NEW AUSTRALIAN RURAL CRIME: BROKE ROAD by MATTHEW SPENCER
Matthew Spencer’s Black River stood out as one of the best Australian debuts of 2022, and he has now followed it up with the even better Broke Road, (Allen & Unwin, 1 July 2025).
Broke Road once more features Homicide Detective Sergeant Rose Riley and crime reporter Adam Bowman, but moves the action from Sydney’s Parramatta River to the wine region of the Hunter Valley.
Rose is urgently sent to the Hunter when a young woman is found dead in her isolated town house in rural Red Creek, an up-and-coming wine tourism destination outside Sydney. No forced entry. No signs of struggle. Her geologist husband has an alibi, though it’s not exactly solid. Pressure is quickly placed on Rose to find the killer when a tabloid journalist spins her own damning narrative about the husband for personal gain, but things are not that straight forward.
While Riley and her partner, Priya Patel, work the case with a local detective, crime reporter Adam Bowman, in hope of a new book, follows his own leads that steer him towards the suggestion of small town corruption and broader crimes.
Broke Road is an engaging police investigation novel featuring well-crafted characters and convincing police procedures. The plot moves at a steady pace, with twists and developments that keep you interested. Spencer skillfully guides the reader through the investigation, without the burden of excessive procedural detail, while managing the multiple plotlines effectively.
The descriptions of the semi-rural community are sharp and effective, with Spencer nicely capturing the tension between the old coal mining communities and the new facade of glamour brought by the trendy wineries:
“streets lined with weatherboards – coalminers’ cottages: three kids to a room, one bath, black swans sculpted from car tyres in the yard. V8s in the driveways, truck cabs on kerbs, utes on the grass.”
“crossing into wine country … her headlights picked up the signs: cellar doors, restaurants, wedding venues, a fudge factory, breweries, function centres, Teas & Jams, a petting farm.”
He also has a good way with dialogue, capturing the rhythm of conversations and filling it with natural sounding local language and touches of humour:
“‘The euphemism, in the press, was he left to spend more time with his family. There were no charges. So I’m guessing drunken lechery, rather than, say, taking bribes.’
Rachel scoffed. ‘Drunken lechery – you’d get promoted around here. Bloody legend.'”
Spencer’s background as a journalist is also evident in his ability to quickly convey interesting world-building detail on mining projects, wine making, running a modern hotel and the like, and his clear eyed view about non-ethical journalism. It is also nice to read a police novel in which the lead detective is not suffering from pages of trauma from past cases, or addiction, or childhood drama, or unfaithful spouses. Riley is credible and interesting with a believable background, but she does not waste the reader’s time with too much introspection.
A couple of occurrences are perhaps too coincidental, as is Bowman’s involvement, but not enough to detract from what is a first class crime novel. I could not put it down towards the end and really enjoyed it. Highly recommended.
Australian police detective fiction is on a bit of a rise at the moment with good efforts so far this year from Darcy Tindale and Angie Faye Martin, and new books by Margaret Hickey, Lisa Ellery and Michael Brissenden’s excellent Dust on the horizon. Broke Road is up there with the best of them, and is well worth reading.
Broke Road was released in Australia on 1 July 2025, and will be released in the United Kingdom and the United States on 8 July 2025 by Thomas and Mercer.