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Dirt Town
My best friend wore her name, Esther, like a queen wearing her crown at a jaunty angle. We were twelve years old when she went missing.
On a sweltering Friday afternoon in Durton, best friends Ronnie and Esther leave school together. Esther never makes it home.
Ronnie's going to find her, she has a plan. Lewis will help. Their friend can't be gone, Ronnie won't believe it.
Detective Sergeant Sarah Michaels can believe it, she has seen what people are capable of. She knows more than anyone how, in a moment of weakness, a person can be driven to do something they never thought possible.
Lewis can believe it too. But he can't reveal what he saw that afternoon at the creek without exposing his own secret.
Five days later, Esther's buried body is discovered.
What do we owe the girl who isn't there?
Character-rich and propulsive, with a breathtakingly original use of voice and revolving points of view, Hayley Scrivenor delves under the surface, where no one can hide. With emotional depth and sensitivity, this stunning debut shows us how much each person matters in a community that is at once falling apart and coming together.
Esther will always be a Dirt Town child, as we are its children, still.
On a sweltering Friday afternoon in Durton, best friends Ronnie and Esther leave school together. Esther never makes it home.
Ronnie's going to find her, she has a plan. Lewis will help. Their friend can't be gone, Ronnie won't believe it.
Detective Sergeant Sarah Michaels can believe it, she has seen what people are capable of. She knows more than anyone how, in a moment of weakness, a person can be driven to do something they never thought possible.
Lewis can believe it too. But he can't reveal what he saw that afternoon at the creek without exposing his own secret.
Five days later, Esther's buried body is discovered.
What do we owe the girl who isn't there?
Character-rich and propulsive, with a breathtakingly original use of voice and revolving points of view, Hayley Scrivenor delves under the surface, where no one can hide. With emotional depth and sensitivity, this stunning debut shows us how much each person matters in a community that is at once falling apart and coming together.
Esther will always be a Dirt Town child, as we are its children, still.
368 pages, Hardcover
First published May 31, 2022
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May 17, 2022
“The best liars were the people who could believe their own bullshit.”
Dirt Creek is a slow-burn mystery about the disappearance of a 12-year-old girl in a small town in rural Australia.
Durton, aka Dirt Creek, is a small town filled with secrets. On the surface, it seems like an idyllic community to raise a family, but when 12-year-old Esther doesn’t return home after school, the town and its inhabitants fall under scrutiny. What seems like an innocent town is filled with some dark and dirty secrets. As the police investigate, secrets are exposed, culminating in a shocking reveal about Esther’s disappearance.
The narrative switches point of view with each chapter, and the timeline shifts based on perspective, so one has the opportunity to understand events from multiple POVs. The primary narrators are Constance, mother of Esther; Lewie, a 12-year-old boy with a secret; Ronnie, Esther’s best friend; and Sarah, a police detective trying to solve the mystery behind Esther’s disappearance. All characters were well-developed and offered a unique take on Esther’s disappearance. Ronnie’s character was my favorite. Sarah’s character’s obsession with her ex grew redundant and annoying. She also looks at almost every woman as a potential love interest, which also annoyed me--her character was a little too overdone and could have benefited from a good dose of subtlety, but overall, she was likable.
Another perspective is offered in chapters titled “We.” These chapters didn’t quite work for me.
The story takes place in 2001 and slowly covers the days following Esther’s disappearance. This is a slow-paced mystery, and it is equally a character study. Dirt Creek is a desolate, isolated town that Scrivner brings to life. The blurb compares this book to The Dry and Everything I Never Told You<, Dirt Creek is neither, but it is a solid read and an impressive debut.
I received an ARC of Dirt Creek by Hayley Scrivenor from Macmillan in exchange for an honest review.
Dirt Creek is a slow-burn mystery about the disappearance of a 12-year-old girl in a small town in rural Australia.
Durton, aka Dirt Creek, is a small town filled with secrets. On the surface, it seems like an idyllic community to raise a family, but when 12-year-old Esther doesn’t return home after school, the town and its inhabitants fall under scrutiny. What seems like an innocent town is filled with some dark and dirty secrets. As the police investigate, secrets are exposed, culminating in a shocking reveal about Esther’s disappearance.
The narrative switches point of view with each chapter, and the timeline shifts based on perspective, so one has the opportunity to understand events from multiple POVs. The primary narrators are Constance, mother of Esther; Lewie, a 12-year-old boy with a secret; Ronnie, Esther’s best friend; and Sarah, a police detective trying to solve the mystery behind Esther’s disappearance. All characters were well-developed and offered a unique take on Esther’s disappearance. Ronnie’s character was my favorite. Sarah’s character’s obsession with her ex grew redundant and annoying. She also looks at almost every woman as a potential love interest, which also annoyed me--her character was a little too overdone and could have benefited from a good dose of subtlety, but overall, she was likable.
Another perspective is offered in chapters titled “We.” These chapters didn’t quite work for me.
The story takes place in 2001 and slowly covers the days following Esther’s disappearance. This is a slow-paced mystery, and it is equally a character study. Dirt Creek is a desolate, isolated town that Scrivner brings to life. The blurb compares this book to The Dry and Everything I Never Told You<, Dirt Creek is neither, but it is a solid read and an impressive debut.
I received an ARC of Dirt Creek by Hayley Scrivenor from Macmillan in exchange for an honest review.
May 25, 2023
*WINNER 2023 ABIA - General Fiction Book of the Year*
“What do we owe the girl who isn't there?
My best friend wore her name, Esther, like a queen wearing her crown at a jaunty angle. We were twelve years old when she went missing.”
On a sweltering Friday afternoon in the small rural town of Durton, best friends Ronnie and Esther leave school together. Esther never makes it home.
But Ronnie has a plan. She’s going to find Esther and Lewis will help. Their friend can't be gone, Ronnie won't believe it.
Written from the overlapping perspectives of multiple characters, some speaking in first and others third person voice, we follow the investigation, the grieving, the suspicions and the secrets of the small town, all told with depth and sensitivity.
My favourite of the revolving perspectives was the collective 'WE' of the town's children. It was so raw and poetic and clever. The children of Dirt Town, share their knowledge of specific details and what went unseen by the protagonists. The switching of voice was an interesting and effective way to freshen up passages that could easily become dull if each piece of action was described in the same perspective.
The story itself was fresh and the characters were familiar without falling into the regular detective-witness tropes. I adored the emotional depth. These characters, they're all so beautifully developed. I cared about them all, even the ones I didn't like.
This novel is such a clever and well written murder mystery set in a blistering heatwave in a small country town. This book took me right back to hot summers as a kid, when going to the pool and eating icy poles was a reprieve from the burning sun. The setting of rural Australia in 2001 was both poignant and nostalgic.
I adored this book and highly recommend it to all.
“What do we owe the girl who isn't there?
My best friend wore her name, Esther, like a queen wearing her crown at a jaunty angle. We were twelve years old when she went missing.”
On a sweltering Friday afternoon in the small rural town of Durton, best friends Ronnie and Esther leave school together. Esther never makes it home.
But Ronnie has a plan. She’s going to find Esther and Lewis will help. Their friend can't be gone, Ronnie won't believe it.
Written from the overlapping perspectives of multiple characters, some speaking in first and others third person voice, we follow the investigation, the grieving, the suspicions and the secrets of the small town, all told with depth and sensitivity.
My favourite of the revolving perspectives was the collective 'WE' of the town's children. It was so raw and poetic and clever. The children of Dirt Town, share their knowledge of specific details and what went unseen by the protagonists. The switching of voice was an interesting and effective way to freshen up passages that could easily become dull if each piece of action was described in the same perspective.
The story itself was fresh and the characters were familiar without falling into the regular detective-witness tropes. I adored the emotional depth. These characters, they're all so beautifully developed. I cared about them all, even the ones I didn't like.
This novel is such a clever and well written murder mystery set in a blistering heatwave in a small country town. This book took me right back to hot summers as a kid, when going to the pool and eating icy poles was a reprieve from the burning sun. The setting of rural Australia in 2001 was both poignant and nostalgic.
I adored this book and highly recommend it to all.
June 19, 2022
3.5 stars!
Ronnie's best friend Esther disappeared on her way home from school. It was the last Fiday afternoon in November. She was only twelve years old. It happened in Durton known as Dirt Creek in rural Australia. Ronnie is determined to find her friend. Detective Sergeant Sarah and Smithy are on the case. All of the men seem to be a suspect. Dark secrets and lies are revealed. Everyone seems to know each other.
This was a slow burner but I never was bored. It was very intriguing.
It is a very sad story.
I loved the beautiful prose. Her writing is very similar to Jane Harper's.
No no no no no! There is pet abuse in this book!! Beware if this is a trigger for you! There actually are a lot of other triggers too. My rating would of been 4.5 rounded to a 4 if it didn't have the pet abuse in it.
I really did enjoy the plot. This was a very atmospheric read. I did jot enjoy the We Chapters.
The characters were very well done. My favorite character was Ronnie.
This is a debut novel and its hard to believe that this is her first novel.
This was not a predictable read and has some twists.
It was a very riveting read.
This was a buddy read with Jayme, Marilyn, Susan and DeAnn.
I received a free arc of Dirt Creek by Hayley Scrivenor from from Macmillan in exchange for an honest review.
Ronnie's best friend Esther disappeared on her way home from school. It was the last Fiday afternoon in November. She was only twelve years old. It happened in Durton known as Dirt Creek in rural Australia. Ronnie is determined to find her friend. Detective Sergeant Sarah and Smithy are on the case. All of the men seem to be a suspect. Dark secrets and lies are revealed. Everyone seems to know each other.
