The
Stoning, by Peter Papathanasiou.
Aussie Outback Noir: this is the most recent variation of Down Under Crime writing, and there are already several established masters of the genre i.e. Gary Disher and Chris Hammer - one would have to have something excitingly different to say to be able to buy these gentlemen a beer, but with his debut novel, Mr Papathanasiou may even get them to shout a beer for him: yep. It's that good.
Detective
Sergeant George Manolis is sent from the city to investigate the brutal,
biblical murder of the local schoolteacher in the small, dying town of
Cobb. She has been tied to a tree and
stoned to death. Investigating, he finds
that the local police station follows its own rules which change according to
circumstance – like the local hospital;
both places are loathed by the locals because they can only provide
services they are staffed and funded for – which are minuscule. By unhappy contrast, the new Detention Centre
for ‘Reffos and worthless Boat People’ has ample staff and all mod cons for
their charges. There is huge resentment
from those who remember when Cobb was a bustling, prosperous community – the
town that George remembers from his childhood, when his late father Con used to
run the local Milk bar. George cannot
believe his eyes at deterioration of everything, helped along by liberal
supplies of drugs and alcohol: add to
that the racism and prejudice against the local Aboriginals – and anyone even
slightly different, and Cobb is a place to leave, not to settle in.
Yes,
Cobb is a place to stay away from, but George doesn’t have any choice but to
stay, especially when someone sets his beloved old Chrysler Valiant on fire the
first night at his accommodation, then the replacement wreck he is given for
the rest of his stay has the brakes sabotaged:
he misses death by a whisker.
Yes, there are plenty of secrets waiting to be revealed to a Detective
of George’s capabilities, including his family’s hurried departure to the city
while he was still a little boy, and the fact that the local police sergeant
does everything he can to avoid meeting with George. Everyone wants to know who stoned that poor
woman to death, but no-one wants to tell him anything.
Mr
Papathanasiou has woven an intricate, compelling story encompassing many of
Australia’s contemporary ills; the
hypocrisy of politicians; sexual and
racial prejudice, and the disintegration of what used to be salt-of-the-earth
communities. George solves the case (I guarantee
no-one will guess whodunit!) but returns to the city a chastened man, perhaps
paving the way for a sequel, which would be very welcome. FIVE STARS
