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Hirsch #3
Consolation
Winter in Tiverton.
Constable Paul Hirschhausen has a snowdropper on his patch. Someone is stealing women’s underwear, and Hirsch knows enough about that kind of crime—how it can escalate—not to take it lightly.
But the more immediate concerns are a call from the high school, a teacher worried about a student who may be in danger at home. Another call, a different school: a man enraged about the principal’s treatment of his daughter.
A little girl in harm’s way and an elderly woman in danger. An absent father who isn’t where he’s supposed to be; another who flees to the back country armed with a rifle. Families under pressure. And the cold, seeping feeling that something is very, very wrong.
Constable Paul Hirschhausen has a snowdropper on his patch. Someone is stealing women’s underwear, and Hirsch knows enough about that kind of crime—how it can escalate—not to take it lightly.
But the more immediate concerns are a call from the high school, a teacher worried about a student who may be in danger at home. Another call, a different school: a man enraged about the principal’s treatment of his daughter.
A little girl in harm’s way and an elderly woman in danger. An absent father who isn’t where he’s supposed to be; another who flees to the back country armed with a rifle. Families under pressure. And the cold, seeping feeling that something is very, very wrong.
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First published November 3, 2020
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About the author
Garry Disher
92 books717 followersGarry Disher was born in 1949 and grew up on his parents' farm in South Australia.
He gained post graduate degrees from Adelaide and Melbourne Universities. In 1978 he was awarded a creative writing fellowship to Stanford University, where he wrote his first short story collection. He travelled widely overseas, before returning to Australia, where he taught creative writing, finally becoming a full time writer in 1988. He has written more than 40 titles, including general and crime fiction, children's books, textbooks, and books about the craft of writing.
He gained post graduate degrees from Adelaide and Melbourne Universities. In 1978 he was awarded a creative writing fellowship to Stanford University, where he wrote his first short story collection. He travelled widely overseas, before returning to Australia, where he taught creative writing, finally becoming a full time writer in 1988. He has written more than 40 titles, including general and crime fiction, children's books, textbooks, and books about the craft of writing.
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September 29, 2020
The third in Garry Disher's rural Aussie noir series featuring Constable Paul 'Hirsch' Hirschhausen, the cop demoted and banished to small town Tiverton, has Hirsch becoming more embedded in the community after 18 months, doing his level best to secure and protect his town. He finds himself tested to the limits personally, he acquires a stalker, and professionally, as he finds himself in charge when his Redruth boss, Sergeant Hilary Brandl has personal issues and suffers injuries in the line of duty. His role, more often than not, consists of father confessor, therapist, social worker, fixer and general go-between between different parties. Many who move to Tiverton and Redruth find the isolation too much, and it is hardly surprising that those living in remote areas find the stresses and pressures put them at increasing risk of mental health issues, and it can be where hidden abuses can proliferate.
The region is scarcely immune from economic difficulties, with many living close to the financial edge, where it would take little to tip them over the edge, as Leon Ayliffe does, when as a supplier his bill is not paid and his daughter, Chloe, is humiliated at school. Leon and his 18 year old son, Josh, a confused teen, go on the run after a shooting incident, well armed, and with enough supplies to survive in the bush. A local businessman with an impeccable record and reputation becomes subject to growing rumours of an inability to pay, putting a festival at risk, with many looking to be out of pocket as a result. Hirsch has a snowdropper to deal with, as elderly women find their underwear taken from their clotheslines, uncovers troubling child abuse, investigates murders, and to top it all, his life becomes unbearable as he tries to avoid coming down hard on a stalker.
One of the aspects of this series that I enjoy is the wide ranging insights into the everyday life of a rural community police officer, particularly if they are the sole law enforcement representative, and have a vast area to police. Disher gives us a real sense of the disparate, and off beat characters that comprise the community, many of whom are vulnerable, and are part of Hirsch's twice weekly patrols into the more isolated areas under his jurisdiction. Hirsch does an incredible job in impossible circumstances, not always getting right, as he finally bows to advice from Brandl and Wendy on a more straightforward approach to being stalked. This is a wonderfully engaging addition to this terrific and compulsive Aussie crimes series, and I avidly look forward to the next. Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.
The region is scarcely immune from economic difficulties, with many living close to the financial edge, where it would take little to tip them over the edge, as Leon Ayliffe does, when as a supplier his bill is not paid and his daughter, Chloe, is humiliated at school. Leon and his 18 year old son, Josh, a confused teen, go on the run after a shooting incident, well armed, and with enough supplies to survive in the bush. A local businessman with an impeccable record and reputation becomes subject to growing rumours of an inability to pay, putting a festival at risk, with many looking to be out of pocket as a result. Hirsch has a snowdropper to deal with, as elderly women find their underwear taken from their clotheslines, uncovers troubling child abuse, investigates murders, and to top it all, his life becomes unbearable as he tries to avoid coming down hard on a stalker.
One of the aspects of this series that I enjoy is the wide ranging insights into the everyday life of a rural community police officer, particularly if they are the sole law enforcement representative, and have a vast area to police. Disher gives us a real sense of the disparate, and off beat characters that comprise the community, many of whom are vulnerable, and are part of Hirsch's twice weekly patrols into the more isolated areas under his jurisdiction. Hirsch does an incredible job in impossible circumstances, not always getting right, as he finally bows to advice from Brandl and Wendy on a more straightforward approach to being stalked. This is a wonderfully engaging addition to this terrific and compulsive Aussie crimes series, and I avidly look forward to the next. Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.
December 20, 2020
EXCERPT: The house was empty. Hirsch didn't know if the thin trace of dust on the kitchen table indicated abandonment or bad housekeeping. But the UHF equipment in the radio room had been smashed up: violence of some kind had occurred here.
He left by the back door and walked to the jackaroos' quarters, a pair of squat back to back rooms. Unmade beds and dirty clothes piled on wooden chairs; in one room a guitar, in the other posters of a Tasmanian rainforest, a formula one racing car and a woman in tennis whites scratching her bare bum.
The sheds: a Falcon station wagon, a trailer, tools, ladders, ropes, axles, a blacksmith's anvil.
Hirsch stood in the yard a while, indecisive. Search a wider area? Call it in right now? The Ayliffes could be anywhere. Maybe they'd drive the Triton down into a sinkhole and the airbag would explode and slice their throats open.
Widening the circle each time, Hirsch circumnavigated the patch of buildings and stockyards. Eventually he caught, faintly but unmistakably, a stench of death borne on the wind that gusted across the rocky ground.
ABOUT 'CONSOLATION': Winter in Tiverton.
Constable Paul Hirschhausen has a snowdropper on his patch. Someone is stealing women’s underwear, and Hirsch knows enough about that kind of crime—how it can escalate—not to take it lightly.
But the more immediate concerns are a call from the high school, a teacher worried about a student who may be in danger at home. Another call, a different school: a man enraged about the principal’s treatment of his daughter.
A little girl in harm’s way and an elderly woman in danger. An absent father who isn’t where he’s supposed to be; another who flees to the back country armed with a rifle. Families under pressure. And the cold, seeping feeling that something is very, very wrong.
MY THOUGHTS: Paul Hirschausen is on duty twenty four seven in Tiverton and it's surrounds. No eight hour day then knock off and put your feet up for him. Rural policing doesn't work like that. In a typical day he might have a cup of tea and a chat about missing, believed stolen, sheep, or mysterious headlights in the night, or a grown son not taking his meds. He might help a widow start her ute with the police Toyota's jumper leads, hold a ladder so a man can fish his grandson's cricket ball out of the gutter, or change a tap washer for an elderly woman. He might also be shot at. . .
Consolation, the third book in the Paul Hirschausen series, initially seems gentler than the previous two, but this is merely an illusion. The crimes are different, perhaps a wider range than we have been treated to previously, but are still full of deadly intent. A farmer and his son turn rogue and go on a rampage, there is a stalker, some Irish conmen, fraud, child abuse, and a kidnapping. Just another police beat in a sleepy outback town where nothing much ever happens... Oh yes, and there's someone stealing elderly ladies' underwear from their clothes lines.
Paul's relationship with Wendy and her daughter Katie continues, not without the odd hiccup, and many of the characters from the previous two novels return in this one. But Disher also introduces some new characters: Clara Ogilvie, a teacher who works with Wendy; Margaret and Amy Groote, an elderly lady and her niece; Quinlan, the stock and station agent; Sophie Flynn, a young bank teller who uncovers some strange goings on in some bank accounts; and the Ayliffes, a family on the brink.
The previous two books in the series were set mid-summer, Christmas; Consolation is set mid-winter and I could feel every blast of that icy wind, see the roads made almost impassable by the relentless rain, feel the frost crunching beneath my feet.
Again, Garry Disher held me spellbound, totally caught up in the lives of the people in this small remote town. I can't wait for the next installment. In the meantime, I plan on starting on one of the other two series he has written. Can't get enough of this author!
⭐⭐⭐⭐.6
#Consolation #NetGalley
THE AUTHOR: Garry Disher was born in 1949 and grew up on his parents' farm in South Australia.
He gained post graduate degrees from Adelaide and Melbourne Universities. In 1978 he was awarded a creative writing fellowship to Stanford University, where he wrote his first short story collection. He travelled widely overseas, before returning to Australia, where he taught creative writing, finally becoming a full time writer in 1988.
DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Text Publishing via Netgalley for providing a digital ARC of Consolation by Garry Disher for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.
For an explanation of my rating system please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the about page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com
This review and others are also published on Twitter, Amazon, Instagram and my webpage https://sandysbookaday.wordpress.com/...
He left by the back door and walked to the jackaroos' quarters, a pair of squat back to back rooms. Unmade beds and dirty clothes piled on wooden chairs; in one room a guitar, in the other posters of a Tasmanian rainforest, a formula one racing car and a woman in tennis whites scratching her bare bum.
The sheds: a Falcon station wagon, a trailer, tools, ladders, ropes, axles, a blacksmith's anvil.
Hirsch stood in the yard a while, indecisive. Search a wider area? Call it in right now? The Ayliffes could be anywhere. Maybe they'd drive the Triton down into a sinkhole and the airbag would explode and slice their throats open.
Widening the circle each time, Hirsch circumnavigated the patch of buildings and stockyards. Eventually he caught, faintly but unmistakably, a stench of death borne on the wind that gusted across the rocky ground.
ABOUT 'CONSOLATION': Winter in Tiverton.
Constable Paul Hirschhausen has a snowdropper on his patch. Someone is stealing women’s underwear, and Hirsch knows enough about that kind of crime—how it can escalate—not to take it lightly.
