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Ivan Lucic & Nell Buchanan #1
Treasure & Dirt
An unputdownable thriller from the bestselling author of Scrublands.
In the desolate outback town of Finnigans Gap, police struggle to maintain law and order. Thieves pillage opal mines, religious fanatics recruit vulnerable young people and billionaires do as they please.
Then an opal miner is found crucified and left to rot down his mine. Nothing about the miner's death is straightforward, not even who found the body. Sydney homicide detective Ivan Lucic is sent to investigate, assisted by inexperienced young investigator Nell Buchanan.
But Finnigans Gap has already ended one police career and damaged others, and soon both officers face damning allegations and internal investigations. Have Ivan and Nell been set up and, if so, by whom?
As time runs out, their only chance at redemption is to find the killer. But the more secrets they uncover, the more harrowing the mystery becomes, as events from years ago take on a startling new significance.
For in Finnigans Gap, opals, bodies and secrets don't stay buried for ever.
A superb standalone thriller from the acclaimed and award-winning author of the international bestsellers Scrublands, Silver and Trust.
In the desolate outback town of Finnigans Gap, police struggle to maintain law and order. Thieves pillage opal mines, religious fanatics recruit vulnerable young people and billionaires do as they please.
Then an opal miner is found crucified and left to rot down his mine. Nothing about the miner's death is straightforward, not even who found the body. Sydney homicide detective Ivan Lucic is sent to investigate, assisted by inexperienced young investigator Nell Buchanan.
But Finnigans Gap has already ended one police career and damaged others, and soon both officers face damning allegations and internal investigations. Have Ivan and Nell been set up and, if so, by whom?
As time runs out, their only chance at redemption is to find the killer. But the more secrets they uncover, the more harrowing the mystery becomes, as events from years ago take on a startling new significance.
For in Finnigans Gap, opals, bodies and secrets don't stay buried for ever.
A superb standalone thriller from the acclaimed and award-winning author of the international bestsellers Scrublands, Silver and Trust.
512 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 28, 2021
537 people are currently reading
6383 people want to read
About the author
Chris Hammer
11 books1,417 followersChris Hammer is a leading Australian crime fiction author. His first book, Scrublands, was an instant #1 bestseller upon publication in 2018. It won the prestigious UK Crime Writers' Association John Creasey New Blood Dagger and was shortlisted for awards in Australia and the United States.
Scrublands has been sold into translation in several foreign languages. Chris's follow-up books—Silver (2019), Trust (2020), Treasure & Dirt (2021), The Tilt (2022) and The Seven (2023)—are also bestsellers and all have been shortlisted for major literary prizes. The Valley is his seventh novel.
The Tilt (published as Dead Man's Creek in the UK) was named The Sunday Times Crime Book of the Year for 2023.
Scrublands has been adapted for television, screening globally, and production is underway for a second series based on Silver.
Before turning to fiction, Chris was a journalist for more than thirty years. He has written two non-fiction books The River (2010) and The Coast (2012).
He has a bachelor's degree in journalism from Charles Sturt University and a master's degree in international relations from the Australian National University.
Scrublands has been sold into translation in several foreign languages. Chris's follow-up books—Silver (2019), Trust (2020), Treasure & Dirt (2021), The Tilt (2022) and The Seven (2023)—are also bestsellers and all have been shortlisted for major literary prizes. The Valley is his seventh novel.
The Tilt (published as Dead Man's Creek in the UK) was named The Sunday Times Crime Book of the Year for 2023.
Scrublands has been adapted for television, screening globally, and production is underway for a second series based on Silver.
Before turning to fiction, Chris was a journalist for more than thirty years. He has written two non-fiction books The River (2010) and The Coast (2012).
He has a bachelor's degree in journalism from Charles Sturt University and a master's degree in international relations from the Australian National University.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 880 reviews
November 7, 2021
This is the latest thriller from the award winning Chris Hammer, a cracking standalone outback noir, set in the blistering, unforgiving heat, dust, and flies of Australia's opal country, and the small mining town of Finnegan's Gap, where many chase the elusive dream of unearthing valuable opals, including the desperate and thieves known as ratters. DS Ivan Lucic, has been part of a lauded police investigations team with DI Morris Montifore, but they have upset powerful interests that are now gunning for them. As Montifore comes under the intense scrutiny of Professional Standards, Lucic finds himself making his way to Finnegan's Gap where a local miner has been found crucified. Under severe pressure, Lucic has to come out of Montifore's shadow and prove his worth as the lead homicide detective, aided by DC Nell Buchanan, an ambitious but inexperienced police officer with local knowledge, but are they both being set up to fail?
The victim Jonas McGee is estranged from his daughter, Elsie, has a tragic history in which he killed his wife and her sister in a car crash, for which he served a prison sentence, and came out with a new religious fervour and a desire to atone. Why would anyone want to crucify him? Lucic becomes acquainted with The Rapture, a fundamentalist religious cult led by the fanatic, judgemental, and over confident 'Seer'. There are 2 politically powerful mining billionaires locked in an intense rivalry, geologist Robert 'Bullshit Bob' Inglis, and Cattamulla Coal owner, Delaney Bullwinkel. Could the ratters who discovered Jonas's body have some vital information? As Montifore accepts his fate, pushed out of the police force, time is running out for Lucic and Nell, harrowing secrets emerge from the long forgotten past, and as they get closer to Jonas's killer, will justice prevail?
Hammer specialises in writing intricate complex crime novels, his journalist Martin Scarsden is referenced here, and allegations concerning him are part of the case built against Montifore. The atmospheric location itself is a central character, Finnegan's Gap is a town that has claimed more that one police officer's career, a place where the dreams of many have died, where people struggle to make ends meet, bake under the merciless and deadly sun, and opals are becoming increasingly harder to find. I very much liked the central characters, Lucic is a flawed man who finds it difficult to let people into his life, and has a gambling habit, but he and Nell slowly develop a partnership that becomes strong enough to help break the case. This is superb Aussie noir, it is a dark, engaging, intense, and a riveting crime read that I think many crime, mystery and thriller readers will love. Highly recommended. Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.
The victim Jonas McGee is estranged from his daughter, Elsie, has a tragic history in which he killed his wife and her sister in a car crash, for which he served a prison sentence, and came out with a new religious fervour and a desire to atone. Why would anyone want to crucify him? Lucic becomes acquainted with The Rapture, a fundamentalist religious cult led by the fanatic, judgemental, and over confident 'Seer'. There are 2 politically powerful mining billionaires locked in an intense rivalry, geologist Robert 'Bullshit Bob' Inglis, and Cattamulla Coal owner, Delaney Bullwinkel. Could the ratters who discovered Jonas's body have some vital information? As Montifore accepts his fate, pushed out of the police force, time is running out for Lucic and Nell, harrowing secrets emerge from the long forgotten past, and as they get closer to Jonas's killer, will justice prevail?
Hammer specialises in writing intricate complex crime novels, his journalist Martin Scarsden is referenced here, and allegations concerning him are part of the case built against Montifore. The atmospheric location itself is a central character, Finnegan's Gap is a town that has claimed more that one police officer's career, a place where the dreams of many have died, where people struggle to make ends meet, bake under the merciless and deadly sun, and opals are becoming increasingly harder to find. I very much liked the central characters, Lucic is a flawed man who finds it difficult to let people into his life, and has a gambling habit, but he and Nell slowly develop a partnership that becomes strong enough to help break the case. This is superb Aussie noir, it is a dark, engaging, intense, and a riveting crime read that I think many crime, mystery and thriller readers will love. Highly recommended. Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.
November 14, 2021
This compelling Outback thriller is set in the fictional town of Finnigans Gap, a remote town built on opal mining. It is located near the northern border of NSW and Queensland. Chris Hammer, the author, has become a must-read writer for me, and I have read all his complex mysteries. I especially loved his saga 'Scrublands' as I always was fascinated by visits to the Outback. I had never been to any of the actual Opal towns, so when I ordered 'Treasures and Dirt,' I prepared by watching 'Outback Opal Hunters'on the Discovery Chanel. This gave a good visual of the miners' equipment, machinery, drilling rigs, and underground work in the tunnels.
Chris Hammer conveys a sense of place, the dust, dryness, oppressive heat, and the isolation brilliantly, with atmospheric writing that transports the reader to his setting. The characters are well-developed and believable in the isolated community. We meet the good, the poor, the desperate, the obscenely wealthy, the deranged, the evil, the powerful, and some quirky characters. There is a wonderfully illustrated map included. It shows the main buildings in Finnigans Gap mentioned in the story and the roads and important structures in the surrounding area. There are members of law enforcement sent from Sydney to solve complicated murders and members of internal affairs investigating those same detectives for breaking the rules in the past.
In Finnigans Gap, there are rumours that a local miner, Jonas McGee, has made a recent treasure in opals in his private mine. He is believed to be far away, vacationing with his newfound wealth. The supply of opals seems to be running out. Some desperate miners have become 'ratters' breaking into privately owned mines at night in hopes of finding opals. Four ratters have decided to break into Jonas's mine by night in hopes of finding and stealing opals. It should be an easy theft since the owner is away enjoying money received from selling his opals. They find Jonas's dead and decaying body, crucified and nailed to a makeshift cross by metal spikes. A ratters drill is displayed at the body's feet. Opals are forgotten as they rush out of the mine in horror. They make an anonymous call to the local police.
Ivan Lucic, homicide detective, is dispatched from Sydney to investigate the case. He was to be partnered with a senior detective and friend, but the man is under investigation for talking to a reporter and probably faces early retirement. He and Ivan keep in touch secretly with burner phones. In his place, Ivan is assisted by a bright, young detective, Nell Buchanan. She made a drug bust while formerly working in the town, which should have helped her career. Unfortunately, past transgressions for which she was unaware have placed her in a precarious situation. Both detectives fear that they have been set up and facing allegations and under investigation by officials in Sydney.
They look for redemption by solving this case quickly, but the more they learn, the more complex it becomes. Did Jonas die a natural death, or was he murdered? Was his already dead body found by another and then nailed to the cross? Did the same people kill him and later crucify his body? What about his former friend, Buddy, who has a nearby mine, and reason to hate Jonas? There are not only the individually owned and seemingly almost depleted opal mines. There is a working coal mine nearby, keeping the local businesses alive and high hopes for a 'rare earth' mine soon to be opening and bringing prosperity to Finnigans Gap.
'Treasures and Dust' works as a standalone book, but some of the characters and events from previous thrillers, especially 'Trust,' are mentioned. It is a town of grudges, rivalry, envy, and long-buried dark family secrets. The motto "Follow the Money' comes into play. Unexplained, mysterious large money deposits and withdrawals are found, stock manipulations and skullduggery are discovered, as well as attempted blackmail. The detectives must tread carefully. To find the involvement of powerful politicians can bring disaster to any investigation.
There is a nearby religious cult at the Rapture. Its leader, the Seer, attracted dissatisfied youth and dropouts from society. Deadman's Well is an encampment of characters down on their luck. Two billionaire rivals have been seen around town. One drives in a limousine with a mysterious delegation of Chinese. Another crime also needs to be investigated. Years ago, a young man from the Rapture cult wandered into the nearby dried-up salt lake and died in 150 degrees heat. Murder was suspected, but his death was never solved.
What shocking secrets from the past connect with the murder? How do all these various characters and locations relate to the death of Jonas? Family estrangement must be explored.
This is a remarkable, complex, and fascinating thriller. Highly recommended.
Chris Hammer conveys a sense of place, the dust, dryness, oppressive heat, and the isolation brilliantly, with atmospheric writing that transports the reader to his setting. The characters are well-developed and believable in the isolated community. We meet the good, the poor, the desperate, the obscenely wealthy, the deranged, the evil, the powerful, and some quirky characters. There is a wonderfully illustrated map included. It shows the main buildings in Finnigans Gap mentioned in the story and the roads and important structures in the surrounding area. There are members of law enforcement sent from Sydney to solve complicated murders and members of internal affairs investigating those same detectives for breaking the rules in the past.
In Finnigans Gap, there are rumours that a local miner, Jonas McGee, has made a recent treasure in opals in his private mine. He is believed to be far away, vacationing with his newfound wealth. The supply of opals seems to be running out. Some desperate miners have become 'ratters' breaking into privately owned mines at night in hopes of finding opals. Four ratters have decided to break into Jonas's mine by night in hopes of finding and stealing opals. It should be an easy theft since the owner is away enjoying money received from selling his opals. They find Jonas's dead and decaying body, crucified and nailed to a makeshift cross by metal spikes. A ratters drill is displayed at the body's feet. Opals are forgotten as they rush out of the mine in horror. They make an anonymous call to the local police.
Ivan Lucic, homicide detective, is dispatched from Sydney to investigate the case. He was to be partnered with a senior detective and friend, but the man is under investigation for talking to a reporter and probably faces early retirement. He and Ivan keep in touch secretly with burner phones. In his place, Ivan is assisted by a bright, young detective, Nell Buchanan. She made a drug bust while formerly working in the town, which should have helped her career. Unfortunately, past transgressions for which she was unaware have placed her in a precarious situation. Both detectives fear that they have been set up and facing allegations and under investigation by officials in Sydney.