This was a slow burner but I never was bored. It was very intriguing.
It is a very sad story.
I loved the beautiful prose. Her writing is very similar to Jane Harper's.
No no no no no! There is pet abuse in this book!! Beware if this is a trigger for you! There actually are a lot of other triggers too. My rating would of been 4.5 rounded to a 4 if it didn't have the pet abuse in it.
I really did enjoy the plot. This was a very atmospheric read. I did jot enjoy the We Chapters.
The characters were very well done. My favorite character was Ronnie.
This is a debut novel and its hard to believe that this is her first novel.
This was not a predictable read and has some twists.
It was a very riveting read.
This was a buddy read with Jayme, Marilyn, Susan and DeAnn.
I received a free arc of Dirt Creek by Hayley Scrivenor from from Macmillan in exchange for an honest review.
June 1, 2023
For every girl child, there seemed to lurk a dead-eyed man, hair receding prematurely, with a car and the offer of a lift and a plan and a knife and a shovel. Did we create the man by imagining him or was he idling there in his car regardless?--------------------------------------
None of us can escape who we are when others aren’t looking; we can’t guess what we’re capable of until it’s too late.Durton, New South Wales, 2001, the hottest November ever. Twelve-year-old Esther Bianchi has gone missing somewhere between school and home. Authorities are alerted, and a search is on. Her bff, Ronnie, believes that Esther has not met a dark end, and is determined to find her.
Hayley Scrivenor - image from Writer Interviews blogspot
Durton is not exactly a garden spot, although a suggestive apple does put in an appearance. It is a secondary town, to a secondary city, a drive west from Sydney measured in double-digit hours. While there may be some appealing qualities to the place, what comes across about Durton is that it is the back end of nowhere, a physical manifestation of isolation, and thus a fitting image for the isolation experienced by its residents, albeit not quite actual outback. It is a place where there are some who are, wrongfully, ashamed of who they are, and there are some others who should be. The main exports of Durton appear to be fear, pain, abuse, and despair. The local kids call it Dirt Town, which is the title of the book in Australia. The name fits. Not sure why it was retitled Dirt Creek for its North American release.
The action begins on Tuesday, December 4, 2001, with the discovery of a body. Then it goes back to Friday, November 30, tracking the events that led up to that discovery, and continues for a few days beyond. Over the course of these days, we follow Ronnie Thompson and Lewis Kennard, Esther’s mates, Constance Bianchi, Esther’s mother, and Detective Sergeant Sarah Michaels, the detective assigned the case, as they try to figure out where Esther is, and what happened to her, if anything. Ronnie is a first-person narrator, so we get a good close look at her. The Lewis, Constance, and Sarah chapters are in third person, but we still get a pretty good sense of what is going on inside them. The unusual element here is the presence of a first-person Greek chorus, speaking in the voices of children, and offering an omniscient view of the goings on.
I started a PhD in creative writing in 2016. It can be dangerous to ask me about collective narration because my research project looked at novels that had Greek chorus-like narration, and I can go on a bit. But I do have a clear sense of where Dirt Town the novel started. I sat down to write a short story from the point of view of the children of a small town, kind of like the one where I had grown up. What I wrote was largely just these kids coming home from school, but there was an energy in it that made me think it could be a novel. That writing is still in the book, pretty much as it was written. It occurred to me that if I was in these kids’ heads, then I needed something for them all to be looking at, thinking about: an experience that was as big as the town. One of the next flashes I had was that a girl had died, and the story grew from there. - from the Books and Publishing interviewDurton is a close-knit community in a way. Shelly McFarlane, for example, is best friends with Constance Bianchi, Esther’s mother. Shelly’s husband, Peter, is brother to Ronnie Thompson’s mother. There are more, but the connections in Durston occupy a place higher than purely communal, but less than purely familial. And yet, there are many ways to be, or to feel, alone. Constance is English-born, but married a local, and feels very out of place, as the cowboy-ish appeal of her handsome husband has faded under the weight of experience. Lewis has a secret that makes him feel very alone and vulnerable. Sarah must contend with her recent, nasty, breakup with her partner. There are abused people here, who are afraid to tell anyone, lest they suffer even more, given how ineffective or feckless law enforcement has been about such things. This includes a long-ago rape that was never brought to justice. As a part of this, people wonder if they have somehow brought their misery down on themselves, which, of course, only adds to their feelings of isolation. What makes them different also makes them feel alone.
The story moves forward in a moistly straight line, after the initial jump back. There is a bit of history on occasion, for backstory, and there is overlap as different POVs occur simultaneously, reporting events Rashomon-style.
The mystery unravels at a comfortable pace, with clues being presented, conversations being had, and determinations being made about whether this or that connects to the missing girl. There is other criminality going on in Durton that may or may not be related, and there is a pair of missing twins not too far away, whose fate may or may not have anything to do with Esther’s.
The characters are sympathetic and appealing, which makes us eager to keep flipping pages to see if they are ok, in addition to wanting to find out what actually happened. There are the usual number of red herrings flopping about in the bucket. The fun of the clues is trying to figure out which are germane to Esther’s disappearance and which are intended to throw us off the scent. There is also a fair bit about life in Australia, this part of it, anyway. The most interesting element of the novel for me was the Greek chorus. It took a while to figure out who comprised it. That puzzle was fun, too. And the chorus offers a tool for exposition, which worked pretty well.
Overall, I found this an enjoyable, well, considering the subject matter, engaging read, with interesting characters and a mystery that Scrivenor draws you in to trying to solve. Dirt Creek is an excellent Summer entertainment, good, clean reading pleasure.
We are not sure if it was our childhood or just childhood in general that has made us the way we are.
Review posted – September 2, 2022
Publication date
----------August 2, 2022 (USA) - Hardcover
----------May 30, 2023 - Trade paperback
I received an eARE of Dirt Creek from Flatiron Books in return for a fair review. Thanks, folks, and thanks to NetGalley for facilitating.
This review has been, or soon will be, cross-posted on my site, Coot’s Reviews. Stop by and say Hi!
=============================EXTRA STUFF
Links to the author’s personal and Instagram pages
Profile - from Booktopia
Hayley Scrivenor is a former Director of Wollongong Writers Festival. Originally from a small country town, Hayley now lives and writes on Dharawal country and has a PhD in Creative Writing from the University of Wollongong on the south coast of New South Wales. Dirt Town (our Book of the Month for June!) is her first novel. An earlier version of the book was shortlisted for the Penguin Literary Prize and won the Kill Your Darlings Unpublished Manuscript Award.Interviews
-----Booktopia - Ten Terrifying Questions with Hayley Scrivenor
-----Books + Publishing - Hayley Scrivenor on ‘Dirt Town’
-----The Big Thrill - Much More Than a Familiar Whodunnit by Charles Salzberg
-----Crimereads - COLLECTIVE NARRATORS: THE BEST USES OF THE FIRST-PERSON PLURAL IN LITERATURE
-----Mystery Tribune - A Conversation With Australian Mystery Writer Hayley Scrivenor
Item of interest – author
-----Kill Your Darlings - Show Your Working: Hayley Scrivenor
Tiny Q/A
I wondered why Scrivenor had set her story in 2001 and if there were any particular significances to her characters’ names, so I asked, on her site. She graciously replied.
The simple answer to the setting question is that the character of Ronnie is twelve in 2001, and so was I - so it helped me keep my timeline straight!For the names query, she referred me to an interview in which some of the name considerations are addressed. Here is her response from there:
I spent quite a bit of time thinking about the names of characters. Some have been the same almost since the start: Veronica, the missing girl’s best friend, goes by ‘Ronnie’, and that always felt absolutely right for her character. The character of Lewis, a young boy who sees Esther after she’s supposed to have gone missing, gets called ‘Louise’ by his classmates, I had to reverse-engineer a name that kids could play with in that way. Sometimes, names can become a little in-joke with yourself, too. There is a character named ‘Constance’, who is the mother of the missing girl. I called her Constance because she changes her mind a lot, over the course of the story.-----Author Interviews - Hayley Scrivenor by Marshal Zeringue
October 7, 2023
Dirt Creek by Hayley Scrivenor
Ronnie and Ester, twelve year old girls, are best friends. They are also good friends with Lewis, who has been ostracized by their schoolmates. When Ester goes missing, Ronnie doesn't understand why Lewis doesn't tell the police what he saw. But, as we will find out, everybody in the little down of Durton aka Dirt Town has secrets, even the kids.
Detective Sergeant Sarah Michaels and her partner are sent to the town to investigate Ester's disappearance. It's obvious people are hiding something, telling lies, blaming others. But, Ronnie isn't going to let her best friend stay missing, she's going to make sure she is found.
There is a Greek chorus of kids that seems creepy and sinister to me. But then this entire town and it's inhabitants seem creepy and/or repulsive. The story and the story telling is good, but I'm not the right reader for the story. There is animal abuse that is too much for me but luckily I was told where at least one event occurs so I could avoid it. Still, animal abuse (and a slew of other abuses) is a part of this story, and it shut down my enjoyment of the book. Not all stories are right for all folks and this one wasn't right for me.
I read this story with DeAnn, Jayme, Susan, and Mary Beth and I really appreciate getting to discuss the story with them. We had a wide variety of thoughts and opinions and the story led to some really good conversation.
Published August 2nd 2022
Thank you to Macmillan Publishers, Flatiron Books and NetGalley for this ARC.
Ronnie and Ester, twelve year old girls, are best friends. They are also good friends with Lewis, who has been ostracized by their schoolmates. When Ester goes missing, Ronnie doesn't understand why Lewis doesn't tell the police what he saw. But, as we will find out, everybody in the little down of Durton aka Dirt Town has secrets, even the kids.
