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Emily Tempest #1
Moonlight Downs
“Packs a real wallop. . . . An epic and ambitious mystery set against the vast backdrop of Central Australia, where indigenous and white people live side by side in an uneasy truce.”— Vogue (Australia)
“Incorporates geophysical data, race politics and aboriginal spirituality into a seamless, often hilarious stream of narrative. [It] has all the hallmarks of a first of a very successful series with the potential to forge a new sub-genre of detective fiction—that of a feisty, female indigenous sleuth whose intelligence and tenacity prove superior to force and ignorance.”— The Sydney Morning Herald
“Witty, knowing, at times downright hilarious. The plot is absorbing and Hyland’s characters are originals. . . . As Emily Tempest untangles the knot of a murder, she also comes to rediscover her past, her belonging and her self.”— Brisbane Courier Mail
Emily Tempest, a feisty part-aboriginal woman, left home to get an education and has since traveled abroad. She returns to visit the Moonlight Downs “mob,” still uncertain if she belongs in the aboriginal world or that of the whitefellers. Within hours of her arrival, an old friend is murdered and mutilated. The police suspect a rogue aborigine, but Emily starts asking questions. Emily Tempest, a modern half-aboriginal sleuth, is a welcome successor to Arthur Upfield’s classic detective.
Adrian Hyland worked with aboriginal communities in Central Australia for ten years. He now teaches at LaTrobe University in Melbourne. This is his first novel.
“Incorporates geophysical data, race politics and aboriginal spirituality into a seamless, often hilarious stream of narrative. [It] has all the hallmarks of a first of a very successful series with the potential to forge a new sub-genre of detective fiction—that of a feisty, female indigenous sleuth whose intelligence and tenacity prove superior to force and ignorance.”— The Sydney Morning Herald
“Witty, knowing, at times downright hilarious. The plot is absorbing and Hyland’s characters are originals. . . . As Emily Tempest untangles the knot of a murder, she also comes to rediscover her past, her belonging and her self.”— Brisbane Courier Mail
Emily Tempest, a feisty part-aboriginal woman, left home to get an education and has since traveled abroad. She returns to visit the Moonlight Downs “mob,” still uncertain if she belongs in the aboriginal world or that of the whitefellers. Within hours of her arrival, an old friend is murdered and mutilated. The police suspect a rogue aborigine, but Emily starts asking questions. Emily Tempest, a modern half-aboriginal sleuth, is a welcome successor to Arthur Upfield’s classic detective.
Adrian Hyland worked with aboriginal communities in Central Australia for ten years. He now teaches at LaTrobe University in Melbourne. This is his first novel.
304 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2006
84 people are currently reading
896 people want to read
About the author
Adrian Hyland
9 books105 followersAdrian Hyland spent many years in the Northern Territory, living and working among indigenous people. He now teaches at LaTrobe University and lives in the north-east of Melbourne. His first novel, Diamond Dove won the 2007 Ned Kelly Award for Best First Fiction.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 129 reviews
October 30, 2018
4.5★
“They slunk off to the single men’s camp with their tail-pipe dragging between their back wheels.”
Hyland knows and loves this country, Australia’s Northern Territory, and its people. I’d already enjoyed the second in this series, Gunshot Road, before I found this one, but it didn’t matter. This one won many awards as a debut.
Emily Tempest is a young woman, half-Aboriginal, half-white, raised in the outback on Moonlight Downs by her white mechanic father. She's been away studying and working in the Big Smoke (city) and travelling around the world for some years.
Emily’s mum died when she was young but there was no question that she was always just one of the kids at Moonlight Downs.
The people had drifted into the towns over the years, towns like Bluebush, which have little to recommend them except lots of alcohol.
“The town had a population of some fifty million: a thousand blacks, a thousand whites, the rest cockroaches.”
It was a miserable way to live. Bluebush was a four-hour drive away, Alice Springs another five hours on top. This is WAY out back.
“But in recent years, as they won their land back through the courts, there’d been a counterattack. Blacks all over the Territory were packing their kids and dogs into motorcars held together with fencing wire and moving back out into a world of ghosts and songs.”
And that’s what Emily’s been missing – the ghosts and songs. She is relieved to get home, be welcomed warmly with a bit of freshly roasted meat still cooking on the fire. I'd better put this behind a spoiler for sensitive readers. She reckons she's endured worse in some roadhouses.
No ghosts and songs - yet, but she does find her best pal since childhood, Hazel.
“She was sitting on her hands, leaning forward, a thin smile on her thick lips, the sunset copper-colouring her cheeks. She was part of it all: the air, the earth, the community. She belonged. I wondered whether I’d ever be able to say that about myself.”
As a contrast, here’s our introduction to another main character (and I mean character), Blakie.
“I could feel his parasites hopping over to check me out. His hair was as black and greasy as a morning-after frypan. There were desiccated grasshopper legs on his lips and dead blowies in his beard. His face was a mess of scabs and scars, his nose looked like the sort of thing you’d scrape off your bull-bar. I got a close look at the inside of his mouth: it was a concerto grosso of cold sores, hot breath and black teeth.”
Lovely, eh? He is so scary that he does start to haunt her dreams, so now we've got ghosts, sort of. And when there’s a murder later, Blakie is a prime suspect.
But there are influential landowners, miners, geologists and many threats to the community's way of life. Emily can be a pushy young thing, which worries Hazel, the old folks and the nice white cop who's kept an eye on her since she was little. The action escalates, but in between the scary bits, we do hear the songs of the old people - the stories that explain the country.
The author knows his way around words, and he knows his way around the worst and the best of the remote outback and the people whose country it is. I really enjoy his work. Emily is a feisty little creature, the stuff of action novels, but she’s got a nice soft, vulnerability and a longing to fit somewhere, somehow. Her dreams aren't all haunted.
“I dreamed of the time we climbed the tabernacle tree at sunset and sat in its branches, singing along with a choir of birds. And I remembered how, somewhere in that lilting chorus, just for a moment, I’d imagined I was one of them.”
A good writer and a good story, even when read the wrong way around.
“They slunk off to the single men’s camp with their tail-pipe dragging between their back wheels.”
Hyland knows and loves this country, Australia’s Northern Territory, and its people. I’d already enjoyed the second in this series, Gunshot Road, before I found this one, but it didn’t matter. This one won many awards as a debut.
Emily Tempest is a young woman, half-Aboriginal, half-white, raised in the outback on Moonlight Downs by her white mechanic father. She's been away studying and working in the Big Smoke (city) and travelling around the world for some years.
Emily’s mum died when she was young but there was no question that she was always just one of the kids at Moonlight Downs.
The people had drifted into the towns over the years, towns like Bluebush, which have little to recommend them except lots of alcohol.
“The town had a population of some fifty million: a thousand blacks, a thousand whites, the rest cockroaches.”
It was a miserable way to live. Bluebush was a four-hour drive away, Alice Springs another five hours on top. This is WAY out back.
“But in recent years, as they won their land back through the courts, there’d been a counterattack. Blacks all over the Territory were packing their kids and dogs into motorcars held together with fencing wire and moving back out into a world of ghosts and songs.”
And that’s what Emily’s been missing – the ghosts and songs. She is relieved to get home, be welcomed warmly with a bit of freshly roasted meat still cooking on the fire. I'd better put this behind a spoiler for sensitive readers. She reckons she's endured worse in some roadhouses.
No ghosts and songs - yet, but she does find her best pal since childhood, Hazel.
“She was sitting on her hands, leaning forward, a thin smile on her thick lips, the sunset copper-colouring her cheeks. She was part of it all: the air, the earth, the community. She belonged. I wondered whether I’d ever be able to say that about myself.”
As a contrast, here’s our introduction to another main character (and I mean character), Blakie.
“I could feel his parasites hopping over to check me out. His hair was as black and greasy as a morning-after frypan. There were desiccated grasshopper legs on his lips and dead blowies in his beard. His face was a mess of scabs and scars, his nose looked like the sort of thing you’d scrape off your bull-bar. I got a close look at the inside of his mouth: it was a concerto grosso of cold sores, hot breath and black teeth.”