They look for redemption by solving this case quickly, but the more they learn, the more complex it becomes. Did Jonas die a natural death, or was he murdered? Was his already dead body found by another and then nailed to the cross? Did the same people kill him and later crucify his body? What about his former friend, Buddy, who has a nearby mine, and reason to hate Jonas? There are not only the individually owned and seemingly almost depleted opal mines. There is a working coal mine nearby, keeping the local businesses alive and high hopes for a 'rare earth' mine soon to be opening and bringing prosperity to Finnigans Gap.
'Treasures and Dust' works as a standalone book, but some of the characters and events from previous thrillers, especially 'Trust,' are mentioned. It is a town of grudges, rivalry, envy, and long-buried dark family secrets. The motto "Follow the Money' comes into play. Unexplained, mysterious large money deposits and withdrawals are found, stock manipulations and skullduggery are discovered, as well as attempted blackmail. The detectives must tread carefully. To find the involvement of powerful politicians can bring disaster to any investigation.
There is a nearby religious cult at the Rapture. Its leader, the Seer, attracted dissatisfied youth and dropouts from society. Deadman's Well is an encampment of characters down on their luck. Two billionaire rivals have been seen around town. One drives in a limousine with a mysterious delegation of Chinese. Another crime also needs to be investigated. Years ago, a young man from the Rapture cult wandered into the nearby dried-up salt lake and died in 150 degrees heat. Murder was suspected, but his death was never solved.
What shocking secrets from the past connect with the murder? How do all these various characters and locations relate to the death of Jonas? Family estrangement must be explored.
This is a remarkable, complex, and fascinating thriller. Highly recommended.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 16, 2025
EXCERPT: He comes to a cordoned off passage, orange plastic webbing strung across its entry, the sort used on roadworks. The tunnel is supported by a roughly made wooden framework. There's a piece of cardboard, ripped from a carton, with one word scrawled: UNSTABLE. He moves past it, past a blower hole, the vacuum tube still hanging from it where McGee has been sucking out his fill. He must be getting closer.
Past the hole, the smell grows markedly worse. His stomach turns and the hairs on the back of his head come alert. Something is wrong here. Very wrong. He knows this smell, from another time, another land, an endless war.
He passes a mining machine, an excavator. He's close now.
And then he sees it. Sees him. Jonas McGee, dead eyes staring, something small and black crawling from the corner of his mouth. The man is not just dead, he's been crucified, nailed to a timber frame, metal spikes through his wrists, black blood congealed around them, a ratter's drill placed by his feet like an offering. Crucified. Christ-like: except here the face holds no ecstasy, the eyes no rapture.
ABOUT 'TREASURE AND DIRT': In the desolate outback town of Finnigans Gap, police struggle to maintain law and order. Thieves pillage opal mines, religious fanatics recruit vulnerable young people and billionaires do as they please.
Then an opal miner is found crucified and left to rot down his mine. Nothing about the miner's death is straightforward, not even who found the body. Sydney homicide detective Ivan Lucic is sent to investigate, assisted by inexperienced young investigator Nell Buchanan.
But Finnigans Gap has already ended one police career and damaged others, and soon both officers face damning allegations and internal investigations. Have Ivan and Nell been set up and, if so, by whom?
As time runs out, their only chance at redemption is to find the killer. But the more secrets they uncover, the more harrowing the mystery becomes, as events from years ago take on a startling new significance.
For in Finnigans Gap, opals, bodies and secrets don't stay buried for ever.
MY THOUGHTS: Chris Hammer is an author I have only recently discovered - I know, where have I been? - but one I have quickly come to appreciate.
I admire the way Hammer creates an atmosphere, capturing the heat, the flies, the dust, but most important of all, the characters. It takes a special sort of person to live somewhere so remote. Usually, you're either under the influence of opal fever, or you're wanting to stay under the radar. The outback is a great place for assuming a new identity. A lot of people in places like Finnegan's Gap are characters, real characters. I have seen many unusual things over the years I was in these communities, but never a pink tutu wearing mayor. It makes me want to go back and take another look, see what I missed.
The town of Finnegan's Gap is a character in its own right. It's a town where people struggle to make ends meet. It's a town where dreams come to die. Mostly mined out of opals the town now relies on a nearby coal mine for its survival.
DS Ivan Lucic, sent out from Sydney to investigate the unusual death, is a man with a big reputation and a big gambling habit. Separated from his usual partner, he is assisted in the investigation by DC Nell Buchanan who has previously spent three years assigned to the town. She knows the people, but they also know her, and it doesn't always work in her favour.
The various threads in this mystery, and there are a number, focus on revenge and greed - personal, corporate and political.
Chris Hammer has competently written an intricate and complex crime novel, one that kept my interest from beginning to end. I will be reading more from this author.
Narrator Dorje Swallow did a pretty good job of the narration, my only criticism being the same one that I levelled in my review of another book he narrated, and that is that he pauses in odd places, irrespective of the punctuation, which I found disconcerting at times.
⭐⭐⭐⭐.2
I: @thehammernow @wfhowes
T: @hammerNow @WFHowes
#audiobook #australianfiction #contemporaryfiction #crime #detectivefiction #murdermystery #smalltownfiction #thriller
THE AUTHOR: Chris Hammer was a journalist for more than thirty years, dividing his career between covering Australian federal politics and international affairs. For many years he was a roving foreign correspondent for SBS TV's flagship current affairs program Dateline. He has reported from more than 30 countries on six continents. In Canberra, roles included chief political correspondent for The Bulletin, current affairs correspondent for SBS TV and a senior political journalist for The Age.
Chris has a bachelor's degree in journalism from Charles Sturt University and a master's degree in international relations from the Australian National University. He lives in Canberra with his wife, Dr Tomoko Akami. The couple have two children.
https://sandysbookaday.wordpress.com/...
Past the hole, the smell grows markedly worse. His stomach turns and the hairs on the back of his head come alert. Something is wrong here. Very wrong. He knows this smell, from another time, another land, an endless war.
He passes a mining machine, an excavator. He's close now.
And then he sees it. Sees him. Jonas McGee, dead eyes staring, something small and black crawling from the corner of his mouth. The man is not just dead, he's been crucified, nailed to a timber frame, metal spikes through his wrists, black blood congealed around them, a ratter's drill placed by his feet like an offering. Crucified. Christ-like: except here the face holds no ecstasy, the eyes no rapture.
ABOUT 'TREASURE AND DIRT': In the desolate outback town of Finnigans Gap, police struggle to maintain law and order. Thieves pillage opal mines, religious fanatics recruit vulnerable young people and billionaires do as they please.
Then an opal miner is found crucified and left to rot down his mine. Nothing about the miner's death is straightforward, not even who found the body. Sydney homicide detective Ivan Lucic is sent to investigate, assisted by inexperienced young investigator Nell Buchanan.
But Finnigans Gap has already ended one police career and damaged others, and soon both officers face damning allegations and internal investigations. Have Ivan and Nell been set up and, if so, by whom?
As time runs out, their only chance at redemption is to find the killer. But the more secrets they uncover, the more harrowing the mystery becomes, as events from years ago take on a startling new significance.
For in Finnigans Gap, opals, bodies and secrets don't stay buried for ever.
MY THOUGHTS: Chris Hammer is an author I have only recently discovered - I know, where have I been? - but one I have quickly come to appreciate.
I admire the way Hammer creates an atmosphere, capturing the heat, the flies, the dust, but most important of all, the characters. It takes a special sort of person to live somewhere so remote. Usually, you're either under the influence of opal fever, or you're wanting to stay under the radar. The outback is a great place for assuming a new identity. A lot of people in places like Finnegan's Gap are characters, real characters. I have seen many unusual things over the years I was in these communities, but never a pink tutu wearing mayor. It makes me want to go back and take another look, see what I missed.
The town of Finnegan's Gap is a character in its own right. It's a town where people struggle to make ends meet. It's a town where dreams come to die. Mostly mined out of opals the town now relies on a nearby coal mine for its survival.
DS Ivan Lucic, sent out from Sydney to investigate the unusual death, is a man with a big reputation and a big gambling habit. Separated from his usual partner, he is assisted in the investigation by DC Nell Buchanan who has previously spent three years assigned to the town. She knows the people, but they also know her, and it doesn't always work in her favour.
The various threads in this mystery, and there are a number, focus on revenge and greed - personal, corporate and political.
Chris Hammer has competently written an intricate and complex crime novel, one that kept my interest from beginning to end. I will be reading more from this author.
Narrator Dorje Swallow did a pretty good job of the narration, my only criticism being the same one that I levelled in my review of another book he narrated, and that is that he pauses in odd places, irrespective of the punctuation, which I found disconcerting at times.
⭐⭐⭐⭐.2
I: @thehammernow @wfhowes
T: @hammerNow @WFHowes
#audiobook #australianfiction #contemporaryfiction #crime #detectivefiction #murdermystery #smalltownfiction #thriller
THE AUTHOR: Chris Hammer was a journalist for more than thirty years, dividing his career between covering Australian federal politics and international affairs. For many years he was a roving foreign correspondent for SBS TV's flagship current affairs program Dateline. He has reported from more than 30 countries on six continents. In Canberra, roles included chief political correspondent for The Bulletin, current affairs correspondent for SBS TV and a senior political journalist for The Age.
Chris has a bachelor's degree in journalism from Charles Sturt University and a master's degree in international relations from the Australian National University. He lives in Canberra with his wife, Dr Tomoko Akami. The couple have two children.
https://sandysbookaday.wordpress.com/...
December 2, 2021
⭐️5 Stars⭐️
Chris Hammer never disappoints, he only gets better! Treasure & Dirt was absolute dynamite, it’s so well written and brilliantly atmospheric.
If you love a cleverly written complex crime thriller set in the parched and desolate outback, look no further and add this one to your list!
⛏When the dead body of a miner is found crucified down the bottom of an opal mine, homicide rising star Detective Sergeant Ivan Lucic and young newbie Detective Constable Narelle Buchanan are called in to investigate.
⛏The town of Finnigans Gap is brimming with secrets and corruption. Ratters are stealing from opal mines, millionaires get away with what they please and a religious cult that recruits young people occupies land on the outskirts of town.
⛏The characters are gritty and memorable, I particularly enjoyed the character of Nell (Narelle), who is the assigned junior detective because of her local knowledge. I hope we see more of her character in future books. Nell is intuitive, a strong female lead and a realistic modern day heroine. It was cool to see past characters from Chris Hammer’s Scrublands series also mentioned in the storyline.
⛏There’s also the handy inclusion of a map at the front of the book.
⛏Treasure & Dirt is an absorbing standalone thriller, sit back and take in the sounds, sights, ferocious heat and opal lust for a rare gem of a read!
Publication Date 28 September 2021
RRP $32.99
Publisher Allen & Unwin
Thank you so much Allen & Unwin for my gifted copy
Chris Hammer never disappoints, he only gets better! Treasure & Dirt was absolute dynamite, it’s so well written and brilliantly atmospheric.
If you love a cleverly written complex crime thriller set in the parched and desolate outback, look no further and add this one to your list!
⛏When the dead body of a miner is found crucified down the bottom of an opal mine, homicide rising star Detective Sergeant Ivan Lucic and young newbie Detective Constable Narelle Buchanan are called in to investigate.
⛏The town of Finnigans Gap is brimming with secrets and corruption. Ratters are stealing from opal mines, millionaires get away with what they please and a religious cult that recruits young people occupies land on the outskirts of town.
⛏The characters are gritty and memorable, I particularly enjoyed the character of Nell (Narelle), who is the assigned junior detective because of her local knowledge. I hope we see more of her character in future books. Nell is intuitive, a strong female lead and a realistic modern day heroine. It was cool to see past characters from Chris Hammer’s Scrublands series also mentioned in the storyline.
⛏There’s also the handy inclusion of a map at the front of the book.
⛏Treasure & Dirt is an absorbing standalone thriller, sit back and take in the sounds, sights, ferocious heat and opal lust for a rare gem of a read!
Publication Date 28 September 2021
RRP $32.99
Publisher Allen & Unwin
Thank you so much Allen & Unwin for my gifted copy
June 2, 2022
I guess what draws me to Mr Hammer's books is the way he manages to describe the outback. Characters and mystery are synchronized with the place and its magic. The mystery offers twists and turns, yes, but it is the land that is always in the foreground, which I never fail to appreciate ...
January 27, 2022
Land Mine.
A man was found murdered and then crucified down a mine shaft and detective sergeant Ivan Lucic has been called in to investigate.
Even though the mining town of Finnigan’s Gap was scant in population, it possessed some of the biggest personalities giving Ivan several suspects to choose from. Long ago secrets come to the surface as the detective persisted with secretive residents.
Normally, I prefer shorter books, but I loved the author’s extra detail and description of the barren mining town with even a map in the front pages. Set near Dubbo Australia, the harsh landscape came to life and was depicted so realistically with the heat, flies, and unrelenting sun playing as much of a role as any character. I felt thirsty the whole time reading this.
.
I located a copy of this book at The Book Depository after seeing several stellar reviews and deciding that I wanted to read it. It was definitely worth the effort so I'll need to track down 'Scrublands' as my next project, also by the author.
A man was found murdered and then crucified down a mine shaft and detective sergeant Ivan Lucic has been called in to investigate.
Even though the mining town of Finnigan’s Gap was scant in population, it possessed some of the biggest personalities giving Ivan several suspects to choose from. Long ago secrets come to the surface as the detective persisted with secretive residents.
