Published By: Wildfire
Pages: 464
Released On: 02/01/2025
A body has been discovered on the riverbanks of The Valley, a remote community in the hills of New South Wales. The gold mine at the heart of The Valley was once the lifeblood of this region, but it has been flooded for decades. Over the years, many have tried and failed to bring it back to life. Now, most believe the mine is barren.
The victim is Wolfgang Burnside, deputy mayor – a champion of change or local schemer, depending on who you ask. He had been working on plans to take the Valley off-grid with hydro-power using the lake surrounding the abandoned mine. Until he was poisoned, his body dumped in the river for all to see.
Detectives Nell Buchanan and Ivan Lucic are dispatched to investigate. The warning is clear – there are secrets lurking in the depths of this Valley, secrets worth more than their weight in gold. What price will this town have to pay to ensure that they never see the light of day?
*****
Thanks to NetGalley and Wildfire for the advanced copy of this title in return for an honest review.
Chris is a new author for me, but I couldn’t avoid all the praise I was seeing online. It is part of a series and whilst I’m sure you get more out of it if you read the series in order, I didn’t feel too much of a disadvantage going straight in.
I found the use of language odd. Throughout the book, but especially the prologue, I found it was full of metaphors and language like that, which made it quite unnatural to read. It was almost as if he’d written the book and then highlighted each sentence and searched how to make it a bit….floatier.
I did enjoy the setting. I can’t think of the last book I read set in Australia. Most thrillers and crime novels I’ve read have been sent in the UK or US, so that was different.
Sadly, whilst I didn’t dislike this book, I also can’t say I liked it. It was boring and extremely slow, and if I’m honest, it had very little to do with the actual murder. It is more like a history lesson on the character’s backgrounds and the community; it just felt a bit ploddy, like it was filled with filler.
If you’re a fan of the series then I’m sure you’ll enjoy this one too, but sadly it wasn’t for me. Too slow, a bit boring, not particularly likeable characters, didn’t seem to know where it was going. It wasn’t a great start to his books for me, sadly.
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