The fabric of every outback town across Australia is woven through with secrets and deeply hidden connections. Some are age old and will never surface, others can be found by only the sharpest of eyes.

Detective Senior Sergeant Mark Ariti finds himself back in just such a town, the town he grew up in, the town in which he is now the Senior Police Officer. His local knowledge of the good and not so good side of his town and its people see him successfully plug into these deep-rooted connections, enabling him to solve two seemingly independent cases. Something that the top-rated detectives sent in from the big city could not hope to do.

Hickey aptly captures the character and currents of living in a small town, as well as the atmospheric, unpredictable moods of the surrounding bush and the outback weather. She has a superb knack of populating her narrative with real, believable individuals, everyone belongs and everyone is authentic, but none are superfluous. The different ages and community levels of the town are well incorporated as this was an important underlying facet of the story.

An outback town murder mystery and a separate high-profile kidnapping. The considerable plot lines are deftly pulled into the central action in conjunction with inching us nearer to the final reveal. The book also deals with the many emotions, failings and hurdles that life can fire at us all. Detective Ariti is a good man with a strong moral compass, but also has his own self-doubts.

I would gladly spend time in his company if there is a sequel. Highly recommended.

Reviewed by Alison Logie