But the more immediate concerns are a call from the high school, a teacher worried about a student who may be in danger at home. Another call, a different school: a man enraged about the principal’s treatment of his daughter.
A little girl in harm’s way and an elderly woman in danger. An absent father who isn’t where he’s supposed to be; another who flees to the back country armed with a rifle. Families under pressure. And the cold, seeping feeling that something is very, very wrong.
MY THOUGHTS: Paul Hirschausen is on duty twenty four seven in Tiverton and it's surrounds. No eight hour day then knock off and put your feet up for him. Rural policing doesn't work like that. In a typical day he might have a cup of tea and a chat about missing, believed stolen, sheep, or mysterious headlights in the night, or a grown son not taking his meds. He might help a widow start her ute with the police Toyota's jumper leads, hold a ladder so a man can fish his grandson's cricket ball out of the gutter, or change a tap washer for an elderly woman. He might also be shot at. . .
Consolation, the third book in the Paul Hirschausen series, initially seems gentler than the previous two, but this is merely an illusion. The crimes are different, perhaps a wider range than we have been treated to previously, but are still full of deadly intent. A farmer and his son turn rogue and go on a rampage, there is a stalker, some Irish conmen, fraud, child abuse, and a kidnapping. Just another police beat in a sleepy outback town where nothing much ever happens... Oh yes, and there's someone stealing elderly ladies' underwear from their clothes lines.
Paul's relationship with Wendy and her daughter Katie continues, not without the odd hiccup, and many of the characters from the previous two novels return in this one. But Disher also introduces some new characters: Clara Ogilvie, a teacher who works with Wendy; Margaret and Amy Groote, an elderly lady and her niece; Quinlan, the stock and station agent; Sophie Flynn, a young bank teller who uncovers some strange goings on in some bank accounts; and the Ayliffes, a family on the brink.
The previous two books in the series were set mid-summer, Christmas; Consolation is set mid-winter and I could feel every blast of that icy wind, see the roads made almost impassable by the relentless rain, feel the frost crunching beneath my feet.
Again, Garry Disher held me spellbound, totally caught up in the lives of the people in this small remote town. I can't wait for the next installment. In the meantime, I plan on starting on one of the other two series he has written. Can't get enough of this author!
⭐⭐⭐⭐.6
#Consolation #NetGalley
THE AUTHOR: Garry Disher was born in 1949 and grew up on his parents' farm in South Australia.
He gained post graduate degrees from Adelaide and Melbourne Universities. In 1978 he was awarded a creative writing fellowship to Stanford University, where he wrote his first short story collection. He travelled widely overseas, before returning to Australia, where he taught creative writing, finally becoming a full time writer in 1988.
DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Text Publishing via Netgalley for providing a digital ARC of Consolation by Garry Disher for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.
For an explanation of my rating system please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the about page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com
This review and others are also published on Twitter, Amazon, Instagram and my webpage https://sandysbookaday.wordpress.com/...
January 22, 2024
4.5★
“When had he realised he was looking not for a dog but a dead husband? Where would you begin to find a body here anyway, in the country of the unseen and the unheard? Country he barely felt tethered to, sometimes. And why was he thinking the husband was dead and buried? Because his ABC of policing said: assume nothing, believe nothing, challenge everything.”
Constable Paul Hirschhausen is still in the small South Australian town of Tiverton, pretty much a one-man band trying to police a geographically large area with just enough people to cause trouble. He’s become used to his demotion (don’t ask), made friends with some of the locals, and even has an almost-family of Wendy and her daughter, Katie.
His stories are told from his point of view in the third person, which gives the author scope to use his descriptive powers that I so much admire. You will know what I mean if you’ve lived or travelled on unsealed roads across countryside where you’re not seeing any signs of life. and you start wondering if you’ve wandered completely off the map. It can be unnerving.
“It didn’t matter that it was touch-and-go country; it was a living landscape. He’d been formed by a city, its exact delineations of asphalt streets and bricks in orderly rows, but out here the angles were unpredictable. Roads shot off in unlikely directions, buildings decayed at a lean and the endless flatland was neither endless nor flat, throwing up stone reef patches or plunging into gullies. And it was a landscape charged with unheard testimony: an ochre hand stencil in a cave; a stick figure carved into a rockface; a grinding tool laid bare after a flash flood. Not empty, not even sparse. But still, there were long stretches between the side roads, farm gates and driveways.”
The ochre hand stencil, the stick figure. I am pleased that he always gives a nod to the dispossessed Traditional Owners, as the local aboriginal groups around Australia are referred to. Now that Hirsch is this removed from city lights, it’s easy for him to stumble across things that remind him how old the place really is.
He’s up against some of the town’s influential people, the men (it’s always men) who wear the uniform of the landed gentry and who used to hold the debts of landowners. It seems some may have ventured outside their area of authority and are being called to account. I know this man and have seen him at livestock sales, lording it over us peasants.
“Sixties, portly, flushed in the face. Liked to dress up as a pastoralist—moleskin pants, R. M. Williams boots, tweed jacket, Akubra hat—the works. Donated to the hospital and to local schools and sporting clubs; drove a Range Rover Evoque; lived in a lovely 1920s homestead on a hillslope overlooking Redruth; and ran a small fleet of cars, utes and trucks … A big, warm, back-slapping, hand-pumping, grinning man, exactly the kind of guy to make Hirsch’s soul retreat. Although, being Hirsch, he assumed the inadequacy was with him, not the backslappers.”
Newsflash (but not a spoiler) – it’s not Hirsch’s inadequacy.
There are always a few threads running through our visits with the good constable, and this one includes not only the town elders up to mischief but also a child protection case and a woman who’s fixated on Hirsch’s singing voice. Well, that’s her excuse, anyway, and it’s an interesting, if sometimes worrying, diversion.
I am very fond of this series and I hope Disher continues writing it. It’s Hirsch’s story but it’s not “a” story. His trips twice a week to the far-flung boundaries of his domain are sometimes exhausting, but I love meeting the lonely, the disadvantaged, the old but proud people trying desperately to stay put at home and who offer Hirsch cups of tea and homemade bikkies as some kind of evidence of their capabilities.
And it’s cold. Ever so cold – did I mention that?
“… this frosty Wednesday morning in late August, frost dusting the grass, blades of ice reaching down from dripping garden taps, frost and ice splitting into prisms and diamonds as the sun struck. A bright, still, freezing day ahead. Snow reported on the Razorback yesterday, and Hirsch was prepared to believe it, his eyes watering right now, his cheeks and toes frozen. “
Thanks to NetGalley and Text Publishing for the preview copy of Disher’s latest book. I wait impatiently for the next!
“When had he realised he was looking not for a dog but a dead husband? Where would you begin to find a body here anyway, in the country of the unseen and the unheard? Country he barely felt tethered to, sometimes. And why was he thinking the husband was dead and buried? Because his ABC of policing said: assume nothing, believe nothing, challenge everything.”
Constable Paul Hirschhausen is still in the small South Australian town of Tiverton, pretty much a one-man band trying to police a geographically large area with just enough people to cause trouble. He’s become used to his demotion (don’t ask), made friends with some of the locals, and even has an almost-family of Wendy and her daughter, Katie.
His stories are told from his point of view in the third person, which gives the author scope to use his descriptive powers that I so much admire. You will know what I mean if you’ve lived or travelled on unsealed roads across countryside where you’re not seeing any signs of life. and you start wondering if you’ve wandered completely off the map. It can be unnerving.
“It didn’t matter that it was touch-and-go country; it was a living landscape. He’d been formed by a city, its exact delineations of asphalt streets and bricks in orderly rows, but out here the angles were unpredictable. Roads shot off in unlikely directions, buildings decayed at a lean and the endless flatland was neither endless nor flat, throwing up stone reef patches or plunging into gullies. And it was a landscape charged with unheard testimony: an ochre hand stencil in a cave; a stick figure carved into a rockface; a grinding tool laid bare after a flash flood. Not empty, not even sparse. But still, there were long stretches between the side roads, farm gates and driveways.”
The ochre hand stencil, the stick figure. I am pleased that he always gives a nod to the dispossessed Traditional Owners, as the local aboriginal groups around Australia are referred to. Now that Hirsch is this removed from city lights, it’s easy for him to stumble across things that remind him how old the place really is.
He’s up against some of the town’s influential people, the men (it’s always men) who wear the uniform of the landed gentry and who used to hold the debts of landowners. It seems some may have ventured outside their area of authority and are being called to account. I know this man and have seen him at livestock sales, lording it over us peasants.
“Sixties, portly, flushed in the face. Liked to dress up as a pastoralist—moleskin pants, R. M. Williams boots, tweed jacket, Akubra hat—the works. Donated to the hospital and to local schools and sporting clubs; drove a Range Rover Evoque; lived in a lovely 1920s homestead on a hillslope overlooking Redruth; and ran a small fleet of cars, utes and trucks … A big, warm, back-slapping, hand-pumping, grinning man, exactly the kind of guy to make Hirsch’s soul retreat. Although, being Hirsch, he assumed the inadequacy was with him, not the backslappers.”
Newsflash (but not a spoiler) – it’s not Hirsch’s inadequacy.
There are always a few threads running through our visits with the good constable, and this one includes not only the town elders up to mischief but also a child protection case and a woman who’s fixated on Hirsch’s singing voice. Well, that’s her excuse, anyway, and it’s an interesting, if sometimes worrying, diversion.
I am very fond of this series and I hope Disher continues writing it. It’s Hirsch’s story but it’s not “a” story. His trips twice a week to the far-flung boundaries of his domain are sometimes exhausting, but I love meeting the lonely, the disadvantaged, the old but proud people trying desperately to stay put at home and who offer Hirsch cups of tea and homemade bikkies as some kind of evidence of their capabilities.
And it’s cold. Ever so cold – did I mention that?
“… this frosty Wednesday morning in late August, frost dusting the grass, blades of ice reaching down from dripping garden taps, frost and ice splitting into prisms and diamonds as the sun struck. A bright, still, freezing day ahead. Snow reported on the Razorback yesterday, and Hirsch was prepared to believe it, his eyes watering right now, his cheeks and toes frozen. “
Thanks to NetGalley and Text Publishing for the preview copy of Disher’s latest book. I wait impatiently for the next!
July 7, 2022
I am loving this series and I am very happy to see that there is a #4 in the offing later this year.