Lovely, eh? He is so scary that he does start to haunt her dreams, so now we've got ghosts, sort of. And when there’s a murder later, Blakie is a prime suspect.
But there are influential landowners, miners, geologists and many threats to the community's way of life. Emily can be a pushy young thing, which worries Hazel, the old folks and the nice white cop who's kept an eye on her since she was little. The action escalates, but in between the scary bits, we do hear the songs of the old people - the stories that explain the country.
The author knows his way around words, and he knows his way around the worst and the best of the remote outback and the people whose country it is. I really enjoy his work. Emily is a feisty little creature, the stuff of action novels, but she’s got a nice soft, vulnerability and a longing to fit somewhere, somehow. Her dreams aren't all haunted.
“I dreamed of the time we climbed the tabernacle tree at sunset and sat in its branches, singing along with a choir of birds. And I remembered how, somewhere in that lilting chorus, just for a moment, I’d imagined I was one of them.”
A good writer and a good story, even when read the wrong way around.
November 27, 2021
Emily Tempest, central character in this unique Australian novel, was born to an Aboriginal mother who died when she was young and a white father, who then took her to live in an Aboriginal community in the central desert until he felt it was time for her to go to boarding school. After a few years spent trying various University courses and travelling the world Emily has returned to the people of her childhood in the place she loved so much. But after one of the elders is brutally killed, the community scatters and Emily feels she must find the killer and his motive in order for the community to heal and rebuild.
Adrian Hyland has spent many years living in central Australia and it shows in his knowledge of the desert Aboriginal communities, their language and way of life. He obviously has a great respect for their knowledge of country, their dreaming spirits and sacred sites and bush skills. He clearly also fears the effect of the white settlements on these communities with the problems of petrol sniffing and alcohol and the corruption inherent in land and mining rights. He also writes great characters, both indigenous and the white miners, government officials and stockmen of the outback and has a good ear for vernacular language, much of which is very humorous.
Adrian Hyland has spent many years living in central Australia and it shows in his knowledge of the desert Aboriginal communities, their language and way of life. He obviously has a great respect for their knowledge of country, their dreaming spirits and sacred sites and bush skills. He clearly also fears the effect of the white settlements on these communities with the problems of petrol sniffing and alcohol and the corruption inherent in land and mining rights. He also writes great characters, both indigenous and the white miners, government officials and stockmen of the outback and has a good ear for vernacular language, much of which is very humorous.
September 30, 2021
This flawless book is, I believe the author's debut novel and it won the 2007 Ned Kelly Award for Best First Fiction. It is so nice to see an excellent book win awards, so that gave me a warm fuzzy feeling in my reading centre.
This is a murder mystery, and the murder is excellent; subtle, uncertain, unpredictable... but there are other factors which make it spectacular reading. The settings feel vivid and authentic, the characters and the social construct of the novel are written with deft understanding and subtle nuances. While I don't know that the author has any Aboriginal blood himself, he did live in the NT for a long while and this may be the source of his amazingly ability to make central Australian communities and the people that live in them come alive for the reader. When I was in my 20's wandering phase, I did visit various remote locations in WA and central Australia. Reading about such places can be dicey for me because rarely, very rarely, have I found a book that manages to portray believably the unique sets of circumstances which apply to such places. This book does an astoundingly impressive job of it.
Our main protagonist is Emily Tempest, the daughter of a white man and a black woman she grew up in Moonlight Downs but when the station was sold, all of her relatives living there - the Moonlight mob - were tossed off their land. That event corresponded with Emily being sent to Adelaide by her father for schooling. Since then, Emily has gone to Uni, travelled the world and roamed but never before come back to Moonlight - until now in the mid twenties she has come back to find if this is where she belongs. Since then, the land has come back to it's traditional owners and she starts tentatively settling back in, to find her place. But then an old friend and mentor, the first person to recognise her and welcome her back, is savagely killed and Emily's innate need to question everything kicks in. She starts trying to find out who did it and why it is a convoluted, confounding, and sometimes savage story.
I loved the way the characters were created; the aboriginal communities are often tough for an outsider to understand. The complex social issues, many of them brought on by white colonisation but others which are innate to the society create a web of obligations, ties and beliefs that are.... tough to get a handle on in real life. Emily, having grown up in them understands them (though she is often rebellious) but has also travelled the world and is a good bridge between worlds.
As well as the excellence of the murder mystery and of the characters, I loved the way this novel describes the land itself, it's mysteries and geology, it's harshness and unexpected beauties. The lyrical writing made me want to pack my car and just head West until I found a desert to bond with.
This is a murder mystery, and the murder is excellent; subtle, uncertain, unpredictable... but there are other factors which make it spectacular reading. The settings feel vivid and authentic, the characters and the social construct of the novel are written with deft understanding and subtle nuances. While I don't know that the author has any Aboriginal blood himself, he did live in the NT for a long while and this may be the source of his amazingly ability to make central Australian communities and the people that live in them come alive for the reader. When I was in my 20's wandering phase, I did visit various remote locations in WA and central Australia. Reading about such places can be dicey for me because rarely, very rarely, have I found a book that manages to portray believably the unique sets of circumstances which apply to such places. This book does an astoundingly impressive job of it.
Our main protagonist is Emily Tempest, the daughter of a white man and a black woman she grew up in Moonlight Downs but when the station was sold, all of her relatives living there - the Moonlight mob - were tossed off their land. That event corresponded with Emily being sent to Adelaide by her father for schooling. Since then, Emily has gone to Uni, travelled the world and roamed but never before come back to Moonlight - until now in the mid twenties she has come back to find if this is where she belongs. Since then, the land has come back to it's traditional owners and she starts tentatively settling back in, to find her place. But then an old friend and mentor, the first person to recognise her and welcome her back, is savagely killed and Emily's innate need to question everything kicks in. She starts trying to find out who did it and why it is a convoluted, confounding, and sometimes savage story.
I loved the way the characters were created; the aboriginal communities are often tough for an outsider to understand. The complex social issues, many of them brought on by white colonisation but others which are innate to the society create a web of obligations, ties and beliefs that are.... tough to get a handle on in real life. Emily, having grown up in them understands them (though she is often rebellious) but has also travelled the world and is a good bridge between worlds.
As well as the excellence of the murder mystery and of the characters, I loved the way this novel describes the land itself, it's mysteries and geology, it's harshness and unexpected beauties. The lyrical writing made me want to pack my car and just head West until I found a desert to bond with.
March 13, 2017
Diamond Dove is book one of the Emily Tempest series by Adrian Hyland. Diamond Dove is the first book I have read of Adrian Hyland, and I was impressed with the way he portrayed his characters and how the characters intertwine with each other. I enjoy Emily Tempest her down to earth behaviour and way she cares about the people around her. Also, I was pleased that Emily was not in law enforcement or a private detective, however, was able to find who killed Lincoln in a way that all readers will enjoy reading Diamond Dove.
Also, the readers of Diamond Dove will be surprised with the conclusion of the murder investigation. Readers of Diamond Dove will learn about Aboriginal language and culture. At times the narrative between characters in Diamond Dove is hilarious and other times sends the readers on a rollercoaster ride wondering what going to happen next. I am very pleased that Diamond Dove won the Ned Kelly Award in 2007 for the best first crime fiction 2007. I recommend this book.
Also, the readers of Diamond Dove will be surprised with the conclusion of the murder investigation. Readers of Diamond Dove will learn about Aboriginal language and culture. At times the narrative between characters in Diamond Dove is hilarious and other times sends the readers on a rollercoaster ride wondering what going to happen next. I am very pleased that Diamond Dove won the Ned Kelly Award in 2007 for the best first crime fiction 2007. I recommend this book.
August 2, 2022
4 stars - English Ebook
An epic and ambitious mystery set against the vast backdrop of Central Australia, where indigenous and white people live side by side in an uneasy truce” (Vogue).
Emily Tempest, part aboriginal and part white, is back in Moonlight Downs after a long absence. She left to get an education and travel abroad, and wonders whether she still truly belongs in this remote, rough-edged world. But within hours of her arrival, an old friend is murdered, and the police have set their sights on a rogue aborigine as the chief suspect. It will be up to Emily to ask questions, and make sure justice is served.
