Dirt Trap

A James Brandt Mystery #2

by Michael Burge

Journalist James Brandt lives in a brittle truce with his partner Dylan and his family, never talking about the homophobic attacks he exposed in his rural hometown, including the brutal death of a beloved cousin twenty years ago.

But this illusion of peace is ripped apart by the start of the state's historical gay-hate crime inquiry, and the reappearance of the Joneses, who waltz back into Kippen professing to be queer allies. Yet when one of that notorious dynasty is found dead at a local water tower, it is James who stands accused.

With an under-resourced sergeant and a tech-savvy podcaster on his heels, James refuses to trust in a police force that has proven its inadequacy with gay-hate crime. In order to clear his name and flush out which member of this remote community took justice into their own hands, he will need to expose every secret, including his own.

The gripping and heartbreaking sequel of Tank Water.

318 pages, Paperback

Published November 1, 2025

About the author

Michael is an author and journalist living at Deepwater in the New England region of New South Wales, Australia. His debut rural noir novel Tank Water and its sequel Dirt Trap are released by MidnightSun Publishing.

He has written for The Guardian, Fairfax Media, and the Journal of Australian Studies, and he is a board member of BAD Sydney Crime Writers Festival.

Reviews

[Craig and Phil · Rating 4 out of 5]

Big thanks to Michael and Midnight Publishing for sending us a copy to read and review.
Country towns offer a slower lifestyle, sense of community and sometimes unwanted attention.
They can be as equally charming as they can be bigoted, a dichotomy in this story that exposes gay hate.
Kippen has a history of mysterious gay deaths.
It’s a town where journalist James and his partner Dylan reside.
In pursuit of the truth he passionately investigates the crimes that have plagued his hometown for the last two decades.
A new death sparks that sense of urgency and he realises if the culprit is not caught another victim is next in line.
An inadequate police response and a community where hardcore bigotry can be found are hurdles he faces.
An online gay meet up site a useful tool in the discovery process.
A gay rural noir offered me a fresh type of read in a genre that I read often.
On a personal note I can relate to being gay in a country town and the barriers and attitudes that exist and more scarily I can see spots where murders could take place.
Relationship dynamics, social landscapes and suspense are attributes that make this an enjoyable and authentic book.

[Joanne, drinker of tea, reader of books, servant to cats · Rating 5 out of 5]

Before I get into the review, I highly recommend you read Tank Water before plunging into Dirt Trap. Yes, you could read Dirt Trap in isolation, but you will be missing much of the context.

In writing Dirt Trap, Michael Burge has returned to Kippen and James Brandt, 20 years after the events of Tank Water. And I am sooooo glad he has.

Dirt Trap picks up some of the story threads of Tank Water and weaves them into a new tale of 'who knew?' and 'who was complicit?'. We revisit and a have a cuppa with some of the people we met in Tank Water, But, we also meet some new characters. Some you will love, some you will not like quite so much, and most of them will have you questioning their motives.

The first couple of chapters are a bit of a slow boil as we get reacquainted with Jamie and his husband Dylan, his family, and the townsfolk of Kippen. And did I mention the familial tension? Oh, yes, there's quite a bit of that. The Brandt family want Jamie to 'get over' whatever he thinks really happened to his cousin, and to move on with life, and just stop talking about the Kippen suicides. Because the events and evidence in Tank Water notwithstanding, no-one in Kippen kills gay men. No-one has never killed gay men. And even if they did, we just don't talk about it. Okay?

Bobby Jones, who has been out of town since the events in Tank Water returns with his family and wants to talk to Jamie about how his cousin died, but does not get the chance to do so. After this, the pace quickens, and as each event occurs, and as each thread is pulled into place, the pace picks up a little more. Until you are holding your breath with anticipation for the final denouement.

If you are someone who likes to work out the who and the why as you are reading, you will, like me have your solid thoughts. But, it's not as straightforward as you think. There is quite a bit of 'who knows?, and 'what exactly do they know?', and 'are they really who and what they say they are?'.

I had my thoughts. Several of them, and by the end of the book most of them led me to having to do some serious re-thinking. Even to the point where I had to double check a few paragraphs towards the end because I had been so sure of who and why.

I don't want to give anything of the plot away, but there is one event that was so deliciously satisfying to read, that I went back and read it again. And yes, once more time for good measure.

But, there remains (for me) some unanswered questions, and some questions yet to be asked. Perhaps we will get to those questions in a later book? Mister Burge?

Anyone who has lived in a small town can tell you how some events are gossiped about for decades, even generations, while other stories are held in darkness and never discussed, and the guilty are protected for decades and generations. This book reflects that attitude, and brings it out into the light. Some secrets should never be kept.

This is a great example of Australian rural noir, and I enjoyed Dirt Trap immensely. This is a book that will definitely be recommended to my like minded reading friends.

[April White · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing read. Fits into several different genres of writing but is extremely easy to read as Michael’s writing style is magnificent. The characters are all developed nicely and emotions are captured quite well.
Definitely worth a read