

Ryan skimmed through the letter, then read it a second time, more slowly. This was a revelation. He’d assumed that Carol would have received the standard payout made to spouses after a workplace death. ‘Hmmm. So it seems that the ACC is using the coroner’s report as a basis for denying you any compensation. Specifically because suicide was mentioned as a possible cause of death.’

‘Exactly! And I can tell you now, it’s The Railways who’ve put them up to it. The bastards are in cahoots! They shouldn’t be allowed to do that. Bill gave them more than twenty years of his life. And his life. And that’s worth nothing to them?’

Ryan paused. At face value, this was an appalling outcome for someone who had suffered too much already. The ACC paid out on all sorts of compensation and injury claims. Why wouldn’t they just pay her what was fair and be done with it?

‘And so, you want me to take this case up and appeal the ruling?

To get them to change their position?’

‘Can you do that for me? Please?’

‘Mrs Dickerson, without having looked into this in any detail, I’d be certain that the ACC, and whatever input they’ve received from The Railways… these are big national corporations… they will only have made this decision knowing they are on a solid legal footing.’

‘If it’s money you’re worried about, I can sell the car. Or pay you a share of the compensation when you win.’

Ryan smiled at her again. ‘That’s not really how it works, Mrs Dickerson.’

Deflated, she snatched the letter back and stood up. ‘I thought you were here to represent the people of Nashville? More fool me.’ ‘Mrs Dickerson, please!’

She gave him the full puppy-dog eyes before they welled up with tears.

‘Listen,’ he sighed. ‘No promises but leave that letter with me and I’ll have an initial look. No charge, just a wee dig around to start off with, to see where you might stand. Couple of weeks and I’ll give you an opinion. But you need to be prepared to accept that this might not go anywhere. Understand?’

She nodded. ‘Something isn’t right. The way that viaduct is designed, his experience… He couldn’t have just fallen off accidentally. And I know Bill. There’s no way he would have committed suicide. I can’t believe that was even mentioned.’

‘I’ll get Madeleine to call you if I find anything that might be useful.’

Once he was alone, Ryan sank back into his chair. He couldn’t deny it was an interesting situation. But the ACC wasn’t going to roll over for one woman and an inexperienced, small-town lawyer. And even if they did, there was little chance of him being paid well. Proper lawyers didn’t do pro-bono work for grieving widows. They showed respect for their profession by charging what they were worth. That would be it then. He would think of a way to let her down gently. He stood up and pulled open the top compartment of a metal filing cabinet. Empty of files, it slid out effortlessly. He sat down again, a blank notepad on the desk in front of him. The words of his mother, not long before she died, filled his head. ‘Don’t just be a Lawyer, Ryan. A paper shuffler. Be a good lawyer. Help people who need helping.’

He smiled to himself. Maybe he wasn’t going to get rich, but being a small-town lawyer was at least going to be interesting. He’d only just met Carol Dickerson and, okay, she looked like she could be hard work. But there was something about her that transcended the red flags. She had a case. A decent case. He was going to take it on, and in the process he’d use it to build his reputation and properly establish his practice.

He pushed the buzzer on his desk phone. ‘Madeleine, can you track down a recent coroner’s court finding? The full report, please. Name, Bill Dickerson.’

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Born and raised in rural New Zealand, Geoff Parkes now lives in Melbourne. For the last twelve years he’s written a weekly opinion column for The Roar, Australia’s leading on-line sports website.

He is the author of two crime novels, When the Deep, Dark Bush Swallows You Whole and The First Law of the Bush.