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Detective Constable Sally White #2
Cold River
Not yet published
Expected 28 Jul 26Deep in the mountains, secrets grow deadly . . .
Detective Constable Sally White knows how easily hikers can go missing in Victoria’s high country. But there’s something about the disappearance of Louis Taylor, a young man lost up Mount Viking, that’s not sitting right with her.
Louis was an aspiring journalist, researching the illegal tobacco trade – also known as chop chop – that was once so prevalent in the area. And the last person he interviewed before his hike has just met a gruesome end . . .
But with no other leads, and with the search winding down, Sally is forced to accept the young man died in a tragic accident.
Until she learns of another missing person case that bears striking similarities. Astrid Marlowe, a young lawyer, vanished in the same mountains two years before.
Were Louis and Astrid simply unlucky hikers lost in the treacherous terrain? Or did they both stumble into something – or someone – they shouldn’t?
Detective Constable Sally White knows how easily hikers can go missing in Victoria’s high country. But there’s something about the disappearance of Louis Taylor, a young man lost up Mount Viking, that’s not sitting right with her.
Louis was an aspiring journalist, researching the illegal tobacco trade – also known as chop chop – that was once so prevalent in the area. And the last person he interviewed before his hike has just met a gruesome end . . .
But with no other leads, and with the search winding down, Sally is forced to accept the young man died in a tragic accident.
Until she learns of another missing person case that bears striking similarities. Astrid Marlowe, a young lawyer, vanished in the same mountains two years before.
Were Louis and Astrid simply unlucky hikers lost in the treacherous terrain? Or did they both stumble into something – or someone – they shouldn’t?
354 pages, Kindle Edition
Expected publication July 28, 2026
About the author
Margaret Hickey
10 books342 followersMargaret Hickey is an award-winning author and playwright from North East Victoria. She has a PhD in Creative Writing and is deeply interested in rural lives and communities. She is the author of six crime novels - Cutters End, Stone Town, Broken Bay, The Creeper, An Ill Wind and Cold River - and a collection of short stories, Rural Dreams. Cutters End was awarded the BAD Crime Sydney Festival’s Danger Prize, and was also shortlisted for the Ned Kelly Award for First Fiction. Margaret won the Ned Kelly Award for Best Fiction in 2025 for The Creeper.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
July 11, 2026
I am a big fan of rural crime writer Margaret Hickey, who seriously deserves more recognition in my opinion. When I heard that Cold River was to be the second book with Detective Constable Sally White I was thrilled. The first book, The Creeper was amazing,and guess what… so is Cold River.
This author is absolutely brilliant at giving readers such an insight to the setting of her books. We are in the Victorian High County, with its dense bushland, dangerous wilderness and rivers, you feel as if you are there working the case with Sally. The area is a popular destination for hikers with spectacular views, but the weather conditions are not always kind. Torrential rain and heavy snow make these mountains a dangerous place for tourists and even the most skilled climbers can find themselves in trouble.
Sally has just returned back to Edenville after a well deserved vacation after the events of The Creeper. The hunt is on for a missing young many, Louis Taylor, who has gone missing on Mount Viking. Something about his disappearance doesn’t sit right either Sally, and after the official search is called off, she continues to investigate. She finds that he was an inspiring journalist and was working on stories about the illegal tobacco trade that has been rife in the area. Was he just unlucky on the mountain or did something more sinister happens to him?
Sally is a complex character, with a family that has her conflicted with her job. She is still seen as an outsider in town having only been there a short time. She is well liked, but does make some silly decisions that find her in trouble. I love how tenacious she is and willing to do anything to expose the villains, no matter who they are.
Thank you so much to Penguin Books Australia for sending me an early copy of Cold River, I absolutely devoured it. Out on July 28th so you have time to read The Creeper first if you haven’t already done so.
This author is absolutely brilliant at giving readers such an insight to the setting of her books. We are in the Victorian High County, with its dense bushland, dangerous wilderness and rivers, you feel as if you are there working the case with Sally. The area is a popular destination for hikers with spectacular views, but the weather conditions are not always kind. Torrential rain and heavy snow make these mountains a dangerous place for tourists and even the most skilled climbers can find themselves in trouble.
Sally has just returned back to Edenville after a well deserved vacation after the events of The Creeper. The hunt is on for a missing young many, Louis Taylor, who has gone missing on Mount Viking. Something about his disappearance doesn’t sit right either Sally, and after the official search is called off, she continues to investigate. She finds that he was an inspiring journalist and was working on stories about the illegal tobacco trade that has been rife in the area. Was he just unlucky on the mountain or did something more sinister happens to him?
