Canticle Creek (Jesse Redpath #1) in Aussie Readers

Dec 09, 2021 Brenda rated it it was amazing

Shelves: arc, crime, thriller, own-read, aussie-authors, sent-by-publisher, 2021-release, reviewing-by-request, 5000-2021, mystery

Jesse Redpath was a police officer in the small town of Kulara in the Northern Territory where she saw more than most and controlled more than most. Since Jesse took over, crime had greatly lessened in the area. When young Adam Lawson went up before the magistrate once again, Jesse persuaded him to allow Adam to live with her father Ben, and work at the local pub, to work his hours out. If he absconded, he would be arrested and thrown in jail. Adam managed quite some time with Ben Redpath – both Jesse Redpath was a police officer in the small town of Kulara in the Northern Territory where she saw more than most and controlled more than most. Since Jesse took over, crime had greatly lessened in the area. When young Adam Lawson went up before the magistrate once again, Jesse persuaded him to allow Adam to live with her father Ben, and work at the local pub, to work his hours out. If he absconded, he would be arrested and thrown in jail. Adam managed quite some time with Ben Redpath – both of them artists and Ben directed Adam, gave him some pointers. But Adam had itchy feet, apologizing to his mentor and taking off down south.

When Jesse heard through her boss that Adam had been found not far from Melbourne in Victoria, she wasn’t prepared to hear he was dead. She also wasn’t prepared to hear he’d murdered a woman and had crashed a stolen car into a tree while fleeing the town. Jesse was certain the Adam she knew wouldn’t have a bar of killing, so she and her dad headed for Melbourne, then a small town about an hour north-east of there, called Canticle Creek, to unofficially look into the deaths.

Canticle Creek was a hot bed of secrets amid the soaring heat of the summer sun. As Jesse made herself known to the local cops, she made some friends – and enemies - while investigating. Possum, a sixteen-year-old young woman who had more smarts than some adults Jesse had met, was intelligent and helpful. But what would they find in the small town of Canticle Creek?

Canticle Creek is the first book in 10 years from Aussie author Adrian Hyland and it was well worth waiting for! A tension filled, suspenseful crime novel set in the ravaging heat of the Northern Territory and Victoria, where bushfires kept the locals on edge, and the heat baked everything in its path. I’ve read each of Mr Hyland’s books and loved them all; Canticle Creek, with its captivating cover, is one I recommend highly.

With thanks to Ultimo Press AU for my ARC to read in exchange for an honest review.
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Mar 05, 2022 PattyMacDotComma rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fiction, kindle, mystery-crime-thriller, australian-author, aa-ce

4.5★
“I caught a glint of reflected light. Reflected on what? Metal? Glass? I sensed its length, aim, intent. Its threat. Like Christie Looms' cat, I could feel somebody watching me. Worse — they were lining us up.
. . . As we hit the ground I heard a distant rifle crack, felt the air swivel and suck above us. How close was it? Too f*cking close.”

Constable Jesse Redpath is the officer in charge of the police station at Kulara, in Australia’s Northern Territory. She convinces the local magistrate ...more

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Dec 10, 2021 Shelleyrae at Book'd Out rated it it was amazing

Shelves: aussie-author, provided-by-publisher

It’s been a decade since I have read Adrian Hyland’s Gunshot Road and Diamond Dove yet both Australian crime novels remain favourites, so I jumped at the opportunity to read Canticle Creek.

When Kulara police officer Jesse Redpath learns about the death of Adam Lawson, a young man from her Northern Territory community, the circumstances don’t make sense to her. Serendipitously, an invitation for her artist father to an exhibition in Melbourne, gives Jesse the opportunity to visit Canticle Creek a It’s been a decade since I have read Adrian Hyland’s Gunshot Road and Diamond Dove yet both Australian crime novels remain favourites, so I jumped at the opportunity to read Canticle Creek.

When Kulara police officer Jesse Redpath learns about the death of Adam Lawson, a young man from her Northern Territory community, the circumstances don’t make sense to her. Serendipitously, an invitation for her artist father to an exhibition in Melbourne, gives Jesse the opportunity to visit Canticle Creek and do a little investigating of her own.

Canticle Creek is a gripping murder mystery, just a brief examination of the crime scene is enough to convince Jesse that the police, who believe Adam killed his girlfriend, Daisy, and died when his car left the road as he attempted to flee, are wrong. Looking for an alternative narrative, Jesse puts several of the locals, and a Melbourne mobster, offside as she noses around the small community.

Hyland’s deft plotting has several suspects in the frame for the murder, and it took me a while to eliminate all but one. There’s plenty of well paced action as Jesse gets closer to the truth and becomes a target of a killer determined to stop her asking questions. A bushfire that rips through the drought stricken town also adds enormous tension in a thrilling climax.

Jesse’s an appealing protagonist, a thoughtful and capable and police officer, with investigative skills learnt from Danny Jakamarra, the Aboriginal Community Police Officer, whom she works with in Kulara. I liked the character of Possum, the teenage friend of the murdered woman, and the surprise of Nadia’s character. There’s an authenticity to Hyland’s characters generally, both in the way they talk and act, that gives them substance.

The writing is polished and engaging, and the dialogue has a familiar rhythm. The setting is recognisably Australian, Hyland’s prose effortlessly evokes the baking hot weather, and varied landscape of rural Victoria.

A well-crafted, absorbing mystery with strong characterisation, Canticle Creek is gripping crime fiction, and I hope Hyland has plans for more. ...more

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Jan 03, 2022 Catsalive rated it it was amazing

Shelves: amw, 2022

I love this cover, and I loved this book. The establishment & build-up of the crime were absorbing; the characters - particularly Jesse Redpath & her father - are appealing & believable; & the environments fascinating & evocative. I could feel the heat & dryness, & those last couple of chapters in the fire had my heart racing. Beautifully-written, I'm sorry it's over. ...more

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Dec 28, 2022 Averil rated it liked it

Shelves: 2022

Keeping my Aussie crime spree (bookwise) going, I got this off a list. Hyland did an excellent job of creating a sense of place with the bushfire-prone Aussie summer. The references to trackers and NT culture were also believable, and it was great to see environmental concerns front and centre.
However, I found the main narrator Jesse unengaging. While I cared enough about the plot to keep reading, I just didn't feel any emotional attachment to the characters. I do wonder how much of that was due ...more

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Apr 26, 2024 Kathy rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: australia

4.5 stars.

Great mystery! I adore Jesse Redpath

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Aug 02, 2022 Karen rated it really liked it

Jesse Redpath is a police officer in the Northern Territory and when she hears about the death of Adam Lawson, a young man from her town, who is also accused of murdering a young woman in Canticle Creek, just outside of Melbourne, she decides she will accompany her father, an artist, to Melbourne. She begins asking awkward questions and she uncovers secrets people are trying to hide. As the temperature soars and the town is ravaged by bushfires Jesse uncovers the truth of what happened. A good r ...more

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