Normally, I prefer shorter books, but I loved the author’s extra detail and description of the barren mining town with even a map in the front pages. Set near Dubbo Australia, the harsh landscape came to life and was depicted so realistically with the heat, flies, and unrelenting sun playing as much of a role as any character. I felt thirsty the whole time reading this.
.
I located a copy of this book at The Book Depository after seeing several stellar reviews and deciding that I wanted to read it. It was definitely worth the effort so I'll need to track down 'Scrublands' as my next project, also by the author.
October 3, 2021
Absolutely brilliant.. Chris Hammer has once again hit it out of the park with this tense and gritty crime thriller set in a small, outback town near the NSW /QLD border. I have been a big fan of this author since I read and loved Scrublands and always look forward to him releasing a new book. This is not a Martin Scarsden Story, but it does tie in nicely with Trust, the last book.
Ivan Lucic, a homicide detective from Sydney, (whose name you may be familiar with if you have read Trust) is sent to Finnigans Gap to assist in the murder investigation of an opal miner who has been found crucified down his own mine. Working with local but inexperienced investigator Nell Buchanan they find a lot more than they bargain for. Who killed the miner and why leave him in that way?
Being a small town, everyone knows everyone and their business. They are thrown into a world of family drama, religious cults, billionaires and so much more. There is a lot going on and it will keep you turning pages to see what happens next.
Chris Hammer really sets the scenes of his novels so well. The landscape and the heat play big parts in this story and the detective from Sydney is not prepared for it. He works well with Nell, each having their own experiences and knowledge to help the investigation along.
Easily 5 stars for Treasure and Dirt, a must read for crime readers everywhere. Out in Australia September 28th.
Ivan Lucic, a homicide detective from Sydney, (whose name you may be familiar with if you have read Trust) is sent to Finnigans Gap to assist in the murder investigation of an opal miner who has been found crucified down his own mine. Working with local but inexperienced investigator Nell Buchanan they find a lot more than they bargain for. Who killed the miner and why leave him in that way?
Being a small town, everyone knows everyone and their business. They are thrown into a world of family drama, religious cults, billionaires and so much more. There is a lot going on and it will keep you turning pages to see what happens next.
Chris Hammer really sets the scenes of his novels so well. The landscape and the heat play big parts in this story and the detective from Sydney is not prepared for it. He works well with Nell, each having their own experiences and knowledge to help the investigation along.
Easily 5 stars for Treasure and Dirt, a must read for crime readers everywhere. Out in Australia September 28th.
November 11, 2023
5★
“Ivan likes to feel the world around him, to listen to it, to let it make suggestions. But all it’s telling him right now is that the day is unbearably hot. It’s as if the sun has picked him out, like a malevolent schoolboy with a magnifying glass. It comes from above and it comes from below, bouncing back up at him from the barren earth. When he puts a hand to his hair, it’s hot to the touch.”
The heat is one of my earliest memories of the author’s debut, Scrublands, and I have to say he hasn’t lost his touch. You would think it would get old, being reminded so often of the heat, but if you have ever lived where you necessarily spend time outside in the sun, you appreciate how well he makes us suffer along with Ivan.
DS Ivan Lucic has been sent to the mining town of Finnigan’s Gap in hot, dry northwest NSW to investigate the homicide and crucifixion of opal miner Jonas McGee. DC Nell Buchanan was a constable in Finnigan’s Gap for three years, left, became a detective, and has been sent back to assist, since she knows the place and the people.
There’s not really much in the way of opals in the area these days, and what the miners find is closely guarded. They lock their mines against ratters – thieves who chip away in someone’s mine in the night, stealing opals – but nothing is foolproof, and indeed, it’s ratters who discover McGee’s body and report it anonymously.
Everyone knows everyone in Finnigan’s Gap, and some of the residents have been here most of their lives. Who would kill Jonas McGee and crucify him, or did they crucify him first and that’s how he died? It’s cooler underground, but he wouldn’t have lasted long.
It’s a complicated story with many cross-threads, including a religious cult on the outskirts of town, a real tangle of family relationships and feuds and estrangements, some kind of dodgy land deal going on between two billionaires, and drugs. Oh – and another supposed suicide from back in Nell’s day that is starting to look suspiciously like something more.
Ivan and Nell tread pretty carefully around each other. He is the senior investigator, but she’s the one with the local knowledge, so she’s the designated driver when they’re together.
There is a coalmine a few hours north of the town where some of the locals are employed casually, stay for a few days, then return home. It seems to be a possible alibi for someone, so Nell goes to interview the two men in question, and she is overwhelmed at the size of the place.
“The mine is huge, a massive entity, more like a principality than a business.”
There’s no way she could find the men, so she waits while the staff look and reads the posters on the wall.
“A carbon-neutral coalmine. Terrific. The displays lack finesse, like a school project printed on better paper.”
She gets antsy, and finally…
“A man enters, a man in an immaculate suit. He looks about fifty, tanned face and a too-white smile, with salt-and-pepper hair, as if he’s stepped form a luxury watch advertisement. ‘Constable Buchanan, I assume?’ He’s holding her card and smiling. His teeth are perfect.
. . .
‘Cyril Flange. At your service.’
She eyes his clothes. He’s wearing cufflinks. Who wears a suit at a coalmine? With cufflinks?”
Because the wonderfully-named Cyril Flange hasn’t located the men, he suggests she go back to Finnigan’s Gap, and they will let her know when they have them in their own lockup. He “oozes empathy” but Nell’s having none of it. She’s the cop, not Flange.
“ ‘No,’ says Nell. ‘I’m not going anywhere. I wait here until you find them.’
Flange sighs. ‘Suit yourself.’ He shakes his head. And then he smiles, flashes those perfect teeth. Nell feels like rearranging them.”
So did I, the smarmy, patronising so-and-so.
Ivan is fighting his own battles, and not just with the heat. He has some personal demons that aren’t helped by needing to meet people in the town’s pubs. Plus he’s beginning to rub some dangerous people the wrong way.
“A sucker punch. He touches the back of his head again. More than a punch, something much harder. A shudder runs through him. Blows like that can kill people, or leave permanent damage. He knows; he’s seen the aftermath, cold and blue and covered with a sheet.
And later, nosing around another mining site, Ivan is bailed up by an old bloke with a rifle, pointed straight at his chest. He talks a bit and then asks another question.
“‘Is it okay if I have a bit of a squiz around while I’m here?’
‘You f*cking deaf, mate? Get clearance from the office, or get a warrant.’
‘You’re doing this wrong,’ says Ivan, trying to reason with the man. ‘Why p*ss off a cop when you don’t need to?’ But the old bloke is having none of it. He raises the gun quickly, fires into the sky. The sound of the shot echoes off the bluff and washes out across the lake.”
The salt lake, the bluffs, the occasional trees are as well -described as the heat, and the sunsets are to die for.
“The sun has set, not just behind the West Ridge but down below the rim of the world. The sky has moved through its evening palette, from blue and white, to blue and pink, then clouds flaring orange, to the muted tones of mauve, violet and purple.
Now only a glow remains, and the first stars are emerging in the eastern sky. An owl swoops low, huge against the street lighting.”
This is more complex than so many run-of-the mill detective stories, and I enjoyed it. The action takes place over only a few days, but it seems to cover years’ of time because of the back stories, I think. I’m looking forward to the next one.
I listened to the audio, which was excellent, while I read a digital copy from the library, so I got the full experience. I recommend it if you can manage both.
“Ivan likes to feel the world around him, to listen to it, to let it make suggestions. But all it’s telling him right now is that the day is unbearably hot. It’s as if the sun has picked him out, like a malevolent schoolboy with a magnifying glass. It comes from above and it comes from below, bouncing back up at him from the barren earth. When he puts a hand to his hair, it’s hot to the touch.”
The heat is one of my earliest memories of the author’s debut, Scrublands, and I have to say he hasn’t lost his touch. You would think it would get old, being reminded so often of the heat, but if you have ever lived where you necessarily spend time outside in the sun, you appreciate how well he makes us suffer along with Ivan.
DS Ivan Lucic has been sent to the mining town of Finnigan’s Gap in hot, dry northwest NSW to investigate the homicide and crucifixion of opal miner Jonas McGee. DC Nell Buchanan was a constable in Finnigan’s Gap for three years, left, became a detective, and has been sent back to assist, since she knows the place and the people.
There’s not really much in the way of opals in the area these days, and what the miners find is closely guarded. They lock their mines against ratters – thieves who chip away in someone’s mine in the night, stealing opals – but nothing is foolproof, and indeed, it’s ratters who discover McGee’s body and report it anonymously.
Everyone knows everyone in Finnigan’s Gap, and some of the residents have been here most of their lives. Who would kill Jonas McGee and crucify him, or did they crucify him first and that’s how he died? It’s cooler underground, but he wouldn’t have lasted long.
It’s a complicated story with many cross-threads, including a religious cult on the outskirts of town, a real tangle of family relationships and feuds and estrangements, some kind of dodgy land deal going on between two billionaires, and drugs. Oh – and another supposed suicide from back in Nell’s day that is starting to look suspiciously like something more.
Ivan and Nell tread pretty carefully around each other. He is the senior investigator, but she’s the one with the local knowledge, so she’s the designated driver when they’re together.
There is a coalmine a few hours north of the town where some of the locals are employed casually, stay for a few days, then return home. It seems to be a possible alibi for someone, so Nell goes to interview the two men in question, and she is overwhelmed at the size of the place.
“The mine is huge, a massive entity, more like a principality than a business.”
There’s no way she could find the men, so she waits while the staff look and reads the posters on the wall.
“A carbon-neutral coalmine. Terrific. The displays lack finesse, like a school project printed on better paper.”
She gets antsy, and finally…
“A man enters, a man in an immaculate suit. He looks about fifty, tanned face and a too-white smile, with salt-and-pepper hair, as if he’s stepped form a luxury watch advertisement. ‘Constable Buchanan, I assume?’ He’s holding her card and smiling. His teeth are perfect.
. . .
‘Cyril Flange. At your service.’
She eyes his clothes. He’s wearing cufflinks. Who wears a suit at a coalmine? With cufflinks?”
Because the wonderfully-named Cyril Flange hasn’t located the men, he suggests she go back to Finnigan’s Gap, and they will let her know when they have them in their own lockup. He “oozes empathy” but Nell’s having none of it. She’s the cop, not Flange.
“ ‘No,’ says Nell. ‘I’m not going anywhere. I wait here until you find them.’
Flange sighs. ‘Suit yourself.’ He shakes his head. And then he smiles, flashes those perfect teeth. Nell feels like rearranging them.”
So did I, the smarmy, patronising so-and-so.
Ivan is fighting his own battles, and not just with the heat. He has some personal demons that aren’t helped by needing to meet people in the town’s pubs. Plus he’s beginning to rub some dangerous people the wrong way.
“A sucker punch. He touches the back of his head again. More than a punch, something much harder. A shudder runs through him. Blows like that can kill people, or leave permanent damage. He knows; he’s seen the aftermath, cold and blue and covered with a sheet.
And later, nosing around another mining site, Ivan is bailed up by an old bloke with a rifle, pointed straight at his chest. He talks a bit and then asks another question.
“‘Is it okay if I have a bit of a squiz around while I’m here?’
‘You f*cking deaf, mate? Get clearance from the office, or get a warrant.’
‘You’re doing this wrong,’ says Ivan, trying to reason with the man. ‘Why p*ss off a cop when you don’t need to?’ But the old bloke is having none of it. He raises the gun quickly, fires into the sky. The sound of the shot echoes off the bluff and washes out across the lake.”
The salt lake, the bluffs, the occasional trees are as well -described as the heat, and the sunsets are to die for.
“The sun has set, not just behind the West Ridge but down below the rim of the world. The sky has moved through its evening palette, from blue and white, to blue and pink, then clouds flaring orange, to the muted tones of mauve, violet and purple.
Now only a glow remains, and the first stars are emerging in the eastern sky. An owl swoops low, huge against the street lighting.”
This is more complex than so many run-of-the mill detective stories, and I enjoyed it. The action takes place over only a few days, but it seems to cover years’ of time because of the back stories, I think. I’m looking forward to the next one.
I listened to the audio, which was excellent, while I read a digital copy from the library, so I got the full experience. I recommend it if you can manage both.
January 26, 2022
In a small outback town in north-western New South Wales, Australia, a body is found. A man has died inside an opal mine, discovered by a group of ratters who were planning to steal opals from his mine. It’s a shocking sight as the man’s body has been displayed in a way that strongly suggests he’d gone out the hard way. A detective from Sydney, Ivan Lucic, is sent out to investigate and on site he’s met by Nell Buchanan an eager young officer from a nearby town who is to assist him.
The town of Finnigans Gap (loosely based on the real life town of Lightening Ridge) is a nest of eager and obsessive fortune seekers, a group of religious fanatics and, occasionally, a couple of mining billionaires with sketchy pasts and a loathing for each other. Information is hard to come by and at least one of the local cops is downright hostile towards Ivan and especially Nell. Add to this the fact that Lucic quickly learns that he’s become part of an internal investigation which threatens his future in the police force and you have a truly combustible mix.