Sally is a complex character, with a family that has her conflicted with her job. She is still seen as an outsider in town having only been there a short time. She is well liked, but does make some silly decisions that find her in trouble. I love how tenacious she is and willing to do anything to expose the villains, no matter who they are.
Thank you so much to Penguin Books Australia for sending me an early copy of Cold River, I absolutely devoured it. Out on July 28th so you have time to read The Creeper first if you haven’t already done so.
June 5, 2026
Detective Constable Sally White is back for another gripping thriller set in the High Country.
This book had me gasping and feeling all of the emotions. If you’re looking for a fast paced thriller, you’ll enjoy this one.
This is a review of an advanced copy. The book will be released on July 28. Thanks Penguin!
This book had me gasping and feeling all of the emotions. If you’re looking for a fast paced thriller, you’ll enjoy this one.
This is a review of an advanced copy. The book will be released on July 28. Thanks Penguin!
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
Margaret Hickey returns to the Victorian high country in Cold River, a sequel to her Ned Kelly Award winning novel The Creeper. Senior Constable Sally White is back in action, breaking the rules and dealing with her complicated family structure as she hunts for a missing hiker.
Cold River’s cold open involves hiker Louis Taylor, unable to climb a cliff that he has fallen down and trying to decide whether to jump into the raging river below him. Then Hickey returns to Sally, back from a South Pacific holiday and feeling a little guilty for being away from work. Sally quickly gets drawn into the search for Louis which has now been ongoing for a while. The search is given new life when Louis’s backpack is discovered but Sally thinks there is something odd about where it was found and starts to dig further. Which is when she stumbles on a gangland murder and finds out about another missing person from a few years before. Soon Sally is trying and make connections between these cases. But there are forces that do not want her investigating.
The plot of Cold River revolves around illegal, untaxed tobacco which has the nickname ‘chop-chop’. The supply coming out of the Victorian high country was very lucrative in the 1990s and seems to be resurging. Sally finds that Louis was investigating the trade but that it possibly has ties both to the police and to some of the well-established and tight-knit local families in the area, making her investigation doubly fraught.
Sally’s investigation is fairly methodical and slow moving. So Hickey ups the tension by also including point-of-view chapters from Louis who finds himself in increasing amounts of trouble. Louis is decidedly not a hero (and knows it) but probably best represents plenty of normal people if they were caught up in a threatening or violent situation.
It was always clear from The Creeper that there was more to Sally’s story that needed to be told. Her father is a criminal and her stepfather is the deputy police commissioner. Sally’s mother is divorced from both of them but also maintains a good relationship with both, something Sally has trouble doing, at least with her biological father. Being regional crime, Sally runs the one-person station at Edenville and is still trying to be accepted by the community (a task made harder since she broke up with her local boyfriend). And she does like to have a good time and drink too much, which is something that still tends to get her into trouble. But she is also an intuitive investigator who will keep pushing for the truth even when plenty of people are warning her off it and will put her life on the line if she needs to.
Hickey, once again, brings the landscapes and people of the Victorian high country to life. The rugged peaks and the people who hike them, the freezing rivers and the people who swim in them year round, the dangerous roads that wind around the mountains and the small towns and landholdings. While Edenville and its local mountain are fictional, Hickey does locate her action in the Victorian alps and includes real places including Mount Viking and a very real isolated location to which one of her characters goes hiking called Forlorn Hope. The other aspect of crime novels set in regional Victoria is that Melbourne is never more than a few hours drive away and so Sally also gets to spend a little time in the city.
Hickey is one of a few Australian crime writers who are setting their stories in the Victorian high country at the moment. While they have different styles, this series is very similar to Adrian Hyland’s three Jesse Redpath books (which started with Canticle Creek). Both feature strong but flawed female police officers struggling to connect to their communities but who go above and beyond. The area is more than big enough and interesting enough for both of them.
Cold River’s cold open involves hiker Louis Taylor, unable to climb a cliff that he has fallen down and trying to decide whether to jump into the raging river below him. Then Hickey returns to Sally, back from a South Pacific holiday and feeling a little guilty for being away from work. Sally quickly gets drawn into the search for Louis which has now been ongoing for a while. The search is given new life when Louis’s backpack is discovered but Sally thinks there is something odd about where it was found and starts to dig further. Which is when she stumbles on a gangland murder and finds out about another missing person from a few years before. Soon Sally is trying and make connections between these cases. But there are forces that do not want her investigating.
The plot of Cold River revolves around illegal, untaxed tobacco which has the nickname ‘chop-chop’. The supply coming out of the Victorian high country was very lucrative in the 1990s and seems to be resurging. Sally finds that Louis was investigating the trade but that it possibly has ties both to the police and to some of the well-established and tight-knit local families in the area, making her investigation doubly fraught.