Detective Sergeant Sarah Michaels and her partner are sent to the town to investigate Ester's disappearance. It's obvious people are hiding something, telling lies, blaming others. But, Ronnie isn't going to let her best friend stay missing, she's going to make sure she is found.
There is a Greek chorus of kids that seems creepy and sinister to me. But then this entire town and it's inhabitants seem creepy and/or repulsive. The story and the story telling is good, but I'm not the right reader for the story. There is animal abuse that is too much for me but luckily I was told where at least one event occurs so I could avoid it. Still, animal abuse (and a slew of other abuses) is a part of this story, and it shut down my enjoyment of the book. Not all stories are right for all folks and this one wasn't right for me.
I read this story with DeAnn, Jayme, Susan, and Mary Beth and I really appreciate getting to discuss the story with them. We had a wide variety of thoughts and opinions and the story led to some really good conversation.
Published August 2nd 2022
Thank you to Macmillan Publishers, Flatiron Books and NetGalley for this ARC.
June 10, 2022
“We saw him crouch to scoop away earth with one hand, running his fingers along the shiny, black plastic. It was four days, since anyone, including us, had seen Esther Bianchi.”
I was unfamiliar with the term “Greek Chorus” but it refers to a homogeneous, non individualized, group of performers of a Greek tragedy, who comment in a collective voice, periodically about the dramatic action.
The book opens with the Greek Chorus-like narrator “WE”- the remaining children, of Durton (Dirt Town), letting us in on the fate of 12 year old Esther, although in reality, these omniscient narrators were not “in the know” at the time of the discovery.
Fortunately, these short chapters only occur sporadically, as they didn’t quite work for me.
They felt COLD, when a book about a young girl losing her life, should feel ANYTHING BUT!!
This is a SLOW BURN, mystery about what happened to Esther, on the day she disappeared while walking home from school, and thankfully we feel more emotion from the remaining narrators, whose point of views alternate.
Ronnie ‘s narrative is shared in the first person, and is the most moving. She is an only child who loves Llamas, and her best friend Esther, like the sister she never had.
She thinks Esther was the brave one-but she will do anything to try to find her friend.
We also have the viewpoint of another child, Lewis who was a classmate and friend to both Esther and Ronnie.
Adult viewpoints are shared from the third person POV of Constance (Esther’s mom) and Detective Sergeant Sarah Michaels- sent from Melbourne to investigate.
Dirt Town is a dying town, hot and dusty, and small enough for everyone to know one another.
At least, they think they do.
But even in small towns secrets can be hidden…
MELANCHOLY and SOMBER, this is another well written, character driven crime story-and an impressive debut-but for such a sad story, I expected to feel more, emotionally for the characters.
I probably would have-if the Greek Chorus “WE” chapters had not been included.
3.75 rounded up!
⚠️ Trigger Warnings: This book has them all! A brief but GRATUITOUS scene of the abuse of a kitten. and disturbing treatment of a dog. Domestic abuse, child abuse and mention of rape.
This was a group read which included DeAnn, MarilynW, Susan, and Mary Beth and our opinions were very mixed! Be sure to read their insightful reviews for additional feedback! 💕
I received a free ARC of Dirt Creek by Australian author Hayley Scrivenor from Macmillan in exchange for an honest review. It was published as Dirt Town, in the UK and Australia. (the title I prefer).
AVAILABLE on August 2, 2022.
I was unfamiliar with the term “Greek Chorus” but it refers to a homogeneous, non individualized, group of performers of a Greek tragedy, who comment in a collective voice, periodically about the dramatic action.
The book opens with the Greek Chorus-like narrator “WE”- the remaining children, of Durton (Dirt Town), letting us in on the fate of 12 year old Esther, although in reality, these omniscient narrators were not “in the know” at the time of the discovery.
Fortunately, these short chapters only occur sporadically, as they didn’t quite work for me.
They felt COLD, when a book about a young girl losing her life, should feel ANYTHING BUT!!
This is a SLOW BURN, mystery about what happened to Esther, on the day she disappeared while walking home from school, and thankfully we feel more emotion from the remaining narrators, whose point of views alternate.
Ronnie ‘s narrative is shared in the first person, and is the most moving. She is an only child who loves Llamas, and her best friend Esther, like the sister she never had.
She thinks Esther was the brave one-but she will do anything to try to find her friend.
We also have the viewpoint of another child, Lewis who was a classmate and friend to both Esther and Ronnie.
Adult viewpoints are shared from the third person POV of Constance (Esther’s mom) and Detective Sergeant Sarah Michaels- sent from Melbourne to investigate.
Dirt Town is a dying town, hot and dusty, and small enough for everyone to know one another.
At least, they think they do.
But even in small towns secrets can be hidden…
MELANCHOLY and SOMBER, this is another well written, character driven crime story-and an impressive debut-but for such a sad story, I expected to feel more, emotionally for the characters.
I probably would have-if the Greek Chorus “WE” chapters had not been included.
3.75 rounded up!
⚠️ Trigger Warnings: This book has them all! A brief but GRATUITOUS scene of the abuse of a kitten. and disturbing treatment of a dog. Domestic abuse, child abuse and mention of rape.
This was a group read which included DeAnn, MarilynW, Susan, and Mary Beth and our opinions were very mixed! Be sure to read their insightful reviews for additional feedback! 💕
I received a free ARC of Dirt Creek by Australian author Hayley Scrivenor from Macmillan in exchange for an honest review. It was published as Dirt Town, in the UK and Australia. (the title I prefer).
AVAILABLE on August 2, 2022.
May 20, 2022
Hayley Scrivenor's atmospheric Aussie crime debut revolves around 12 year old Esther Bianchi who disappears on her way home from school in the small town of Durton, aka Dirt Town, and the repercussions on the community, its families and children. Specialist Missing Persons police officers, DS Sarah Michaels, still obsessing over the breakdown of her relationship with Amira, and DC Wayne Smith arrive, organising line searches with local volunteers, using divers to check the dam, and deploying the dog team. Esther's mother, Constance, married to the very good looking Steven, is plunged into the depths of despair and desperation. The story is related through the perspectives of a number of people and children, it includes a type of Greek chorus from the children, relaying information and an awareness of the undercurrents of darkness and cruelties that run through the town.
Veronica 'Ronnie' Thompson is Esther's best friend and biggest cheerleader, for her Esther was magical, she loves the way Estie could do voices, jumping around and squirming until she had Ronnie bursting into raucous crazy laughter. Estie means everything to her, she had the ability to make Ronnie feel more than she was. Being raised by her single mother, Evelyn, Ronnie idolises Steven as a father figure, certain he would never harm Estie. Knowing Estie so well, Ronnie thinks she is the person to find her, unable to comprehend a world in which Estie does not return. Young Lewis Kennard faces troubling family circumstances that revolve around his father, Clint, he is a boy with secrets, secrets that prevent him from revealing what he saw at the creek on the afternoon Estie disappeared. As time goes by and the police work their way through potential suspects, it becomes increasingly unlikely that Estie will be found alive.
Scrivenor weaves a riveting story of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, and of how anyone, even good people, can so easily make mistakes whilst facing a challenging set of circumstances. Dirt Town is a place of secrets that begin to surface as Sarah investigates, Esther going missing portrays how a town and community simultaneously comes together and splinters apart. For the children, it means explicitly acknowledging that bad things happen, a loss of childhood innocence and freedom, but they and Esther are unquestionably Dirt Town children. The author provides information about what happens in the future with a number of characters, I was particularly happy to learn that life turns out to be more than okay for Lewis. This is a great Aussie mystery that I recommend highly. Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.
Veronica 'Ronnie' Thompson is Esther's best friend and biggest cheerleader, for her Esther was magical, she loves the way Estie could do voices, jumping around and squirming until she had Ronnie bursting into raucous crazy laughter. Estie means everything to her, she had the ability to make Ronnie feel more than she was. Being raised by her single mother, Evelyn, Ronnie idolises Steven as a father figure, certain he would never harm Estie. Knowing Estie so well, Ronnie thinks she is the person to find her, unable to comprehend a world in which Estie does not return. Young Lewis Kennard faces troubling family circumstances that revolve around his father, Clint, he is a boy with secrets, secrets that prevent him from revealing what he saw at the creek on the afternoon Estie disappeared. As time goes by and the police work their way through potential suspects, it becomes increasingly unlikely that Estie will be found alive.
Scrivenor weaves a riveting story of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, and of how anyone, even good people, can so easily make mistakes whilst facing a challenging set of circumstances. Dirt Town is a place of secrets that begin to surface as Sarah investigates, Esther going missing portrays how a town and community simultaneously comes together and splinters apart. For the children, it means explicitly acknowledging that bad things happen, a loss of childhood innocence and freedom, but they and Esther are unquestionably Dirt Town children. The author provides information about what happens in the future with a number of characters, I was particularly happy to learn that life turns out to be more than okay for Lewis. This is a great Aussie mystery that I recommend highly. Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.
August 29, 2022
jane harper blurbed this. now, we all know blurbs dont mean anything other than attempts at marketing. and it sure worked on me! lol.
it did take me a bit to warm up to the writing style at first, but once i did, the story really sank into me. theres honestly no mystery more atmospheric than ones that take place in small australian bush towns. the physical location alone has a quiet perfection about it, but also the people who live in them create the heart of the story.
overall, a really great debut!
