Beth Teller is dead but she hasn’t moved on; her father still needs her. He’s the only one who can see and hear her but that doesn’t mean he always listens. Grief consumes him. He’s still working – he’s a detective – but Beth knows his boss makes a lot of allowances for him. When he’s sent to a remote town to oversee the investigation of a body found dead in a fire in the local orphanage, Beth goes too. Perhaps this job will force her dad to find himself again? Once there, Beth and Mr Teller realise this isn’t a simple accident: it’s murder. Slowly they uncover the deadly secrets of the small town, helped by another young girl: Isobel Catching. However, is she a witness or a victim, or something else?

This is the first young adult novel by the Kwaymullina brother and sister team, but it won’t be the last; it’s brilliant. The text reflects the dual authorship. There are two narrators, with two distinct voices and two styles: one prose and the other blank verse. The story shows both the connection and the divide between white and Indigenous people of Australia. There is distrust and conflict, but there are also shared stories and loving relationships. Then there is the contrast between the physical and the spiritual; the dead and the living. Catching, Teller, Crow is a tour de force.

Reviewed by Wendy Noble
Age Guide 14+