Wild West in central Australia.
Great book about Australia, first of, hopefully, many by Adrian Hyland featuring Emily Tempest.
Emily, half-aboriginal, returns to where she grew up and encounters a mystery. Extraordinarily complex but readable, exciting as well as informative.
The story really opens up Central Australia.
Given the uneasy coexistence between indigenous natives and white settlers, territorial disputes over lands involving need for water versus spiritual importance of location, this landscape bears a more than passing resemblance to the American Wild West. For me as a European.
An epic and ambitious mystery set against the vast backdrop of Central Australia, where indigenous and white people live side by side in an uneasy truce” (Vogue).
Emily Tempest, part aboriginal and part white, is back in Moonlight Downs after a long absence. She left to get an education and travel abroad, and wonders whether she still truly belongs in this remote, rough-edged world. But within hours of her arrival, an old friend is murdered, and the police have set their sights on a rogue aborigine as the chief suspect. It will be up to Emily to ask questions, and make sure justice is served.
Wild West in central Australia.
Great book about Australia, first of, hopefully, many by Adrian Hyland featuring Emily Tempest.
Emily, half-aboriginal, returns to where she grew up and encounters a mystery. Extraordinarily complex but readable, exciting as well as informative.
The story really opens up Central Australia.
Given the uneasy coexistence between indigenous natives and white settlers, territorial disputes over lands involving need for water versus spiritual importance of location, this landscape bears a more than passing resemblance to the American Wild West. For me as a European.
June 23, 2015
4.5★s
When Emily Tempest arrived back in her old community of Moonlight Downs after ten years away, she could see that not much had changed. But she still felt a sense of not belonging – she’d always felt pulled between the two worlds; Aboriginal and white. But when her childhood friend Hazel turned up again it didn’t take long before they were relaxing in each other’s company. But a few days later a dear friend was found murdered; mutilated in the nearby bush – the terror of the locals caused a mass exodus from Moonlight Downs; the abandoned air, the shock and grief was traumatic.
With the only suspect long gone and the local police unable to track him down, Emily decided to take matters into her own hands. She was determined the death of her long-time friend would be avenged. The questions Emily was asking found her in all sorts of trouble though – Jack, her father reminded her that trouble always followed her around. But it appeared that this time she was in the biggest mess she had ever been in – and still she continued; doggedly and with extreme grit. What would be the outcome? And would she find the answers she sought?
Diamond Dove (also called Moonlight Downs) by Aussie author Adrian Hyland is a great Australian mystery – blended with Aboriginal folklore; the dreaming and the people of the (fictional) Warlpuju tribe, the story is based north of Alice Springs in the Northern Territory. The epic descriptions of the bush, the birds (including the diamond dove) and the inhabitants are such that it is easy to visualise it all. I thoroughly enjoyed this crime novel and would recommend it to all.
When Emily Tempest arrived back in her old community of Moonlight Downs after ten years away, she could see that not much had changed. But she still felt a sense of not belonging – she’d always felt pulled between the two worlds; Aboriginal and white. But when her childhood friend Hazel turned up again it didn’t take long before they were relaxing in each other’s company. But a few days later a dear friend was found murdered; mutilated in the nearby bush – the terror of the locals caused a mass exodus from Moonlight Downs; the abandoned air, the shock and grief was traumatic.
With the only suspect long gone and the local police unable to track him down, Emily decided to take matters into her own hands. She was determined the death of her long-time friend would be avenged. The questions Emily was asking found her in all sorts of trouble though – Jack, her father reminded her that trouble always followed her around. But it appeared that this time she was in the biggest mess she had ever been in – and still she continued; doggedly and with extreme grit. What would be the outcome? And would she find the answers she sought?
Diamond Dove (also called Moonlight Downs) by Aussie author Adrian Hyland is a great Australian mystery – blended with Aboriginal folklore; the dreaming and the people of the (fictional) Warlpuju tribe, the story is based north of Alice Springs in the Northern Territory. The epic descriptions of the bush, the birds (including the diamond dove) and the inhabitants are such that it is easy to visualise it all. I thoroughly enjoyed this crime novel and would recommend it to all.
May 14, 2018
This is an interesting series which I may return to occasionally to follow Emily Tempest's footsteps. She is an engaging and amusing central figure in this series which brings the Australian outback, and its aboriginal communities to the fore. Basing this on a fictional aboriginal people of Australia, the author nonetheless manages to capture authentic voices and concerns of aboriginals everywhere. Emily Tempest herself is written as half "whitefella" and have "blackfella", thus having a foot in both camps.
I was promised a "blow your mind" kind of series by other readers, to which I will not agree, however. The series is as equally formulaic as most detective/mystery/police procedurals -- except that it's set in the Australian outback with a narrator of mixed-culture. Take out all the Australian lingo and this same scenario could be just as easily played on North American soil, with its indigenous nations: it is a voice I've heard before. In the end, this type of novel works specifically because it is comfortable, recognizable, even-paced.
It will be an enjoyable series that I will drop in on occasionally, when I'm looking for a comfort read.
I was promised a "blow your mind" kind of series by other readers, to which I will not agree, however. The series is as equally formulaic as most detective/mystery/police procedurals -- except that it's set in the Australian outback with a narrator of mixed-culture. Take out all the Australian lingo and this same scenario could be just as easily played on North American soil, with its indigenous nations: it is a voice I've heard before. In the end, this type of novel works specifically because it is comfortable, recognizable, even-paced.
It will be an enjoyable series that I will drop in on occasionally, when I'm looking for a comfort read.
June 10, 2012
I am thrilled to see a writer of Hyland’s gifts create a series with an Aboriginal heroine called Emily Tempest. Hyland’s use of language is so specific to the region that readers unschooled in the language of the Australian bush might not be able to comprehend. There is a glossary--for Aboriginal words and Australian slang—but still. For me, however, it is pure bliss.
Strains of music can be heard throughout the book and one is tempted to read while listening to those artists mentioned to see what it is about each one that defines character. Lucinda Williams, the Louvin Brothers, Paul Kelly, the Warumpis, Slim Dusty, Nick Cave… If one has downloaded the book to an ereader, one can crank up the Pandora® app, select these artists for the background, plug in earphones, and get down to it.
Emily Tempest is half white Australian and half native Aborigine, which gives her entree to both circles. Descriptions of her native ground do not stint on the realities of bush dwellers’ (white and black) unusual habits and habitats. But she also has a fascination with geology, and that clinches my certainty that this is more than just a very funny mystery about an underreported culture—it is a mystery that goes to the very heart of Australia itself. The discussion of geology raises the level of discourse and makes one’s mind wander to the unique characteristics of the continent and its inhabitants.
Author Adrian Hyland won the Ned Kelly Award for Crime Fiction in 2008 for this debut novel and first book in a series. It suffered a title change when it was published in the United States to Moonlight Downs from Diamond Dove. Since that early success, Hyland has produced another title in the series: Gunshot Road. It is likewise published in the United States by Soho Press and both are available as ebooks.
Hyland himself worked in Central Australia for ten years as a community developer in remote Aboriginal communities, so knows whereof he speaks. He has a clear eye and sense of the absurd that allows us to revel in a remarkable indigenous culture. The beauty of the Australian bush comes through strongly—its riches and treasures are celebrated. Hyland also wrote Kinglake -350 about the devastating bushfires in the state of Victoria in 2009, and which is considered a masterpiece of reportage. It has been shortlisted for the Australian Prime Minister’s Literary Award for Nonfiction in 2012.
Strains of music can be heard throughout the book and one is tempted to read while listening to those artists mentioned to see what it is about each one that defines character. Lucinda Williams, the Louvin Brothers, Paul Kelly, the Warumpis, Slim Dusty, Nick Cave… If one has downloaded the book to an ereader, one can crank up the Pandora® app, select these artists for the background, plug in earphones, and get down to it.