In Consolation Hirsch as the only cop in a small Australian town, finds himself pushed to his limits. Community policing covers an enormous number of different roles including regular pastoral care visits to people who need it, and of course dealing with crimes from the petty through to murder. In the course of this story Hirsch rescues an abused child, investigates an underwear thief, takes over managing Redruth police station when Sergeant Brandl is injured, assists in the search for two wanted men and deals with his own personal crazy stalker.
The book moves at a great pace and is so interesting it is very hard to put it down. I was reading it on a cold wet day so I chose to not put it down but to get cosy and enjoy the whole thing in one sitting. Wish I could do that everyday!
I highly recommend this series to anyone who enjoys a good police procedural in a slightly unusual setting.
In Consolation Hirsch as the only cop in a small Australian town, finds himself pushed to his limits. Community policing covers an enormous number of different roles including regular pastoral care visits to people who need it, and of course dealing with crimes from the petty through to murder. In the course of this story Hirsch rescues an abused child, investigates an underwear thief, takes over managing Redruth police station when Sergeant Brandl is injured, assists in the search for two wanted men and deals with his own personal crazy stalker.
The book moves at a great pace and is so interesting it is very hard to put it down. I was reading it on a cold wet day so I chose to not put it down but to get cosy and enjoy the whole thing in one sitting. Wish I could do that everyday!
I highly recommend this series to anyone who enjoys a good police procedural in a slightly unusual setting.
March 1, 2022
3.5 stars
This review was first posted on Mystery and Suspense. Check it out for features, interviews, and reviews.
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In this third book in the Paul Hirschhausen series, the police constable deals with cases ranging from underwear theft to men on the run. The book works fine as a standalone.
When Constable Paul Hirschhausen (Hirsch) is assigned to maintain law and order in the South Australian town of Tiverton, he makes it his business to learn about the area. Hirsch spends months walking the streets, driving the roads, meeting the citizens, noting residents who need help now and again, identifying petty criminals who bear watching, and so on.
Hirsch believes the job of a country policeman is to be prepared, and to be friend and counselor - as well as law enforcement officer - to everyone.
Hirsch's patch isn't a hotbed of criminal activity, but the constable still gets a steady stream of calls that require a police response. We follow Hirsch as he goes about his day to day activities - protecting people, maintaining peace, and capturing wrongdoers.
Hirsch's first stop is the home of an elderly woman whose underwear was nicked from her clothesline.
It seems a snowdropper has been stealing lingerie from senior ladies all over the region. Hirsch decides to mark the undies of older women, to try to nab the perpetrator.
*****
A teacher called Clara Ogilvie, who monitors home-schooled children, fears an eleven-year-old girl named Lydia Jarmyn is being neglected.
Hirsch checks into the allegations and makes a shocking discovery.
*****
A primary school administrator phones to say a man called Leon Ayliffe is in the principal's office making a disturbance.
When Hirsch arrives at the school he learns that Leon, a local sheep farmer, has an array of grievances: a stock agent named Adrian Quinlan owes Leon money; Leon couldn't pay his daughter Chloe's school fees; and the principal embarrassed Chloe as a result. Hirsch settles Leon down and agrees to look into the allegations against Quinlan, which opens a whole other kettle of fish.
*****
The aforementioned Leon Ayliffe gets in trouble again when Environment Protection Officer Andrew Eyre reports him for illegally clearing land.
Hirsch, his boss Sergeant Hilary Brandl, and Officer Eyre confront Leon, which ends up with two people badly injured and Leon and his son armed and on the run.
*****
An elderly woman named Maggie Groote is approached by silver-tongued Irishmen who arrange to fix her (perfectly fine) roof.
This scam leads to even bigger trouble when Maggie goes to the bank to get money for the crooks, and is told her account has been drained.
Hirsch investigates the Irish swindlers as well as Maggie's missing money.
*****
In Hirsch's private life he spends time with his teacher girlfriend Wendy and her daughter Katie.
Everything is going well until Wendy's colleague, Clara Ogilvie, develops a crush on Hirsch and starts texting, calling, and stalking him.
Hirsch doesn't know how to handle the situation and it affects his private and professional life.
All this leads to an explosive and exciting climax.
Hirsch's perambulations give us a palpable sense of the geography and atmosphere of rugged South Australia.
We also get a feel for the arctic winter. I could almost feel the frostbite in my own toes as Hirsch worked in his freezing police station with a useless little bar heater.
This is an engaging novel that depicts the work of a rural police officer in a gripping and realistic way.
Thanks to Netgalley, the author (Garry Disher), and the publisher (Text Publishing) for a copy of the book.
You can follow my reviews at https://reviewsbybarbsaffer.blogspot....
October 7, 2020
Constable Paul Hirschhausen ('Hirsch') has now been posted at the one man police station in the tiny South Australian town of Tiverton for eighteen months and is well and truly part of the community. Although it's winter, his job is just as busy as ever with someone stealing elderly ladies' underwear, a case of a badly neglected child, suspicions that someone is fiddling with the bank accounts of several elderly citizens, concerns of some investors about a dodgy scheme and an enraged armed farmer hiding out in the bush with his son after a shooting incident. On top of that he has a personal stalker and when his boss at Redruth, Sgt Brandl is injured in an accident Hirsch is put in charge of both stations.
This is the third book in this enjoyable rural crime series, which gives real insight into life in a small isolated community with it's wide variety of characters from wealthy property owners to the more impoverished living on the fringes. In Hirsch, Disher has created a very likeable character with a temperament well suited to rural policing. As well as being smart and intuitive, Hirsch is very conscientious about his job, which is as much social worker and peacemaker as it is policeman. With a huge beat to patrol and many isolated properties, he makes a point of visiting the most vulnerable and lonely members of his community on his weekly patrols and, unless he's following up a major crime, always has time for a chat and a cup of coffee or tea. While there is a lot going on in this book, the action is well paced with all the threads falling into place and being satisfactorily resolved, but not without some tense drama before the end. 4.5★
With thanks to Text Publishing and Netgalley for a digital arc to read
This is the third book in this enjoyable rural crime series, which gives real insight into life in a small isolated community with it's wide variety of characters from wealthy property owners to the more impoverished living on the fringes. In Hirsch, Disher has created a very likeable character with a temperament well suited to rural policing. As well as being smart and intuitive, Hirsch is very conscientious about his job, which is as much social worker and peacemaker as it is policeman. With a huge beat to patrol and many isolated properties, he makes a point of visiting the most vulnerable and lonely members of his community on his weekly patrols and, unless he's following up a major crime, always has time for a chat and a cup of coffee or tea. While there is a lot going on in this book, the action is well paced with all the threads falling into place and being satisfactorily resolved, but not without some tense drama before the end. 4.5★
With thanks to Text Publishing and Netgalley for a digital arc to read
November 4, 2020
It was bitterly cold as Constable Paul Hirschhausen did his usual rounds, checking on the outlying properties as he did on a regular basis. Tiverton was small, with not a lot of crime and he was the only cop for his area, until he reached the town of Reruth where there was a larger police station. Paul had a snowdropper on his hands, stealing elderly ladies’ underwear, and was doing his best to catch the culprit. But it was a worrying call from a high school teacher that had Paul on edge, and was the start of a culmination of events which would lead to kidnapping and murder…
The danger was heightened for Paul and his fellow police – CIB from Adelaide as well as the Reruth boys – and Paul wondered what more could possibly go wrong. The freezing conditions didn’t help anything and the tragedy that was unfolding made Paul feel angry, frustrated, inept. What would be the outcome to this complex series of events?
Consolation is the 3rd in the Paul Hirschhausen series by Aussie author Garry Disher and I loved it. Fast paced, plenty of action and lots of tension filled this book and with each book I read of Disher’s, the confirmation is there as to his greatness as a writer. Consolation is an excellent crime fiction novel, and one I highly recommend.
With thanks to Text Publishing for my ARC to read in exchange for an honest review.
The danger was heightened for Paul and his fellow police – CIB from Adelaide as well as the Reruth boys – and Paul wondered what more could possibly go wrong. The freezing conditions didn’t help anything and the tragedy that was unfolding made Paul feel angry, frustrated, inept. What would be the outcome to this complex series of events?
Consolation is the 3rd in the Paul Hirschhausen series by Aussie author Garry Disher and I loved it. Fast paced, plenty of action and lots of tension filled this book and with each book I read of Disher’s, the confirmation is there as to his greatness as a writer. Consolation is an excellent crime fiction novel, and one I highly recommend.
With thanks to Text Publishing for my ARC to read in exchange for an honest review.
September 15, 2020
3.5 stars rounded up to 4. Thanks to NetGalley and Text Publishing for the ARC in return for an honest review.
Award-winning author, Garry Disher, has written several dozen books that can be classified as Aussie rural -noir crime novels. He has been writing books in this category well before they became popular elsewhere. He is also known for non-fiction, short story collections, and children's literature.
I have only read one of his previous crime books and this is my first in the Paul Hirschhausen series. Consolation is the third book in the Hirsch series, and am now anxious to read the previous two.
Hirsch works out of a one-man police station in a small, rural South Australian town. There are wonderful descriptive passages of the surrounding landscape and the memorable characters he meets while on patrol. His territory covers a huge area and long distances. If he requires assistance, it may take more than an hour before other police or ambulances arrive on the scene. The country roads are often rough, muddy and prone to occasional flooding.
He seems like a kind and caring police officer who prefers to solve problems with diplomacy and helpful advice rather than arrests when possible. Among his calls are ones for minor thefts, wellness checks, mental health intervention, family and neighbour disputes. He is concerned about the lack of coordination with child welfare services, various police units, and the legal system.
There are a number of disparate threads and subplots. The author manages to juggle various people and events and make the story coherent. Hirsch is investigating the case where someone is stealing underwear from elderly ladies' clotheslines. He is called to rescue a young girl who is badly neglected and malnourished, filthy, and kept in isolation by her family. Next, he diffuses an angry dispute at a school. An enraged father is threatening the principal for punishing his daughter when he was unable to pay school fees. He goes on a rampage with his son, disappearing into the bush. Soon incidents of vandalism, vehicle theft, and arson are being reported. Some citizens are reporting fraud and embezzlement of their investments and retirement savings from the local bank. A formerly respected businessman has angered people for not meeting his obligations to pay them for goods and services.
Hirsch is being distracted by a lovelorn school teacher who is stalking him.
There is a lot going on: a couple of husbands have gone missing, child neglect, fires, shooting, kidnapping, property damage, and the teacher constantly sending him messages and emojis that make him unwilling to check his phone calls.