Hammer creates the atmosphere of the place brilliantly: the scorching heat, the sheer remoteness of this unforgiving town, it’s tough and sometimes recalcitrant inhabitants. And he brings alive the jeopardy of opal mining in such a way that I became totally fascinated by this lonely and surprisingly basic operation. Lucic and Nell are well developed characters and I enjoyed how their working relationship is grown – a sometimes bumpy road, this. So the bones of a good story are certainly here, the only element that gives me pause is that the deeper I got into it the more strands seemed to appear. Is it possible to deliver a coherent tale from so many tangled threads?
Some will no doubt disagree with me on this point but in my view the sheer number of linked elements inevitably leads to a complex and slightly cluttered finish. Don’t get me wrong, it’s an enjoyable mystery with an interesting location and a great cast. It’s just that once the lid is lifted it’s clear that there was just too much going on in this small town. Well, a bit too much for me to swallow in one hit anyway.
I’d still be happy to award this book 4 stars as I did enjoy my time with it. I also liked the fact that Hammer created a link with his Martin Scarsden books through his use of a couple of characters who regular readers will have come across before. I’ll definitely be back for more from this author: his settings, his characters and in fact the who vibe of his stories offer something distinctly different to crime fiction set in the UK, America or just about anywhere else.
My thanks to Headline for providing a copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
The town of Finnigans Gap (loosely based on the real life town of Lightening Ridge) is a nest of eager and obsessive fortune seekers, a group of religious fanatics and, occasionally, a couple of mining billionaires with sketchy pasts and a loathing for each other. Information is hard to come by and at least one of the local cops is downright hostile towards Ivan and especially Nell. Add to this the fact that Lucic quickly learns that he’s become part of an internal investigation which threatens his future in the police force and you have a truly combustible mix.
Hammer creates the atmosphere of the place brilliantly: the scorching heat, the sheer remoteness of this unforgiving town, it’s tough and sometimes recalcitrant inhabitants. And he brings alive the jeopardy of opal mining in such a way that I became totally fascinated by this lonely and surprisingly basic operation. Lucic and Nell are well developed characters and I enjoyed how their working relationship is grown – a sometimes bumpy road, this. So the bones of a good story are certainly here, the only element that gives me pause is that the deeper I got into it the more strands seemed to appear. Is it possible to deliver a coherent tale from so many tangled threads?
Some will no doubt disagree with me on this point but in my view the sheer number of linked elements inevitably leads to a complex and slightly cluttered finish. Don’t get me wrong, it’s an enjoyable mystery with an interesting location and a great cast. It’s just that once the lid is lifted it’s clear that there was just too much going on in this small town. Well, a bit too much for me to swallow in one hit anyway.
I’d still be happy to award this book 4 stars as I did enjoy my time with it. I also liked the fact that Hammer created a link with his Martin Scarsden books through his use of a couple of characters who regular readers will have come across before. I’ll definitely be back for more from this author: his settings, his characters and in fact the who vibe of his stories offer something distinctly different to crime fiction set in the UK, America or just about anywhere else.
My thanks to Headline for providing a copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
February 20, 2022
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Treasure & Dirt by Chris Hammer. (2021).
In the desolate outback town Finnigans Gap, there are opal mines thieves, religious fanatics, and billionaires that do what they like. Then an opal miner is found crucified and left to rot in his own mine. Nothing about his death is straightforward. Sydney homicide detective Ivan is sent to investigate, assisted by inexperienced young investigator Nell. But soon both officers face damning allegations and internal investigations. Have Ivan and Nell been set up and, if so, by whom? Their only chance at redemption is to find the killer. But the more secrets they uncover, the more harrowing the mystery becomes, as events from years ago take on a startling new significance...
I have read all of this author's previous novels (a series), so when I heard about this one (a standalone) there was no doubt in my mind I was going to pick it up. Happily, it is just as great a read as the others! At a bit over 500 pages it's a big book, however it really doesn't feel like it; I finished it within a day. The storyline is at times complex - a lot of information and the reader isn't clear on how it all connects - but it's never confusing and everything ties together by the end so I would say it's quite clever how it all works out. As in previous novels, the author has done a fantastic job with describing the Australian outback landscape and set the scene fabulously. I really enjoyed the lead characters of Ivan and Nell, maybe this standalone could be a series in the future...
Overall, I would happily recommend this novel to any fan of Australian crime thrillers.
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Treasure & Dirt by Chris Hammer. (2021).
In the desolate outback town Finnigans Gap, there are opal mines thieves, religious fanatics, and billionaires that do what they like. Then an opal miner is found crucified and left to rot in his own mine. Nothing about his death is straightforward. Sydney homicide detective Ivan is sent to investigate, assisted by inexperienced young investigator Nell. But soon both officers face damning allegations and internal investigations. Have Ivan and Nell been set up and, if so, by whom? Their only chance at redemption is to find the killer. But the more secrets they uncover, the more harrowing the mystery becomes, as events from years ago take on a startling new significance...
I have read all of this author's previous novels (a series), so when I heard about this one (a standalone) there was no doubt in my mind I was going to pick it up. Happily, it is just as great a read as the others! At a bit over 500 pages it's a big book, however it really doesn't feel like it; I finished it within a day. The storyline is at times complex - a lot of information and the reader isn't clear on how it all connects - but it's never confusing and everything ties together by the end so I would say it's quite clever how it all works out. As in previous novels, the author has done a fantastic job with describing the Australian outback landscape and set the scene fabulously. I really enjoyed the lead characters of Ivan and Nell, maybe this standalone could be a series in the future...
Overall, I would happily recommend this novel to any fan of Australian crime thrillers.
October 5, 2021
Outstanding. This has to be one of my favourite books of 2021.
Your writing Chris Hammer is just the bomb. You feel immersed into these small towns and feel like you know the characters.
Some of the characters in this book have played a role in his other books. But this book has a plot of its own.
This book had me from the beginning right through to the end.
I loved the aussie language and felt connected to all the characters.
I havent stopped talking about this book to whoever I can.
This was my first Chris Hammer book I can now say I am a huge fan and whilst reading this book went out and bought some of his other books.
Highly recommend.
Your writing Chris Hammer is just the bomb. You feel immersed into these small towns and feel like you know the characters.
Some of the characters in this book have played a role in his other books. But this book has a plot of its own.
This book had me from the beginning right through to the end.
I loved the aussie language and felt connected to all the characters.
I havent stopped talking about this book to whoever I can.
This was my first Chris Hammer book I can now say I am a huge fan and whilst reading this book went out and bought some of his other books.
Highly recommend.
June 15, 2023
Don’t feel like writing a review but am an outlier on this one, the C word used which is not needed this has 5 star ratings but for me 3.75 stars.
September 18, 2022
Treasure & Dirt is the beginning of a spin-off or Scarsden-adjacent series, by reliable Aussie crime author, Chris Hammer. It takes a minor character from Trust, Detective Ivan Lucic, and puts him front and centre of his own suspicious death investigation in outback opal country (northern NSW), teamed up with local-ish investigator Nell Buchanan. If it turns out to be death by natural causes, Ivan will head back to his base in Sydney. But there's a whole book, so guess what...
Hammer has got the formula down pat now. Fast-paced, convoluted in a clever rather than frustrating way and brimming with his trademark quirks (love them or loathe them). No need to be worried that Scarsden is not here! A bonus is that he is mentioned a few times, so there is a little continuity from the other series, particularly in relation to Lucic's boss/mentor Morris Montifore. I enjoyed the feeling of being an insider, having read all 3 of the Scarsden books and knowing what was going on in the background, but I do think this one can stand on its own if you want to jump in here.
I really enjoyed it and had no hope of working out whodunnit before it was revealed. My only small gripe was that Nell's character wasn't developed a bit further. But I see she is going to be the focus of book #2 (out in a few weeks), so no doubt we will get to know her better then.
Narration by Dorje Swallow was a pleasure to listen to.
Recommended.
Hammer has got the formula down pat now. Fast-paced, convoluted in a clever rather than frustrating way and brimming with his trademark quirks (love them or loathe them). No need to be worried that Scarsden is not here! A bonus is that he is mentioned a few times, so there is a little continuity from the other series, particularly in relation to Lucic's boss/mentor Morris Montifore. I enjoyed the feeling of being an insider, having read all 3 of the Scarsden books and knowing what was going on in the background, but I do think this one can stand on its own if you want to jump in here.
I really enjoyed it and had no hope of working out whodunnit before it was revealed. My only small gripe was that Nell's character wasn't developed a bit further. But I see she is going to be the focus of book #2 (out in a few weeks), so no doubt we will get to know her better then.
Narration by Dorje Swallow was a pleasure to listen to.
Recommended.
September 20, 2022
That was another banging read by Australian author Chris Hammer. Although journalist Martin Scarsden gets a few mentions he is not a character in this story set in Finnigan’s Gap - a fictional opal mining town in northern New South Wales. An anonymous call to Crimestoppers has Sydney homicide detective Ivan Lucic heading to the Gap. Jonas McGee has been found, dead in his mine nailed to a cross. The cause of death is not immediately apparent as he was already dead when crucified. He is to be assisted by the local police officers and a newly minted detective, Nell Buchanan from nearby Lightning Ridge, another opal mining town.
This book has Hammer’s trademark taut plotting, authentic Australian atmosphere and a brilliant and varied cast of characters. The more the detectives learn the more they realise they don’t know! There are family feuds, grubby greediness, high stakes intrigue by competing mining magnates and secrets galore. It’s all about the money - and revenge!
I loved the characters in this story, from the tutu wearing unofficial mayor of the Deadman’s Fall settlement to the gentle giant whose name escapes me now. Everyone has secrets and hidden agendas. Professional Standards arrives to complicate matters. They are gunning for Lucic’s boss and mentor back in Sydney, Morris Montifore, but also have their eyes on Lucic who has a gambling problem which like everything else in this story is not as straightforward as it seems.
I wish I could write a better review to do this wonderful book justice but the left index finger is not willing! And now my little sojourn into library and Kindle Unlimited books is over and I must get back to my arcs. If you get a chance to read this, do it, you won’t regret it.
Apparently it has an alternate title in some countries - Opal Country.
This book has Hammer’s trademark taut plotting, authentic Australian atmosphere and a brilliant and varied cast of characters. The more the detectives learn the more they realise they don’t know! There are family feuds, grubby greediness, high stakes intrigue by competing mining magnates and secrets galore. It’s all about the money - and revenge!
I loved the characters in this story, from the tutu wearing unofficial mayor of the Deadman’s Fall settlement to the gentle giant whose name escapes me now. Everyone has secrets and hidden agendas. Professional Standards arrives to complicate matters. They are gunning for Lucic’s boss and mentor back in Sydney, Morris Montifore, but also have their eyes on Lucic who has a gambling problem which like everything else in this story is not as straightforward as it seems.
I wish I could write a better review to do this wonderful book justice but the left index finger is not willing! And now my little sojourn into library and Kindle Unlimited books is over and I must get back to my arcs. If you get a chance to read this, do it, you won’t regret it.
Apparently it has an alternate title in some countries - Opal Country.
April 13, 2025
This is my fourth Chris Hammer read. After a North Coast and corrupt Sydney setting, he takes the reader into the heart of Australian outback crime noir.
Hammer uses the same writing technique he used in Trust, two characters operating in parallel. Ivan Lucic, a Sydney homicide detective and Nell Buchanan, a young female detective from the local metropolis of Bourke.
I am going to be critical of this book, so I need to be positive early on. The way Hammer developed the relationship of Lucic and Buchanan was real. They were portrayed as two professional law officers. There was little in the way of sexual tensions and Buchanan operates as Lucic’s equal.
The story in twenty-five words or less is, there has been a murder of an opal miner in the small outback town of Finnigans Gap where the air is oven hot and annoying flies fester on any stationary individual.
Hamer is part of what is becoming known as the “Australian outback crime noir”, probably seen as the opposite of the Nordic crime noir. With heat and drought being a common theme in contrast to cold and snow. The other authors who I have read who fit this category (to various degrees, excuse the pun.) are Jane Harper, Garry Disher, Peter Temple, Peter Corris and Barry Maitland. There are now a wave of women writers entering this field, Margaret Hickey, Fiona Macintosh, Darcy Tindale, Michelle Park and others.
Overseas readers are fascinated by the outback setting but I didn’t think Hammer captured the bleak vastness and blinding heat. I remember the visual effect of Tim Winton’s writing in “The Shepherd’s Hut” which gave the reader a full sense of the heartlessness of the Australian outback. Hammer mentions the severity of the heat and the intensity of the flies, but his writing is not descriptive. I did not “feel” the setting.
A criticism I have of Hammer’s books is that they’re populated with a caste of hundreds, well may be tens. It was one of those books where I used a flyleaf blank page to record who was who in this settlement that was no bigger than a full stop.
Hammer certainly gives some of his characters Dickensian names: Trevor Topsoil, Humphrey Tuppence and Delaney Bullwinkle.
I visited Lightning Ridge in my employment and there are certainly some interesting characters. Hammer does create some interesting people but there is no Arthur Dalley or Claude Greengrass. In all of Hammer’s books he never has an Aboriginal character. I have noticed this with his other publications set in the countryside. The story is set on Yuwaalaraay land. The neighbouring town of the fictional Finnigans Gap is the real Lightning Ridge, where 22% of the people are Aboriginal. I know as a non-Aboriginal author it can be awkward creating an Aboriginal character. Maybe an Aboriginal police officer might have added a little more authenticity?