Sally’s investigation is fairly methodical and slow moving. So Hickey ups the tension by also including point-of-view chapters from Louis who finds himself in increasing amounts of trouble. Louis is decidedly not a hero (and knows it) but probably best represents plenty of normal people if they were caught up in a threatening or violent situation.
It was always clear from The Creeper that there was more to Sally’s story that needed to be told. Her father is a criminal and her stepfather is the deputy police commissioner. Sally’s mother is divorced from both of them but also maintains a good relationship with both, something Sally has trouble doing, at least with her biological father. Being regional crime, Sally runs the one-person station at Edenville and is still trying to be accepted by the community (a task made harder since she broke up with her local boyfriend). And she does like to have a good time and drink too much, which is something that still tends to get her into trouble. But she is also an intuitive investigator who will keep pushing for the truth even when plenty of people are warning her off it and will put her life on the line if she needs to.
Hickey, once again, brings the landscapes and people of the Victorian high country to life. The rugged peaks and the people who hike them, the freezing rivers and the people who swim in them year round, the dangerous roads that wind around the mountains and the small towns and landholdings. While Edenville and its local mountain are fictional, Hickey does locate her action in the Victorian alps and includes real places including Mount Viking and a very real isolated location to which one of her characters goes hiking called Forlorn Hope. The other aspect of crime novels set in regional Victoria is that Melbourne is never more than a few hours drive away and so Sally also gets to spend a little time in the city.
Hickey is one of a few Australian crime writers who are setting their stories in the Victorian high country at the moment. While they have different styles, this series is very similar to Adrian Hyland’s three Jesse Redpath books (which started with Canticle Creek). Both feature strong but flawed female police officers struggling to connect to their communities but who go above and beyond. The area is more than big enough and interesting enough for both of them.
Review of advance copy
Even sitting beside a fire in a thick, fluffy robe with a steaming cup of licorice and peppermint tea (yummier than it sounds), I couldn't escape the chill of Mount Viking, a place in Victoria's high country where hikers go missing. For Detective Constable Sally White, it's the latest disappearance of journalist wannabe Louis Taylor that has her sixth sense firing. Something about the way his backpack was found doesn't feel right. When she learns of another missing hiker two years earlier whose skis were discovered in an unnatural position, she decides to follow her instincts. What she uncovers are tenuous but common threads linking the pair to figures in the criminal underworld. As she risks her career to singlehandedly investigate the cases - cases her colleagues have dismissed as accidents - Sally finds herself caught up in an illegal tobacco ring, with one false move after another placing her in grave danger.
I love a book that portrays its setting in cinematic fashion. In Cold River, our young detective competes with the treacherous Mount Viking for main character energy, along with Forlorn Hope - a location I Googled to see if it was real or fictional as it sounds too perfect for a crime novel. Lo and behold, it's real, along with Mount Despair, The Razor, Mount Speculation and Mount Disappointment. Victoria's high country nails the thriller inspo brief!
The story uses dual perspectives (Sally's and Louis') to balance suspense and anticipation, with the pace quickening as their narratives merge. The characterisations broke away from stereotypical personalities in this genre, which was refreshing, and what the structure lacked in cliffhangers and 'next chapter rush', it made up for with a carefully knitted plot that never dropped a stitch. The twists didn't take my breath away, however they were credible and satisfying, which is arguably more important.
This isn't the first time I've read a book that's part of a series without having read the earlier instalment, but this was the first time I felt a little disoriented for not having done so. Knowing Sally's backstory would have made this a smoother read. That said, this was still a solid, gripping thriller that I looked forward to picking up at every chance.
This one drops on July 28. If you enjoy police procedural and Aussie bush noir, mark your calendar or pre-order now. And read The Creeper first.
I love a book that portrays its setting in cinematic fashion. In Cold River, our young detective competes with the treacherous Mount Viking for main character energy, along with Forlorn Hope - a location I Googled to see if it was real or fictional as it sounds too perfect for a crime novel. Lo and behold, it's real, along with Mount Despair, The Razor, Mount Speculation and Mount Disappointment. Victoria's high country nails the thriller inspo brief!
The story uses dual perspectives (Sally's and Louis') to balance suspense and anticipation, with the pace quickening as their narratives merge. The characterisations broke away from stereotypical personalities in this genre, which was refreshing, and what the structure lacked in cliffhangers and 'next chapter rush', it made up for with a carefully knitted plot that never dropped a stitch. The twists didn't take my breath away, however they were credible and satisfying, which is arguably more important.