Emily Tempest is half white Australian and half native Aborigine, which gives her entree to both circles. Descriptions of her native ground do not stint on the realities of bush dwellers’ (white and black) unusual habits and habitats. But she also has a fascination with geology, and that clinches my certainty that this is more than just a very funny mystery about an underreported culture—it is a mystery that goes to the very heart of Australia itself. The discussion of geology raises the level of discourse and makes one’s mind wander to the unique characteristics of the continent and its inhabitants.
Author Adrian Hyland won the Ned Kelly Award for Crime Fiction in 2008 for this debut novel and first book in a series. It suffered a title change when it was published in the United States to Moonlight Downs from Diamond Dove. Since that early success, Hyland has produced another title in the series: Gunshot Road. It is likewise published in the United States by Soho Press and both are available as ebooks.
Hyland himself worked in Central Australia for ten years as a community developer in remote Aboriginal communities, so knows whereof he speaks. He has a clear eye and sense of the absurd that allows us to revel in a remarkable indigenous culture. The beauty of the Australian bush comes through strongly—its riches and treasures are celebrated. Hyland also wrote Kinglake -350 about the devastating bushfires in the state of Victoria in 2009, and which is considered a masterpiece of reportage. It has been shortlisted for the Australian Prime Minister’s Literary Award for Nonfiction in 2012.
August 19, 2016
It took me awhile to get into this book, partly because of the heavy, heavy dose of Aussie/Aboriginal words and partly because the writing veers back and forth too much.
Emily Tempest is the daughter of a miner and an aboriginal mother. When her mother dies early in her life and her father loses himself in his grief, little Emily is left to wander on her own. Since the station they live on has an aboriginal camp on it, she wanders there and learns much about her heritage. When the original station owner dies without heirs, the station is sold and the camp rousted. Emily's father sends her to boarding school and she embarks on voyages of hopeful discovery around the world. She can't seem to find herself, though.
So she returns to Moonlight Downs, the encampment. The recent legal battles the aborigines fought to have their lands returned have resulted in the turnover of the original station to them. Emily finds the camp a mishmash of old/young, traditional/new, just about what you'd expect. Except that because of their long removal from the land, many of the group have lost their bearings, not at home in the camp anymore but not anxious to move back to the town.
One her first night there, Lincoln Flinders, the "owner" of the land, is killed in what appears to be a traditional killing and the local madman, Blakie, is assumed to be the murderer. Something about it doesn't sit well with Emily and she decides to root out the actual killer.
Emily has a foot in both worlds - blackfeller and whitefeller - and is of course conflicted. This could make a great character, but it seems as if the author only remembers it when it becomes necessary to the plot. Emily's tension is heard, not seen. The same with her identification with the camp and her former best friend, Hazel. Emily has been to uni, several times, several degree starts, and it seems that the author wants to emphasize that. There are "gold letter" words in the book that stand out like a, well, I don't know what but they just don't fit.
I believe this is the author's first book and that may lend to its unevenness. The idea of the conflicted Emily, her search for "home" would work well in the mystery genre. After all, how many conflicted private detectives do we already know and Emily's aboriginal side adds a measure of depth to her conflict that isn't there with a dried out alcoholic.
But just as I started to warm up to the writing, the author would spend too much time telling me rather than showing me and I'd put the book aside for a while longer.......
Emily Tempest is the daughter of a miner and an aboriginal mother. When her mother dies early in her life and her father loses himself in his grief, little Emily is left to wander on her own. Since the station they live on has an aboriginal camp on it, she wanders there and learns much about her heritage. When the original station owner dies without heirs, the station is sold and the camp rousted. Emily's father sends her to boarding school and she embarks on voyages of hopeful discovery around the world. She can't seem to find herself, though.
So she returns to Moonlight Downs, the encampment. The recent legal battles the aborigines fought to have their lands returned have resulted in the turnover of the original station to them. Emily finds the camp a mishmash of old/young, traditional/new, just about what you'd expect. Except that because of their long removal from the land, many of the group have lost their bearings, not at home in the camp anymore but not anxious to move back to the town.
One her first night there, Lincoln Flinders, the "owner" of the land, is killed in what appears to be a traditional killing and the local madman, Blakie, is assumed to be the murderer. Something about it doesn't sit well with Emily and she decides to root out the actual killer.
Emily has a foot in both worlds - blackfeller and whitefeller - and is of course conflicted. This could make a great character, but it seems as if the author only remembers it when it becomes necessary to the plot. Emily's tension is heard, not seen. The same with her identification with the camp and her former best friend, Hazel. Emily has been to uni, several times, several degree starts, and it seems that the author wants to emphasize that. There are "gold letter" words in the book that stand out like a, well, I don't know what but they just don't fit.
I believe this is the author's first book and that may lend to its unevenness. The idea of the conflicted Emily, her search for "home" would work well in the mystery genre. After all, how many conflicted private detectives do we already know and Emily's aboriginal side adds a measure of depth to her conflict that isn't there with a dried out alcoholic.
But just as I started to warm up to the writing, the author would spend too much time telling me rather than showing me and I'd put the book aside for a while longer.......
April 24, 2018
A mixed race (half Aboriginal, half white) woman, Emily Tempest, returns to the outback after running away, just in time for the de facto head of their town to be murdered. Emily is struggling to fit back in with her old friends, but is determined to find justice. The most obvious suspect is a wilder, who is impossible to track or capture. As she continues to investigate though, other secrets come to light, leading to a broader list of suspects. Some good twists at the end; however, the Australian and Aboriginal slang is overwhelming, detracting from a good mystery staged in an unusual setting. I think an American edition, replacing much of the slang, would increase the visibility/popularity of this book. Not sure whether I will read book #2.
November 30, 2015
This book is set where I live, in the Northern Territory, in the center desert country – the author is a white man who is writing from the point of view of an Indigenous Australian – and doing it very well. Adrian Hyland spent many years on communities in the Central Australian desert area – so has at least lived with the people whose culture he recreates so achingly well.
Emily Tempest has a white father and an aboriginal mother. After her mother’s death her father took Emily to her mother’s people in the desert area of Central Australia; to Moonlight Downs. When she reached her teens, circumstances saw Emily leaving the community and moving to the big city for an education. The book opens with Emily returning to the community to get in touch with half of her ancestry. Emily has a foot in both the white world and the Aboriginal world, and is not sure she belongs in either. Almost immediately the community is plunged into chaos when one of the Elders is brutally murdered. All the evidence point to Blakie, a half mad mystical man who the whole community is afraid of. The police seem to agree and a hunt is set up for Blakie
Gradually Emily becomes convinced that no matter how scary he is, Blakie is innocent – and decides to look into the matter herself, trouble is, where does she start? If it isn’t Blakie, then who is it? Emily could be biting off a lot more than she can chew.
I have had a lot to do with Aboriginal Communities in the NT – including some of those in the desert region. Well I have to tell you that Adrian Hyland has captured the essence of the people truthfully. He presents the problems in a matter of fact way, he seems to be saying this is what happens, I’m not dwelling on it, I’m not condemning anyone, I am not blaming anyone – it just is. Land rights, health issues and alcohol problems being a just a few of the areas touched upon. But he also touches on the artistic abilities, the dreaming, the mysticism, the poverty and the resilience of the desert people; all is is portrayed perfectly. On top of this is an edge of the seat adventure with a cast of wonderfully crazy realistic characters like no others I have read about. But they seem oh so familiar to characters that I have met in the settlements and bush pubs across the Territory.
This book was the winner of the 2007 Ned Kelly Award for best first crime novel – a good measure of this books excellence.
Emily Tempest has a white father and an aboriginal mother. After her mother’s death her father took Emily to her mother’s people in the desert area of Central Australia; to Moonlight Downs. When she reached her teens, circumstances saw Emily leaving the community and moving to the big city for an education. The book opens with Emily returning to the community to get in touch with half of her ancestry. Emily has a foot in both the white world and the Aboriginal world, and is not sure she belongs in either. Almost immediately the community is plunged into chaos when one of the Elders is brutally murdered. All the evidence point to Blakie, a half mad mystical man who the whole community is afraid of. The police seem to agree and a hunt is set up for Blakie
Gradually Emily becomes convinced that no matter how scary he is, Blakie is innocent – and decides to look into the matter herself, trouble is, where does she start? If it isn’t Blakie, then who is it? Emily could be biting off a lot more than she can chew.
