Canticle Creek

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Jesse Redpath is a cop from the Territory. She helps a young Adam when he does something illegal by offering him a second chance; helping her dad and working in the local roadhouse. A week later, Adam runs away and Jesse doesn’t think about him again except to send a warrant. With her father, Jesse visits Canticle Creek to understand, and unravels many other mysteries and knots of a typical small community. Whether Jesse survives the hardships she faced and solves the mystery makes the plot of the book. I caught a glint of reflected light. Reflected on what? Metal? Glass? I sensed its length, aim, intent. Its threat. Like Christie Looms' cat, I could feel somebody watching me. Worse — they were lining us up.

Canticle Creek by Adrian Hyland | Waterstones

But through Jesse’s descriptions, Hyland also brings the landscape to life. After driving through a “dust tumbled” landscape where the gravel road glows “like a ribbon of magnesium”, Jesse is brought to a small waterhole: I quite enjoyed this Aussie crime novel. I found the lead character, Jesse, a likeable and intelligent character. When Jesse hears that Adam is dead and allegedly killed a woman, she and her dad head to Canticle Creek to find out more because they knew Adam and can't believe that he would commit murder. There they meet some intriguing characters including artists, welcoming families, aggressive loggers and ex drug addicts. With some very tense scenes, Jesse is determined to find out what really happened in relation to Adam's death, and someone else out there is equally determined that she doesn't... Also, not necessarily a criticism but I kept hearing parts of this story as dialogue in my head like a voice over in one of those private detective tv spoofs....like Columbo or such…made for interesting reading. Hyland has mastered the architecture of noir – his sinister tale seethes with small-town atmosphere and satisfying twists, set against the dangers and harsh beauty of the Australian landscape.’ ― Sydney Morning HeraldThings were going well it seemed, with Adam and Jesse’s father, they shared a common interest in art. When she arrived she introduced herself to the local police as an acquaintance of Adam Lawson with a casual interest in the case. She wasn’t surprised to find that her boss had called ahead to let them know, and she was allowed some access to information. Fire is never far from people’s minds and lingers as a threat throughout the book until Hyland uses his knowledge and experience to bring its dangers vividly and viscerally to life. Change plays an important role too. Nadia wants to change her life; Sam suddenly broadens his artistic horizons so late in life and Dom wants to redevelop the area to boost the local economy. At the same time there are those resistant to change and what it entails, the logging that scars the landscape and building work that destroys natural flora and fauna. Daisy Baker’s love of nature is clear from her artwork and activism, her murder was not the senseless crime it first appears. Seemingly disparate elements all skilfully woven into a storyline that is cautionary and modern but also with a rich vein of old-fashioned power and greed running through it.

Canticle Creek by Adrian Hyland | Theresa Smith Book Review: Canticle Creek by Adrian Hyland | Theresa Smith

The writing is fluid, slow and languid at times before a sudden burst of high activity and danger. The action is gripping, quite exhilarating, conveying a genuine sense of urgency and jeopardy. Life and death that almost feels tangible with some remarkably powerful, visceral and disturbing imagery at play. This author has been on my radar for his Emily Tempest series, but this recent release (a standalone) is the first of his novels I've read. I'll be moving Diamond Dove up my TBR to read soon. Blazey Best was a great choice of narrator for this audiobook. The common narrative that pits humanity against nature assumes that our “innate greed” implicates us all in climate change. The environmental movement, too, buys into this myth with its longing for pristine wilderness unspoiled by humankind, argues Jeff Sparrow. This urgent, incisive work resoundingly refutes this arbitrary divide by showing how industrialisation, in the hands of the wealthy and powerful, drove a wedge between ordinary people and the natural world. Hence, the simplistic “jobs versus environment” binary that stymies our current climate-change debate. The alternative, however, is right under our noses. “In pre-capitalist Australia, humans did not despoil the land.” They worked in harmony with it, enhancing nature rather than plundering it. And it was a collective endeavour. It is in this understanding of human nature that Sparrow finds hope.The depth of description about both the deserts and the farmlands of Australia, the flora, fauna and wildlife is well worth reading. Plus those regarding the Native Australian people are written in a truly warm way. The rural crime fiction wave continues with this brilliant new arid drama.’ ― Australian Women's Weekly

Canticle Creek by Adrian Hyland | Goodreads Canticle Creek by Adrian Hyland | Goodreads

I enjoyed the characters and their dialect. While at times it took a moment to understand – I loved the speech patterns and local habits. Working in the small town of Kulara in the Northern Territory kept police officer Jesse Redpath on her toes. Her days were long and tiring, but she felt she was starting to get the crime rate down to a minimum. I have just finished reading this book,it was a little different from the fiction I usually read but thoroughly enjoyed it. The flamboyant fellow cruising in to greet us turned out to be Clive Carpenter, the senior curator. He was flaxen-haired, with a wheat-bag belly, a bright blue suit and a nose like a burst sausage.” It’s been a decade since I have read Adrian Hyland’s Gunshot Road and Diamond Dove yet both Australian crime novels remain favourites, so I jumped at the opportunity to read Canticle Creek.

Jesse Redpath is a police officer in Northern Territory. When a likeable petty criminal, whom Jesse previously vouched for, is implicated in a murder in Victoria, Jesse goes there to carry out her own unofficial investigation. She’s not the only one with doubts about the boy’s guilt. Local horse-mad teenager, Possum, is keen to help Jesse with her enquiries, while former drug-addict, Nadia, doesn’t want to help at all.