Reviewed by Rama Gaind.
By Sarah Barrie, Fiction HQ, $29.99.
“Love doesn’t make the world go round. Love is what makes the ride worthwhile.” — Franklin P. Jones
That’s certainly the case with Indiana O’Meara. If you’ve read the Hunters Ridge series, then you will be familiar with O’Meara, who is now the detective heroine in Bloodtree River.
This is a fresh new, stand-alone suspense that stars a feisty female cop, and reveals the dark side of small Australian communities.
Barrie admits to having penned this novel in answer to inquiries about Indy’s story. She’s had “fun writing it, working out challenges to put in Indy’s path and dreaming up a hero worthy of one of my favourite heroines”.
Indiana is no ordinary protagonist as she’s no stranger to the forces of evil. Now a policewoman, Indy is always fighting to redeem herself and defeat the dark forces. So when girls begin to go missing at a remote cattle station in Tasmania, she agrees to go undercover to investigate. Chief suspect is Logan Atherton, the owner of Calico Mountain Lodge.
Logan is unlikeable, at first, but he grows on you. Barrie intricately weaves the suspense into the storyline, unearthing people and situations that come as a surprise.
The atmosphere is odd at the lodge and as Indy begins to dig, she gets entangled in a deadly web that’s multi-faceted and frightening. It is also linked to her own past.
Where is the setting of this rural suspense, which also has a generous splash of romance? If your answer is correct, you could win one of four books of Bloodtree River.