I found the book is filled with too many sub-plots and storylines that are irrelevant or are diversions to the core of the story, the solution of the crime. I found the many plot lines stifled and distracted from the actual crime investigation. There were so many twists and turns that there were times when I got giddy.
The part in the novel where it deals with the subterfuge by the millionaires in relation to company shares and business acquisitions just took the reader away from who was the killer.
In Treasure and Dirt there are only one or two scenes that are memorable for their humour. In one, Lucic is in the pub, Finnigans, and his meal is accompanied with a desultory salad. He complains that after seventy years of immigration salad making hadn’t reached Finnigans! Secondly he has the iconic raisin toast for breakfast. Their interpretation of white bread smeared with butter and raisins and then a fleeting visit to a heat source is amusing and synonymous with café food in outback towns.
Over the very last pages of the book two characters discuss who fathered and mothered who. It was a jumbled web of relationships. I thought it was meaningless and unnecessary.
Hammer uses few metaphors and descriptive language. He relies on too much dialogue. The dialogue is plain and simple. Few idioms and colloquialisms to give the story it's necessary Australianism. At 493 pages I found it too long and cumbersome. I think Hammer crowds his stories. Authors, like the two Peters, Temple and Corris, Garry Disher and Barry Maitland tell a more descriptive and convincing Australian crime story.
Hammer uses the same writing technique he used in Trust, two characters operating in parallel. Ivan Lucic, a Sydney homicide detective and Nell Buchanan, a young female detective from the local metropolis of Bourke.
I am going to be critical of this book, so I need to be positive early on. The way Hammer developed the relationship of Lucic and Buchanan was real. They were portrayed as two professional law officers. There was little in the way of sexual tensions and Buchanan operates as Lucic’s equal.
The story in twenty-five words or less is, there has been a murder of an opal miner in the small outback town of Finnigans Gap where the air is oven hot and annoying flies fester on any stationary individual.
Hamer is part of what is becoming known as the “Australian outback crime noir”, probably seen as the opposite of the Nordic crime noir. With heat and drought being a common theme in contrast to cold and snow. The other authors who I have read who fit this category (to various degrees, excuse the pun.) are Jane Harper, Garry Disher, Peter Temple, Peter Corris and Barry Maitland. There are now a wave of women writers entering this field, Margaret Hickey, Fiona Macintosh, Darcy Tindale, Michelle Park and others.
Overseas readers are fascinated by the outback setting but I didn’t think Hammer captured the bleak vastness and blinding heat. I remember the visual effect of Tim Winton’s writing in “The Shepherd’s Hut” which gave the reader a full sense of the heartlessness of the Australian outback. Hammer mentions the severity of the heat and the intensity of the flies, but his writing is not descriptive. I did not “feel” the setting.
A criticism I have of Hammer’s books is that they’re populated with a caste of hundreds, well may be tens. It was one of those books where I used a flyleaf blank page to record who was who in this settlement that was no bigger than a full stop.
Hammer certainly gives some of his characters Dickensian names: Trevor Topsoil, Humphrey Tuppence and Delaney Bullwinkle.
I visited Lightning Ridge in my employment and there are certainly some interesting characters. Hammer does create some interesting people but there is no Arthur Dalley or Claude Greengrass. In all of Hammer’s books he never has an Aboriginal character. I have noticed this with his other publications set in the countryside. The story is set on Yuwaalaraay land. The neighbouring town of the fictional Finnigans Gap is the real Lightning Ridge, where 22% of the people are Aboriginal. I know as a non-Aboriginal author it can be awkward creating an Aboriginal character. Maybe an Aboriginal police officer might have added a little more authenticity?
I found the book is filled with too many sub-plots and storylines that are irrelevant or are diversions to the core of the story, the solution of the crime. I found the many plot lines stifled and distracted from the actual crime investigation. There were so many twists and turns that there were times when I got giddy.
The part in the novel where it deals with the subterfuge by the millionaires in relation to company shares and business acquisitions just took the reader away from who was the killer.
In Treasure and Dirt there are only one or two scenes that are memorable for their humour. In one, Lucic is in the pub, Finnigans, and his meal is accompanied with a desultory salad. He complains that after seventy years of immigration salad making hadn’t reached Finnigans! Secondly he has the iconic raisin toast for breakfast. Their interpretation of white bread smeared with butter and raisins and then a fleeting visit to a heat source is amusing and synonymous with café food in outback towns.
Over the very last pages of the book two characters discuss who fathered and mothered who. It was a jumbled web of relationships. I thought it was meaningless and unnecessary.
Hammer uses few metaphors and descriptive language. He relies on too much dialogue. The dialogue is plain and simple. Few idioms and colloquialisms to give the story it's necessary Australianism. At 493 pages I found it too long and cumbersome. I think Hammer crowds his stories. Authors, like the two Peters, Temple and Corris, Garry Disher and Barry Maitland tell a more descriptive and convincing Australian crime story.
April 29, 2022
Treasure & Dirt is a gritty and engrossing read, set in a fictional opal-mining town in western NSW. Readers will remember main character DS Ivan Lucic as a supporting character from Chris Hammer's brilliant 2020 release Trust. While this book doesn't directly feature the journalist protagonist of Hammer's Martin Scarsden trilogy, it might be considered a spin-off work within the Scarsden universe.
Under cover of darkness, a band of ratters - thieves who steal from mines owned by others - enter an opal mine located some distance outside the town of Finnigans Gap. In an underground cavern, they make a gruesome discovery - the body of the mine's owner, Jonas McGee. But this is no natural death - McGee's body has been nailed to a cross and left to decompose underground.
Sydney-based Detective Sergeant Ivan Lucic is flown in to lead the investigation into McGee's suspicious death, and is soon joined by inexperienced but astute Detective Constable Nell Buchanan, who has some knowledge of Finnigans Gap from a prior posting there. Lucic and Buchanan sift through details of the victim's troubled past, the fractious relationships that exist between members of Finnigan's Gap mining community, the influence of a nearby religious cult lead by a charismatic figure, and another mysterious death long ago. Meanwhile, two improbably-named mining magnates are in town, ostensibly negotiating to buy, sell or oversee interests in rare-earth deposits.
Against this backdrop, both Lucic and Buchanan are also facing allegations in relation to their professional conduct, the pressures of the investigation exacerbated by the arrival of a persistent internal investigations officer in Finnigans Gap.
As previously, Hammer's writing is evocative of the Australian landscape and climate. In Treasure & Dirt we return to the relentless heat and desolation of Australia's dry interior, recalling the harsh rural setting of Scrublands. Both the small town setting and cast of supporting characters, from struggling prospectors to hardboiled multi-millionaires, are skilfully developed in Hammer's straightforward yet beguiling style. There's a raw lyricism to his prose, reflected especially in the internal monologue of characters. The mystery plotline is multi-dimensional and enthralling, the truth behind Jonas McGee's demise unclear until the final thrilling denouement.
I'd wholeheartedly recommend Treasure & Dirt, both to those readers already familiar with Chris Hammer's work, and also as an entry point for those yet to experience his distinctive style of Australian noir.
Under cover of darkness, a band of ratters - thieves who steal from mines owned by others - enter an opal mine located some distance outside the town of Finnigans Gap. In an underground cavern, they make a gruesome discovery - the body of the mine's owner, Jonas McGee. But this is no natural death - McGee's body has been nailed to a cross and left to decompose underground.
Sydney-based Detective Sergeant Ivan Lucic is flown in to lead the investigation into McGee's suspicious death, and is soon joined by inexperienced but astute Detective Constable Nell Buchanan, who has some knowledge of Finnigans Gap from a prior posting there. Lucic and Buchanan sift through details of the victim's troubled past, the fractious relationships that exist between members of Finnigan's Gap mining community, the influence of a nearby religious cult lead by a charismatic figure, and another mysterious death long ago. Meanwhile, two improbably-named mining magnates are in town, ostensibly negotiating to buy, sell or oversee interests in rare-earth deposits.
Against this backdrop, both Lucic and Buchanan are also facing allegations in relation to their professional conduct, the pressures of the investigation exacerbated by the arrival of a persistent internal investigations officer in Finnigans Gap.
As previously, Hammer's writing is evocative of the Australian landscape and climate. In Treasure & Dirt we return to the relentless heat and desolation of Australia's dry interior, recalling the harsh rural setting of Scrublands. Both the small town setting and cast of supporting characters, from struggling prospectors to hardboiled multi-millionaires, are skilfully developed in Hammer's straightforward yet beguiling style. There's a raw lyricism to his prose, reflected especially in the internal monologue of characters. The mystery plotline is multi-dimensional and enthralling, the truth behind Jonas McGee's demise unclear until the final thrilling denouement.
I'd wholeheartedly recommend Treasure & Dirt, both to those readers already familiar with Chris Hammer's work, and also as an entry point for those yet to experience his distinctive style of Australian noir.
October 21, 2021
This is my first Chris Hammer story and it won’t be my last, I thoroughly enjoyed this thriller, the death of an opal miner in Finnigans Gap has Sydney homicide detective Ivan Lucic sent to the small outback town to find the killer, here he meets young and newly appointed detective Nell Buchannan and they uncover a multitude of evidence that could point in many directions.
Ivan and Nell are shocked at what they find in the mine owned by Jonas McGee the murdered miner and there are a lot of questions to be answered, was he dead before he was crucified and now the investigations starts, asking questions trying to find motive, there is a lot to uncover. They dig deep and there are many trails to follow, billionaire mining magnates, new rare earth mines a cult in the town and the leader politically linked, ratters to find, the trails are many.
Ivan uncovers a death from the past that his old partner, now being forced into retirement never found out what really happened to the young man back then, is that somehow linked to this murder? Then a drug bust in the town that puts Nell in a precarious situation, a detective from internal standards arrives investigating Ivan and then Nell as well, this adds to the tension created by the investigation.
This is a very good criminal thriller with many twists and turns, fabulously written it had me turning the pages wondering how everything is linked together, there is blackmail, secrets from the past, family connections, mining companies not to mention pressure from the internal affairs and careers on the line, there is so much happening. It ended with a bang with many of the leads and trails discovered a very satisfactory ending, this is one that I would highly recommend.
My thanks to Allen & Unwin for my copy to read and review
Ivan and Nell are shocked at what they find in the mine owned by Jonas McGee the murdered miner and there are a lot of questions to be answered, was he dead before he was crucified and now the investigations starts, asking questions trying to find motive, there is a lot to uncover. They dig deep and there are many trails to follow, billionaire mining magnates, new rare earth mines a cult in the town and the leader politically linked, ratters to find, the trails are many.
Ivan uncovers a death from the past that his old partner, now being forced into retirement never found out what really happened to the young man back then, is that somehow linked to this murder? Then a drug bust in the town that puts Nell in a precarious situation, a detective from internal standards arrives investigating Ivan and then Nell as well, this adds to the tension created by the investigation.
This is a very good criminal thriller with many twists and turns, fabulously written it had me turning the pages wondering how everything is linked together, there is blackmail, secrets from the past, family connections, mining companies not to mention pressure from the internal affairs and careers on the line, there is so much happening. It ended with a bang with many of the leads and trails discovered a very satisfactory ending, this is one that I would highly recommend.
My thanks to Allen & Unwin for my copy to read and review
February 6, 2024
As usual with Chris Hammer, a well-constructed whodunnit, this time in an opal-mining town. I recently visited Coober Pedy (South Australia), Australia’s opal mining capital, and Hammer got the ambiance (and heat!) just right. I see that he still has a penchant for outlandish names (e.g. one of the mining magnates in the book is called ‘Delaney Bullwinkle’), I’m surprised his editors haven’t put a stop to that yet!
April 29, 2022
Excellent.It starts out real slow,then accelerates,fast and furious. Tight plot and two of the best new main characters I've discovered. Plus,the descriptions are so vivid you feel the heat,the dust and the despair. Hope it's the start of a series.
August 24, 2023
The first book in Chris Hammer’s second series following the raging success of the Martin Scarsden series re-introduces DS Ivan Lucic, a minor player in the earlier books. The tough, sparse inland Australian landscape is once again critical to setting the tone of the book and, as has become almost expected, the plot is devious and littered with unexpected moments that left me nodding with appreciation.
In the opal mining town of Finnegan’s Gap a man is found dead in his own opal mine. Jonas McKee has been crucified, if you don’t mind. To top it off, the entrance of his mine had been locked closed at the time.
Sent out from Sydney to run the investigation is DS Ivan Lucic and assisting him is DC Nell Buchanan who has been called in from Bourke because she has previously spent three years in the town and will be familiar with the people and places.
One of the major selling points of Treasure and Dirt is the rich descriptions of Finnegan’s Gap and the surrounding countryside. There’s very little beauty to be found in a hot, dry and forbidding landscape but Chris Hammer manages to bring out every last detail with amazing clarity and, at the very least, ensures that we understand just how dangerous a place the setting is.
At first, the death of McKee appears reasonably straightforward, after all, he’s nailed to a cross. But on closer inspection, there are aspects that don’t follow any reasonable narrative. Ivan and Nell start talking to the locals and quickly come to realise that when you’re dealing with a small community, everyone knows everyone else’s business and there are many possible motives that can result in a violent crime.
