Burnt out after a rape case goes horribly wrong in Melbourne, which also led to the breakdown of a long-term relationship, Senior Detective Antigone Pollard returns to Deception Bay, an apparently sleepy town where she spent much of her childhood. She imagines life will be easier, living and working in a small town.

A quiet drink at the pub leads to Antigone fending off an attack by a superficially charming would-be rapist. Her attacker is soon out on bail, and as Antigone and her partner, Wozza, investigate a series of possibly related drink-spiking sexual assaults, she finds herself dealing with a wall of silence, denial and hostility, not just from her misogynistic boss, but from the whole town. Meanwhile, Antigone begins a parallel investigation into a childhood friend, who years earlier, killed his wife and himself in a poorly investigated murder/suicide.

The name of the town is fitting, as Deception Bay is filled with deceptions, secrets and unbelieved victims; the women live in fear, while the men wear their entitlement like a badge of honour.

The Unbelieved was written as part of Petraitis’s PhD thesis. It has a feeling of incompleteness, or perhaps of trying to deal with too many elements. All the loose ends are tied up in the end, but some of them feel contrived.

There is a lot to like about the novel. The book is very readable, Antigone is an interesting character and the subject matter is disturbing and powerful.

Reviewed by Tessa Chudy

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ever since she was a small child, Vikki dreamed of being a writer. One of her favourite things is when people tell her how her books have changed their life or influenced their career choice. There’s more than one cop, forensic psychologist, podcaster, or investigator whose journey began with opening one of Vikki’s books.