Jane Harper really started something with The Dry, now Antipodean crime fiction is so popular in the UK that Australian publisher Ultimo is releasing new titles directly. However, I did find some of the possible suspects rather two dimensional and would have liked much more depth. A police officer with something to prove, alongside her eccentric father travel to the small town and is determined to get to the bottom of whatever is going on. She takes her Dad along with her and so embarks on a mission to seek the truth, which leaves her in danger. The last time he fell foul of the law, a few months earlier, Jesse stood up for him in front of the judge, and then found him a job and a place to stay with her artist father.

In terms of setting, Hyland draws on his experiences as a firefighter to provide the reader with a full-bodied overview of the harsh environment featured in Canticle Creek. As she steps out of her jurisdiction she finds her own leads from unexpected places and uses her own skills to discover what is going on. He is incredibly talented at blending compelling stories with memorable characters and vivid settings. Jesse feels her only course of action is to visit Canticle Creek herself and try to put things right.Constable Jesse Redpath is the officer in charge of the police station at Kulara, in Australia’s Northern Territory. From the opening lines of the book, I was drawn into the story almost immediately, bonding with lead character, Jesse. She becomes involved in a murder investigation in country Victoria after a young man, Adam, she knows from NT is the main suspect. 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.

Setting him up to live with her eccentric artist father, she's shocked and confused to find he vanished from there, only to die, supposedly fleeing the scene of a murder, in a small community in the hills outside Melbourne. My huge thanks to Ultimo Press for accepting my request to read and review this title via NetGalley. I enjoyed the small town dynamics and the descriptions of the setting were strong enough to give me a real sense of place. I thought the mystery was quite original, and I loved most of the characters, especially Jesse and Possum.I’ve read each of Mr Hyland’s books and loved them all; Canticle Creek, with its captivating cover, is one I recommend highly. My response rate went up and down with this one, but I think Canticle Creek would be ideal for seasoned readers of Australian crime noir. Hyland’s description of the relentless heat of high summer and a parched landscape waiting to erupt into fire are very evocative and will be familiar to many Australians.