While Outback Noir has taken hold all over the reading world, thanks to authors like Jane Harper, Chris Hammer, Shelley Burr, and Gabriel Bergmoser (among many others), one giant of modern Aussie crime writing has eschewed the rural landscapes of his homeland. In fact, Sydney author Michael Robotham, one of only a handful of authors in history to win multiple CWA Gold Daggers, has yet to set any of his 18 terrific novels in Australia.

So Robotham’s latest Storm Child, the fourth to star forensic psychologist Cyrus Haven and enigmatic ‘human lie detector’ Evie Cormac, opens near the Lincolnshire seaside of England. When Cyrus and Evie witness a horrifying tragedy as bodies of desperate refugees wash up on the beach, Evie becomes catatonic, overwhelmed by nightmarish flashbacks. Cyrus, who has his own traumatic past and was a protégé of Robotham’s long-time protagonist Joe O’Loughlin, knows Evie was held prisoner as a child, likely trafficked, but not where she came from. As the pair try to piece together Evie’s splintered memories while Cyrus helps the police deal with ongoing targeting of refugees, it becomes clear that evil deeds past and present are linked.

With the important revelations and character realisations in Storm Child, it’s a landmark novel in an award-hoarding series. Robotham delivers a masterful novel that weaves together ripped-from-the-headlines issues of real importance with an entertaining, thought-provoking storyline and strong characters that make you care, deeply.

Reviewed by Craig Sisterson