↠ 4 stars
it did take me a bit to warm up to the writing style at first, but once i did, the story really sank into me. theres honestly no mystery more atmospheric than ones that take place in small australian bush towns. the physical location alone has a quiet perfection about it, but also the people who live in them create the heart of the story.
overall, a really great debut!
↠ 4 stars
August 6, 2022
3.5⭐
A slow-burn mystery revolving around the disappearance of twelve year old Esther. Suspicions fly and secrets are about to be laid wide open. This town will never be the same.
I was lulled into the mystery of Esther. So many questions that needed answering - what happened on her walk home from school? How could she just vanish? Was there something or someone more sinister behind her sudden disappearance?
Overall I enjoyed, but I struggled somewhat keeping the characters straight. Perhaps more depth to each was needed. (Or maybe it was just me).🤦🏻♀️
The mystery kept me guessing. And the ending did not let me down. It was truly surprising!
I listened to the audio and the voice talent of Sophie Loughran was fabulous.
A buddy 🎧 with Susanne.
Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio
A slow-burn mystery revolving around the disappearance of twelve year old Esther. Suspicions fly and secrets are about to be laid wide open. This town will never be the same.
I was lulled into the mystery of Esther. So many questions that needed answering - what happened on her walk home from school? How could she just vanish? Was there something or someone more sinister behind her sudden disappearance?
Overall I enjoyed, but I struggled somewhat keeping the characters straight. Perhaps more depth to each was needed. (Or maybe it was just me).🤦🏻♀️
The mystery kept me guessing. And the ending did not let me down. It was truly surprising!
I listened to the audio and the voice talent of Sophie Loughran was fabulous.
A buddy 🎧 with Susanne.
Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio
July 8, 2022
EXCERPT: My best friend wore her name, Esther, like a queen wearing her crown at a jaunty angle. She only ever called me Ronnie. I didn't fit the grown woman name I'd been given. The glamorous syllables of Ve-ron-i-ca had nothing to do with me. We were twelve years old when she went missing. I was bossy and solid, shorter than Esther but determined to dictate the terms of our play, the kid who would assign roles when we pretended to be Power Rangers at recess, stomping off in a huff if other kids had their own ideas. But a lot of the time I wasn't getting my own way with Esther so much as saying out loud what she'd already decided she wanted to do. She would hurtle into a room, tongue sticking out, and leap so she landed with her knees bent and legs wide apart. She'd roll her eyes into the back of her head and say, 'Rah!' at peak volume, before streaking out of the room again. I needed things from people, and Esther didn't, not really, and I think that's why I was drawn to her.
ABOUT 'DIRT TOWN': On a sweltering Friday afternoon in Durton, best friends Ronnie and Esther leave school together. Esther never makes it home.
Ronnie's going to find her, she has a plan. Lewis will help. Their friend can't be gone, Ronnie won't believe it.
Detective Sergeant Sarah Michaels can believe it, she has seen what people are capable of. She knows more than anyone how, in a moment of weakness, a person can be driven to do something they never thought possible.
Lewis can believe it too. But he can't reveal what he saw that afternoon at the creek without exposing his own secret.
Five days later, Esther's buried body is discovered.
What do we owe the girl who isn't there?
MY THOUGHTS: Durton, or Dirt Town as it's known by the locals. The kind of town you can't wait to leave behind as a teenager. The kind of town you come running home to when life goes wrong. The kind of town where everyone thinks they know you and know your business. Where lives are intertwined. An irritant. A solace. But behind closed doors . . .
Dirt Town is a slow burn, character driven mystery. The story is told through the collective voices of the children of Durton, WE; Ronnie, Esther's best friend; Detective Sergeant Sarah Michaels, the investigating officer on the case; Lewis, who sits with Ronnie and Esther at lunch to avoid being bullied by the other boys; and Constance, Esther's mother.
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.” - Charles Dickens could easily have been writing about Durton, about the time when Esther Bianchi went missing. The town buzzed with a suppressed excitement at the horror of it all and kept their children close. Rumours abound. Accusations are made. Things are said that can never be unsaid. Innocuous events take on a new meaning. And no one will stand up in defence of anyone else in case they are tarred with the same brush.
Scrivenor has put a small outback town under a microscope. The results are more than interesting. This read gripped me, although it is not at all suspenseful. The characters filled my head, clamouring for attention. I shed tears for Ronnie's devastation, her determination to do right by her missing friend, and for Lewis's isolation.
The revelation is perfect. There's no dramatics, no fanfare. It just is.
It's hard to believe this beautifully executed novel is a debut. I will be following this author with great interest.
⭐⭐⭐⭐.4
#DirtTown #NetGalley
I: @hayley.scrivenor @macmillanaus @panmacmillanuk
T: #HayleyScrivenor @MacmillanAus @PanMacmillan
#australianfiction #contemporaryfiction #detectivefiction #friendship #mystery #sliceoflife #smalltownfiction
THE AUTHOR: Hayley Scrivenor is a former Director of Wollongong Writers Festival. Originally from a small country town, Hayley now lives and writes on Dharawal country and has a PhD in Creative Writing from the University of Wollongong on the south coast of New South Wales. Dirt Town is her first novel.
DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Pan Macmillan via Netgalley for providing a digital ARC of Dirt Town by Hayley Scrivenor 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 is also published on Twitter, Amazon, Instagram and my webpage https://sandysbookaday.wordpress.com/...
ABOUT 'DIRT TOWN': On a sweltering Friday afternoon in Durton, best friends Ronnie and Esther leave school together. Esther never makes it home.
Ronnie's going to find her, she has a plan. Lewis will help. Their friend can't be gone, Ronnie won't believe it.
Detective Sergeant Sarah Michaels can believe it, she has seen what people are capable of. She knows more than anyone how, in a moment of weakness, a person can be driven to do something they never thought possible.
Lewis can believe it too. But he can't reveal what he saw that afternoon at the creek without exposing his own secret.
Five days later, Esther's buried body is discovered.
What do we owe the girl who isn't there?
MY THOUGHTS: Durton, or Dirt Town as it's known by the locals. The kind of town you can't wait to leave behind as a teenager. The kind of town you come running home to when life goes wrong. The kind of town where everyone thinks they know you and know your business. Where lives are intertwined. An irritant. A solace. But behind closed doors . . .
Dirt Town is a slow burn, character driven mystery. The story is told through the collective voices of the children of Durton, WE; Ronnie, Esther's best friend; Detective Sergeant Sarah Michaels, the investigating officer on the case; Lewis, who sits with Ronnie and Esther at lunch to avoid being bullied by the other boys; and Constance, Esther's mother.
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.” - Charles Dickens could easily have been writing about Durton, about the time when Esther Bianchi went missing. The town buzzed with a suppressed excitement at the horror of it all and kept their children close. Rumours abound. Accusations are made. Things are said that can never be unsaid. Innocuous events take on a new meaning. And no one will stand up in defence of anyone else in case they are tarred with the same brush.
Scrivenor has put a small outback town under a microscope. The results are more than interesting. This read gripped me, although it is not at all suspenseful. The characters filled my head, clamouring for attention. I shed tears for Ronnie's devastation, her determination to do right by her missing friend, and for Lewis's isolation.
The revelation is perfect. There's no dramatics, no fanfare. It just is.
It's hard to believe this beautifully executed novel is a debut. I will be following this author with great interest.
⭐⭐⭐⭐.4
#DirtTown #NetGalley
I: @hayley.scrivenor @macmillanaus @panmacmillanuk
T: #HayleyScrivenor @MacmillanAus @PanMacmillan
#australianfiction #contemporaryfiction #detectivefiction #friendship #mystery #sliceoflife #smalltownfiction
THE AUTHOR: Hayley Scrivenor is a former Director of Wollongong Writers Festival. Originally from a small country town, Hayley now lives and writes on Dharawal country and has a PhD in Creative Writing from the University of Wollongong on the south coast of New South Wales. Dirt Town is her first novel.
DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Pan Macmillan via Netgalley for providing a digital ARC of Dirt Town by Hayley Scrivenor 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 is also published on Twitter, Amazon, Instagram and my webpage https://sandysbookaday.wordpress.com/...
July 25, 2022
In the small and stale town of Durton, the residents think they know everything about everyone…but they are clearly mistaken when a 12-year old girl named Esther goes missing.
Esther’s best friend, Ronnie, is eager to find her. So is Detective Sergeant Sarah Michaels, Esther and Ronni’s school friend, Lewis, and most of the rest of the town. What could’ve possibly happened to her?
This is a bleak, slow burn of a drama. I can see how it may not be for everyone, but I was hooked and wanted to know what happened to Esther. The characters are interesting - some dark, some broken - and everyone could potentially have something to hide. Little nuggets of information are given throughout the book, but you’ll need to be patient as there is a lot of background to the foks of Durton.
The writing is excellent, and although I don’t really think this is a mystery in the literal sense, it’s still compelling and does a nice job of answering all of the reader’s questions by the end.
Thank you to Flatiron Books for a physical ARC in exchange for an honest review. Expected Publication Date: 8/2/22.
Esther’s best friend, Ronnie, is eager to find her. So is Detective Sergeant Sarah Michaels, Esther and Ronni’s school friend, Lewis, and most of the rest of the town. What could’ve possibly happened to her?
This is a bleak, slow burn of a drama. I can see how it may not be for everyone, but I was hooked and wanted to know what happened to Esther. The characters are interesting - some dark, some broken - and everyone could potentially have something to hide. Little nuggets of information are given throughout the book, but you’ll need to be patient as there is a lot of background to the foks of Durton.
The writing is excellent, and although I don’t really think this is a mystery in the literal sense, it’s still compelling and does a nice job of answering all of the reader’s questions by the end.