This isn't the first time I've read a book that's part of a series without having read the earlier instalment, but this was the first time I felt a little disoriented for not having done so. Knowing Sally's backstory would have made this a smoother read. That said, this was still a solid, gripping thriller that I looked forward to picking up at every chance.
This one drops on July 28. If you enjoy police procedural and Aussie bush noir, mark your calendar or pre-order now. And read The Creeper first.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
Senior Constable Sally White returns for another chilling thriller set in Victorian high country. Sally loves working as the idyllic-sounding Edenville’s sole police officer. Yet every small town harbours its shocking secrets, and living among a tight-knit community in pristine wilderness comes with a price. The small-town setting fosters a sense of intrigue with its compulsive tug between community spirit and cloistered history. When Sally springs into action searching for a journalist missing from a hike, her intuition alerts her that this disappearance might not be routine. She investigates the burgeoning mystery with rigor and integrity; determined to unearth what her colleagues and fellow townspeople may wish to remain invisible.
Sally also makes mistakes and embarrasses herself in ways that have real consequences for her personal life and career. There is intentional room for her to show a satisfying degree of accountability and growth in further books. Overall, some of the major twists are a little contrived, though they do contribute towards very dynamic pacing. Enjoy this propulsive read in a cosy place, as your mind conjures the beautiful imagery of freezing alps alongside the ugly underbelly of an astounding criminal syndicate.
This is a review of an advanced copy due to be released on 28 July. Many thanks Penguin, via Good Reading.
Sally also makes mistakes and embarrasses herself in ways that have real consequences for her personal life and career. There is intentional room for her to show a satisfying degree of accountability and growth in further books. Overall, some of the major twists are a little contrived, though they do contribute towards very dynamic pacing. Enjoy this propulsive read in a cosy place, as your mind conjures the beautiful imagery of freezing alps alongside the ugly underbelly of an astounding criminal syndicate.
This is a review of an advanced copy due to be released on 28 July. Many thanks Penguin, via Good Reading.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
Read as an ARC. I enjoyed the Victorian High Country setting for the latest novel from Margaret Hickey. The closed community feeling both physically and mentally within the small towns themselves and the extended police force, added to the momentum of frustration as well as understanding of the storylines and characters. It was an interesting foray into a current issue (illegal tobacco) and how people can get caught up in events that are beyond their control. While I enjoyed the female protagonist, Detective Constable Sally White, I did query a few of her choices within the narrative, which pulled me out of the otherwise gripping twists and turns. Another good read by Margaret Hickey that I had difficulty putting down!
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Cold River sees us back in Edenville in the Victorian high country, where Senior Constable Sally White is the one cop in town.
When a young man who went missing on Mount Viking while Sally was on holidays is still missing a couple of weeks later, Sally is rightfully concerned. Another missing persons case from two years earlier has Sally thinking things are not quite right.
After doing some digging and uncovering possible links between the two cases, Sally feels she is being thwarted and that her superiors are being a bit cagey. It's worrying that one of them is her stepfather, Angelo Conti, who is also the deputy commissioner.
Sally is like a dog with a bone and will not give up. This leads her to make many questionable decisions putting herself, others and her career on the line.
I swayed between cheering Sally on and feeling that she was being childish and petulant at times.
The underlying story regarding illegal tobacco was intriguing and very topical.
When a young man who went missing on Mount Viking while Sally was on holidays is still missing a couple of weeks later, Sally is rightfully concerned. Another missing persons case from two years earlier has Sally thinking things are not quite right.
After doing some digging and uncovering possible links between the two cases, Sally feels she is being thwarted and that her superiors are being a bit cagey. It's worrying that one of them is her stepfather, Angelo Conti, who is also the deputy commissioner.
Sally is like a dog with a bone and will not give up. This leads her to make many questionable decisions putting herself, others and her career on the line.
I swayed between cheering Sally on and feeling that she was being childish and petulant at times.
The underlying story regarding illegal tobacco was intriguing and very topical.
June 7, 2026
Cold River by Margaret Hickey is a superb Australian crime thriller that will keep you riveted from start to finish. The main character Sally is a constable in the mountains who is investigating a case involving the illegal tobacco trade and a missing journalist. She is enthusiastic and determined to get to the bottom of the mystery and expose all those involved, including people close to her and people she knows.
Cold River is a thrilling read with a great story and characters. I’ve never read a book by the author before but plan to read more in future. Highly recommends . Five stars!
Cold River is a thrilling read with a great story and characters. I’ve never read a book by the author before but plan to read more in future. Highly recommends . Five stars!
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
Book review coming soon
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews