Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience

Great thriller that kept me engaged from start to finish. Fabulous plot and characters, and author I will definitely read more of!

A brilliant slice of rural crime writing from a masterful storyteller. While the likes of Jane Harper and Chris Hammer have garnered recent accolades for their excellent 'Outback Noir', it is Garry Disher who paved the way and who is the giant on whose shoulders they've stood. BITTER WASH ROAD is an excellent example of his masterful crime writing talents. Highly recommended.

Unfortunately the book stopped workin after a little while, so I couldn't finish it. Seemed to be a DRM-issue.

Thankyou to NetGalley, the publishers and the author, Garry Disher, for the opportunity to read a digital copy of Bitter Wash Road in exchange for an honest and unbiased opinion.
Such a great read. Highly descriptive imagery, well developed characters and a fast-paced narrative makes for a gripping read. 3.5 stars.
Worth a read.

Constable Paul Hirschhausen - known to his friends as Hirsch, has been posted to Tiverton, a small dust track town, 3 hours from Adelaide. A one man police station, he's been sent there after being involved in a whistle-blowing case against an old colleague, they are still trying to pin something on him, evidence went missing or wasn't listed correctly, and no other cops now want to work with him.

To safeguard himself he has to stay one step ahead of even the 'Internal Investigations Team' and has taken meticulous notes, photos, recordings, and documentation to cover himself against charges, associated with the other officers involved in the case. He knows everyone doubts him and he can trust no one, everyone seems to have been paid off in some way and this gives him good groundings for what happens when the body of a young 16-year-old local girl is found.

Melia Donovan, local, not the sort of kid you wanted your own children to be friends with. A less than lack lustre home life, a mixed-up drunk other, a brother who couldn't care less. She had no real school friends, she hung out with the older kids around town, the ones with did drugs and drank. Went to the next town over for a bit more social life. Who'd care if she went missing anyway?

The cops in the next town, Redruth have the worst reputation, they breathalyze everyone, give on the spot fines, scream in people's faces for wasting police time when they get called out, beatings you name it they are guilty of it. And yet, they seem to be friends with the people that matter, the local magistrate and pub landlord, very different backgrounds, but both vital to learn information at times when needed and used accordingly. By wearing the police uniform they are using their power, to their own advantage regardless of who gets caught in the line of fire.

It seems like there's more than Hirsch first thinks is going on, it's not just the wielding of police power or brutality. Internal investigations are involved and they want to use him to get to the bottom of this. He seems like a pretty clean-cut guy, certainly not one to back down over his parents being threatened into being scared to tell the truth.

This book is brilliantly written, the scenery and red dust almost seems real. It covers many subjects including corruption, murder, sexism, and how cops who know the right people and tow the line get raised up through the ranks much quicker than those that don't. Hirsch being a prime example. The story itself in extremely topical and written realistically, with details clearly researched to back up the plotline.

Australian crime series about policeman Paul Hirschhausen.
Hirsch is now a constable in Tiverton, a small town. in the middle of nowhere .
He has been demoted and shunned by his ex colleagues in Adelaide.
Things don’t improve in Tiverton as he is forced to go it alone to solve two very different deaths.
His sergeant is obstructive and his colleagues down right nasty but Hirsch struggles through all the blocks, lies and diversions to get to the truth.
Very well written, good characters and descriptions of small town life.
Really enjoyed this book and want to read more Garry Dissher.

This book was so good, the author has quite a few books under his belt, I don’t know why I didn’t read him sooner.
Paul Hirsch is sent to a one cop back water town in Rural Australia. He has been labeled a maggot by his fellow cops, as in his previous post he was part of a team that were caught covering up crimes, stealing evidence and all round bad stuff. He wasn’t involved any of it but was helping with enquires into police corruption. His past has followed him and he isn’t liked by the local cops nor the towns folk. Not long after arriving he is called to a body found on the side of the road, an apparent hit and run but Hirsch isn’t so sure. Before he can investigate, the body is gone, the crime scene compromised and people won’t talk to him. This is just a tip of the iceberg as we find out more about the lives of this small town and really there is corruption everywhere.
This was such a great read, the town and the atmosphere so much a part of the book. Hirsch is such a great character, trying to do his job but also be a defender of the people. His interaction with the folks he encounters and how he deals with situations were so good.
This would make a great tv show.

