AUSTRALIAN OUTBACK NOIR 2024: NEW BOOKS BY CANDICE FOX, DAVE WARNER AND ALAN CARTER

From the Top End to the bottom of Australia, these three new outback noir novels cover a lot of territory and a diverse range of themes and styles.

Dave Warner’s first Broome based crime novel, Before It Breaks, appeared in advance of the current enthusiasm for outback noir, and his latest, When It Rains (Fremantle Press, 1 October 2024), is another high quality tale about crime and murder in one of the most isolated places in Australia.

When It Rains is the fourth book by Warner to feature Broome detective Dan Clement, and finds the ageing detective trying to balance a much younger love interest and a sudden deluge of crime. When his sergeant is beaten up, and a woman is brutally assaulted, it seems like the same two suspects are behind both incidents. Clement quickly mounts a search for the two across a great expanse of the outback, but things take a macabre turn when a woman’s hand is discovered tied to a post in crocodile-infested waters. It seems like someone is working their way through a list of victims, but Clement has no idea who is next.

This is a very well crafted police novel. Warner’s depiction of the vastness of the area that Clement is responsible for, “[it was unlikely that any] other law enforcement officer in the world had a jurisdiction as big as his”, is richly described and really captures the heat and sparseness of the location. The contrast between the beauty of the countryside with the tackiness of the roadside pubs and hotels is effectively conveyed, and Warner is very good at peopling his novel with interesting and credible secondary characters.

The details of the police operation are smoothly woven into the story, and the book moves along at a decent pace. There are several good twists, and the tension really mounts in the final stages. The opening chapter involving the fate of the first victim, is probably one of the best I have read for awhile, with the horror of the situation nicely interwoven with poignant reflections on the different paths that we take in life.

As usual, Warner’s mixture of solid plotting, believable characters and graphic descriptions of Broome and the surrounding outback makes When It Rains one of the year’s best outback crime novels. A really good read, but intending tourists of a nervous disposition from overseas, might want to give it a miss.

When It Rains is released in Australia on 1 October 2024 and is released in the United Kingdom and the United States at the same time. It also sports a terrific cover!

Also set in northern outback Australia is High Wire, (Penguin, 24 September 2024), by the incredibly prolific Candice Fox.

The High Wire is a notorious unmarked trail through outback Australia. The ‘Wire’ is a secret track that cuts across the outback from Broome to Sydney, and crosses slabs of lawless land, body-dumping grounds and mobile-phone blackspots. It is a path for the desperate, and Harvey Buck is certainly desperate. Racing to be with his dying girlfriend, he encounters Clare Holland, whose car has broken down. He offers the hapless traveller a ride, but they are quickly ambushed by a vengeful crew who are out to seek revenge on Buck. With bombs strapped to their chests, the pair are forced into a deadly game involving a series of increasingly murderous missions. Meanwhile Senior Sergeant Edna Norris, who is dealing with a runaway teenager, finds herself caught up in the deadly pursuit of Buck and Clare, who has her own secrets.

This is a wild ride of a story. From the opening pages Candice has her ‘foot to the floor’ as Edna and Buck careen across the outback in different vehicles, but towards the same deadly destination. There are twists galore, as well as plenty of violence, and a mounting sense of doom. Fleshing out the story are some very vivid descriptions of the outback, and subtly woven themes around isolation, domestic abuse, retribution, war crimes and choices in life. Edna and Buck are terrific protagonists, with a good mix of flaws and strengths, and it would be good to meet them again.

High Wire also has the sort of occasional quirkiness we come to expect from Candice, with some interesting supporting characters, rundown locations, and unexpected episodes. At times it is like a Jack Reacher novel on steroids, but with more character depth and a strong Australian flavour.

High Wire is released in Australia on 24 September 2024. Release dates for overseas do not seem to be available at the moment.

Located at the other end of Australia is Alan Carter’s Prize Catch, (Fremantle Press, 1 October 2024).

Carter has demonstrated in the past a clear ability to mix topical international themes with a good local thriller plot, and he does so again here with an interesting storyline around dodgy farming practices, modern war crimes and the routine abuse of power by the wealthy.

When Roz Chen’s wife, Niamh, is killed in a hit-and-run on a lonely Tasmanian road, the grieving widow begins to wonder if Niamh’s death was an accident after all. Meanwhile, SAS veteran Sam Willard is hoping for a fresh start with a job at a salmon farm. But as allegations of old war crimes surface and Sam is ‘promoted’ as a special operative against anti-salmon farm activists, he and Roz form an unlikely alliance. A series of events force them into the unforgiving Tasmanian wilderness as they try to escape from the murderous thugs on their trail and achieve some sense of justice for Niamh and the other victims.

This is a serious, well written thriller that also canvasses some important current issues. The characters are richly created and believable, and there is a strong degree of credibility around the plot. The story moves along at a steady pace and it builds to a very a tense climax on the water. The plot is very much driven by the actions of the central characters and it is interesting to watch Roz grow and change as the book progresses.

It may lack the grip of Carter’s last novel, the excellent Crocodile Tears, but Prize Catch is still a very impressive crime novel with real heart and good political awareness.

Prize Catch is released in Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States on 1 October 2024.