I have had a lot to do with Aboriginal Communities in the NT – including some of those in the desert region. Well I have to tell you that Adrian Hyland has captured the essence of the people truthfully. He presents the problems in a matter of fact way, he seems to be saying this is what happens, I’m not dwelling on it, I’m not condemning anyone, I am not blaming anyone – it just is. Land rights, health issues and alcohol problems being a just a few of the areas touched upon. But he also touches on the artistic abilities, the dreaming, the mysticism, the poverty and the resilience of the desert people; all is is portrayed perfectly. On top of this is an edge of the seat adventure with a cast of wonderfully crazy realistic characters like no others I have read about. But they seem oh so familiar to characters that I have met in the settlements and bush pubs across the Territory.
This book was the winner of the 2007 Ned Kelly Award for best first crime novel – a good measure of this books excellence.
Read
February 19, 2019Although this book was written by an Australian author I cannot enjoy a book where the author has purposely gone over the top with Aussie slang.
I understand the majority of this book is set amongst indigenous people but the language was just too over the top. We don't speak like that.
This is why people from foreign countries think we have kangaroos jumping down our streets & koalas hanging from every tree.
Yes there are still indigenous tribes that live out in the bush and rarely come into town I'm not arguing that but books and movies need to stop portraying Australians as a bunch of yobbos and just have us speaking normally would be great...
A big thanks to all the authors that write about Australia and paint a perfect picture of what our country and its people are really like.
I understand the majority of this book is set amongst indigenous people but the language was just too over the top. We don't speak like that.
This is why people from foreign countries think we have kangaroos jumping down our streets & koalas hanging from every tree.
Yes there are still indigenous tribes that live out in the bush and rarely come into town I'm not arguing that but books and movies need to stop portraying Australians as a bunch of yobbos and just have us speaking normally would be great...
A big thanks to all the authors that write about Australia and paint a perfect picture of what our country and its people are really like.
November 26, 2018
I was in the mood for something different, and this was the perfect book. Set in Australia, it's gritty and feels realistic. Australia is not for wimps. The lead character, Emily, is half white-half black, and the blacks have to work hard to hang on to their land. Plenty of businessmen want to drill on it for water or minerals. When the leader of Emily's "mob" is murdered, she suspects the motive is to break up the community of poor blacks who live on it. The cattle rancher who lives nearby needs a new source of water and feels like the land's wasted returning it to natives who hunt and cling to the "old ways." He and Emily bump heads, but then Emily doesn't mind going up against anyone. This book feels like it tells it like it is--a peek into a world I know little about.
October 13, 2011
Emily Tempest, drawn back to Central Australia and to the place she grew up, Moonlight Downs, instantly feels at peace with the Warlpuju people. Here are her best friend Hazel and Hazel's father Lincoln Flinders, a much respected tribal elder. The Warlpuju have always been her mob and Moonlight Downs her Country. Emily was instantly accepted and included from childhood even though she is the daughter of a white man and a Wantiya women. She's done her fair share of walkabout since she left the Downs and the mob were driven off by the last station owner, so this is her first return since the successful land claim that returned this traditional land to its traditional owners.
When Lincoln is brutally murdered just hours after Emily's return, the easy suspect is Blakie Japanangka. Wild man, savage protector of tradition and guarder of sacred sites, Blakie is known to everyone as a bit of a nutter. Since her return Emily has seen Blakie arguing with Lincoln more than once and the manner of Lincoln's death seems to indicate a ritual killing, maybe because of some broken taboo. When the local police arrive from nearby town Bluebush, the hunt for Blakie is on straight away. But Blakie's from this Country, he knows it like the back of his hand, and after a clumsy attempt by the police to grab him, he disappears into the scrub. In the meantime the mob moves off Moonlight Downs, lost and looking for leadership they slowly move to the squatter camps outside Bluebush. Even Emily, despite swearing she never would, ends up working in a pub in Bluebush, living in a flat in town and still pursuing what happened to Lincoln with a single minded intent that gets up the nose of a lot of people very quickly. The appearance of Earl Marsh, the big, brash and offensive owner of the station next door to Moonlight Downs and the slimy government representative Massie eventually make Emily question her pursuit of Blakie, even though Police Sergeant Tom McGillivray doesn't agree.
DIAMOND DOVE is an aboriginal novel written by a white man who has spent many years working with communities in Central Australia. The Warlpuju mob is an invention by the author, based on a number of different groups in that area. Much of the Aboriginal terminology though can be found in languages to the north of Alice Springs. DIAMOND DOVE is a reference to the totems of both Lincoln and Hazel, woven through the story. It's an interesting choice for a white man to write an affectionate, funny, telling story which is so strongly imbued with a sense of Aboriginal Culture and Country.
One of the major strengths of DIAMOND DOVE is that interwoven with the mystery of Lincoln's death is a wonderful, sensitive and enlightening glimpse into realistic contemporary Aboriginal life. There's explanations of totems, taboo, sacred places, familiar structure and relationships, lifestyle, skin names, taboo names, traditional tribal structures and the effect of country. There's some telling insights into the differences between the white community and the local Aboriginal communities – in and around the town of Bluebush and outside it, at the stations and in the mining communities. There's also some fabulous and frankly hilarious observations of a redneck outback Australian country town that will have you crying with laughter. There's even a touch of Outback Mechanic – with fuel being fed into wrecks of old cars from tins tied on the roof! Hyland has got a real knack of writing the dialogue in a lyrical manner, that reads with the lilt that you get when Aboriginal speakers move to and from their own Language and English. There's something in that speech pattern that echoes the bush and for this reader, those dialogue sequences were a real joy to read.
DIAMOND DOVE is a novel where a lot of major components merge really well. The characterisations are fabulous. Emily is strong, loud, opinionated, flighty, caring, ratty, forthright, independent and kind and she feels very female, very current day Aboriginal to this reader at least. Tom McGillivray is your classic outback cop – done it, seen it, nothing surprises anymore. Hazel is an Aboriginal woman, living as close to a traditional lifestyle as she can, comfortable in that choice. Other members of the mob are more clearly caught between a Traditional life and the supposed lure of the white culture. There is a supporting cast who are sketched out beautifully, either in brief cameo appearances or as a larger part of the story. The mystery is intriguing, the manner and style of Lincoln's death adding that possibility of ritual and therefore something deeply Aboriginal as a possibility. The sense of place or setting for the novel wins on a number of levels. There is Central Australia and the differences between the deserts and the outback and the small town worlds. There is also Aboriginal Central Australia with the totem elements, the sacred places and the hidden places. Finally there is humour, dry, ironic, sardonic, rude, pointed and observational.
DIAMOND DOVE hints at the beginnings of an ongoing series, and Emily would be a great entrant in a long line of amateur Female Investigators. It is highly recommended.
------
The Diamond Dove is one of the smallest pigeons found predominantly around areas of water in semi-arid areas of Central, West and Northern Australia. They are very delicately marked around the eyes, are often seen on the ground in a toddling sort of run, and their wings can make a whistling noise when flying. They tend to be seen in pairs or small groups.
------
This one is definitely going to make my Tops of 2007 - no doubt whatsoever.
When Lincoln is brutally murdered just hours after Emily's return, the easy suspect is Blakie Japanangka. Wild man, savage protector of tradition and guarder of sacred sites, Blakie is known to everyone as a bit of a nutter. Since her return Emily has seen Blakie arguing with Lincoln more than once and the manner of Lincoln's death seems to indicate a ritual killing, maybe because of some broken taboo. When the local police arrive from nearby town Bluebush, the hunt for Blakie is on straight away. But Blakie's from this Country, he knows it like the back of his hand, and after a clumsy attempt by the police to grab him, he disappears into the scrub. In the meantime the mob moves off Moonlight Downs, lost and looking for leadership they slowly move to the squatter camps outside Bluebush. Even Emily, despite swearing she never would, ends up working in a pub in Bluebush, living in a flat in town and still pursuing what happened to Lincoln with a single minded intent that gets up the nose of a lot of people very quickly. The appearance of Earl Marsh, the big, brash and offensive owner of the station next door to Moonlight Downs and the slimy government representative Massie eventually make Emily question her pursuit of Blakie, even though Police Sergeant Tom McGillivray doesn't agree.