On his daily rounds, Hirsch's encounters include criminals, suspects, possible witnesses, victims, and people in need of advice. Often, we are introduced to police officers from other districts. I regret not keeping a chart to identify and recall people in this large cast. I often had to pause to remember the name of someone and their previous role when last encountered. The conclusion weaves together the various threads in a believable solution but I still wanted to know how the outcome affected some of the people in the future.
I am now going to read the first book in the Hirsch series. He is a compassionate, good-hearted police officer.
Award-winning author, Garry Disher, has written several dozen books that can be classified as Aussie rural -noir crime novels. He has been writing books in this category well before they became popular elsewhere. He is also known for non-fiction, short story collections, and children's literature.
I have only read one of his previous crime books and this is my first in the Paul Hirschhausen series. Consolation is the third book in the Hirsch series, and am now anxious to read the previous two.
Hirsch works out of a one-man police station in a small, rural South Australian town. There are wonderful descriptive passages of the surrounding landscape and the memorable characters he meets while on patrol. His territory covers a huge area and long distances. If he requires assistance, it may take more than an hour before other police or ambulances arrive on the scene. The country roads are often rough, muddy and prone to occasional flooding.
He seems like a kind and caring police officer who prefers to solve problems with diplomacy and helpful advice rather than arrests when possible. Among his calls are ones for minor thefts, wellness checks, mental health intervention, family and neighbour disputes. He is concerned about the lack of coordination with child welfare services, various police units, and the legal system.
There are a number of disparate threads and subplots. The author manages to juggle various people and events and make the story coherent. Hirsch is investigating the case where someone is stealing underwear from elderly ladies' clotheslines. He is called to rescue a young girl who is badly neglected and malnourished, filthy, and kept in isolation by her family. Next, he diffuses an angry dispute at a school. An enraged father is threatening the principal for punishing his daughter when he was unable to pay school fees. He goes on a rampage with his son, disappearing into the bush. Soon incidents of vandalism, vehicle theft, and arson are being reported. Some citizens are reporting fraud and embezzlement of their investments and retirement savings from the local bank. A formerly respected businessman has angered people for not meeting his obligations to pay them for goods and services.
Hirsch is being distracted by a lovelorn school teacher who is stalking him.
There is a lot going on: a couple of husbands have gone missing, child neglect, fires, shooting, kidnapping, property damage, and the teacher constantly sending him messages and emojis that make him unwilling to check his phone calls.
On his daily rounds, Hirsch's encounters include criminals, suspects, possible witnesses, victims, and people in need of advice. Often, we are introduced to police officers from other districts. I regret not keeping a chart to identify and recall people in this large cast. I often had to pause to remember the name of someone and their previous role when last encountered. The conclusion weaves together the various threads in a believable solution but I still wanted to know how the outcome affected some of the people in the future.
I am now going to read the first book in the Hirsch series. He is a compassionate, good-hearted police officer.
November 28, 2020
⭐️4.5 Stars⭐️
Consolation is a rural noir mystery that will have you hooked!
This is the third book in the popular Paul Hirschhausen series. It was my first read by Garry Disher and I was honestly impressed, the author's style is extremely entertaining.
Police officer Constable Paul Hirschhausen is Tiverton’s (a town between Adelaide & The Flinders Rangers) only cop and boy does he have a lot going on! He is an admirable character and really cares about his work and the locals in this rural town where he has been working for the past eighteen months.
Paul has to deal with a variety of crime including a ‘snowdropper' who is stealing elderly women’s bloomers, a welfare check involving child cruelty, a female stalker who won’t leave Paul alone and Irish roof repair scammers. When an attempt to serve an environmental protection order on a stressed farmer goes ass up, things go from bad to worse and there is danger and violence escalating.
The characters are vibrant and diverse and a variety of important issues are addressed in the plot. The writing is full of depth and wonderfully descriptive of the landscape and climate.
Consolation is compelling reading that is action packed and fast paced with a mystery to solve, I thoroughly recommend this read for lovers of mystery and crime.
I wish to thank Netgalley and Text Publishing for providing me with an advanced copy in return for an honest review.
Consolation is a rural noir mystery that will have you hooked!
This is the third book in the popular Paul Hirschhausen series. It was my first read by Garry Disher and I was honestly impressed, the author's style is extremely entertaining.
Police officer Constable Paul Hirschhausen is Tiverton’s (a town between Adelaide & The Flinders Rangers) only cop and boy does he have a lot going on! He is an admirable character and really cares about his work and the locals in this rural town where he has been working for the past eighteen months.
Paul has to deal with a variety of crime including a ‘snowdropper' who is stealing elderly women’s bloomers, a welfare check involving child cruelty, a female stalker who won’t leave Paul alone and Irish roof repair scammers. When an attempt to serve an environmental protection order on a stressed farmer goes ass up, things go from bad to worse and there is danger and violence escalating.
The characters are vibrant and diverse and a variety of important issues are addressed in the plot. The writing is full of depth and wonderfully descriptive of the landscape and climate.
Consolation is compelling reading that is action packed and fast paced with a mystery to solve, I thoroughly recommend this read for lovers of mystery and crime.
I wish to thank Netgalley and Text Publishing for providing me with an advanced copy in return for an honest review.
October 16, 2020
Oh wow, after reading the previous book, Peace, and then this one I am officially a Garry Disher fan. This book was so good, it had a lot of heart. I think that is what distinguishes Disher’s books from many others. In this story Sergeant Brandl has a badly broken leg so Hirsch (Constable Paul Hirschhausen) has to monitor the Redruth police station as well as his own patch at Tiverton. Unfortunately it is at this time that things really kick off in his extended bailiwick.
Among other things Hirsch has to contend with: removing a young girl from malnourishment and squalor, tracking down a father and son with guns who have gone all Rambo and run amok over some money owing to them, some Irish con men scamming people over roof repairs, an old lady who is killed after having had suspicions of having her bank account raided. There are more assaults and deaths but to top it all off Hirsch has an unwelcome female stalker who he can’t quite rid himself of. If you think that all sounds a bit Keystone Cops, stop! Mr Disher delivers top notch writing that really evokes the spirit of rural Australia. It is pitch perfect. I can tell you that because I live in rural Australia. The heat, the cold, the distances, the loneliness, the mateship, the “have a go” spirit - it’s all beautifully rendered. The characters are vibrant and so real and the story has plenty of drama and suspense interspersed with doses of dry wit.
I loved every minute of this book and when I get a chance I will explore Mr Disher’s back catalogue. This book will appeal to anyone who loves a good, character driven drama. My thanks go to Netgalley, Text Publishing and Garry Disher for providing me a copy. My opinions are my own.
Among other things Hirsch has to contend with: removing a young girl from malnourishment and squalor, tracking down a father and son with guns who have gone all Rambo and run amok over some money owing to them, some Irish con men scamming people over roof repairs, an old lady who is killed after having had suspicions of having her bank account raided. There are more assaults and deaths but to top it all off Hirsch has an unwelcome female stalker who he can’t quite rid himself of. If you think that all sounds a bit Keystone Cops, stop! Mr Disher delivers top notch writing that really evokes the spirit of rural Australia. It is pitch perfect. I can tell you that because I live in rural Australia. The heat, the cold, the distances, the loneliness, the mateship, the “have a go” spirit - it’s all beautifully rendered. The characters are vibrant and so real and the story has plenty of drama and suspense interspersed with doses of dry wit.
I loved every minute of this book and when I get a chance I will explore Mr Disher’s back catalogue. This book will appeal to anyone who loves a good, character driven drama. My thanks go to Netgalley, Text Publishing and Garry Disher for providing me a copy. My opinions are my own.
October 11, 2020
This is another wonderful instalment in the Paul 'Hirsch' Hirschhausen series. Once again the quiet, rural town Tiverton where Paul is the sole policeman appears to implode as a series of events trigger a frustrated farmer into a rampage of fury and revenge. Hirsch is a very human character with his flaws and fears. However, once things become personal for him he knows he has to fight his growing panic and deal with matters as they crop up. Dealing with several crimes as once including an extreme case of child neglect, he is busy and things appear to be spiralling out of control.
On top of all this his boss is laid up with an injury and he finds himself in charge of the regional station and working with two inexperienced officers. The pace of the story really rattles along and events keep cropping up that test Hirsch and his small team.
Disher proves once again he is an author who can tell a great story. Certainly a major player in the growing Australian noir genre, this is a book that I can highly recommend.
Thank you Text Publishing and Netgalley for the opportunity to review this book in exchange for an honest review.
On top of all this his boss is laid up with an injury and he finds himself in charge of the regional station and working with two inexperienced officers. The pace of the story really rattles along and events keep cropping up that test Hirsch and his small team.
Disher proves once again he is an author who can tell a great story. Certainly a major player in the growing Australian noir genre, this is a book that I can highly recommend.
Thank you Text Publishing and Netgalley for the opportunity to review this book in exchange for an honest review.
October 16, 2023
I've loved the two previous books in Garry Disher's Paul Hirschhausen series and Consolation has certainly cemented this as one of my all-time favourite crime series.
Six months after the events of Peace, Constable Paul "Hirsch" Hirschhausen remains the lone police officer responsible for the remote South Australian town of Tiverton and its surrounding area. In the midst of a bitter winter, Hirsch is required to deal with the wide variety of criminal, domestic and community issues that readers have come to expect from this series. There's a snowdropper active in Tiverton and nearby Redruth, who curiously seems to target the undergarments of the area's senior residents left hanging outside on lines. Hirsch is called by a teaching colleague of his partner Wendy, and asked to carry out a welfare check on a child who is schooled remotely. A local stock dealer doesn't seem to be honouring his financial commitments, sending ripples throughout the small community. A volatile farmer causes ructions at the local primary school when he turns up and threatens the principal over perceived unfair treatment of his daughter. All fairly standard fare for a country copper.
However, it doesn't take long for the various call-outs to develop and become more complicated, and with the unexpected absence of his sergeant from Redruth, Hirsch now finds himself responsible for a wider area and two junior officers.
Like Bitter Wash Road (aka Hell to Pay) and Peace, Consolation is an action-packed and engrossing rural noir read, with many complex and intersecting storylines and a great collection of well-developed characters. Disher's portrayal of the landscape, climate and issues facing those who live in the backblocks of South Australia remain as evocative as ever. The well-crafted prose and realistic dialogue made this an unputdownable read for me. I can't wait for my next Hirsch fix!
My thanks to Garry Disher, publisher Text Publishing and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review Consolation prior to publication.