Thank you to Flatiron Books for a physical ARC in exchange for an honest review. Expected Publication Date: 8/2/22.
March 23, 2022
When twelve year old Esther goes missing on her way home from school, the whole town is impacted. Her single mother is devastated and her best friend Ronnie tries to find out what happened to her. In this small Australian town there are limited suspects, but putting the pieces together prove challenging. Many are harboring secrets and the detectives assigned to the case have theory after theory but a real suspect for a time proves elusive.
Heartbreaking in parts, a mother's anguish, this book gives us a look at how a missing child effects all in this town. What is unique in common plot, is that in between chapters we hear from a collective We, the children of the town. Their lives as and how Esthers disappearance has effected them. Even after the denouement the book continues to update the reader on what happens to those left behind.
This is a well done first novel and I'm hoping for many more from I'm hoping for many more from this talented author. If you like Jane Harper, I'm sure you'll like this.
ARC from bookbrowse.
Heartbreaking in parts, a mother's anguish, this book gives us a look at how a missing child effects all in this town. What is unique in common plot, is that in between chapters we hear from a collective We, the children of the town. Their lives as and how Esthers disappearance has effected them. Even after the denouement the book continues to update the reader on what happens to those left behind.
This is a well done first novel and I'm hoping for many more from I'm hoping for many more from this talented author. If you like Jane Harper, I'm sure you'll like this.
ARC from bookbrowse.
September 1, 2022
Sometimes I feel I lack the adequate judgement to review a book based on other readers' experiences.
This book has received many rave reviews, so I urge prospective readers to pursue some of its stellar reviews and not judge it by my opinion. I found this to be a slow-paced tedious read and struggled to finish it.
Aussie Noir is a favourite category of mine, and I was excited to preorder Dirt Town and receive it in the mail. It has already won an Unpublished manuscript award, been shortlisted for Penguin's Literary prize, and is sure to receive other accolades. There are glowing blurbs on the cover from Jane Harper, Christopher Whitaker, and Ann Cleeves. Based on my feelings, I have rated it 3 Stars for an impressive debut, but at times my enjoyment was more at a 2 Star level. This was a slow-moving story set in rural Australia's small, lethargic town of Durton (Dirt Town). Aside from the mention of heat, a few Aussie words, expressions and references, I did not feel a sense of place. I felt the location could be any small town in decline where everyone knew its other occupants, and most were burdened by secrets.
This was a character-based mystery involving the disappearance of 12-year-old Esther, whose hidden body was discovered five days later. We are told this at the beginning of the story. There are chapters headlined We, a literary device using the collective voice of a homogeneous group of children commenting on the tragedy. They describe how the tragedy affected them and urge that Esther be remembered. I found these chapters to be redundant and distracting.
I found the adult characters to be unpleasant as their stories concentrated on their faults. I never felt engaged or that I knew them. The mood was melancholy with a prevailing sadness, but I regret I was never emotionally drawn into the story.
Esther's tragedy is told through the narrative of Rony, Esther's best friend, who is determined to find her. She refuses to believe that anything bad could happen to her brave, lovely friend, whom she regards as a sister.
Lewis is a boy from an abusive home who is ostracized by the boys in his school. He spends his time with Esther and Rony. He believes he knows something about Esther's disappearance. Due to his secrets, he is afraid to report an incident he saw to the police.
We are drawn into the anguish of Esther's single mother, Constance. She leans on her only friend, Stella, but when she learns Stella's secret, her trust is shattered. Her daughter's disappearance and death, along with Stella's hidden past, disrupts her marriage.
D.S. Sarah Michaels and her partner are assigned to Durton to investigate the case of Esther's abduction and death. There are many suspects. The murder has shattered the fabric of Dirt Town. Its residents are not used to crimes of violence and tend to suspect and blame each other. Detective Sarah seems resolute in her goal to find the murderer but is obsessed and distracted by thoughts of the breakup of a relationship with a woman she loved. She pursues a crime she believes is related to Esther's death. It had no connection but resulted in several arrests. She ignored reporting an abused and neglected dog.
There is another disturbing incident of children killing a kitten, and also episodes of family violence and psychological abuse, rape, and unfavourable, unsympathetic portrayal of the men of Durton.
I did enjoy a positive, happy outcome for Lewis and that Romy's mother moves away from town with her daughter to help Romy recover from the trauma of her friend's death and from learning the identity of her father.
I regret that my problems with the book outweighed its many positive factors and that the majority of readers will enjoy its mystery and characters.
This book has received many rave reviews, so I urge prospective readers to pursue some of its stellar reviews and not judge it by my opinion. I found this to be a slow-paced tedious read and struggled to finish it.
Aussie Noir is a favourite category of mine, and I was excited to preorder Dirt Town and receive it in the mail. It has already won an Unpublished manuscript award, been shortlisted for Penguin's Literary prize, and is sure to receive other accolades. There are glowing blurbs on the cover from Jane Harper, Christopher Whitaker, and Ann Cleeves. Based on my feelings, I have rated it 3 Stars for an impressive debut, but at times my enjoyment was more at a 2 Star level. This was a slow-moving story set in rural Australia's small, lethargic town of Durton (Dirt Town). Aside from the mention of heat, a few Aussie words, expressions and references, I did not feel a sense of place. I felt the location could be any small town in decline where everyone knew its other occupants, and most were burdened by secrets.
This was a character-based mystery involving the disappearance of 12-year-old Esther, whose hidden body was discovered five days later. We are told this at the beginning of the story. There are chapters headlined We, a literary device using the collective voice of a homogeneous group of children commenting on the tragedy. They describe how the tragedy affected them and urge that Esther be remembered. I found these chapters to be redundant and distracting.
I found the adult characters to be unpleasant as their stories concentrated on their faults. I never felt engaged or that I knew them. The mood was melancholy with a prevailing sadness, but I regret I was never emotionally drawn into the story.
Esther's tragedy is told through the narrative of Rony, Esther's best friend, who is determined to find her. She refuses to believe that anything bad could happen to her brave, lovely friend, whom she regards as a sister.
Lewis is a boy from an abusive home who is ostracized by the boys in his school. He spends his time with Esther and Rony. He believes he knows something about Esther's disappearance. Due to his secrets, he is afraid to report an incident he saw to the police.
We are drawn into the anguish of Esther's single mother, Constance. She leans on her only friend, Stella, but when she learns Stella's secret, her trust is shattered. Her daughter's disappearance and death, along with Stella's hidden past, disrupts her marriage.
D.S. Sarah Michaels and her partner are assigned to Durton to investigate the case of Esther's abduction and death. There are many suspects. The murder has shattered the fabric of Dirt Town. Its residents are not used to crimes of violence and tend to suspect and blame each other. Detective Sarah seems resolute in her goal to find the murderer but is obsessed and distracted by thoughts of the breakup of a relationship with a woman she loved. She pursues a crime she believes is related to Esther's death. It had no connection but resulted in several arrests. She ignored reporting an abused and neglected dog.
There is another disturbing incident of children killing a kitten, and also episodes of family violence and psychological abuse, rape, and unfavourable, unsympathetic portrayal of the men of Durton.
I did enjoy a positive, happy outcome for Lewis and that Romy's mother moves away from town with her daughter to help Romy recover from the trauma of her friend's death and from learning the identity of her father.
I regret that my problems with the book outweighed its many positive factors and that the majority of readers will enjoy its mystery and characters.
September 5, 2022
Esther Bianchi & Ronnie (aka Veronica) were best friends in Dutton , the kids called it Dirt Town everything was okay until one fateful day Esther disappeared without a trace never to be seen again, her mother Constance was praying each day of news about her daughter but nothing.
DS Sarah Michaels & her partner are investigating her disappearance but the town is hiding secrets that they don’t want revealed. Lewis one of Esther’s class mates knows more than he is telling but what is he hiding?
This novel took me a while to get into but once I did I was hooked it’s a very slow burn 🔥 but enjoyable in Australia this book is called Dirt Town but in the USA it’s called Dirt Creek why I don’t know, anyway this was well written the characters were well fleshed out a solid 4 stars ⭐️.
DS Sarah Michaels & her partner are investigating her disappearance but the town is hiding secrets that they don’t want revealed. Lewis one of Esther’s class mates knows more than he is telling but what is he hiding?
This novel took me a while to get into but once I did I was hooked it’s a very slow burn 🔥 but enjoyable in Australia this book is called Dirt Town but in the USA it’s called Dirt Creek why I don’t know, anyway this was well written the characters were well fleshed out a solid 4 stars ⭐️.
September 20, 2022
What a book! Over the summer Dirt Creek received so much love over @goodreads, and I could not wait to pick it up. What an atmospheric story by this talented debut author!
About the book: “In Hayley Scrivenor's Dirt Creek, a small-town debut mystery described as The Dry meets Everything I Never Told You, a girl goes missing and a community falls apart and comes together.”
I adore an atmospheric mystery, and this delivered every note of small town, rural Australia atmosphere. The town is full of secrets (love that, too). There are a few different narrators, including Esther’s mom, the mother of the missing child, her best friend, a young boy, and one of the detectives. I found the different perspectives enriched the story and deepened the suspense as they panned around Esther’s life and Dirt Creek.
Dirt Creek is very much a slow-building mystery. Brick by intriguing brick, layer by layer, the framework is laid out. There’s a sad tone to the story that only adds to the atmosphere. Highly recommend for fans of deep dive character studies with strong atmosphere. Love love loved it.
I received a gifted copy.