This is my first read by Garry Disher and won't be my last. Set in rural Australia, the book is filled with beautiful descriptive passages of the landscape and characters. Paul Hirschhausen, Hirsch for short, is a police officer sent to a remote post for informing on his superiors. The book is fast paced, well written and filled with interesting characters. A really enjoyable read which I would recommend. Thanks to Net Galley for my ARC.

Bitter Wash Road introduces Constable Paul ‘Hirsch’ Hirschhausen, a cop a sent to work at a one man out post in the middle of nowhere after being disgraced for snitching on corrupt colleagues.

Arriving in Tiverton, Hirsch soon finds himself embroiled again, in a small town of corrupt, over eager law men, running the town under their own rules and a small town living in fear.

When a 16-year-old girls body is found on the side of the road in what appears to be a hit and run, Hirsch has his suspicions that it might be less accident and something much more sinister.

His investigation opens up a town ruled by fear, racism and an under belly of sexual depravity against the young women of the town.

Garry Disher writes a stunningly plotted and complex tale. Moving along at pace, Hirsch has to overcome obstacles put in front of him by the corrupt police and the people of the town who stand to be benefit from this almost police state.

The locales are described in such a way that Disher brings rural back water Australia to life with a vivid and gritty realism.

Hirsch is a great character. He’s the good guy but he’s just the normal guy and the right guy the town needs.

A Gripping, tenacious Thriller from a highly talented new author to UK readers

Highly Recommended

All the Flames

5🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

New author to me, despite this being his eighteenth novel, and after finishing this one I am adding Garry Disher to my ‘must read’ authors list. Why? Simple, he has the knack of (earlier) Lee Child and John Sandford of really immersing the reader into the every day, nitty gritty life of a small town and how the various characters interact. Plus of course they (nearly!) all harbour some dark secrets.

Hirsch himself is at a low ebb having been demoted following an internal police incident. Soon after arriving at his new posting he sets out to try to solve the hit and run, which is not quite what it appears to be at first sight… He soon becomes embroiled in a local scandal that has far reaching consequences. I won’t reveal any more as I would say go read the book 🙂

The story moves along a decent pace and there are a few good plot twists to keep you guessing.

The good news is that Constable Paul ‘Hirsch’ Hirschhausen is due back in another book. Until then, we have ‘Bitter Wash Road’ to enjoy.

Constable Paul Hirschhausen or 'Hirsch' for short is a whistleblower who has been banished to the small town of Tiverton some three hours north of Adelaide. Shortly after he arrives a young girl is found dead on the side of the road which soon becomes a murder case. Hirsch also finds that his other colleagues in the bush run things according to their own rules to keep the locals under control. Despite being shunned by his colleagues both back in Adelaide and in the mid-north, Hirsch is a likeable character because his integrity shines through.

Disher paints a vivid portrait of the dry, mid-North and the sorts of people one is likely to find up there. It's a tough life for tough people. Nevertheless Hirsch cuts through the fear and loathing for the police and makes some close friends. Well-paced and easy to visualise, this is an intriguing story in a harsh landscape that totally absorbs the reader.

Paul "Hirsch" Hirschhausen is a former member of an elite but corrupt Australian Police Unit that was broken up and some of its members jailed for a variety of offences including selling seized drugs and working with the criminals they were supposed to be locking up. Hirsch testifies against some of his former colleagues, and is suspected of "getting away with it" himself, finding himself exiled to a one man police station in a remote part of the country as a result. Hirsch seems unable to keep himself out of trouble and despite his move to a place tourists pass through without noticing is soon involved in a case that that picks the scab off of small town Australia revealing it's racism,bullying cops shaking down the local population , corruption ,cover ups and potentially murder. What his Superior , thuggish colleagues and the local Doctor insist is a hit and run seems suspicious to Hirsch and his efforts to prove otherwise uncover all kinds of criminality. While events in the Boonies pan out Hirsch is still to testify against his old Boss and both him and his parents are under threat.
That's the basis of what turns into a really good book that had me engrossed from start to finish. I've never read Garry Disher before this book but it seems he's massively popular in Australia where his books have won prestigious awards . The most obvious comparison is with the late,great Peter Temple, one of my all time favourite authors and this is a good as anything Temple wrote. Disher brings (very) small town Australia alive ,peopled with believable characters , almost poetic descriptions of the land and a very real feel of an area almost fading away with the signs of the former mining industry a reminder of better days as farmers struggle to survive..
The easiest way to sum up this book is,if you like Peter Temple you'll love this. Seemingly it's the first book in a series and I can't wait for the next one.