Six months after the events of Peace, Constable Paul "Hirsch" Hirschhausen remains the lone police officer responsible for the remote South Australian town of Tiverton and its surrounding area. In the midst of a bitter winter, Hirsch is required to deal with the wide variety of criminal, domestic and community issues that readers have come to expect from this series. There's a snowdropper active in Tiverton and nearby Redruth, who curiously seems to target the undergarments of the area's senior residents left hanging outside on lines. Hirsch is called by a teaching colleague of his partner Wendy, and asked to carry out a welfare check on a child who is schooled remotely. A local stock dealer doesn't seem to be honouring his financial commitments, sending ripples throughout the small community. A volatile farmer causes ructions at the local primary school when he turns up and threatens the principal over perceived unfair treatment of his daughter. All fairly standard fare for a country copper.
However, it doesn't take long for the various call-outs to develop and become more complicated, and with the unexpected absence of his sergeant from Redruth, Hirsch now finds himself responsible for a wider area and two junior officers.
Like Bitter Wash Road (aka Hell to Pay) and Peace, Consolation is an action-packed and engrossing rural noir read, with many complex and intersecting storylines and a great collection of well-developed characters. Disher's portrayal of the landscape, climate and issues facing those who live in the backblocks of South Australia remain as evocative as ever. The well-crafted prose and realistic dialogue made this an unputdownable read for me. I can't wait for my next Hirsch fix!
My thanks to Garry Disher, publisher Text Publishing and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review Consolation prior to publication.
July 7, 2021
The third of Garry Disher's Paul Hirschhausen series of the lone policeman in the South Australian outback, with the first two books adapted into television movies. What begins as a investigation of a snowdropper develops into a series of other crimes in the surrounding district. The laconic nature of the protagonist combined with the aussie environment makes for a nonchalant style despite the various crime inquiries building to a crescendo. The understated policeman makes for an unlikely hero, but with Disher’s prose a most enjoyable sequel or even standalone book. Highly recommended 4 and a half stars.
May 12, 2024
4.5★
Between the snowdropper, the Irish roofing scammers, a neglected child, the stalking, the large-scale property fraud and the suspected murder, there's a lot going on around Tiverton. Phew! And that's not even all of it. I imagine that's probably how it feels to any one-person-station-based cop in rural Australia, although maybe not with the same severity of crime most of the time. Hirsch takes it in his stride though. His previous experience as a higher-ranked detective (before his demotion - all explained in the first instalment of this excellent series) serves him well, especially when he has to step in for his boss - the Redruth Sergeant - in the midst of all this mayhem.
It's difficult to say which crime is the focus of this instalment, and that's largely because Disher finds clever ways to weave and deflect. This is the master of Australian crime at the top of his game.
Narrator Steve Shanahan once again delivers a highly entertaining performance - can't imagine anyone else taking over for this series.
Between the snowdropper, the Irish roofing scammers, a neglected child, the stalking, the large-scale property fraud and the suspected murder, there's a lot going on around Tiverton. Phew! And that's not even all of it. I imagine that's probably how it feels to any one-person-station-based cop in rural Australia, although maybe not with the same severity of crime most of the time. Hirsch takes it in his stride though. His previous experience as a higher-ranked detective (before his demotion - all explained in the first instalment of this excellent series) serves him well, especially when he has to step in for his boss - the Redruth Sergeant - in the midst of all this mayhem.
It's difficult to say which crime is the focus of this instalment, and that's largely because Disher finds clever ways to weave and deflect. This is the master of Australian crime at the top of his game.
Narrator Steve Shanahan once again delivers a highly entertaining performance - can't imagine anyone else taking over for this series.
June 14, 2023
Australian rural Noir!
First up I've been a Garry Disher fan forever. This third tale of a country / outback cop in Tiverton, South Australia near Flinders Ranges and Wilpena Pound (fabulous country) is taut and vivid. Constable Paul Hirschhausen or rather Hirsch could be a small town cop anywhere where spaces are wide and open, from Canada to the US. The play between the big city cops and the homegrown patrols who know their charges and the lay of the land are brilliantly depicted.
The people are familiar. I loved Hirsch's concern for the elderly helping them in small and big ways. Concerned that the elderly females are being targeted by a snowdropper. I didn't know what this meant until now. Being nice sometimes doesn't pay off. Suddenly Hirsch becomes the target for a stalker.
So there's a lot happening here, all more or less connected.
Plenty of drama, downplayed and yet it smacks you in the face as large as life.
Rural Australian noir that joins with other locations of Noir, like the frozen landscapes of Nordic Noir, where harsh and unforgiving climates nurture distinctive crime odysseys.
I loved Disher's descriptions of the land, the patrol rites, like Thursday's long patrol, giving a sense of the immense spaces the local police have to care for.
Did I say how much I loved this!
A Text Publications ARC via NetGalley
First up I've been a Garry Disher fan forever. This third tale of a country / outback cop in Tiverton, South Australia near Flinders Ranges and Wilpena Pound (fabulous country) is taut and vivid. Constable Paul Hirschhausen or rather Hirsch could be a small town cop anywhere where spaces are wide and open, from Canada to the US. The play between the big city cops and the homegrown patrols who know their charges and the lay of the land are brilliantly depicted.
The people are familiar. I loved Hirsch's concern for the elderly helping them in small and big ways. Concerned that the elderly females are being targeted by a snowdropper. I didn't know what this meant until now. Being nice sometimes doesn't pay off. Suddenly Hirsch becomes the target for a stalker.
So there's a lot happening here, all more or less connected.
Plenty of drama, downplayed and yet it smacks you in the face as large as life.
Rural Australian noir that joins with other locations of Noir, like the frozen landscapes of Nordic Noir, where harsh and unforgiving climates nurture distinctive crime odysseys.
I loved Disher's descriptions of the land, the patrol rites, like Thursday's long patrol, giving a sense of the immense spaces the local police have to care for.
Did I say how much I loved this!
A Text Publications ARC via NetGalley
January 18, 2021
Consolation is book three in the Paul Hirschhausen series by Garry Disher. On a cold winter day, Constable Paul Hirschhausen started is regular petrol around Tiverton and the surrounding areas. At first, he thought it just routine petrol until he received two phone calls from the local high school. The first call was from a teacher worried about a student's welfare after visiting the homestead, Constable Paul Hirschhause found a neglected and traumatised child and rushed her to hospital. When Constable Paul Hirschhausen received his second phone call from the high school about a father going on a rampage on school grounds. Constable Paul Hirschhausen knew these situations could escalate. However, he did not expect community members to start to die. The readers of Consolation will continue to follow Constable Paul Hirschhausen to see what happens.
Consolation is a fantastic addition to this excellent series. I engaged with the plot and characters of Consolation from the first page, and I forgot about going to sleep. I love Garry Disher's portrayal of his characters and how they intertwine with each other throughout this book. Consolation is well written and research by Garry Disher. I like Garry Disher's description of the settings of Consolation that compliment the plot of this book.
The readers of Consolation will learn another meaning of snowdropper and how it can affect everyone involved. Consolation readers will also understand the problems that rural law enforcement officers can encounter during their working day.
I recommend this book.
Consolation is a fantastic addition to this excellent series. I engaged with the plot and characters of Consolation from the first page, and I forgot about going to sleep. I love Garry Disher's portrayal of his characters and how they intertwine with each other throughout this book. Consolation is well written and research by Garry Disher. I like Garry Disher's description of the settings of Consolation that compliment the plot of this book.
The readers of Consolation will learn another meaning of snowdropper and how it can affect everyone involved. Consolation readers will also understand the problems that rural law enforcement officers can encounter during their working day.
I recommend this book.
April 22, 2022
I enjoyed this Garry Disher book, Number 3 in the Hirschhausen series. And so much happening, so many characters and threads all playing out simultaneously but Disher kept a good hold on them and everything played out to the eventual denouement.
With this book, I feel that the writer has hit his stride with the character, and the series and l look forward to further visits to the Hirshchausen and his outback South Australian community, the next time I'm in the mood for a bit of Australian set police procedural mystery with characters I'm getting to know.
With this book, I feel that the writer has hit his stride with the character, and the series and l look forward to further visits to the Hirshchausen and his outback South Australian community, the next time I'm in the mood for a bit of Australian set police procedural mystery with characters I'm getting to know.
October 1, 2024
A sleepy country town. Mostly.
The series is growing on me with each new instalment. To be frank, the whole subgenre of small town cop/ amateur detective dealing with family crisis and deadly secrets in a closely-knit community is cropping up more and more often on my shelves.
It probably started with the Twin Peaks TV series and moved on to Absaroka County in Wyoming [Craig Johnson] by way of Aurora in Minnesota [William Kent Krueger] or the Ojibwe Reservation in North Dakota [Louise Erdrich]. Waiting their turn are the villages of Saint-Dennis in Perigord [Martin Walker] and Three Pines in Quebec [Louise Penny].
Tiverton in the Australian Outback is probably the farthest I have travelled for these kind of stories, and Garry Disher sure knows how to capture both the beauty of this harsh, isolated place and the insular, self-sufficient nature of its people.
Constable Paul Hirschhausen, shortened to Hirsch for those readers unfamiliar with German long names, is initially an outsider in Tiverton, which helps with drawing the reader into this unfamiliar territory. By this third episode though, Hirsch is no longer a stranger in town, and his growing attachment to the place and to the people is evident in his narrative.
Hirsch the mediator. He seemed to spend most of his time as father confessor, therapist, social worker, fixer and go-between. What he’d give for a plain old criminal and a plain old vanilla arrest.
The main problem with this subgenre of crime fiction, in a publishing space that favors very long franchises, is how to come up with a credible criminal plots in the sort of place that has to deal with violent crime only very rarely. Garry Discher found a solution in the focus on small family dramas that hide deeper social and personal problems.
Consolation starts small, with an unknown prowler that steals women’s underwear, and a father making a stink at the local school about his daughter being shamed for the family’s poverty. Hirsch also suspects he is about to get his own personal stalker, as he receives a lot of unsolicited messages and attention from a local teacher. Disturbing reports about elderly people being targetted by scammers, both building contractors and financial advisers, are also cropping up on the Constable’s already crowded plate.
He’s performed several Google searches on stalking, wanting to know what it was, why it happened, what could be done about it. Typically, he’d ended up with information that was both voluminous and unspecific.
‘They told me to say that, in case I was queried.’
‘Are they all older people, by any chance?’