Many of my reviews can also be found on my blog: www.jennifertarheelreader.com and instagram: www.instagram.com/tarheelreader
About the book: “In Hayley Scrivenor's Dirt Creek, a small-town debut mystery described as The Dry meets Everything I Never Told You, a girl goes missing and a community falls apart and comes together.”
I adore an atmospheric mystery, and this delivered every note of small town, rural Australia atmosphere. The town is full of secrets (love that, too). There are a few different narrators, including Esther’s mom, the mother of the missing child, her best friend, a young boy, and one of the detectives. I found the different perspectives enriched the story and deepened the suspense as they panned around Esther’s life and Dirt Creek.
Dirt Creek is very much a slow-building mystery. Brick by intriguing brick, layer by layer, the framework is laid out. There’s a sad tone to the story that only adds to the atmosphere. Highly recommend for fans of deep dive character studies with strong atmosphere. Love love loved it.
I received a gifted copy.
Many of my reviews can also be found on my blog: www.jennifertarheelreader.com and instagram: www.instagram.com/tarheelreader
September 17, 2022
My Favorite Kind of Novel! Slow Burning, Character Driven Fiction!
The day twelve-year-old Esther (“Estie”) disappears after school one day, everyone in the small town of Durton, aka Dirt Creek, is completely shocked. Things like that just don’t happen in their town. It’s a good-hearted, warm, wonderful community, after all!
Once Detective Sarah Michaels and her partner start sniffing around, it becomes quite clear that everyone has something to hide and they’d like to keep it that way.
The last person to see Estie was her best friend Ronnie, and Ronnie will do absolutely anything to find her, even if it puts her in harm’s way.
I found the writing here to be stellar and enjoyed the storyline, as character-driven fiction is my favorite genre. I will say that I guessed the culprit almost immediately, and was impressed that my armchair detective skills were right on the money when all was revealed.
This was a buddy listen with Kaceey and it gave us both much to discuss.
Thank you to MacMillan Audio and NetGalley for the alc.
The day twelve-year-old Esther (“Estie”) disappears after school one day, everyone in the small town of Durton, aka Dirt Creek, is completely shocked. Things like that just don’t happen in their town. It’s a good-hearted, warm, wonderful community, after all!
Once Detective Sarah Michaels and her partner start sniffing around, it becomes quite clear that everyone has something to hide and they’d like to keep it that way.
The last person to see Estie was her best friend Ronnie, and Ronnie will do absolutely anything to find her, even if it puts her in harm’s way.
I found the writing here to be stellar and enjoyed the storyline, as character-driven fiction is my favorite genre. I will say that I guessed the culprit almost immediately, and was impressed that my armchair detective skills were right on the money when all was revealed.
This was a buddy listen with Kaceey and it gave us both much to discuss.
Thank you to MacMillan Audio and NetGalley for the alc.
June 28, 2022
This was an outstanding debut. Australian talent continues to debut such quality work. I am lucky to be able to source items on audio so easily also, as waiting to get to a physical copy would be too long given my propensity to borrow, purchase and be given so many books.
As often is the case in many Australian books, an outback town sets the atmospheric location. A gregarious, smart and rumbustious young girl goes missing. Esther is loved by all, especially her best friend Ronnie who is equal measures fiery and a girl who seems to know it all. Descriptions of vegemite and scrapes and schoolyard happenings were very real, Ronnie's character was full of conviction for Esther; why would she go missing, she is so confident and good, she would have just gone for a walk, taken the long way home, nothing to worry about. So little worried was she that her Llama project was first and foremost, she didn't want to be seen 'tracing' her llama drawing onto the cardboard for her project using her mum's lamp - she knew Esther was fine.
Usually a detective seems to have all bases covered, but in this instance I was left feeling she wasn't as clever as she needed to be, she seemed to be grasping to have a handle on the situation. I wanted her to be all over it for dear little Esther. Detective Sarah from the city was looked upon with suspicion and, as always, with a lack of respect from most males she encounters.
Friendships between the adult females of this story were a large theme, the mother of Esther and her best friend who was a source of support, she seemed to know best and was always there for her friend, although a bit rough around the edges. Misogyny and men who care little about their women (and children) are always lurking in the background, definitely under the eye of the detective who also has her own gendered violence issues reflected constantly throughout.
Not to be forgotten is Lewis another young friend, he plays an integral part as well, as another soul searching for his identity in a place unwelcoming of anyone straying from the norm. I thought his internal monologue as a future adult was very well done. The relationship with his backward thinking father was portrayed excellently, bringing up many emotions for this reader.
Threaded amongst this wary and suspicious town is the collective voice of the 'we', the children left in the dying and miserable town who form a sort of chorus in the hope they will not be forgotten, and that those who are left behind matter, and are crying to be heard. This barren backdrop reeks of desperation and helplessness.
Clever writing as a story of many layers with even more serious themes interweaving a desolate and desperate town as reflected by its fractured inhabitants. Although not categorised as such, this to me had a slight feeling of a work of literary fiction to it.
As often is the case in many Australian books, an outback town sets the atmospheric location. A gregarious, smart and rumbustious young girl goes missing. Esther is loved by all, especially her best friend Ronnie who is equal measures fiery and a girl who seems to know it all. Descriptions of vegemite and scrapes and schoolyard happenings were very real, Ronnie's character was full of conviction for Esther; why would she go missing, she is so confident and good, she would have just gone for a walk, taken the long way home, nothing to worry about. So little worried was she that her Llama project was first and foremost, she didn't want to be seen 'tracing' her llama drawing onto the cardboard for her project using her mum's lamp - she knew Esther was fine.
Usually a detective seems to have all bases covered, but in this instance I was left feeling she wasn't as clever as she needed to be, she seemed to be grasping to have a handle on the situation. I wanted her to be all over it for dear little Esther. Detective Sarah from the city was looked upon with suspicion and, as always, with a lack of respect from most males she encounters.
Friendships between the adult females of this story were a large theme, the mother of Esther and her best friend who was a source of support, she seemed to know best and was always there for her friend, although a bit rough around the edges. Misogyny and men who care little about their women (and children) are always lurking in the background, definitely under the eye of the detective who also has her own gendered violence issues reflected constantly throughout.
Not to be forgotten is Lewis another young friend, he plays an integral part as well, as another soul searching for his identity in a place unwelcoming of anyone straying from the norm. I thought his internal monologue as a future adult was very well done. The relationship with his backward thinking father was portrayed excellently, bringing up many emotions for this reader.
Threaded amongst this wary and suspicious town is the collective voice of the 'we', the children left in the dying and miserable town who form a sort of chorus in the hope they will not be forgotten, and that those who are left behind matter, and are crying to be heard. This barren backdrop reeks of desperation and helplessness.
Clever writing as a story of many layers with even more serious themes interweaving a desolate and desperate town as reflected by its fractured inhabitants. Although not categorised as such, this to me had a slight feeling of a work of literary fiction to it.
June 8, 2022
Atmospheric River.
Oh, the secrets in this small town!
In rural Dirt Creek, everyone knows everyone, but they don’t know every THING.
I was eagerly anticipating uncovering the juicy details because clandestine activities can be so entwined in a place like this. Older than dirt and affixed firmly behind the surface, just waiting for some inquiring mind to knock them loose. Yes, bring it on!
I loved the mood created by the author while the landscape was brought to arid life. I also loved the writing, plot, and character development, save that most of the men in this book were transcribed as foul.
Dirt Creek had the potential of a four to five star read for me but I was upended by the gratuitous killing of a kitten. If that wasn't enough, another cat was abandoned by its owners, and a distressed dog left chained up all day.
Maybe the author doesn’t like animals or wanted to create shock value, but WHY? We already had a dead child, and the overplay ruined my reading experience.
Readers should also be advised of domestic violence, gang rape, and bullying in two different forms along with a heavy LBGTQ presence. Not everyone will feel comfortable reading about same gender “interactions” and frequent descriptions of the lead detective’s failed relationship felt forced.
I wanted to like the Detective Sergeant - she seemed like a good cop until her lecherous leanings toward witnesses and ignoring the hysterical dog made her unprofessional. Did I mention that she was also an abuser?
After thinking about this for several days, I can’t bring myself to rate this more than two stars even though the writing was stellar. Animal abuse is the hill that I choose to die on.
This was a group buddy read and I want to thank my friends DeAnn, Mary Beth, Jayme, and Marilyn for discussing this with me.
Thank you to Mcmillan, Flat Iron Books, and NetGalley for my electronic review copy.
Oh, the secrets in this small town!
In rural Dirt Creek, everyone knows everyone, but they don’t know every THING.
I was eagerly anticipating uncovering the juicy details because clandestine activities can be so entwined in a place like this. Older than dirt and affixed firmly behind the surface, just waiting for some inquiring mind to knock them loose. Yes, bring it on!
I loved the mood created by the author while the landscape was brought to arid life. I also loved the writing, plot, and character development, save that most of the men in this book were transcribed as foul.
Dirt Creek had the potential of a four to five star read for me but I was upended by the gratuitous killing of a kitten. If that wasn't enough, another cat was abandoned by its owners, and a distressed dog left chained up all day.
Maybe the author doesn’t like animals or wanted to create shock value, but WHY? We already had a dead child, and the overplay ruined my reading experience.
Readers should also be advised of domestic violence, gang rape, and bullying in two different forms along with a heavy LBGTQ presence. Not everyone will feel comfortable reading about same gender “interactions” and frequent descriptions of the lead detective’s failed relationship felt forced.
I wanted to like the Detective Sergeant - she seemed like a good cop until her lecherous leanings toward witnesses and ignoring the hysterical dog made her unprofessional. Did I mention that she was also an abuser?