Thanks to Garry Disher, Serpent's Tail / Profile Books and Netgalley for the ARC in return for an honest review.

Short review for now as I am still taking this in.

Characters -dark, complex, intriguing

Sense of place - So good you feel the dusty desert sand on your face and you see the stain of corruption on everything

Plot - a bit like being on a rollercoaster - you go up that first bit slow, then WOW watch out. Oh there's a small twist in the track coming up. NO! BOOM it's a biggie. Nearly got derailed (you , not the story)

When you finish reading, your hair is in dissaray, the journey of a whistleblower has been set out for all to see and a village dying in its own corruption is just deliciously gritty and noir

I found this to be a very slow moving story & I never really got into it. There was no real action until the last 20% of the book, but even that was a little lacking. There's lot of great reviews for this book but it just didn't do it for me.

I don't know how I could possibly have missed this gritty Aussie crime noir series by Garry Disher, featuring the demoted whistleblowing Constable Paul 'Hirsch' Hirschhausen, banished from Adelaide police to the remote backwaters of a small town, Tiverton, with their single officer police station. You might think this means little in the way of crime stirs here, but still waters run deep, where Hirsch, a good natured, compassionate man, with a core of hard steel, finds he has once again stepped into a nest of vipers. His boss, Sergeant Klopp, is based at Redruth, a man who has no intentions of making life easy for a cop who has betrayed his own, an absolute no no, even if those cops are hardened criminals. Klopp's barely educated, brutal, racist and misogynist neanderthal constables, Nicholson and Andrewatha, mean that Hirsch is surrounded by no-one he can trust.

Hirsch remains a person of interest, a 'suspect' in the ongoing inquiries in Adelaide, the repercussions of his actions against his former boss, Quine, continue as he finds himself facing a barrage of efforts to paint him as corrupt, the fallout of which culminate in his parents being harrassed and intimidated. Hirsch finds himself directed by Klopp to make his way to Bitter Wash Road, where a body has been discovered at the side of the road. The victim is 16 year old Melia Donovan, a sweet, if wayward kid, from an impoverished background, rumoured to have a much older boyfriend, her closest friend, the shop assistant, Gemma Pitcher. All the signs point to a straightforward hit and run accident, with Melia notorious for regularly hitchhiking.

However, something about it doesn't sit right with Hirsch, and despite being warned to leave well alone, he cannot stop himself looking deeper. This is followed by the death of Alison Latimer, divorcing her abusive husband, Ray, in what appears to be an obvious suicide, with all the potential suspects with a motive for murder having carefully constructed unbreakable alibis, triggering suspicions that have Hirsch looking more closely at Alison. Hirsch persists in looking into both deaths, each seemingly separate incidents, a slow and laborious process until it emerges there may be connections between them, linking them to a small group of privileged and powerful men.

Disher's plotting is intricate and his descriptions of place bring the small towns of Tiverton and Redruth vividly alive. Hirsch is forced into being a loner, but this is not a state he is comfortable with, but he has to be on his guard at all times, surrounded as he is by threats and danger all around him. Despite the community's distrust of the police, with good reason, Hirsch turns out to be an excellent community police officer who slowly embeds himself in a place that initially seemed so unpromising. I particularly loved his developing relationship with the bright and plucky child, Katie Street. I cannot wait for the next in the series, this is for all those who love their Aussie crime fiction. A brilliant read. Many thanks to Serpent's Profile for an ARC.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Serpent’s Tail/Profile Books for a free copy of Bitter Wash Road which I received in exchange for my honest, unedited feedback. It is the first novel in a projected series to feature rural Constable Paul Hirschhausen of the South Australia Police.

