Disher is well known for his crime novels and this book is the third in a trilogy featuring Paul Hirsch, a country cop in a small town near the Flinders Ranges in South Australia. Hirsch solves mostly minor misdemeanors in a town he knows well but his mettle is tested by a build up of snowdropping (stealing women’s underwear), saving a badly neglected young girl locked in a caravan, dealing with the fallout of the collapse of the Stock and Station Agency and a criminal on the run. Meanwhile he is being stalked by a high school teacher and having to step up and do his boss’s job while she recovers from a broken leg. Whew! Who says not much happens in small towns?
Our readers loved his descriptions of the towns and landscape of his area but felt there were a tad too many characters to keep track of. A good read for a winter’s day.
Meg Dillon, convenor