DIAMOND DOVE is an aboriginal novel written by a white man who has spent many years working with communities in Central Australia. The Warlpuju mob is an invention by the author, based on a number of different groups in that area. Much of the Aboriginal terminology though can be found in languages to the north of Alice Springs. DIAMOND DOVE is a reference to the totems of both Lincoln and Hazel, woven through the story. It's an interesting choice for a white man to write an affectionate, funny, telling story which is so strongly imbued with a sense of Aboriginal Culture and Country.
One of the major strengths of DIAMOND DOVE is that interwoven with the mystery of Lincoln's death is a wonderful, sensitive and enlightening glimpse into realistic contemporary Aboriginal life. There's explanations of totems, taboo, sacred places, familiar structure and relationships, lifestyle, skin names, taboo names, traditional tribal structures and the effect of country. There's some telling insights into the differences between the white community and the local Aboriginal communities – in and around the town of Bluebush and outside it, at the stations and in the mining communities. There's also some fabulous and frankly hilarious observations of a redneck outback Australian country town that will have you crying with laughter. There's even a touch of Outback Mechanic – with fuel being fed into wrecks of old cars from tins tied on the roof! Hyland has got a real knack of writing the dialogue in a lyrical manner, that reads with the lilt that you get when Aboriginal speakers move to and from their own Language and English. There's something in that speech pattern that echoes the bush and for this reader, those dialogue sequences were a real joy to read.
DIAMOND DOVE is a novel where a lot of major components merge really well. The characterisations are fabulous. Emily is strong, loud, opinionated, flighty, caring, ratty, forthright, independent and kind and she feels very female, very current day Aboriginal to this reader at least. Tom McGillivray is your classic outback cop – done it, seen it, nothing surprises anymore. Hazel is an Aboriginal woman, living as close to a traditional lifestyle as she can, comfortable in that choice. Other members of the mob are more clearly caught between a Traditional life and the supposed lure of the white culture. There is a supporting cast who are sketched out beautifully, either in brief cameo appearances or as a larger part of the story. The mystery is intriguing, the manner and style of Lincoln's death adding that possibility of ritual and therefore something deeply Aboriginal as a possibility. The sense of place or setting for the novel wins on a number of levels. There is Central Australia and the differences between the deserts and the outback and the small town worlds. There is also Aboriginal Central Australia with the totem elements, the sacred places and the hidden places. Finally there is humour, dry, ironic, sardonic, rude, pointed and observational.
DIAMOND DOVE hints at the beginnings of an ongoing series, and Emily would be a great entrant in a long line of amateur Female Investigators. It is highly recommended.
------
The Diamond Dove is one of the smallest pigeons found predominantly around areas of water in semi-arid areas of Central, West and Northern Australia. They are very delicately marked around the eyes, are often seen on the ground in a toddling sort of run, and their wings can make a whistling noise when flying. They tend to be seen in pairs or small groups.
------
This one is definitely going to make my Tops of 2007 - no doubt whatsoever.
July 24, 2023
A brilliant read, as energetic, rash, original and funny as the main character Emily Tempest. I really felt like I was there in the Northern Territory desert scrub, rocky outcrops and outback watering holes of all kinds. Fabulous use of exaggerated but downbeat metaphor. Loved it.
June 13, 2025
This book would have gotten higher review if not for the dialect. It was a difficult read
November 1, 2022
Very good debut novel. Looking forward to reading others in the series. The main character, Emily Tempest, is a part-Aboriginal woman who has drifted through life returns to the area she grew up in in the Australian Outback. When she arrives, the father of a close friend is found murdered and Emily decides to investigate to find proof of who murdered him.
October 10, 2017
I liked this book about rural Australia and also liked the very gutsy protagonist. I will definitely read more in the series.
July 23, 2012
Having recently read and thoroughly enjoyed Adrian Hyland's Gunshot Road (Emily Tempest #2), I thought it only right that I read the first Emily Tempest book, Diamond Dove - and I was not disappointed.
Emily Tempest is the daughter of a white miner, Motor Jack and his deceased Aboriginal wife. Being of mixed race, Emily has a diverse grounding in both Aboriginal culture and white Australia. She attended boarding college in Adelaide, is well read, went to Uni for three unfinished degrees and has traveled the world. She also spent her youth growing up around the mines in remote regions of Northern Territory with her indigenous friend Hazel. Their childhood immersed in Aboriginal culture, myths, legends and teachings. We soon also find out that Emily is adaptable, stubborn, opinionated and tough as nails!
In search of her roots, Emily has returned to her childhood home - Moonlight Downs, a remote Aboriginal camp in outback Northern Territory. She has hardly settled-in when Hazel's father Lincoln, the camp's elder is found murdered in a seemingly ritualistic fashion.
The enigmatic Aboriginal sorcerer Blakie, who is camped nearby becomes the prime suspect. Many of the Moonlight Downs mob are scared of Blakie and even suspect he is a little unbalanced in the top paddock. He is also hard to catch! Emily's belief in Blakie's guilt gradually diminishes throughout the novel as a range of other characters reveal compelling motives. As in the second novel Emily is dogmatic in her pursuit of answers, and stirs up a hornet's nest until justice is cleverly and poetically served.
The pace is slightly different to Gunshot Road, with the investigation and plot taking a little longer to fully develop. However the void is filled with fantastic descriptions of life in a remote settlement for both indigenous and non-indigenous Australians. Hyland doesn't shy away away from the bad stuff - the racism, alcoholism, delinquency and abuse that occurs, but he delivers it with a touch of humour and even optimism.
This is a brilliant debut novel by Adrian Hyland with a well-researched plot and wonderfully crafted characters. It is a thoroughly deserving winner of the 2007 Ned Kelly award for best first crime fiction novel and I recommend it to all purveyors of Australian crime fiction.
Emily Tempest is the daughter of a white miner, Motor Jack and his deceased Aboriginal wife. Being of mixed race, Emily has a diverse grounding in both Aboriginal culture and white Australia. She attended boarding college in Adelaide, is well read, went to Uni for three unfinished degrees and has traveled the world. She also spent her youth growing up around the mines in remote regions of Northern Territory with her indigenous friend Hazel. Their childhood immersed in Aboriginal culture, myths, legends and teachings. We soon also find out that Emily is adaptable, stubborn, opinionated and tough as nails!
In search of her roots, Emily has returned to her childhood home - Moonlight Downs, a remote Aboriginal camp in outback Northern Territory. She has hardly settled-in when Hazel's father Lincoln, the camp's elder is found murdered in a seemingly ritualistic fashion.
The enigmatic Aboriginal sorcerer Blakie, who is camped nearby becomes the prime suspect. Many of the Moonlight Downs mob are scared of Blakie and even suspect he is a little unbalanced in the top paddock. He is also hard to catch! Emily's belief in Blakie's guilt gradually diminishes throughout the novel as a range of other characters reveal compelling motives. As in the second novel Emily is dogmatic in her pursuit of answers, and stirs up a hornet's nest until justice is cleverly and poetically served.
The pace is slightly different to Gunshot Road, with the investigation and plot taking a little longer to fully develop. However the void is filled with fantastic descriptions of life in a remote settlement for both indigenous and non-indigenous Australians. Hyland doesn't shy away away from the bad stuff - the racism, alcoholism, delinquency and abuse that occurs, but he delivers it with a touch of humour and even optimism.
This is a brilliant debut novel by Adrian Hyland with a well-researched plot and wonderfully crafted characters. It is a thoroughly deserving winner of the 2007 Ned Kelly award for best first crime fiction novel and I recommend it to all purveyors of Australian crime fiction.
July 31, 2023
Australia: Northern Territory
I have zero education about Australian Aboriginals. The only exposure I have had is from movies. I was surprised how 'primitive' the characters lived and I was a bit uncomfortable. The plot, writing and landscape descriptions made up for that. I am just not sure I would read a sequel.