But what if all these minor disturbances are connected to some deeper systemic problem? And what if a minor personal grievance turns into a kidnapping plus a couple of armed and anger driven farmers on the run? Dead bodies will soon follow, and Hirsch is literally hunting for the proverbial needle in the vast emptiness of a scarcely populated Outback.
How can one man protect all his scattered flock?
But a kind of suppressed dread had crept in. Not surprising in country where you could drive for a couple of hours and not see a town, a house, another vehicle. Calls came in from people on his long-range patrol routes – a woman with a schizophrenic son; an elderly man with a housebound spouse; a single mother whose car had been repossessed – all seeking reassurance.
The plot got a little less realistic and more suspense-tailored by the end of the novel, but the good work put in the first half of the story about the people and their personal problems helped me deal with it and enjoy the ride. Hirsch has some good support cast in his new girlfriend and her daughter, and in his boss from the nearby town. His interaction with the rest of Tiverton’s population was the highlight of the novel for me, but I also liked the way stalking and elder abuse are weaved into the plot. There are also some good musical references in relation to a local music festival that will be linked to all the other mishaps and will eventually lead the investigator to the cause of all this trouble in a small town.
It’s all in a day’s work for Constable Paul Hirschhausen.
Down a rutted driveway to a farmhouse and a cup of tea and an Anzac biscuit, then, if he was lucky, a blessed few kilometres of sealed roads and graded gravel roads, before another isolated station property, another cup of tea and a chat about sheep missing, believed stolen, or mysterious headlights in the night, or a grown son not taking his meds. He helped a widow start her ute with the police Toyota’s jumper leads, held a ladder so a man could fish his grandson’s cricket ball out of a gutter, helped an elderly woman change a tap washer.
I plan to continue with the series.
July 23, 2022
A small stone bungalow sitting in a permanent pine tree shadow, mould on exposed surfaces, pine needles clogging the gutters. A black Valiant in the carport, more rust than duco, and a frenzied kelpie wanting a piece of him, throttled by a collar and chain at each lunge.
I first encountered Constable Paul Hirschhausen in
, (inexplicably also published as
), ousted to the back blocks and hardscrabble country around the Barrier Highway in the North-east of the state, after calling out corrupt detectives in Adelaide. Followed his blossoming romance with widow Wendy Street and daughter Katie through the second book,
, and was looking forward to the third book, Consolation, and a return to the similar cover as Bitter Wash Road, set in winter, eighteen months later. Few writers can describe wintry conditions as well as Garry Disher does: A still morning, blade sharp, flaying his cheeks. I felt the chill in North Queensland.
As ever, we have a character-driven story of multiple lives entwined, money troubles sending some over the edge. And I liked how author keeps up the context readers can identify with, with his ear for dialogue and eye for detail – the Takata airbag recall, anti-vaxxers, city cops becoming hopelessly bogged with vehicles (and driving style) not fit for purpose. Attending a case of child neglect, soon after called to the local school to confront a new principal and an irate parent, he is at once a mediator.
He seemed to spend most of his time as father confessor, therapist, social worker, fixer and go-between. What he’d give for a plain old criminal and a plain old vanilla arrest.
But then it seemed to get bogged down unnecessarily. . For this reader the best part was the descriptions of the landscapes.
Beyond the sheds, two grassy paddocks rose in a gentle upslope on the flank of one of the Tiverton Hills. Hirsch set out for the far corner, where a windmill-rusty, vanes missing, unmoving despite the wind-leaned exhaustedly as if yearning for the embrace of the grass. A holed and rusty galvanised tank. A rusty trough. He peered in: scummy water, blooming with algae. He turned, scanned the stretches of grass, all spirit draining suddenly out of him.
Verdict: A good read overloaded, but I can’t resist the next one.
I first encountered Constable Paul Hirschhausen in
, (inexplicably also published as
), ousted to the back blocks and hardscrabble country around the Barrier Highway in the North-east of the state, after calling out corrupt detectives in Adelaide. Followed his blossoming romance with widow Wendy Street and daughter Katie through the second book,
, and was looking forward to the third book, Consolation, and a return to the similar cover as Bitter Wash Road, set in winter, eighteen months later. Few writers can describe wintry conditions as well as Garry Disher does: A still morning, blade sharp, flaying his cheeks. I felt the chill in North Queensland.As ever, we have a character-driven story of multiple lives entwined, money troubles sending some over the edge. And I liked how author keeps up the context readers can identify with, with his ear for dialogue and eye for detail – the Takata airbag recall, anti-vaxxers, city cops becoming hopelessly bogged with vehicles (and driving style) not fit for purpose. Attending a case of child neglect, soon after called to the local school to confront a new principal and an irate parent, he is at once a mediator.
He seemed to spend most of his time as father confessor, therapist, social worker, fixer and go-between. What he’d give for a plain old criminal and a plain old vanilla arrest.
But then it seemed to get bogged down unnecessarily. . For this reader the best part was the descriptions of the landscapes.
Beyond the sheds, two grassy paddocks rose in a gentle upslope on the flank of one of the Tiverton Hills. Hirsch set out for the far corner, where a windmill-rusty, vanes missing, unmoving despite the wind-leaned exhaustedly as if yearning for the embrace of the grass. A holed and rusty galvanised tank. A rusty trough. He peered in: scummy water, blooming with algae. He turned, scanned the stretches of grass, all spirit draining suddenly out of him.
Verdict: A good read overloaded, but I can’t resist the next one.
October 2, 2020
Consolation is the third book in the Paul Hirschhausen series by popular Australian author, Garry Disher. If it was intended as device to remove him from the close contact (and wrath) of his colleagues, Hirsch's demotion to the one-cop station in rural Tiverton has now morphed into something else: he inhabits the role with quiet purpose and an unexpected satisfaction. Hirsch has become part of the community.
During the August chill, Hirsch makes a welfare check revealing a case of child cruelty, swiftly followed by an angry parent terrorising the school principal. Hirsch proves a talent for mediation, but senses resentment simmering.
Follow-ups with victims of a persistent snow-dropper, and of Irish roof-repair scammers are added to his regular patrols, but then a nasty incident puts him also in charge of Redruth Police Station and on the trail of a gun-toting pair seeking revenge. Filled with toxic masculinity, they’re not behaving like fugitives, indulging in thefts, intimidation and arson.
This is another excellent dose of Hirsch. Not only does he deal with financial irregularities in the bank accounts of vulnerable elderly, possible undue influence by neighbours or family, and a missing husband, he also gets stuck in the mud, acquires a stalker and is restrained by his own handcuffs. The kidnap of a teen and an armed stand-off provide exciting climaxes.
With his often-exquisite prose, Disher easily evokes his setting: “He’d been formed by a city, its exact delineations of asphalt streets and bricks in orderly rows, but out here the angles were unpredictable. Roads shot off in unlikely directions, buildings decayed at a lean and the endless flatland was neither endless nor flat, throwing up stone reef patches or plunging into gullies. And it was a landscape charged with unheard testimony: an ochre hand stencil in a cave; a stick figure carved into a rockface; a grinding tool laid bare after a flash flood.”
Amid a glut of flawed heroes, Hirsch is a refreshing protagonist: comfortable in his own skin; not perfect but certainly principled; not battling drugs or alcohol, not tempted by illegal or immoral activity; an essentially tireless cop, exuding integrity, dedicated to enforcement and protection tempered with the judgement calls essential in rural policing. Fans can only hope this is not the last of Tiverton and Constable Paul Hirschhausen. Brilliant Australian rural crime fiction.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Text Publishing.
During the August chill, Hirsch makes a welfare check revealing a case of child cruelty, swiftly followed by an angry parent terrorising the school principal. Hirsch proves a talent for mediation, but senses resentment simmering.
Follow-ups with victims of a persistent snow-dropper, and of Irish roof-repair scammers are added to his regular patrols, but then a nasty incident puts him also in charge of Redruth Police Station and on the trail of a gun-toting pair seeking revenge. Filled with toxic masculinity, they’re not behaving like fugitives, indulging in thefts, intimidation and arson.
This is another excellent dose of Hirsch. Not only does he deal with financial irregularities in the bank accounts of vulnerable elderly, possible undue influence by neighbours or family, and a missing husband, he also gets stuck in the mud, acquires a stalker and is restrained by his own handcuffs. The kidnap of a teen and an armed stand-off provide exciting climaxes.
With his often-exquisite prose, Disher easily evokes his setting: “He’d been formed by a city, its exact delineations of asphalt streets and bricks in orderly rows, but out here the angles were unpredictable. Roads shot off in unlikely directions, buildings decayed at a lean and the endless flatland was neither endless nor flat, throwing up stone reef patches or plunging into gullies. And it was a landscape charged with unheard testimony: an ochre hand stencil in a cave; a stick figure carved into a rockface; a grinding tool laid bare after a flash flood.”
Amid a glut of flawed heroes, Hirsch is a refreshing protagonist: comfortable in his own skin; not perfect but certainly principled; not battling drugs or alcohol, not tempted by illegal or immoral activity; an essentially tireless cop, exuding integrity, dedicated to enforcement and protection tempered with the judgement calls essential in rural policing. Fans can only hope this is not the last of Tiverton and Constable Paul Hirschhausen. Brilliant Australian rural crime fiction.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Text Publishing.
December 29, 2020
Snowdropper? What's that? Google it.
The author does a good job describing the Australian Outback openness, emptiness, and loneliness.
You must be a little off to live in a place so desolate.
This is a ride along through the Outback with Tiverton’s only police officer Constable Paul Hirschhausen.
Small town problems like trespassing, child neglect, checking on disabled elderly, missing animals, property line disputes, and lets not forget searching for the snowdropper.
A good read but nothing to get excited about. I recommend you read the first two books in the series.
The author does a good job describing the Australian Outback openness, emptiness, and loneliness.
You must be a little off to live in a place so desolate.
This is a ride along through the Outback with Tiverton’s only police officer Constable Paul Hirschhausen.
Small town problems like trespassing, child neglect, checking on disabled elderly, missing animals, property line disputes, and lets not forget searching for the snowdropper.
A good read but nothing to get excited about. I recommend you read the first two books in the series.
Read
February 18, 2022The following book reviews have been shared by Text Publishing – publisher of Consolation
'This terrific police procedural, a perfect example of outback noir, reveals the toll a man’s professional life can take on his inner self. Garry Disher’s writing exudes authority; his blend of comedy and tragedy is a joy to read.’
The Times Best Crime Books of 2021
'Consolation is a very impressive piece of crime fiction. It holds attention, impresses with its depth and raises important issues, while being very entertaining. It once more confirms Disher’s place as the master of outback noir.’