After thinking about this for several days, I can’t bring myself to rate this more than two stars even though the writing was stellar. Animal abuse is the hill that I choose to die on.
This was a group buddy read and I want to thank my friends DeAnn, Mary Beth, Jayme, and Marilyn for discussing this with me.
Thank you to Mcmillan, Flat Iron Books, and NetGalley for my electronic review copy.
April 17, 2022
One of my books of the year so far, Dirt Town features spectacular writing, realistic characters and a tense, atmospheric plot that you simply cannot put down.
The sense of place is superb, the scene setting and multi layered viewpoint pops, the whole novel has a beautifully melancholy feel with small town claustrophobia and a page turning story.
Might well end up being my no 1 this year, we'll see but its definitely going to be up there. Highly Recommended.
The sense of place is superb, the scene setting and multi layered viewpoint pops, the whole novel has a beautifully melancholy feel with small town claustrophobia and a page turning story.
Might well end up being my no 1 this year, we'll see but its definitely going to be up there. Highly Recommended.
June 9, 2022
3.5 small town mystery stars
Set in Durton, Australia, this debut novel creates a small-town populated by a mostly unlikeable set of adult characters. Along with chapters voiced by a Greek chorus composed of kids of the town, this one was very atmospheric although a bit of a slow start.
Esther, Ronnie, and Lewis are great friends torn apart when Esther (12-years-old) goes missing one day. She parts ways walking home from school with Ronnie and never makes it home. Detective Sergeant Sarah Michaels is sent in to find Esther.
Searchers find a stash of drugs hidden away and the case takes on new tones. Are the crimes related? What about the twins also missing in another town?
Lewis saw something on his way home, but he has secrets he’s hiding too. Can Sarah get to the bottom of things before another crime takes place? It seems that just about everyone is town is hiding something. The tension built in this one and I was not successful at puzzling this one out.
Not a perfect book, but this debut author is one to watch!
This was a group read which included Jayme, MarilynW, Susan, and Mary Beth and our opinions were very mixed! Be sure to read their insightful reviews for additional feedback! 💕
I received a free ARC of Dirt Creek by Australian author Hayley Scrivenor from Macmillan in exchange for an honest review.
Set in Durton, Australia, this debut novel creates a small-town populated by a mostly unlikeable set of adult characters. Along with chapters voiced by a Greek chorus composed of kids of the town, this one was very atmospheric although a bit of a slow start.
Esther, Ronnie, and Lewis are great friends torn apart when Esther (12-years-old) goes missing one day. She parts ways walking home from school with Ronnie and never makes it home. Detective Sergeant Sarah Michaels is sent in to find Esther.
Searchers find a stash of drugs hidden away and the case takes on new tones. Are the crimes related? What about the twins also missing in another town?
Lewis saw something on his way home, but he has secrets he’s hiding too. Can Sarah get to the bottom of things before another crime takes place? It seems that just about everyone is town is hiding something. The tension built in this one and I was not successful at puzzling this one out.
Not a perfect book, but this debut author is one to watch!
This was a group read which included Jayme, MarilynW, Susan, and Mary Beth and our opinions were very mixed! Be sure to read their insightful reviews for additional feedback! 💕
I received a free ARC of Dirt Creek by Australian author Hayley Scrivenor from Macmillan in exchange for an honest review.
June 11, 2022
I have been hearing a lot of great things about this debut novel from Australian author Hayley Scrivenor. And with blurbs from Chris Hammer and Jane Harper I knew it was definitely one to read. Thanks to Macmillan Australia for my advanced copy that I devoured in a few sittings.
What is it about a small town murder mystery that always has me intrigued? The town of Dutton, known is Dirt Town to the locals. Everyone knows everyone’s business, or so they think. They soon discover that there is so much more below the surface for these families, when a young girl goes missing on her way home from school, never to be seen again.
We know from the beginning the fate of Esther. The opening chapter tells of the finding of her small body, buried. But who would do this and why? Enter DS Sarah Michaels, an outsider who has been sent to find the girl.. and then the killer.
It is a slow burn that is certainly worth the read. These characters and the town come to life and you feel you could be there. Heartbreaking revelations are uncovered and the town and its residents will never be the same again.
Published in Australia May 31st, get this on your TBR.
What is it about a small town murder mystery that always has me intrigued? The town of Dutton, known is Dirt Town to the locals. Everyone knows everyone’s business, or so they think. They soon discover that there is so much more below the surface for these families, when a young girl goes missing on her way home from school, never to be seen again.
We know from the beginning the fate of Esther. The opening chapter tells of the finding of her small body, buried. But who would do this and why? Enter DS Sarah Michaels, an outsider who has been sent to find the girl.. and then the killer.
It is a slow burn that is certainly worth the read. These characters and the town come to life and you feel you could be there. Heartbreaking revelations are uncovered and the town and its residents will never be the same again.
Published in Australia May 31st, get this on your TBR.
August 31, 2022
It was a myth that Missing Persons had to wait twenty-four hours to start searching, particularly for kids. Excluding custody disputes, most children not recovered in the first three hours were already dead. In this case, it had been more than four hours since the child was last seen.
In rural Australia, the disappearance of a young girl rips a small town apart as dirty little secrets are revealed, and tempers flare. This is an involving tale, with much of the story being told by the missing girl's friends and classmates. I was waffling between three and four stars for the book, though the fine ending pushed my final rating up a bit.
A good first novel by a promising new author.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Flatiron Books for the chance to read this.
In rural Australia, the disappearance of a young girl rips a small town apart as dirty little secrets are revealed, and tempers flare. This is an involving tale, with much of the story being told by the missing girl's friends and classmates. I was waffling between three and four stars for the book, though the fine ending pushed my final rating up a bit.
A good first novel by a promising new author.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Flatiron Books for the chance to read this.
August 1, 2022
I normally am not a fan of detective heavy books but this was in my opinion was ok. I did not like the slow burn aspect of the book. I listened to the audiobook as well as read the physical copy. The audiobook was ok and it had it it’s moments where it drew me in but now I’m in a reading slump.
On the 6th of November in the rural area of Dirt Creek in Australia twelve year old Esther disappeared on her way home from school. Her best friend Ronnie was devastated.
Ronnie can’t stop thinking about her missing friend and decides she’s going to find her herself. In addition, Detective Sergeant Sarah and Smithy are working the case. In this small town where everyone knows everyone’s business they have each others backs. No one can be trusted.
Dirt Creek is available August 2,2022.
Thank you to Netgalley and MacmillianAudio for this arc in exchange for my honest review.
On the 6th of November in the rural area of Dirt Creek in Australia twelve year old Esther disappeared on her way home from school. Her best friend Ronnie was devastated.
Ronnie can’t stop thinking about her missing friend and decides she’s going to find her herself. In addition, Detective Sergeant Sarah and Smithy are working the case. In this small town where everyone knows everyone’s business they have each others backs. No one can be trusted.
Dirt Creek is available August 2,2022.
Thank you to Netgalley and MacmillianAudio for this arc in exchange for my honest review.
October 18, 2024
5+ stars!
2024 Favourites List! 🏆
“Innocence travels slower than guilt.”
A young girl goes missing in a small town.
Part police procedural crime fiction, part small town mystery, this book had me hooked from start to finish. I loved every aspect of this story — the atmosphere, the detective, the small town characters, the mystery itself, the audio narrator, the pacing, the narrative switches, the slow reveal of the missing pieces of the puzzle. It was all done extremely well and had me engrossed throughout.
This is a quiet, slow burn. A story to take your time with to truly savour the writing and atmosphere. There are multiple narratives, each adding compelling layers to the plot. I adored the main police detective and all that she brought to the story.
This was a NetGalley backlist title that I’m regretting not getting to earlier. A hidden gem! Highly recommend!
Audio rating: 5+++ stars! The audio narrator was excellent and added immensely to my connection and enjoyment. I highly recommend the audio!
2024 Favourites List! 🏆
“Innocence travels slower than guilt.”
A young girl goes missing in a small town.
Part police procedural crime fiction, part small town mystery, this book had me hooked from start to finish. I loved every aspect of this story — the atmosphere, the detective, the small town characters, the mystery itself, the audio narrator, the pacing, the narrative switches, the slow reveal of the missing pieces of the puzzle. It was all done extremely well and had me engrossed throughout.
This is a quiet, slow burn. A story to take your time with to truly savour the writing and atmosphere. There are multiple narratives, each adding compelling layers to the plot. I adored the main police detective and all that she brought to the story.
This was a NetGalley backlist title that I’m regretting not getting to earlier. A hidden gem! Highly recommend!
Audio rating: 5+++ stars! The audio narrator was excellent and added immensely to my connection and enjoyment. I highly recommend the audio!
June 23, 2022
⭐️4 Stars⭐️
Dirt Town by Hayley Scrivenor is a character driven, slow burn rural crime mystery. The story is set in Durton, a small rural town in Australia bubbling with secrets! The children call their town ‘Dirt Town’.
Best friends Ronnie and Esther leave school on a Friday afternoon but Esher goes missing, she is twelve years old.
Less than a week later her body is discovered, buried…..
Will Detective Sergeant Sarah Michaels find Esther’s killer and will Esther’s friend Lewis tell the police what he saw at the creek that afternoon.
Our narrators are mostly Ronnie (Esther’s best friend) who loves llamas, Lewis another friend of Esthers, Constance mother of Esther and Sarah the police detective. There were also chapters narrated by ‘We’ which appeared to be the collective voices of the town's children.
From page 3 you’ll read that sadly Esther is no longer alive, but then the story delves into the lives and relationships of the town locals and the desperate lengths some of them will go to but then someone is always watching…. I’d rather not have known that Esther was no longer alive until much later in the story, it took away some of the mystery for me.