I have zero education about Australian Aboriginals. The only exposure I have had is from movies. I was surprised how 'primitive' the characters lived and I was a bit uncomfortable. The plot, writing and landscape descriptions made up for that. I am just not sure I would read a sequel.
October 12, 2025
Hilarious at times, poignant and hard-hitting as well. Here is a different heroine - one that lives up to her name “Tempest” - renowned for causing trouble. The writer has a deep understanding of life in the bush, for its many and varied inhabitants and doesn’t gloss over the problems. Can’t wait to read Book 2.
April 6, 2008
This beautiful mystery novel follows the journey of a young Aboriginal woman. Torn between 'blackfellers' and 'whitefellers', torn between the outback and the modern world. A great tale of Aboriginal lands and dreaming.
August 9, 2009
One of the most amazing books that I've read. The pov is the mixed blood Aboriginal female investigator. The integration of culture, spirit world and landscape of central Australia is unique and compelling. Can't wait for the next - please let there be a next. Another home run from Soho Crime.
March 3, 2008
I'm so predictable sometimes. Murder + exotic locale = happy me.
October 6, 2016
Do not read this book.
June 13, 2020
A young Aboriginal woman returns to the tribe that raised her, only for a murder to ruin her homecoming.
The narrator and protagonist is the fierce and pig-headed Emily Tempest. Daughter of a mother from another tribe and with a white father, she was raised amongst the Warlpuju after her mother’s death. Although there are clear suggestions her outsider status is mostly self-imposed, this liminal identity allows the reader an intelligible introduction to the tribal world and the plot some extra admittance to white spaces. Emily is an appealing character, an odd mixture of brash and introspective, although interestingly terrible as a self-appointed amateur detective. She is not overly worried about hurting other people and also gets most things wrong throughout the book, with appalling consequences.
Despite otherwise keeping the plot firmly within the genre bounds of the amateur detective story, this is an unusual mystery novel. The fictionalised Aboriginal settlement of Moonlight Downs and the nearby outback town of Bluebush form an intense and confronting setting, given the levels of deprivation in real Aboriginal communities. Neither the author nor the narrator shy from describing the extreme poverty, the dirt, the racism, the discomforting cultural practices of both the indigenous tribes and the white Territorians, but also provide a viewpoint that loves the people and the landscapes it is describing.
The narrator and protagonist is the fierce and pig-headed Emily Tempest. Daughter of a mother from another tribe and with a white father, she was raised amongst the Warlpuju after her mother’s death. Although there are clear suggestions her outsider status is mostly self-imposed, this liminal identity allows the reader an intelligible introduction to the tribal world and the plot some extra admittance to white spaces. Emily is an appealing character, an odd mixture of brash and introspective, although interestingly terrible as a self-appointed amateur detective. She is not overly worried about hurting other people and also gets most things wrong throughout the book, with appalling consequences.
Despite otherwise keeping the plot firmly within the genre bounds of the amateur detective story, this is an unusual mystery novel. The fictionalised Aboriginal settlement of Moonlight Downs and the nearby outback town of Bluebush form an intense and confronting setting, given the levels of deprivation in real Aboriginal communities. Neither the author nor the narrator shy from describing the extreme poverty, the dirt, the racism, the discomforting cultural practices of both the indigenous tribes and the white Territorians, but also provide a viewpoint that loves the people and the landscapes it is describing.
December 19, 2025
Shortly after Emily Tempest returns to Moonlight Downs, the Aboriginal community of her childhood, her best friend's father is murdered. Blame immediately falls upon Blakie, the community's violent renegade, who evades arrest and vanishes into the outback.
Only gradually does Emily come to believe that there is more to her old friend's death than anyone else is prepared to consider. Determined to uncover the truth Emily applies her traditional insights and university education and sets upon a course of action that will place her, and possibly her friends and family, in mortal danger.
An excellent debut. Emily Tempest is a great character: strong, intelligent, funny; her upbringing & education has her feeling the pull of both worlds, tribal community & modern society. Determined to get to the truth of Lincoln's death, she gets herself into a lot of trouble because she's not one to keep her mouth shut nor temper her words.
I love the characterisations & the depictions of town & country; I was immersed in the Central Australian landscape, its geology & people. I have already read Gunshot Road, the 2nd book, & wish there was more to come.
Only gradually does Emily come to believe that there is more to her old friend's death than anyone else is prepared to consider. Determined to uncover the truth Emily applies her traditional insights and university education and sets upon a course of action that will place her, and possibly her friends and family, in mortal danger.
An excellent debut. Emily Tempest is a great character: strong, intelligent, funny; her upbringing & education has her feeling the pull of both worlds, tribal community & modern society. Determined to get to the truth of Lincoln's death, she gets herself into a lot of trouble because she's not one to keep her mouth shut nor temper her words.
I love the characterisations & the depictions of town & country; I was immersed in the Central Australian landscape, its geology & people. I have already read Gunshot Road, the 2nd book, & wish there was more to come.
May 20, 2022
'Moonlight Downs' is a murder mystery set in outback Australia, with the sleuth Emily Tempest a half-aborigine.
This was an intense and riveting read. Descriptions of place and culture were brilliant, characters were good, stakes were extremely high. The clashes between cultures, and the depictions of poverty were often visceral. The author, Adrian Hyland, has a great talent for telling about people and place, and (as far as I know) a sharp insight of Aboriginal life and Australian outback.
Sadly, the mystery is not nearly as good. The book pursues 2 main suspects so closely that it's pretty clear the author isn't planning to have either be the killer. When the killer is revealed it's... a guy? We met once in a brief scene, and who wasn't even considered a suspect... I hardly even remembered him. And the climactic conclusion seems to involve spiritual powers? Or weird luck?
As a depiction of aboriginal life, and the confusing split Emily Tempest faces living between two cultures, this book is a stellar success. As a mystery, well, it's just meh, especially with the do-I-know-this-guy? conclusion.
This was an intense and riveting read. Descriptions of place and culture were brilliant, characters were good, stakes were extremely high. The clashes between cultures, and the depictions of poverty were often visceral. The author, Adrian Hyland, has a great talent for telling about people and place, and (as far as I know) a sharp insight of Aboriginal life and Australian outback.
Sadly, the mystery is not nearly as good. The book pursues 2 main suspects so closely that it's pretty clear the author isn't planning to have either be the killer. When the killer is revealed it's... a guy? We met once in a brief scene, and who wasn't even considered a suspect... I hardly even remembered him. And the climactic conclusion seems to involve spiritual powers? Or weird luck?
As a depiction of aboriginal life, and the confusing split Emily Tempest faces living between two cultures, this book is a stellar success. As a mystery, well, it's just meh, especially with the do-I-know-this-guy? conclusion.
September 11, 2016
Emily Tempest, drawn back to Central Australia and to the place she grew up, Moonlight Downs, instantly feels at peace with the Warlpuju people. Here are her best friend Hazel and Hazel's father Lincoln Flinders, a much respected tribal elder. The Warlpuju have always been her mob and Moonlight Downs her Country. Emily was instantly accepted and included from childhood even though she is the daughter of a white man and a Wantiya women. She's done her fair share of walkabout since she left the Downs and the mob were driven off by the last station owner, so this is her first return since the successful land claim that returned this traditional land to its traditional owners.
When Lincoln is brutally murdered just hours after Emily's return, the easy suspect is Blakie Japanangka. Wild man, savage protector of tradition and guarder of sacred sites, Blakie is known to everyone as a bit of a nutter. Since her return Emily has seen Blakie arguing with Lincoln more than once and the manner of Lincoln's death seems to indicate a ritual killing, maybe because of some broken taboo. When the local police arrive from nearby town Bluebush, the hunt for Blakie is on straight away. But Blakie's from this Country, he knows it like the back of his hand, and after a clumsy attempt by the police to grab him, he disappears into the scrub. In the meantime the mob moves off Moonlight Downs, lost and looking for leadership they slowly move to the squatter camps outside Bluebush. Even Emily, despite swearing she never would, ends up working in a pub in Bluebush, living in a flat in town and still pursuing what happened to Lincoln with a single minded intent that gets up the nose of a lot of people very quickly. The appearance of Earl Marsh, the big, brash and offensive owner of the station next door to Moonlight Downs and the slimy government representative Massie eventually make Emily question her pursuit of Blakie, even though Police Sergeant Tom McGillivray doesn't agree.