Murder, Mayhem and Long Dogs
'Well written and very entertaining, Consolation cements Disher’s place as the master of outback noir.’
Canberra Weekly
‘Garry Disher may not have quite the same level of name recognition as fellow bestselling Australian rural noir writers such as Jane Harper and Chris Hammer, but he has long been one of the genre’s best.’
Weekend West
‘There are few better explorers of Australia’s rural heart in any genre than Garry Disher.’
Pile by the Bed
'Garry Disher's novels are an essential and influential part of Australian crime fiction.’
Radio National
'Sheer class.’
Age
'This is a book that cannot be praised enough… Read it.’
Herald Sun
‘The outback noir master returns to Tiverton and it’s only cop Paul ‘Hirsch’ Hirschhausen.’
NZ Listener
'The people of his district are finely individualised by Disher. The measured prose of the Hirsch novels reflects their protagonist’s character.’
Australian
'Highly recommended...Disher is a master at creating a setting: the dry, cold loneliness of outback of South Australia comes alive in his descriptions as Hirsch makes his routine visits to outlying farms and properties, checking that all is well with these isolated people.’
ReadPlus
'If you know someone who likes Australian stories, superior crime fiction, and a decent, sharp eye on humanity, the new Garry Disher book, Consolation, would be a terrific present for them.’
Kaz Cooke
'Consolation is rural noir at its best: a lone detective persisting in protecting his community; criminal, evil individuals who prey on the isolated; all set against the backdrop of the dangers of the Australian bush.’
Canberra Times
‘An amazing, engaging, pacy read. I would throughly recommend Garry Disher’s Consolation.’
2SER
‘In this sequel to last year’s best-selling Peace, Constable Paul Hirschhausen now faces a winter of discontent in small-town South Australia. Mud has replaced dust on the roads Hirsch patrols in his pursuit of a snowdropper, the suspected neglect of a student, and a parent going rogue. Disher again proves a better guide than GPS to the bush.’
Herald Sun
‘Disher is one of this country’s finest writers, as Consolation attests.’
Australian Book Review
‘“Outback noir” became a hot commodity thanks to the global success of Jane Harper, Chris Hammer and the Mystery Road films and television drama. But long before any of them came Garry Disher’s brilliant story telling. Disher, the winner of the 2018 Ned Kelly Lifetime Achievement Award for three decades of excellence, keeps the bar extremely high with Consolation.’
NZ Listener
‘Garry Disher, for three decades, one of Australia’s finest writers of rural crime.’
Adelaide Advertiser
'Disher is one the foremost proponents of rural noir.'
Sunday Times
'Rural noir has really become the new big thing in Australian crime fiction, and a lot of the credit for that has to go to Garry Disher. He comes from this world, he knows it, and he writes with great empathy for the people who live there and the way the rhythms of nature affect every single aspect of life. His ability to draw vivid word pictures, and his willingness to trust his readers to interpret them – and the things he leaves unsaid – put his books head and shoulders above the pack.’
Newtown Review of Books
'This terrific police procedural, a perfect example of outback noir, reveals the toll a man’s professional life can take on his inner self. Garry Disher’s writing exudes authority; his blend of comedy and tragedy is a joy to read.’
The Times Best Crime Books of 2021
'Consolation is a very impressive piece of crime fiction. It holds attention, impresses with its depth and raises important issues, while being very entertaining. It once more confirms Disher’s place as the master of outback noir.’
Murder, Mayhem and Long Dogs
'Well written and very entertaining, Consolation cements Disher’s place as the master of outback noir.’
Canberra Weekly
‘Garry Disher may not have quite the same level of name recognition as fellow bestselling Australian rural noir writers such as Jane Harper and Chris Hammer, but he has long been one of the genre’s best.’
Weekend West
‘There are few better explorers of Australia’s rural heart in any genre than Garry Disher.’
Pile by the Bed
'Garry Disher's novels are an essential and influential part of Australian crime fiction.’
Radio National
'Sheer class.’
Age
'This is a book that cannot be praised enough… Read it.’
Herald Sun
‘The outback noir master returns to Tiverton and it’s only cop Paul ‘Hirsch’ Hirschhausen.’
NZ Listener
'The people of his district are finely individualised by Disher. The measured prose of the Hirsch novels reflects their protagonist’s character.’
Australian
'Highly recommended...Disher is a master at creating a setting: the dry, cold loneliness of outback of South Australia comes alive in his descriptions as Hirsch makes his routine visits to outlying farms and properties, checking that all is well with these isolated people.’
ReadPlus
'If you know someone who likes Australian stories, superior crime fiction, and a decent, sharp eye on humanity, the new Garry Disher book, Consolation, would be a terrific present for them.’
Kaz Cooke
'Consolation is rural noir at its best: a lone detective persisting in protecting his community; criminal, evil individuals who prey on the isolated; all set against the backdrop of the dangers of the Australian bush.’
Canberra Times
‘An amazing, engaging, pacy read. I would throughly recommend Garry Disher’s Consolation.’
2SER
‘In this sequel to last year’s best-selling Peace, Constable Paul Hirschhausen now faces a winter of discontent in small-town South Australia. Mud has replaced dust on the roads Hirsch patrols in his pursuit of a snowdropper, the suspected neglect of a student, and a parent going rogue. Disher again proves a better guide than GPS to the bush.’
Herald Sun
‘Disher is one of this country’s finest writers, as Consolation attests.’
Australian Book Review
‘“Outback noir” became a hot commodity thanks to the global success of Jane Harper, Chris Hammer and the Mystery Road films and television drama. But long before any of them came Garry Disher’s brilliant story telling. Disher, the winner of the 2018 Ned Kelly Lifetime Achievement Award for three decades of excellence, keeps the bar extremely high with Consolation.’
NZ Listener
‘Garry Disher, for three decades, one of Australia’s finest writers of rural crime.’
Adelaide Advertiser
'Disher is one the foremost proponents of rural noir.'
Sunday Times
'Rural noir has really become the new big thing in Australian crime fiction, and a lot of the credit for that has to go to Garry Disher. He comes from this world, he knows it, and he writes with great empathy for the people who live there and the way the rhythms of nature affect every single aspect of life. His ability to draw vivid word pictures, and his willingness to trust his readers to interpret them – and the things he leaves unsaid – put his books head and shoulders above the pack.’
Newtown Review of Books
November 12, 2020
3 stars
You can read all of my reviews at Nerd Girl Loves Books.
This is an ok mystery set in Australia. The story moves slowly and there are irrelevant storylines that detract from the main mystery. This is the third book in the series, but it's a stand alone mystery so you can read this book without having read the other two.
Paul Hirschhausen (Hirsch) is a constable in a tiny town in Australia. He slogs along making the rounds of his patrol area, checking in on residents. Then, he gets calls to investigate several issues at once. Someone has been stealing underwear and bras from elderly ladies and Hirsch knows to take it seriously less the crime escalates. He gets a call from the school about a young child that may be neglected. He gets a call from a different school to calm down an enraged father concerned about the treatment of his daughter. On top of this add a stalker, an elderly lady that may be the victim of a financial crime, a violent duo on the run, and a prominent citizen that may be swindling everyone.
Instead of focusing on one mystery and doing it well, the author throws a lot of different crimes and victims into the mix and it's just a bit much. It would be one thing if the various crimes ended up being related to the big major mystery, but not all of them are. Hirsch seems to be beaten down by life and it was hard to root for him. Even his romantic interest in a woman and her daughter fell flat. I didn't feel any spark or emotion in the relationship. The pace of the book is really slow and it just seemed to bog down in the middle. The ending was really odd and very abrupt.
Overall, the book was written well, but it was just too slow and jumbled for me. However, I think a lot of other people would really enjoy this book.
Thank you to NetGalley and Text Publishing for a free digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
You can read all of my reviews at Nerd Girl Loves Books.
This is an ok mystery set in Australia. The story moves slowly and there are irrelevant storylines that detract from the main mystery. This is the third book in the series, but it's a stand alone mystery so you can read this book without having read the other two.
Paul Hirschhausen (Hirsch) is a constable in a tiny town in Australia. He slogs along making the rounds of his patrol area, checking in on residents. Then, he gets calls to investigate several issues at once. Someone has been stealing underwear and bras from elderly ladies and Hirsch knows to take it seriously less the crime escalates. He gets a call from the school about a young child that may be neglected. He gets a call from a different school to calm down an enraged father concerned about the treatment of his daughter. On top of this add a stalker, an elderly lady that may be the victim of a financial crime, a violent duo on the run, and a prominent citizen that may be swindling everyone.
Instead of focusing on one mystery and doing it well, the author throws a lot of different crimes and victims into the mix and it's just a bit much. It would be one thing if the various crimes ended up being related to the big major mystery, but not all of them are. Hirsch seems to be beaten down by life and it was hard to root for him. Even his romantic interest in a woman and her daughter fell flat. I didn't feel any spark or emotion in the relationship. The pace of the book is really slow and it just seemed to bog down in the middle. The ending was really odd and very abrupt.
Overall, the book was written well, but it was just too slow and jumbled for me. However, I think a lot of other people would really enjoy this book.
Thank you to NetGalley and Text Publishing for a free digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
April 25, 2021
Garry Disher should be required reading for anyone wanting to write a novel..any writer who can make stolen underwear one of the most riveting plots you’ll read this year has a lot to teach future literary heroes.
Of course that’s only one thread of this superb narrative, once again following Constable Paul “Hirsch” Hirschhausen and his local community of Tiverton plus surrounding areas, a mostly mundane job that occasionally tips over into dangerous madness.
In Consolation we have a multitude of small things and one or two much larger issues. Garry Disher makes it all hugely addictive and his character creation is second to none, flawed, layered, realistic and relatable every one.
I am the biggest fan (arguably) of this author and I would absolutely read his shopping list. The whole series comes highly recommended by me.
Of course that’s only one thread of this superb narrative, once again following Constable Paul “Hirsch” Hirschhausen and his local community of Tiverton plus surrounding areas, a mostly mundane job that occasionally tips over into dangerous madness.
In Consolation we have a multitude of small things and one or two much larger issues. Garry Disher makes it all hugely addictive and his character creation is second to none, flawed, layered, realistic and relatable every one.
I am the biggest fan (arguably) of this author and I would absolutely read his shopping list. The whole series comes highly recommended by me.