Hirsch as he is known has been exiled to Tiverton in South Australia from Adelaide after testifying against his corrupt colleagues. Tiverton is a single officer station and much of his time is spent on minor crime and arbitration in disputes until the body of a teenager, Melia Donovan, is found on the highway. It would seem that she is the victim of a hit and run.

I thoroughly enjoyed Bitter Wash Road which takes a small crime and expands it into so much more. Mr Disher has been on my radar for a while but I’ve never got round to reading any of his work until now. What took me so long? This is a great read with so many nuances and angles.

I love the spare, uncompromising prose which seems to reflect both the land and the inhabitants. I find it very readable as it tells it as it is. The hunt for Melia’s killer is an eye opener in what it uncovers but it’s not straightforward as Hirsch encounters many obstacles and there are plenty of twists and turns. I was gripped. It is not, however, told in isolation as Hirsch’s role as a whistleblower is well known and the suspicion surrounding him, his motives and actions swirls throughout the novel. He doesn’t know who he can trust - there are a few surprises there - and nobody knows if they can trust him. It’s a great atmosphere for a reader, especially as the novel is told from his point of view so there is no counter narrative. It’s more than enough to make anyone think twice about giving evidence.

I liked the characterisation as well. Hirsch is a lonely man, demoted and exiled for telling the truth as he sees it. He is an honourable man but not perfect, still able to mistakes and having to be constantly on his guard for reprisals. It’s not always comfortable. He lives in a harsh terrain and, from necessity, the locals have much of that same harshness. There is little idealism and much calculation in their dealings. It’s fascinating.

Bitter Wash Road is a good read that I have no hesitation in recommending.

I thought this perfectly captured the small town feel of a backwater Australian town, as I imagine it to be anyway.The main character a policeman was likable and I felt sorry for him being stuck there.I did find the pace to be on the slow side,but I am an impatient reader.Having said that a lot was packed in the death of a young girl, the abuse of young girls and the police in the next town, not giving the plot away so not going to put anything else in.I would say this is worth a read and will keep you entertained.

* spoiler alert ** Small town Australia provides a great backdrop to this story. A story that packs in racism,violence,corruption,rape,murder...
It sounds relentless ,but it's got fantastic pacing,and a central character that I'm hoping will be around for a good while.
Up against a whole host of dirty coppers on all sides,he comes across as clever,witty,honest and actually having some morals.
What more can you ask for in your local police?
Looking forward to book 2 already.

Bitter Wash Road is the eighteenth stand-alone novel by popular Australian author, Garry Disher. It has also been published under the title Hell To Pay. Not long after Constable Paul Hirschhausen has been banished to the small South Australian wheatbelt town of Tiverton for the unforgiveable (being a whistle-blower), he is called to attend an apparent hit-and-run. But, despite the scorn of his superiors, to Hirsch, something feels not quite right. And when, a few weeks later, he discovers the body of a woman who has committed suicide, he is again plagued with doubt.
In Hirsch, Disher has created a central character who is both likeable and believable, flawed yet principled. Disher expertly conveys the atmosphere of the outback town with evocative descriptions that will have the reader tasting the dust in the back of the throat and feeling the boredom and despair. His cast of townspeople will be familiar to anyone who has visited such a place.

Disher gives the reader an original plot that somehow realistically includes a network of paeophiles, a wind farm, an inheritance, some subtle (and not so subtle) threats, pair of fugitive murder-rapists, planted evidence, domestic violence, a pair of cops who delight in harassment of old people, young girls and aborigines, adultery, jealousy, football, drinking and brawling, and a red herring or two to keep everyone guessing. While this is a stand-alone novel, Hirschhausen is an appealing character of whom readers are bound to want more. Once again, Disher does not disappoint.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Serpent's Tail/Profile Books - Viper