The story was very well written and certainly an impressive debut. I didn’t guess the killer, the reveal really threw me!
There were themes of motherhood, friendship and abuse.
Publication Date 31 May 2022
Publisher Pan MacMillan Australia
Thank you Pan Macmillan Australia for sending me this book for an honest review.
Dirt Town by Hayley Scrivenor is a character driven, slow burn rural crime mystery. The story is set in Durton, a small rural town in Australia bubbling with secrets! The children call their town ‘Dirt Town’.
Best friends Ronnie and Esther leave school on a Friday afternoon but Esher goes missing, she is twelve years old.
Less than a week later her body is discovered, buried…..
Will Detective Sergeant Sarah Michaels find Esther’s killer and will Esther’s friend Lewis tell the police what he saw at the creek that afternoon.
Our narrators are mostly Ronnie (Esther’s best friend) who loves llamas, Lewis another friend of Esthers, Constance mother of Esther and Sarah the police detective. There were also chapters narrated by ‘We’ which appeared to be the collective voices of the town's children.
From page 3 you’ll read that sadly Esther is no longer alive, but then the story delves into the lives and relationships of the town locals and the desperate lengths some of them will go to but then someone is always watching…. I’d rather not have known that Esther was no longer alive until much later in the story, it took away some of the mystery for me.
The story was very well written and certainly an impressive debut. I didn’t guess the killer, the reveal really threw me!
There were themes of motherhood, friendship and abuse.
Publication Date 31 May 2022
Publisher Pan MacMillan Australia
Thank you Pan Macmillan Australia for sending me this book for an honest review.
June 17, 2022
A dull book, more an unedited 2nd draft than a finished book of anything like international standard. It is not thrilling. It's not a thriller. No clues to follow, just a sudden resolution. Too many characters with names starting with S. And must Sarah, the lead cop investigating a child's disappearance, tell us quite so often she's gay and has just broken up with her partner? It doesn't make her any less cardboard. The book's not badly written, but it needs tightening up and pulling together. It seems to have been given a lot of prizes and fellowships and encouragement -- the 'thanks and acknowledgements' go on almost longer than the book itself, and it's hard to see why. It shows promise, but it's just another parochial go at the Aussie-small-town crime genre, set in 2001 so the characters' later lives can be explained, altho they have nothing to do with the 'mystery'. The writer needs to sit down with a pile of really good thrillers/mysteries. Michael Robotham would be a good place to start.
August 19, 2022
Hayley Scrivenor’s debut book, Dirt Town is a fine exemplar of the Australian crime genre. Two girls, best friends, Ronnie and Ettie are inseparable until Ethel goes missing in 2001, having left school together that very afternoon. The narrative moves back and forth in time from the current day search for Ettie and the events prior to her disappearance. Whilst the disappearance of a young girl and the discovery of her body begins the story, this is a small rural town saga, with hidden secrets and dark undertones. The police struggle to advance the investigation, but when Ronnie is attacked by a dog, the connections begin to become clearer. An unfolding, charming narrative with lots of character and insight that makes for a four star rating. As always, the opinions herein are totally my own and freely given.
October 7, 2022
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Dirt Town by Hayley Scrivenor. (2022).
One hot day in Durton, aka Dirt Town, 12-year-old best friends Ronnie and Esther leave school together. Esther never makes it home. Ronnie can't believe it, and has a plan to find Esther with the help of their friend Lewis. Detective Sergeant Sarah can believe it. She's seen what people are capable of and how bad things can happen in a moment of weakness. Lewis can believe it. But he can't reveal what he saw without exposing his own secret. Five days later, Esther's buried body is discovered...
This is a fabulous debut for the author, and a great addition to the Australian crime scene. With alternating points of view, readers get to experience multiple perspectives to fully appreciate the context and after effects of young Esther's disappearance in this small town. It is a slow pace as we get to know certain characters in the town, their relationships with each other, and their potential connection to what has happened to Esther. I thought the slow pace worked well for this story; it helped paint a picture visually of this small rural town and it's occupants. With a lot of red herrings and twists along the way, it certainly is a mystery what happened to Esther until all is revealed at the end.
Overall: highly recommend for fans of Australian crime novels.
*www.facebook.com/onewomansbbr
Dirt Town by Hayley Scrivenor. (2022).
One hot day in Durton, aka Dirt Town, 12-year-old best friends Ronnie and Esther leave school together. Esther never makes it home. Ronnie can't believe it, and has a plan to find Esther with the help of their friend Lewis. Detective Sergeant Sarah can believe it. She's seen what people are capable of and how bad things can happen in a moment of weakness. Lewis can believe it. But he can't reveal what he saw without exposing his own secret. Five days later, Esther's buried body is discovered...
This is a fabulous debut for the author, and a great addition to the Australian crime scene. With alternating points of view, readers get to experience multiple perspectives to fully appreciate the context and after effects of young Esther's disappearance in this small town. It is a slow pace as we get to know certain characters in the town, their relationships with each other, and their potential connection to what has happened to Esther. I thought the slow pace worked well for this story; it helped paint a picture visually of this small rural town and it's occupants. With a lot of red herrings and twists along the way, it certainly is a mystery what happened to Esther until all is revealed at the end.
Overall: highly recommend for fans of Australian crime novels.
April 11, 2022
If you're in the mood for a slow burn, complex mystery that will also tug at your heartstrings, then this is a book worth checking out in August when it is released. I believe this is a debut work for Hayley Scrivenor, and it is both powerful and memorable!
Best friends, Ronnie and Esther, who are both twelve years old, always walk home from school together and part ways at the exact same spot in their small, Australian town. One afternoon though, Esther never makes it home, and Ronnie has no idea that it is the last time she’ll see her best friend. No one can imagine where Esther has gone, and out-of-town detectives are called in to solve the disappearance. The girls' other best friend, Lewis, saw something the day Esther disappeared but won't talk to the police as he doesn't want his own secret to come to light. When Esther’s father can’t prove his alibi and one of Esther's school shoes is found in his car, he is arrested. Ronnie doesn't believe Esther's dad would ever hurt her, and is determined to find Esther herself. Tensions rise between members of the town - most of whom have known each other since they were children themselves - as the detectives stumble upon a tangled web of deception, and it becomes clear that everyone is keeping dark secrets.
This is definitely a slow burn thriller - it took me time to immerse myself in the plot and the characters, but once I did, I was all in. I love a good mystery brimming with suspects, and this book had them in spades. At times, I was certain it was several different characters and somehow missed the clue dart (if there was one) about the actual "whodunnit". It was not who I suspected at all. There are a lot of intriguing twists and turns that Scrivenor superbly works into the plot that kept my head spinning in a myriad of directions. It would have been an all-the-stars read for me, if not for a couple of oddities with the first being the chapters entitled, "We", which involved a Greek-type chorus of the town's children. The chapters were meant to enlighten the reader regarding some of the the town’s secrets, and while it did its job, it felt off to me, and I found myself generally skimming those chapters. The second thing was the character of Detective Sergeant Michaels. While she has great instincts about solving missing children cases, she also has a strange compulsion to check out every woman character in the book and note how attractive they are and things she'd like to do with them - especially those she was investigating or trying to comfort. I would be turned off by it if it were a male constantly sizing up women, and felt no differently with a woman doing the same. Just unnecessary really.
This book has a similar feel as a Jane Harper work, which also makes it a delight for me. I will absolutely be keeping my eye out for Scrivenor's future books! 4 debut stars.
Best friends, Ronnie and Esther, who are both twelve years old, always walk home from school together and part ways at the exact same spot in their small, Australian town. One afternoon though, Esther never makes it home, and Ronnie has no idea that it is the last time she’ll see her best friend. No one can imagine where Esther has gone, and out-of-town detectives are called in to solve the disappearance. The girls' other best friend, Lewis, saw something the day Esther disappeared but won't talk to the police as he doesn't want his own secret to come to light. When Esther’s father can’t prove his alibi and one of Esther's school shoes is found in his car, he is arrested. Ronnie doesn't believe Esther's dad would ever hurt her, and is determined to find Esther herself. Tensions rise between members of the town - most of whom have known each other since they were children themselves - as the detectives stumble upon a tangled web of deception, and it becomes clear that everyone is keeping dark secrets.
This is definitely a slow burn thriller - it took me time to immerse myself in the plot and the characters, but once I did, I was all in. I love a good mystery brimming with suspects, and this book had them in spades. At times, I was certain it was several different characters and somehow missed the clue dart (if there was one) about the actual "whodunnit". It was not who I suspected at all. There are a lot of intriguing twists and turns that Scrivenor superbly works into the plot that kept my head spinning in a myriad of directions. It would have been an all-the-stars read for me, if not for a couple of oddities with the first being the chapters entitled, "We", which involved a Greek-type chorus of the town's children. The chapters were meant to enlighten the reader regarding some of the the town’s secrets, and while it did its job, it felt off to me, and I found myself generally skimming those chapters. The second thing was the character of Detective Sergeant Michaels. While she has great instincts about solving missing children cases, she also has a strange compulsion to check out every woman character in the book and note how attractive they are and things she'd like to do with them - especially those she was investigating or trying to comfort. I would be turned off by it if it were a male constantly sizing up women, and felt no differently with a woman doing the same. Just unnecessary really.
This book has a similar feel as a Jane Harper work, which also makes it a delight for me. I will absolutely be keeping my eye out for Scrivenor's future books! 4 debut stars.
July 23, 2022
day three of my "i have covid readathon."
thoughts soon!
thoughts soon!
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