Muddying the waters of the investigation are a few unusual characters who catch the eye of both Lucic and Buchanan. The first is the head of the local religious group known as the Rapture, a man who calls himself The Seer. Then there’s a pair of mining magnates who have been in the area recently, one owns a nearby open-cut coal mine while the other is putting together a deal to purchase a potential lucrative rare earths mining site. All three are highly colourful characters who add plenty of intrigue to the story, provide somewhat of a sideshow that is highly entertaining and offer a tantalising hint that they may be somehow related to a lowly dead opal miner.
I enjoyed the crash course in opal mining and the geology lesson to explain how the opals were formed and where you can expect to find them. I also appreciated the portrayal of the miners, the psychology of the ratters (thieves who enter other people’s mines to steal their unprocessed opals), and pretended to understand the economics of the big business types out to make a killing on the stock market. You can’t fault the detail into which Hammer explains things and it all helps to bring the story together to create a cunning plot.
Lucic and Buchanan work very well together, particularly when faced with their own moments of adversity and moral dilemmas. I have to admit, I didn’t like Ivan at all in the Scarsden books but have come to understand his personal philosophy and respect him for it. Buchanan has proven that she’s more than a capable detective and it feels as though we’ve just scratched the surface through the course of this book.
I found this to be a completely engaging thriller that uses the characters and the surrounding landscape to its full potential. The plot was well constructed, full of surprises as well as the odd moments of heartbreak and regret. It’s another triumph from a crime writer who has definitely hit his straps here.
In the opal mining town of Finnegan’s Gap a man is found dead in his own opal mine. Jonas McKee has been crucified, if you don’t mind. To top it off, the entrance of his mine had been locked closed at the time.
Sent out from Sydney to run the investigation is DS Ivan Lucic and assisting him is DC Nell Buchanan who has been called in from Bourke because she has previously spent three years in the town and will be familiar with the people and places.
One of the major selling points of Treasure and Dirt is the rich descriptions of Finnegan’s Gap and the surrounding countryside. There’s very little beauty to be found in a hot, dry and forbidding landscape but Chris Hammer manages to bring out every last detail with amazing clarity and, at the very least, ensures that we understand just how dangerous a place the setting is.
At first, the death of McKee appears reasonably straightforward, after all, he’s nailed to a cross. But on closer inspection, there are aspects that don’t follow any reasonable narrative. Ivan and Nell start talking to the locals and quickly come to realise that when you’re dealing with a small community, everyone knows everyone else’s business and there are many possible motives that can result in a violent crime.
Muddying the waters of the investigation are a few unusual characters who catch the eye of both Lucic and Buchanan. The first is the head of the local religious group known as the Rapture, a man who calls himself The Seer. Then there’s a pair of mining magnates who have been in the area recently, one owns a nearby open-cut coal mine while the other is putting together a deal to purchase a potential lucrative rare earths mining site. All three are highly colourful characters who add plenty of intrigue to the story, provide somewhat of a sideshow that is highly entertaining and offer a tantalising hint that they may be somehow related to a lowly dead opal miner.
I enjoyed the crash course in opal mining and the geology lesson to explain how the opals were formed and where you can expect to find them. I also appreciated the portrayal of the miners, the psychology of the ratters (thieves who enter other people’s mines to steal their unprocessed opals), and pretended to understand the economics of the big business types out to make a killing on the stock market. You can’t fault the detail into which Hammer explains things and it all helps to bring the story together to create a cunning plot.
Lucic and Buchanan work very well together, particularly when faced with their own moments of adversity and moral dilemmas. I have to admit, I didn’t like Ivan at all in the Scarsden books but have come to understand his personal philosophy and respect him for it. Buchanan has proven that she’s more than a capable detective and it feels as though we’ve just scratched the surface through the course of this book.
I found this to be a completely engaging thriller that uses the characters and the surrounding landscape to its full potential. The plot was well constructed, full of surprises as well as the odd moments of heartbreak and regret. It’s another triumph from a crime writer who has definitely hit his straps here.
September 28, 2024
4.50 ⭐️ (rnd 🆙) — Chris Hammer knocks out another Aussie Noir masterpiece that is close to being right at the pinnacle of the modern crime pyramid. It’s not a Five Star rating in the literary sense, but as always I’m rating it based on its genre as its genre fiction & this is so close to as good as crime ever gets & for a fellow Aussie to be the one producing it fills me with pride and establishes Hammer as the king of outback-noir hands-down.
Chris Hammer’s “Treasure and Dirt” is a remarkable foray into the world of Aussie noir, blending a hauntingly atmospheric setting with a multi-layered mystery that will grip readers from start to finish. This novel is a standout in the genre, offering more than just a crime story—it’s a deep dive into the human psyche, set against the unforgiving backdrop of the Australian outback.
The story unfolds in Finnigan's Gap, a desolate mining town where the discovery of a miner’s brutally murdered body sets off a chain of events far more complex than the initial investigation suggests. Hammer’s evocation of this remote, sun-scorched landscape is both vivid and oppressive, a fitting stage for the moral decay and secrets simmering beneath the surface. In “Treasure and Dirt” the outback becomes an unforgiving character of its own, bearing witness to a multitude of sins, tragedies & attempts of redemption. The obscenely barren landscape echoing the hopelessness of sin, revelling in the aftermath of ugliness.
Detective Sergeant Ivan Lucic and rookie detective Nell Buchanan make for an intriguing, if unconventional, pair of investigators. Lucic’s importunate determination drives the investigation forward, while Buchanan’s recalcitrant spirit provides a counterbalance to his world-weariness. Together, they navigate the labyrinth of lies and corruption lurking in the town. Hammer expertly avoids the usual cliches, instead giving us two richly drawn characters with real depth and complexity. Lucic, in particular, is a standout—his tenacity makes him a force of nature, even as his own personal struggles threaten to derail him.
The plot is layered with an equivocal web of motives, half-truths, and dark secrets that keep the reader guessing. Hammer excels in weaving these threads together into a cohesive whole, and the story moves with the slow, deliberate tension of a coiled snake. While some may find the pacing a touch languid in places, it is this very patience that allows the narrative to bloom into something much more profound than a simple whodunit.
The brilliance of “Treasure and Dirt” lies in Hammer’s ability to marry character-driven storytelling with the chilling, harsh realities of outback life. This is crime fiction at its finest, an importunate, recalcitrant, and equivocal tour-de-force that firmly cements Chris Hammer as a master of the genre. Fans of Aussie noir and complex mysteries alike should not miss this one. Sidenote: Dorje Swallow is again perfection on the audiobook version, simply splendiferous!!!
📚 The lines: 📕
“It’s like a video-game, glowing and hyperreal, bleeding light at the edges. And yet this is life, unmistakably authentic. — HERE the stakes are not theoretical, there is no respawning, no second chances”
“It’s as if the sun has picked him out, like a malevolent schoolboy with a magnifying glass it comes from above and below, bouncing back up at him from the barren earth. When he puts his hand to his hair, it’s hot to the touch. He swills the last of his bottled water, all around him the ground is naked rock, a few shoots of green lifted by recent rains among the crevasses, appear to be dying before his eyes, shrinking from the solar assault”
Chris Hammer’s “Treasure and Dirt” is a remarkable foray into the world of Aussie noir, blending a hauntingly atmospheric setting with a multi-layered mystery that will grip readers from start to finish. This novel is a standout in the genre, offering more than just a crime story—it’s a deep dive into the human psyche, set against the unforgiving backdrop of the Australian outback.
The story unfolds in Finnigan's Gap, a desolate mining town where the discovery of a miner’s brutally murdered body sets off a chain of events far more complex than the initial investigation suggests. Hammer’s evocation of this remote, sun-scorched landscape is both vivid and oppressive, a fitting stage for the moral decay and secrets simmering beneath the surface. In “Treasure and Dirt” the outback becomes an unforgiving character of its own, bearing witness to a multitude of sins, tragedies & attempts of redemption. The obscenely barren landscape echoing the hopelessness of sin, revelling in the aftermath of ugliness.
Detective Sergeant Ivan Lucic and rookie detective Nell Buchanan make for an intriguing, if unconventional, pair of investigators. Lucic’s importunate determination drives the investigation forward, while Buchanan’s recalcitrant spirit provides a counterbalance to his world-weariness. Together, they navigate the labyrinth of lies and corruption lurking in the town. Hammer expertly avoids the usual cliches, instead giving us two richly drawn characters with real depth and complexity. Lucic, in particular, is a standout—his tenacity makes him a force of nature, even as his own personal struggles threaten to derail him.
The plot is layered with an equivocal web of motives, half-truths, and dark secrets that keep the reader guessing. Hammer excels in weaving these threads together into a cohesive whole, and the story moves with the slow, deliberate tension of a coiled snake. While some may find the pacing a touch languid in places, it is this very patience that allows the narrative to bloom into something much more profound than a simple whodunit.
The brilliance of “Treasure and Dirt” lies in Hammer’s ability to marry character-driven storytelling with the chilling, harsh realities of outback life. This is crime fiction at its finest, an importunate, recalcitrant, and equivocal tour-de-force that firmly cements Chris Hammer as a master of the genre. Fans of Aussie noir and complex mysteries alike should not miss this one. Sidenote: Dorje Swallow is again perfection on the audiobook version, simply splendiferous!!!
📚 The lines: 📕
“It’s like a video-game, glowing and hyperreal, bleeding light at the edges. And yet this is life, unmistakably authentic. — HERE the stakes are not theoretical, there is no respawning, no second chances”
“It’s as if the sun has picked him out, like a malevolent schoolboy with a magnifying glass it comes from above and below, bouncing back up at him from the barren earth. When he puts his hand to his hair, it’s hot to the touch. He swills the last of his bottled water, all around him the ground is naked rock, a few shoots of green lifted by recent rains among the crevasses, appear to be dying before his eyes, shrinking from the solar assault”
December 12, 2022
Treasure & Dirt (Ivan Lucic & Nell Buchanan #1) by Chris Hammer
Synopsis /
In the desolate outback town of Finnigans Gap, police struggle to maintain law and order. Thieves pillage opal mines, religious fanatics recruit vulnerable young people and billionaires do as they please.
Then an opal miner is found crucified and left to rot down his mine. Nothing about the miner's death is straightforward, not even who found the body. Sydney homicide detective Ivan Lucic is sent to investigate, assisted by inexperienced young investigator Nell Buchanan.
But Finnigans Gap has already ended one police career and damaged others, and soon both officers face damning allegations and internal investigations. Have Ivan and Nell been set up and, if so, by whom?
As time runs out, their only chance at redemption is to find the killer. But the more secrets they uncover, the more harrowing the mystery becomes, as events from years ago take on a startling new significance.
For in Finnigans Gap, opals, bodies and secrets don't stay buried for ever.
My Thoughts /
Australian Author, Chris Hammer has written what could be described as a ‘gem’ of a book which has the ‘spark(le)’ of a great new series.
Treasure & Dirt is the first book in a new series which stars protagonists, homicide Detective Ivan Lucic and Detective Nell Buchanan. Hammer has the reader going underground for this one; in the small outback town of Finnigans Gap.
In the desolate outback town of Finnigans Gap, police struggle to maintain law and order. Thieves pillage opal mines, religious fanatics recruit vulnerable young people and billionaires do as they please.
Awash with themes of corruption, underhanded deeds, desperation, greed, money and opals……..lots and lots of opals.
Fun Fact: An opal is a 'gemstone' - that is, a mineral valued for its beauty, examples include diamonds, rubies, emeralds, sapphires, jade, opals and amethysts. Gems generally get their colour because of certain metals contained in the mineral (for example purple amethyst is quartz containing tiny amounts of iron). However, opals are unique because they display a rainbow-like display due to their intrinsic microstructure which diffracts white light into all the colours of the spectrum.
This valuable gem is mainly located Down Under. For that reason, Australia is the World Heavyweight Champion in opal production. Its nearest challenger is Mexico with minor percentage of production. In fact, almost 95% of opals come from Australia which means that the share of all other countries, such as Mexico, Brazil, Czech Republic and some parts of United States of America, in the world’s opal market supply in less than 5%. The most famous opal locations in Australia are Lightning Ridge, Coober Pedy, Andamooka, White Cliffs, and Cunnamulla districts in Queensland. Opals in rough state are mostly exported to United States, Germany, Hong Kong, and Japan. This export of uncut gemstones provides Australia between one and two hundred million Australian dollars.
Back to the Story:
The author acknowledges that fictional Finnigan’s Gap is ‘loosely’ based on the real town of Lightning Ridge in north-western New South Wales. But Finnigan’s Gap has been ‘upgraded’ with locations that feature unfortunate foreboding names, like ‘Deadman’s Well’ (sounds like something out of a B-Grade movie….but I digress) and a religious cult known as ‘The Rapture’. Hammer’s keen eye for detail and meticulous plotting will keep you engaged and turning pages. Add to that, the author’s phrasing and descriptive prose, you will want to keep reading well into the night (or day).
For a place reputed to yield millions of dollars of previous stones annually, it looks more like some battlefield, with rusted-out wrecks strewn about the landscape.