September 9, 2020
Garry Disher has been writing Aussie rural noir since before it was a thing and his books are fantastic. Like Jane Harper or Chris Hammer, the landscape, the climate, the distances all play a key part in his writing. His books are gripping and eventful and they grab you right from the start.
Hirsch mans the station in a one cop South Australian town. His territory is vast: if he is at the scene of a crime and radios for help, he knows he’ll be lucky if someone shows up within an hour. Racing to crime scenes is tricky when you have to navigate corrugated roads and run the risk of getting bogged in streams. He’s a wonderful character, very human, caring, quietly humorous.
There’s no quiet country life for Hirsch. Among other things, he’s dealing with a serial underwear thief, a stalker, an enraged farmer and an abused schoolgirl. There are many disparate threads, which gradually weave together into a smaller number of sub-plots. If I think about how many characters and plots Disher juggles and how seamlessly he does it, I’m in awe. He can build a rounded character with the sparest of descriptions.
This is the third book featuring Hirsch. You don’t have to have read the others, but after reading this you’ll want to. Bitter Wash Road is the first (called Hell to Pay in the US).
I received an ARC from Net Galley.
Hirsch mans the station in a one cop South Australian town. His territory is vast: if he is at the scene of a crime and radios for help, he knows he’ll be lucky if someone shows up within an hour. Racing to crime scenes is tricky when you have to navigate corrugated roads and run the risk of getting bogged in streams. He’s a wonderful character, very human, caring, quietly humorous.
There’s no quiet country life for Hirsch. Among other things, he’s dealing with a serial underwear thief, a stalker, an enraged farmer and an abused schoolgirl. There are many disparate threads, which gradually weave together into a smaller number of sub-plots. If I think about how many characters and plots Disher juggles and how seamlessly he does it, I’m in awe. He can build a rounded character with the sparest of descriptions.
This is the third book featuring Hirsch. You don’t have to have read the others, but after reading this you’ll want to. Bitter Wash Road is the first (called Hell to Pay in the US).
I received an ARC from Net Galley.
October 15, 2020
This is the third novel in my new favourite crime series. I've told all my crimey friends to read this series, they are reliably good, great comfort reading. There is enough action to keep you turning the pages furiously, Hirsch is one of the nicest cops you could ever hope to meet, the bad guys turn up in unexpected places and the scenery is so beautifully written. I'm so invested in these novels that when this one was finished I had a terrible moment of sadness that I'd have to wait for ages to get a new one.
This time Hirsch has a 'snowdropper' to deal with, someone who steals women's underwear, the middleaged and elderly women of Tiverton are troubled by this, it is making everyone uncomfortable. Hirsch has dealt to the awful cops of Redruth, they have been replaced and now he has a decent boss, but she is not in town and Hirsch is acting chief. There is a lot of crime going on, a child being treated appallingly on a remote farm, a stalkery teacher, a local businessman has gone missing. And managing to keep track of all of this, plus patrol his huge remote area is full on.
What makes these books so engaging is Hirsch. His mild manner, his love of music, the way he relates to the people in town and the recurring characters are becoming like old friends to me. These are quiet crime of the very best kind. This new one is a great addition to the series.
Thanks Netgalley for giving me access. I loved it.
This time Hirsch has a 'snowdropper' to deal with, someone who steals women's underwear, the middleaged and elderly women of Tiverton are troubled by this, it is making everyone uncomfortable. Hirsch has dealt to the awful cops of Redruth, they have been replaced and now he has a decent boss, but she is not in town and Hirsch is acting chief. There is a lot of crime going on, a child being treated appallingly on a remote farm, a stalkery teacher, a local businessman has gone missing. And managing to keep track of all of this, plus patrol his huge remote area is full on.
What makes these books so engaging is Hirsch. His mild manner, his love of music, the way he relates to the people in town and the recurring characters are becoming like old friends to me. These are quiet crime of the very best kind. This new one is a great addition to the series.
Thanks Netgalley for giving me access. I loved it.
November 1, 2020
Consolation is the third excellent, compelling crime novel by Garry Disher to feature Constable Paul Hirschhausen, a country copper in rural South Australia.
It’s winter in Tiverton, there is frost on the ground and snow on Razorback ridge and as Hirsch patrols the quiet streets in the freezing Wednesday dawn he is ruminating on the behaviour of the ‘snow dropper’ stealing the underthings of elderly women from clothesline’s all over the district. Arriving at the one-man police station that is barely warmer inside than out, a request for a welfare check first leads Hirsch to discover a severely neglected young girl, next he is called to calm an irate parent at the local primary school, and then made aware of gossip that suggests a local big shot is in financial trouble. Thursday, Hirsch’s regular long range westerly patrol is interrupted by an environmental control officer wanting an escort to inspect a local property, and an accusation is made regarding the exertion of undue influence against an elderly lady. On Friday, everything goes to hell, and Paul finds himself dealing with a manhunt, a stalker, a missing man, Irish conmen, a dead woman, all while managing two stations, and his relationship.
There is a lot happening in Consolation but Disher manages the multiple threads skilfully, connecting seemingly disparate people and events in a manner that feels credible where any single disturbance can create a ripple effect within a small community. There’s plenty of well timed action that drives the story at a fast pace but without sacrificing suspense, or emotion.
A country copper is more than just an enforcer of the law, Paul is often called upon to act, among other things, as a mediator, a counselor, a confessor, and a jack-of-all-trades. The various events in Consolation requires Hirsch to draw on all his skills to keep the peace within his community, and he is often worried he won’t be able to do it right, despite evidence to the contrary. Paul’s humility and integrity contrast with that of several of the visiting officers in the novel who are variously ego-driven or indifferent.
The setting is recognisably Australian, Disher’s prose effortlessly evokes the environment, character, and residents of Tiverton and surrounds. The laconic dialogue and dry wit is familiar and authentic.
This series has become a firm favourite of mine, Consolation is as deserving of five stars as its predecessors Bitter Wash Road (US title: Hell To Pay) and Peace. If I was pressed to recommend just one Australian rural crime series, this would be it.
It’s winter in Tiverton, there is frost on the ground and snow on Razorback ridge and as Hirsch patrols the quiet streets in the freezing Wednesday dawn he is ruminating on the behaviour of the ‘snow dropper’ stealing the underthings of elderly women from clothesline’s all over the district. Arriving at the one-man police station that is barely warmer inside than out, a request for a welfare check first leads Hirsch to discover a severely neglected young girl, next he is called to calm an irate parent at the local primary school, and then made aware of gossip that suggests a local big shot is in financial trouble. Thursday, Hirsch’s regular long range westerly patrol is interrupted by an environmental control officer wanting an escort to inspect a local property, and an accusation is made regarding the exertion of undue influence against an elderly lady. On Friday, everything goes to hell, and Paul finds himself dealing with a manhunt, a stalker, a missing man, Irish conmen, a dead woman, all while managing two stations, and his relationship.
There is a lot happening in Consolation but Disher manages the multiple threads skilfully, connecting seemingly disparate people and events in a manner that feels credible where any single disturbance can create a ripple effect within a small community. There’s plenty of well timed action that drives the story at a fast pace but without sacrificing suspense, or emotion.
A country copper is more than just an enforcer of the law, Paul is often called upon to act, among other things, as a mediator, a counselor, a confessor, and a jack-of-all-trades. The various events in Consolation requires Hirsch to draw on all his skills to keep the peace within his community, and he is often worried he won’t be able to do it right, despite evidence to the contrary. Paul’s humility and integrity contrast with that of several of the visiting officers in the novel who are variously ego-driven or indifferent.
The setting is recognisably Australian, Disher’s prose effortlessly evokes the environment, character, and residents of Tiverton and surrounds. The laconic dialogue and dry wit is familiar and authentic.
This series has become a firm favourite of mine, Consolation is as deserving of five stars as its predecessors Bitter Wash Road (US title: Hell To Pay) and Peace. If I was pressed to recommend just one Australian rural crime series, this would be it.
August 28, 2020
Consolation by Garry Disher is the third novel featuring small town, Australian Constable Paul Hirschhausen. Reading the ARC of Consolation was like taking a slow, meandering drive in the country on a lazy Sunday afternoon. The tale unfolds with no big hurry while you take in the countryside and all of its attractions with no previously planned destination.
In Consolation, Constable Paul Hirschhausen is drawn into several investigations at once, while meeting more and more memorable characters throughout his patrolling territory.
The novel opens with "Hirsch" trying to catch a suspect creating havoc by snatching the undergarments of elderly women off of their clotheslines. With the development of this storyline, Disher throws even more at Hirsch by way of a father-son rampaging duo that seems to disappear into the wilderness at will, the unwanted attention of a school teacher, and questionable behavior of a local businessman.
The novels in this series are like watching a more adult version of America's "The Andy Griffith Show," with Hirsch interacting with memorable, often oddball Australian characters woven within interesting storylines.
Garry Disher's Paul Hirschhausen novels are highly recommended, especially to those that enjoy novels with fully developed characters, with wonderfully descriptive writing that tells stories best enjoyed as they slowly unfold.
Netgalley provided an ARC of this novel for the promise of a fair review.
In Consolation, Constable Paul Hirschhausen is drawn into several investigations at once, while meeting more and more memorable characters throughout his patrolling territory.
The novel opens with "Hirsch" trying to catch a suspect creating havoc by snatching the undergarments of elderly women off of their clotheslines. With the development of this storyline, Disher throws even more at Hirsch by way of a father-son rampaging duo that seems to disappear into the wilderness at will, the unwanted attention of a school teacher, and questionable behavior of a local businessman.
The novels in this series are like watching a more adult version of America's "The Andy Griffith Show," with Hirsch interacting with memorable, often oddball Australian characters woven within interesting storylines.
Garry Disher's Paul Hirschhausen novels are highly recommended, especially to those that enjoy novels with fully developed characters, with wonderfully descriptive writing that tells stories best enjoyed as they slowly unfold.
Netgalley provided an ARC of this novel for the promise of a fair review.
March 10, 2024
Set in the Mid-North of South Australia, this mystery is about Constable Paul Hirschhausen, trying to maintain law and order. In just under 400 pages, he deals with bank fraud, a kidnapping, murder, a young man being shot by his father, and a stalker. All of which are intertwined.
The story kept a good pace, and there were times when it was difficult to see how it was all going to come together. But it was an enjoyable read.
The story kept a good pace, and there were times when it was difficult to see how it was all going to come together. But it was an enjoyable read.
December 3, 2022
This is what I call proper small town vibes! So much was going on, Hirsch running back and forth between two towns, small crimes, big crimes, maybe even a murder... Love this series.
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