DIAMOND DOVE is an aboriginal novel written by a white man who has spent many years working with communities in Central Australia. The Warlpuju mob is an invention by the author, based on a number of different groups in that area. Much of the Aboriginal terminology though can be found in languages to the north of Alice Springs. DIAMOND DOVE is a reference to the totems of both Lincoln and Hazel, woven through the story. It's an interesting choice for a white man to write an affectionate, funny, telling story which is so strongly imbued with a sense of Aboriginal Culture and Country.
One of the major strengths of DIAMOND DOVE is that interwoven with the mystery of Lincoln's death is a wonderful, sensitive and enlightening glimpse into realistic contemporary Aboriginal life. There's explanations of totems, taboo, sacred places, familiar structure and relationships, lifestyle, skin names, taboo names, traditional tribal structures and the effect of country. There's some telling insights into the differences between the white community and the local Aboriginal communities – in and around the town of Bluebush and outside it, at the stations and in the mining communities. There's also some fabulous and frankly hilarious observations of a redneck outback Australian country town that will have you crying with laughter. There's even a touch of Outback Mechanic – with fuel being fed into wrecks of old cars from tins tied on the roof! Hyland has got a real knack of writing the dialogue in a lyrical manner, that reads with the lilt that you get when Aboriginal speakers move to and from their own Language and English. There's something in that speech pattern that echoes the bush and for this reader, those dialogue sequences were a real joy to read.
DIAMOND DOVE is a novel where a lot of major components merge really well. The characterisations are fabulous. Emily is strong, loud, opinionated, flighty, caring, ratty, forthright, independent and kind and she feels very female, very current day Aboriginal to this reader at least. Tom McGillivray is your classic outback cop – done it, seen it, nothing surprises anymore. Hazel is an Aboriginal woman, living as close to a traditional lifestyle as she can, comfortable in that choice. Other members of the mob are more clearly caught between a Traditional life and the supposed lure of the white culture. There is a supporting cast who are sketched out beautifully, either in brief cameo appearances or as a larger part of the story. The mystery is intriguing, the manner and style of Lincoln's death adding that possibility of ritual and therefore something deeply Aboriginal as a possibility. The sense of place or setting for the novel wins on a number of levels. There is Central Australia and the differences between the deserts and the outback and the small town worlds. There is also Aboriginal Central Australia with the totem elements, the sacred places and the hidden places. Finally there is humour, dry, ironic, sardonic, rude, pointed and observational.
DIAMOND DOVE hints at the beginnings of an ongoing series, and Emily would be a great entrant in a long line of amateur Female Investigators. It is highly recommended.
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The Diamond Dove is one of the smallest pigeons found predominantly around areas of water in semi-arid areas of Central, West and Northern Australia. They are very delicately marked around the eyes, are often seen on the ground in a toddling sort of run, and their wings can make a whistling noise when flying. They tend to be seen in pairs or small groups.
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This one is definitely going to make my Tops of 2007 - no doubt whatsoever.
When Lincoln is brutally murdered just hours after Emily's return, the easy suspect is Blakie Japanangka. Wild man, savage protector of tradition and guarder of sacred sites, Blakie is known to everyone as a bit of a nutter. Since her return Emily has seen Blakie arguing with Lincoln more than once and the manner of Lincoln's death seems to indicate a ritual killing, maybe because of some broken taboo. When the local police arrive from nearby town Bluebush, the hunt for Blakie is on straight away. But Blakie's from this Country, he knows it like the back of his hand, and after a clumsy attempt by the police to grab him, he disappears into the scrub. In the meantime the mob moves off Moonlight Downs, lost and looking for leadership they slowly move to the squatter camps outside Bluebush. Even Emily, despite swearing she never would, ends up working in a pub in Bluebush, living in a flat in town and still pursuing what happened to Lincoln with a single minded intent that gets up the nose of a lot of people very quickly. The appearance of Earl Marsh, the big, brash and offensive owner of the station next door to Moonlight Downs and the slimy government representative Massie eventually make Emily question her pursuit of Blakie, even though Police Sergeant Tom McGillivray doesn't agree.
DIAMOND DOVE is an aboriginal novel written by a white man who has spent many years working with communities in Central Australia. The Warlpuju mob is an invention by the author, based on a number of different groups in that area. Much of the Aboriginal terminology though can be found in languages to the north of Alice Springs. DIAMOND DOVE is a reference to the totems of both Lincoln and Hazel, woven through the story. It's an interesting choice for a white man to write an affectionate, funny, telling story which is so strongly imbued with a sense of Aboriginal Culture and Country.
One of the major strengths of DIAMOND DOVE is that interwoven with the mystery of Lincoln's death is a wonderful, sensitive and enlightening glimpse into realistic contemporary Aboriginal life. There's explanations of totems, taboo, sacred places, familiar structure and relationships, lifestyle, skin names, taboo names, traditional tribal structures and the effect of country. There's some telling insights into the differences between the white community and the local Aboriginal communities – in and around the town of Bluebush and outside it, at the stations and in the mining communities. There's also some fabulous and frankly hilarious observations of a redneck outback Australian country town that will have you crying with laughter. There's even a touch of Outback Mechanic – with fuel being fed into wrecks of old cars from tins tied on the roof! Hyland has got a real knack of writing the dialogue in a lyrical manner, that reads with the lilt that you get when Aboriginal speakers move to and from their own Language and English. There's something in that speech pattern that echoes the bush and for this reader, those dialogue sequences were a real joy to read.
DIAMOND DOVE is a novel where a lot of major components merge really well. The characterisations are fabulous. Emily is strong, loud, opinionated, flighty, caring, ratty, forthright, independent and kind and she feels very female, very current day Aboriginal to this reader at least. Tom McGillivray is your classic outback cop – done it, seen it, nothing surprises anymore. Hazel is an Aboriginal woman, living as close to a traditional lifestyle as she can, comfortable in that choice. Other members of the mob are more clearly caught between a Traditional life and the supposed lure of the white culture. There is a supporting cast who are sketched out beautifully, either in brief cameo appearances or as a larger part of the story. The mystery is intriguing, the manner and style of Lincoln's death adding that possibility of ritual and therefore something deeply Aboriginal as a possibility. The sense of place or setting for the novel wins on a number of levels. There is Central Australia and the differences between the deserts and the outback and the small town worlds. There is also Aboriginal Central Australia with the totem elements, the sacred places and the hidden places. Finally there is humour, dry, ironic, sardonic, rude, pointed and observational.
DIAMOND DOVE hints at the beginnings of an ongoing series, and Emily would be a great entrant in a long line of amateur Female Investigators. It is highly recommended.
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The Diamond Dove is one of the smallest pigeons found predominantly around areas of water in semi-arid areas of Central, West and Northern Australia. They are very delicately marked around the eyes, are often seen on the ground in a toddling sort of run, and their wings can make a whistling noise when flying. They tend to be seen in pairs or small groups.
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This one is definitely going to make my Tops of 2007 - no doubt whatsoever.
August 12, 2019
A very Australian book, and you probably need an Aussie dictionary (perhaps "Let's Talk Strine"?) to fully understand all the colloquialisms, but you would still understand the majority...
It is a gritty look at the life of Aboriginal people in the Outback, and all sounds very realistic in the telling of the story.
A strong Aboriginal spiritual thread adds to this murder mystery, and I found it very interesting to see the parallels between aboriginal peoples in Australia and Canada, how they live and how they are regarded as a problem by many of the recent immigrants who arrived in their countries in the last couple of hundred years..
It is a gritty look at the life of Aboriginal people in the Outback, and all sounds very realistic in the telling of the story.
A strong Aboriginal spiritual thread adds to this murder mystery, and I found it very interesting to see the parallels between aboriginal peoples in Australia and Canada, how they live and how they are regarded as a problem by many of the recent immigrants who arrived in their countries in the last couple of hundred years..
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