The book opens when a miner is found dead in his mineshaft. It’s not a suicide. The miner was found nailed to a wooden cross, crucified. City based homicide Detective Ivan Lucic is brought in to help local Detective Constable Narelle (Nell) Buchanan with the investigation. Their investigation does not go smoothly. It’s hampered by internal politicking, obstructive departmental leadership, and damning accusations. Not to mention the visit from Professional Standard Command. Lucic and Buchanan have more questions than answers surrounding this case - involving blame, sabotage, and corruption. It soon becomes obvious that Finnigans Gap has an abundance of hidden secrets, lies to be exposed and past mysteries to reveal before the murderer can be brought to justice.
Another string to this author’s bow is his talent for characterisation. Junior Detective Nell Buchanan’s character is a stand-out. She is such an authentically strong female lead and balances off Ivan Lucic’s patriarchy beautifully.
She tries to remember her basic training in the academy, the refresher courses. She recalls the overarching rule: ‘Don’t get killed; don’t endanger yourself; don’t endanger fellow officers; don’t endanger the public’. And, of course, the other rule: ‘If you shoot, shoot to kill. Central body mass’.
Can Lucic and Buchanan manoeuvre their differences and work together as a team to solve this case?
You’re Darn Tootin’ !
Synopsis /
In the desolate outback town of Finnigans Gap, police struggle to maintain law and order. Thieves pillage opal mines, religious fanatics recruit vulnerable young people and billionaires do as they please.
Then an opal miner is found crucified and left to rot down his mine. Nothing about the miner's death is straightforward, not even who found the body. Sydney homicide detective Ivan Lucic is sent to investigate, assisted by inexperienced young investigator Nell Buchanan.
But Finnigans Gap has already ended one police career and damaged others, and soon both officers face damning allegations and internal investigations. Have Ivan and Nell been set up and, if so, by whom?
As time runs out, their only chance at redemption is to find the killer. But the more secrets they uncover, the more harrowing the mystery becomes, as events from years ago take on a startling new significance.
For in Finnigans Gap, opals, bodies and secrets don't stay buried for ever.
My Thoughts /
Australian Author, Chris Hammer has written what could be described as a ‘gem’ of a book which has the ‘spark(le)’ of a great new series.
Treasure & Dirt is the first book in a new series which stars protagonists, homicide Detective Ivan Lucic and Detective Nell Buchanan. Hammer has the reader going underground for this one; in the small outback town of Finnigans Gap.
In the desolate outback town of Finnigans Gap, police struggle to maintain law and order. Thieves pillage opal mines, religious fanatics recruit vulnerable young people and billionaires do as they please.
Awash with themes of corruption, underhanded deeds, desperation, greed, money and opals……..lots and lots of opals.
Fun Fact: An opal is a 'gemstone' - that is, a mineral valued for its beauty, examples include diamonds, rubies, emeralds, sapphires, jade, opals and amethysts. Gems generally get their colour because of certain metals contained in the mineral (for example purple amethyst is quartz containing tiny amounts of iron). However, opals are unique because they display a rainbow-like display due to their intrinsic microstructure which diffracts white light into all the colours of the spectrum.
This valuable gem is mainly located Down Under. For that reason, Australia is the World Heavyweight Champion in opal production. Its nearest challenger is Mexico with minor percentage of production. In fact, almost 95% of opals come from Australia which means that the share of all other countries, such as Mexico, Brazil, Czech Republic and some parts of United States of America, in the world’s opal market supply in less than 5%. The most famous opal locations in Australia are Lightning Ridge, Coober Pedy, Andamooka, White Cliffs, and Cunnamulla districts in Queensland. Opals in rough state are mostly exported to United States, Germany, Hong Kong, and Japan. This export of uncut gemstones provides Australia between one and two hundred million Australian dollars.
Back to the Story:
The author acknowledges that fictional Finnigan’s Gap is ‘loosely’ based on the real town of Lightning Ridge in north-western New South Wales. But Finnigan’s Gap has been ‘upgraded’ with locations that feature unfortunate foreboding names, like ‘Deadman’s Well’ (sounds like something out of a B-Grade movie….but I digress) and a religious cult known as ‘The Rapture’. Hammer’s keen eye for detail and meticulous plotting will keep you engaged and turning pages. Add to that, the author’s phrasing and descriptive prose, you will want to keep reading well into the night (or day).
For a place reputed to yield millions of dollars of previous stones annually, it looks more like some battlefield, with rusted-out wrecks strewn about the landscape.
The book opens when a miner is found dead in his mineshaft. It’s not a suicide. The miner was found nailed to a wooden cross, crucified. City based homicide Detective Ivan Lucic is brought in to help local Detective Constable Narelle (Nell) Buchanan with the investigation. Their investigation does not go smoothly. It’s hampered by internal politicking, obstructive departmental leadership, and damning accusations. Not to mention the visit from Professional Standard Command. Lucic and Buchanan have more questions than answers surrounding this case - involving blame, sabotage, and corruption. It soon becomes obvious that Finnigans Gap has an abundance of hidden secrets, lies to be exposed and past mysteries to reveal before the murderer can be brought to justice.
Another string to this author’s bow is his talent for characterisation. Junior Detective Nell Buchanan’s character is a stand-out. She is such an authentically strong female lead and balances off Ivan Lucic’s patriarchy beautifully.
She tries to remember her basic training in the academy, the refresher courses. She recalls the overarching rule: ‘Don’t get killed; don’t endanger yourself; don’t endanger fellow officers; don’t endanger the public’. And, of course, the other rule: ‘If you shoot, shoot to kill. Central body mass’.
Can Lucic and Buchanan manoeuvre their differences and work together as a team to solve this case?
You’re Darn Tootin’ !
January 18, 2022
*https://mrsbbookreviews.wordpress.com
Australian outback noir powerhouse Chris Hammer is back with Treasure and Dirt, a standalone thriller novel. If you are a fan of Hammer’s work, or a newcomer to his writing, Treasure and Dirt is a great book to begin your Australian crime fiction spree. Brimming with themes of corruption, underhanded deeds, desperation, political pursuits, economic issues and danger, Chris Hammer’s fourth novel is a story not to be missed.
Hammer takes his audience to the desolate Australian township of Finnigans Gap, a struggling outback community. With a cesspool of issues plaguing this regional base which range from mining tensions, political alliances, policing problems, religious extremists and the wealthy dictating the way of life, Finnigans Gap is at breaking point. The situation worsens in this remote Australian flagship when a miner is found dead in his mineshaft. This is no clear-cut death, the miner has been crucified. City based homicide detectives are brought in to help solve this baffling case. Once the investigation advances the officers involved find they are hampered by internal politics, damning accusations and plenty of unexpected obstructions in their efforts to close this case. With questions looming around this investigation involving blame, sabotage and corruption, the race is on to apprehend the killer. However, Finnigans Gap has more secrets to reveal, lies to be exposed and past mysteries to air to the waiting world.
Hailed as a leader in the Australia noir genre by international crime fiction sensation Michael Connelly, Chris Hammer makes a triumphant return to the publishing sphere with his latest blockbuster release, Treasure and Dirt. I’ve followed Chris Hammer’s successful writing career since he released his debut fiction novel Scrublands. It is safe to say that Treasure and Dirt is a book that I have been looking forward to reading and it definitely didn’t disappoint.
Hammer is a master of the Australian outback crime genre and he has really refined his craft after producing three smash hit bestsellers. Treasure and Dirt represents this popular author’s fourth police procedural crossed with Australian mystery tale. It showcases Hammer’s skills and ability in the crime fiction genre. With a highly coloured rural outback setting, which is relayed with plenty of thick first-hand style prose, the reader soon learns what life would be like living in Finnigans Gap. I’m not sure I could tolerate this town myself, but it was great to experience this rather eccentric place thanks to Hammer’s book. There are an odd group of characters in Treasure and Dirt, which are vividly brought to life by Hammer. I enjoyed getting to know the hardworking investigators of this crime novel and I had faith in their methodical attempts to solve this strange murder mystery. As we have come to expect with Hammer’s books, the main crime scene is not as a straightforward as we think. Further interrogation of the primary death reveals a town rife with corruption, secretive figures, deceitful acts, political schemes, clandestine economical decisions and guileful religious movements. Our investigators face an uphill battle in trying to apprehend the killer. Everything is multiplied by the searing heat, the exhaustion and desolation of this intense location. While the overall investigation did go over my head a few times thanks to the focus on mining, politics and economic relations, I did get a kick out of the investigation process.
Treasure and Dirt features a byzantine plot, well presented characters, constricted prose and a burly Australian setting. Chris Hammer’s latest crime fiction rhapsody is a high priority read.
*Thanks extended to Allen & Unwin for providing a free copy of this book for review purposes.
Australian outback noir powerhouse Chris Hammer is back with Treasure and Dirt, a standalone thriller novel. If you are a fan of Hammer’s work, or a newcomer to his writing, Treasure and Dirt is a great book to begin your Australian crime fiction spree. Brimming with themes of corruption, underhanded deeds, desperation, political pursuits, economic issues and danger, Chris Hammer’s fourth novel is a story not to be missed.
Hammer takes his audience to the desolate Australian township of Finnigans Gap, a struggling outback community. With a cesspool of issues plaguing this regional base which range from mining tensions, political alliances, policing problems, religious extremists and the wealthy dictating the way of life, Finnigans Gap is at breaking point. The situation worsens in this remote Australian flagship when a miner is found dead in his mineshaft. This is no clear-cut death, the miner has been crucified. City based homicide detectives are brought in to help solve this baffling case. Once the investigation advances the officers involved find they are hampered by internal politics, damning accusations and plenty of unexpected obstructions in their efforts to close this case. With questions looming around this investigation involving blame, sabotage and corruption, the race is on to apprehend the killer. However, Finnigans Gap has more secrets to reveal, lies to be exposed and past mysteries to air to the waiting world.
Hailed as a leader in the Australia noir genre by international crime fiction sensation Michael Connelly, Chris Hammer makes a triumphant return to the publishing sphere with his latest blockbuster release, Treasure and Dirt. I’ve followed Chris Hammer’s successful writing career since he released his debut fiction novel Scrublands. It is safe to say that Treasure and Dirt is a book that I have been looking forward to reading and it definitely didn’t disappoint.
Hammer is a master of the Australian outback crime genre and he has really refined his craft after producing three smash hit bestsellers. Treasure and Dirt represents this popular author’s fourth police procedural crossed with Australian mystery tale. It showcases Hammer’s skills and ability in the crime fiction genre. With a highly coloured rural outback setting, which is relayed with plenty of thick first-hand style prose, the reader soon learns what life would be like living in Finnigans Gap. I’m not sure I could tolerate this town myself, but it was great to experience this rather eccentric place thanks to Hammer’s book. There are an odd group of characters in Treasure and Dirt, which are vividly brought to life by Hammer. I enjoyed getting to know the hardworking investigators of this crime novel and I had faith in their methodical attempts to solve this strange murder mystery. As we have come to expect with Hammer’s books, the main crime scene is not as a straightforward as we think. Further interrogation of the primary death reveals a town rife with corruption, secretive figures, deceitful acts, political schemes, clandestine economical decisions and guileful religious movements. Our investigators face an uphill battle in trying to apprehend the killer. Everything is multiplied by the searing heat, the exhaustion and desolation of this intense location. While the overall investigation did go over my head a few times thanks to the focus on mining, politics and economic relations, I did get a kick out of the investigation process.
Treasure and Dirt features a byzantine plot, well presented characters, constricted prose and a burly Australian setting. Chris Hammer’s latest crime fiction rhapsody is a high priority read.
*Thanks extended to Allen & Unwin for providing a free copy of this book for review purposes.
August 14, 2021
This book is an absolute masterpiece! What a fabulously gripping crime thriller set in a fictional town in rugged outback Australia. I could not put this down and highly recommend it for crime thriller lovers. You definitely want to add this one to your list!!😃📚
~ A dead body is found at the bottom of an opal mine in the middle of nowhere, shockingly crucified, and two detectives are sent out to the small mining town of Finnigans Gap to track down the murderer ~
I loved this gritty crime story. I could imagine the rugged outback and the blistering, oppressive heat in a dusty, drought ridden small town, where the locals do it hard and live a very different way of life to ‘the city slickers’. I also loved how the book took the time to vividly detail the landscape in an almost mindful way, where the characters themselves take in their surroundings and the sights and sounds, resulting in them feeling a sense of peace amid the chaos. This book is so wonderfully written.
Not only is the imagery and atmosphere exquisitely bought to life but the characters are realistic and likeable too, I felt as though I was cheering from the sidelines for the two detectives, Ivan and Nell, as they piece together clue after clue while the story unfolded; they are brilliant characters.
The storyline uncovers so much! Like… wow, these two detectives had no idea what they were in for! The more clues they discover, the more secrets and backstory are revealed. Who knew a tiny town could have so much going on within it? I really enjoyed the way the book had MANY things going on but by the end, all the bits and pieces were tied up so that all questions are answered. So well done!
This is the first book I have read by Chris Hammer and I am so happy to have discovered his work. I can’t wait to get my hands on all of his other books now! 😃
~ A dead body is found at the bottom of an opal mine in the middle of nowhere, shockingly crucified, and two detectives are sent out to the small mining town of Finnigans Gap to track down the murderer ~
I loved this gritty crime story. I could imagine the rugged outback and the blistering, oppressive heat in a dusty, drought ridden small town, where the locals do it hard and live a very different way of life to ‘the city slickers’. I also loved how the book took the time to vividly detail the landscape in an almost mindful way, where the characters themselves take in their surroundings and the sights and sounds, resulting in them feeling a sense of peace amid the chaos. This book is so wonderfully written.
