Lillian Robinson

I have no idea why the American publishers changed the title from Dirt Town to Dirt Creek, but it has no effect on the gut-punch of the story. Police procedurals have not been as engrossing as this, especially since the story is told from multiple viewpoints, not just that of Det. Insp. Michaels. I was especially intrigued by the We, which functioned like a Greek chorus, albeit a chorus of children’s voices. In fact, the author included the voices of the missing girl’s friends, Ronnie and Lewis, as a counterpoint to Constance, the mother of the missing girl Esther, and of course to the Missing Persons detective trying to solve the mystery. The author’s upbringing in an Aussie bush town is evident in her descriptions of both the landscape and the heat. One of my favorite details was from near the end of the book when she described the galahs as so full from eating the wheat scattered around the silos that they were too full to fly! After this debut novel I can’t wait to see what Hayley Scrivenor comes up with next! [Scrivenor is a perfect name for a writer and it’s her real name!]