Not only is the imagery and atmosphere exquisitely bought to life but the characters are realistic and likeable too, I felt as though I was cheering from the sidelines for the two detectives, Ivan and Nell, as they piece together clue after clue while the story unfolded; they are brilliant characters.
The storyline uncovers so much! Like… wow, these two detectives had no idea what they were in for! The more clues they discover, the more secrets and backstory are revealed. Who knew a tiny town could have so much going on within it? I really enjoyed the way the book had MANY things going on but by the end, all the bits and pieces were tied up so that all questions are answered. So well done!
This is the first book I have read by Chris Hammer and I am so happy to have discovered his work. I can’t wait to get my hands on all of his other books now! 😃
September 1, 2021
I've been a huge fan of Chris Hammer since Scrublands and in Opal Country he expands that world and offers us a standalone novel that is beautifully written, addictive and involving.
The descriptive sense of this is perfect, transporting you to a hot, dusty mining town and throwing you into an intriguing and often emotional mystery. The characters are hugely engaging and the plotting is intelligent, coherent and unpredictable.
I adored it. Aussie fiction is king in my world at the moment. Highly Recommended.
The descriptive sense of this is perfect, transporting you to a hot, dusty mining town and throwing you into an intriguing and often emotional mystery. The characters are hugely engaging and the plotting is intelligent, coherent and unpredictable.
I adored it. Aussie fiction is king in my world at the moment. Highly Recommended.
February 7, 2023
Treasure and Dirt (also titled Opal Country) is the first book in the Ivan Lulic and Nell Buchanan series by award-winning Australian journalist and author, Chris Hammer. The audio version is narrated by Dorje Swallow. With Morris Montifore set to go before Professional Standards in Sydney, Detective Sergeant Ivan Lulic is flying out to the small opal-mining town of Finnegan’s Gap with a Crime Scene Investigator and a Forensic Pathologist.
An anonymous call to Crimestoppers has alerted police to the suspected murder of Jonas McGee, who was found nailed to a makeshift cross below ground in his own claim. It’s thought that ratters, hoping for a surreptitious share of McGee’s recent lucky finds, came across the body.
Seconded from Bourke to help Lulic is Detective Constable Narelle Buchanan. Nell is familiar with the town, having previously spent three years there as a probie. Her history put her at odds with a certain local cop, but she’s eager to work with Lulic.
Initial investigations yield little, and while the local police are co-operative, even helpful, obtaining mobile phone data and bank account details all takes time. Questioning of potential witnesses/perpetrators proves fruitless: it seems none of the other prospectors was anywhere near McGee’s claim when he died. McGee’s estranged daughter is overseas, Lulic’s trusty Rule of Proximity isn’t helping, and it’s not entirely clear whether Jonas was murdered or not.
Complicating matters is a fancy limo full of Asians negotiating for a nearby rare earth mine, wealthy local businessmen wielding influence with the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Jonas’s past association with a nearby religious cult, and a key witness absent from his job at the coalmine to the south of town.
Large deposits and withdrawals from McGee’s account, a raid by the drug squad on a local shopkeeper, and visit from a Sydney Professional Standards cop, interested in Lulic’s role in Montifore’s recent actions, adds extra spice to a tale already full of intrigue. What Nell and Ivan gradually uncover are schemes and scams and cons, left, right and centre, some worth billions. And eventually, they begin to wonder if they’ve been set up to fail.
Hammer easily conveys the hot, dry and dusty mining town with its stark landscape, its mix of wealth and poverty, and its quirky locals. The map of Finnegan’s Gap is both necessary and welcome. There are plenty of red herrings and distractions, and every time the reader thinks they know what direction things are going, Hammer throws in a twist or two. And then, just when things are winding down, there’s an exciting climax that includes an Armoured Personnel Carrier, a sniper and an RPG, significantly increasing the body count and providing a neat resolution.
True to form, Hammer gives some of his characters ridiculous-sounding names (Trevor Topsoil, Humphrey Tuppence, Delaney Bullwinkel, Cyril Flange, Trudy Lampsheet). Ivan Lulic will be familiar to readers of his Martin Scarsden novels as a minor character, but both he and Nell prove to have unexpected depth: it will be interesting to see where Hammer takes them in their second novel, Tilt. Clever and topical, this is an excellent work of Australian crime fiction.
An anonymous call to Crimestoppers has alerted police to the suspected murder of Jonas McGee, who was found nailed to a makeshift cross below ground in his own claim. It’s thought that ratters, hoping for a surreptitious share of McGee’s recent lucky finds, came across the body.
Seconded from Bourke to help Lulic is Detective Constable Narelle Buchanan. Nell is familiar with the town, having previously spent three years there as a probie. Her history put her at odds with a certain local cop, but she’s eager to work with Lulic.
Initial investigations yield little, and while the local police are co-operative, even helpful, obtaining mobile phone data and bank account details all takes time. Questioning of potential witnesses/perpetrators proves fruitless: it seems none of the other prospectors was anywhere near McGee’s claim when he died. McGee’s estranged daughter is overseas, Lulic’s trusty Rule of Proximity isn’t helping, and it’s not entirely clear whether Jonas was murdered or not.
Complicating matters is a fancy limo full of Asians negotiating for a nearby rare earth mine, wealthy local businessmen wielding influence with the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Jonas’s past association with a nearby religious cult, and a key witness absent from his job at the coalmine to the south of town.
Large deposits and withdrawals from McGee’s account, a raid by the drug squad on a local shopkeeper, and visit from a Sydney Professional Standards cop, interested in Lulic’s role in Montifore’s recent actions, adds extra spice to a tale already full of intrigue. What Nell and Ivan gradually uncover are schemes and scams and cons, left, right and centre, some worth billions. And eventually, they begin to wonder if they’ve been set up to fail.
Hammer easily conveys the hot, dry and dusty mining town with its stark landscape, its mix of wealth and poverty, and its quirky locals. The map of Finnegan’s Gap is both necessary and welcome. There are plenty of red herrings and distractions, and every time the reader thinks they know what direction things are going, Hammer throws in a twist or two. And then, just when things are winding down, there’s an exciting climax that includes an Armoured Personnel Carrier, a sniper and an RPG, significantly increasing the body count and providing a neat resolution.
True to form, Hammer gives some of his characters ridiculous-sounding names (Trevor Topsoil, Humphrey Tuppence, Delaney Bullwinkel, Cyril Flange, Trudy Lampsheet). Ivan Lulic will be familiar to readers of his Martin Scarsden novels as a minor character, but both he and Nell prove to have unexpected depth: it will be interesting to see where Hammer takes them in their second novel, Tilt. Clever and topical, this is an excellent work of Australian crime fiction.
December 20, 2021
Opal mining is big business in the outback town of Finnigans Gap. it's a bit like being in the American wild west. Thieves are constantly finding ways to plunder opal mines. Law and order just doesn't seem to exist.
Homicide Detective Ivan Lucic is sent to investigate when a miner is found crucified in his mine. An anonymous phone call led the police there. So who was down in the mine to commit the crime ... and who phoned it in?
This will be Lucic's first time at leading an investigation ... with only an unexperienced young investigator, Neil Buchanan, who has the enthusiasm ... just not the experience required. But this is not a straightforward investigation. Someone is setting them up for a fall ... intimating allegations and calling for internal investigations.
As Lucic and Buchanan continue looking for a killer, the more danger they face.
I liked the mystery, the search for a killer ... and the motive. I liked the characters of the detectives and see where a series could develop. What I didn't like was the overly wordy descriptions. When a single sentence has 22 words and the next sentence has 27 words, it's overdone. I found myself skipping pages along the way.
Many thanks to the author / Wildfire Books / TBC-FB / Netgalley for the digital copy of this crime fiction. Read and reviewed voluntarily, opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.
October 3, 2021
‘Maybe this is it. The sky is too big, the land is too big. Too many places for secrets.’
Finnigans Gap, a fictional mining town in outback New South Wales is the setting for Mr Hammer’s latest novel. The opal mines aren’t quite as productive as they used to be, which has encouraged some miners to go ‘ratting’: stealing opals from the mines of others. And one night, a group of ratters find the crucified body of a miner in his mine. An anonymous call alerts the police. Who killed the miner, and why?
Sydney homicide detective Ivan Lukic is sent from Sydney to investigate. His senior partner, Detective Inspector Morris Montifore is unable to accompany him, and his assistant is Detective Constable Nell Buchanan, who previously worked in Finnigans Gap in uniform. Nell’s experience in the town is helpful, but there is some history as well. And Ivan Lukic has some preoccupations of his own.
There’s more to Finnigans Gap than opal mining. There is a strange religious cult located outside town, a pair of delightfully named billionaire mining magnates throwing their weight around and several involved family dramas. And it is very, very hot.
There are several threads to this story: an internal investigation into Morris Montifore involves Ivan Lucic, Nell’s previous life in the town causes some complications and soon it seems like Ivan and Nell are fighting to save their careers. The more they dig, the more complicated the case seems to become. There are people with longstanding grudges and there is a complicated history to navigate.
I read this novel in one day because I had to know how it would end. While this novel is a standalone, if you have read Mr Hammer’s other novels, you’ll recognise a couple of the characters.
What can I say without introducing any spoilers? This is a complex, well-plotted thriller which held my attention from beginning to end. Each of the twists fits into the narrative perfectly, and elements of the ending left me with a smile.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
Finnigans Gap, a fictional mining town in outback New South Wales is the setting for Mr Hammer’s latest novel. The opal mines aren’t quite as productive as they used to be, which has encouraged some miners to go ‘ratting’: stealing opals from the mines of others. And one night, a group of ratters find the crucified body of a miner in his mine. An anonymous call alerts the police. Who killed the miner, and why?
Sydney homicide detective Ivan Lukic is sent from Sydney to investigate. His senior partner, Detective Inspector Morris Montifore is unable to accompany him, and his assistant is Detective Constable Nell Buchanan, who previously worked in Finnigans Gap in uniform. Nell’s experience in the town is helpful, but there is some history as well. And Ivan Lukic has some preoccupations of his own.
There’s more to Finnigans Gap than opal mining. There is a strange religious cult located outside town, a pair of delightfully named billionaire mining magnates throwing their weight around and several involved family dramas. And it is very, very hot.
There are several threads to this story: an internal investigation into Morris Montifore involves Ivan Lucic, Nell’s previous life in the town causes some complications and soon it seems like Ivan and Nell are fighting to save their careers. The more they dig, the more complicated the case seems to become. There are people with longstanding grudges and there is a complicated history to navigate.
I read this novel in one day because I had to know how it would end. While this novel is a standalone, if you have read Mr Hammer’s other novels, you’ll recognise a couple of the characters.
What can I say without introducing any spoilers? This is a complex, well-plotted thriller which held my attention from beginning to end. Each of the twists fits into the narrative perfectly, and elements of the ending left me with a smile.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
February 23, 2025
In reading my notes on “Treasure & Dirt” – the first word that came to mind is ‘murky’. Set in the fictitious opal mining town of Finnigan’s Gap in north-west New South Wales, it brings together DC Nell Buchanan, a local girl working out of Bourke, and Sydney-based DS Ivan Lucic – who had a cameo role in Chris Hammer’s first novel “Scrublands”. The pair are investigating the crucifixion-style murder of an opal miner, but there’s a lot going on behind the scenes: a religious cult, “ratting’ (the practice of breaking into another opal mine and stealing the gems) and a various cast of obnoxious persons both local and in the police force, including Professional Standards breathing down their necks, aware of Lucic’s gambling habit and background. Throw a faux rare earths mine and insider trading into the mix, and you get the drift.
I did not enjoy this one as much “The Seven” (the third book featuring Lucic and Buchanan), but there is no mistaking the prose, Hammer capturing the beauty in the most hostile of landscapes.
Ivan had thought they were far too west for cropping: perhaps it’s some opportunistic grazier putting in some hay, exploiting the recent rains. Another gambler: without more falls, such a crop must surely die, stillborn in the January heat. But for now, the earth is breathing, opening itself to the moisture of the night, before the onset of the stifling day. High in the east, pink strata clouds are catching the first rays of the rising sun. They look so very far away, emphasising the magnitude of the land, making him feel his own insignificance.
Well worth a look.
I did not enjoy this one as much “The Seven” (the third book featuring Lucic and Buchanan), but there is no mistaking the prose, Hammer capturing the beauty in the most hostile of landscapes.
Ivan had thought they were far too west for cropping: perhaps it’s some opportunistic grazier putting in some hay, exploiting the recent rains. Another gambler: without more falls, such a crop must surely die, stillborn in the January heat. But for now, the earth is breathing, opening itself to the moisture of the night, before the onset of the stifling day. High in the east, pink strata clouds are catching the first rays of the rising sun. They look so very far away, emphasising the magnitude of the land, making him feel his own insignificance.
Well worth a look.
October 21, 2021
Chris Hammer has become one of my favorite writers. This book is a stand alone novel although the characters we have come to love are mentioned they have no impact on they story. The characters are all so well written I felt like I know them by the end of the book. As is Chris's style we get a complex plot that you have little chance of guessing. No one writes small town Australia like Chris Hammer. If you have not read a Chris Hammer book I suggest you do whatever you need to do to get your hands on one of his books.
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