The Way it is Now is a stand alone mystery / thriller. The story opens in January 2000 with Charlie Deravin and 20 other probationary officers looking for a young boy who has gone missing from his school camp. Charlie's mother also mysteriously goes missing the same day. Neither is found and no-one is charged.

Twenty years later and on the cusp of the covid pandemic Charlie is back in his childhood home on the Victorian Mornington Peninsula. He has been suspended after attacking his superior officer. Now with his marriage in tatters and time on his hands Charlie becomes obsessed with  finding out what happened to his mother and spends his time interviewing people who lived in the area at the time.

Garry Disher effortlessly evokes the feel of a small town community where everyone knows each other and old secrets are buried deep. The timeline of the pre-covid pandemic is well portrayed when we were all so naive and it was just something happening somewhere else.

The mystery was well played out with plenty of twists. I had no clue as to what had happened to the victims.
Disher includes themes of jury tampering and victim blaming around a sex crime case.

Overall I enjoyed The Way it is Now although the ending wrapped up abruptly and I had the feeling it needed a few more pages.

A well written, plotted and interesting mystery set in the bayside suburbs of Melbourne.

The characters are realistic, the plot believable and the descriptions of the bayside suburbs ring true to life,

This is a very enjoyable story to read.

Garry Disher is my favourite Australian crime writer. I want everyone to read his books, I've still got plenty waiting for me to get hold of, but his recent ones have made me incredibly happy.

Charlie is a police officer, he has been suspended and with his tail between his legs has moved to his Dad's batch, the home he grew up in, in a small beachside town. Being there brings up all kinds of memories and suspicions, as 20 years ago his mother went missing here. His dad has always been under suspicion for doing her in, he too was a cop, the local chief, suspicion has swirled around him and caused Charlie's brother to become distant and his other brother to be his father's ally. Charlie has been unable to leave his mum's disappearance alone, he has been quietly investigating for years. Never content with the investigation that took place and always looking for clues into what happened. At the same time as his mum disappeared, a small boy also disappeared. Are the two intertwined? Charlie is desperate, closed to obsessed with finding out.

Then, out of the blue, 2 bodies are found in the foundations of a new house build. The foundations have been there for years but suddenly a flurry of activity around these foundations means that they've been discovered. And now the police are back and interested in finding out who murdered these two people. Charlie doesn't want his father to get the blame, he investigates the lodger that lived with his mother for a time, but can't pin it on him. Yes, suspicion remains. A the case takes over Charlie's life and the cops working on the case warn him off, he only becomes more obsessed with finding out the truth. This might be at the peril of his new relationship with a wonderful woman, it might mean he gets the sack, it might be at the cost of his mental health, but he is a desperate man.

This is brilliant, with a cast of dodgy characters and because this is Garry Disher, a main character who is troubled but inherently good. I loved this, knocked it off in a couple of nights reading long into the wee hours. Thanks to Text Publishing and NetGalley for giving me access to this fantastic novel.

I have been enjoying crime novels over the past 12 months or so and this one was definitely among the many I have enjoyed.
Disher had me hooked with this one and I found it hard to put down, I enjoyed the location of the Mornington peninsula, it was so easy to imagine it.
I found the story to be believable and I will definitely have to seek out more of Disher’s work.
Thank you to the publisher Text Publishing and NetGalley for the kindly gifting me this one.

Thanks to Netgalley for a copy of this book for an honest review.

Love Garry Disher books and this had some good elements. The ending seemed a bit rushed but with some storylines left unanswered. Overall, it was OK.

It was hard to put this book down. A well constructed crime/mystery set in a beachside town not far from Melbourne. Charlie is a cop, so was his father, his father’s colleagues were there all through his childhood particularly Mark Valente. Twenty years earlier Charlie’s Mum disappeared, his father the prime suspect as they were getting divorced but she was never found and of course Charlie can’t let it go, leading to his own divorce. All the action is from Charlie’s point of view and it’s well done, sets the time well, a backdrop of bushfires and the early days of the pandemic. Highly readable and enjoyable.

As a devotee of Garry Disher's fantastic Hirschhausen series, I was excited to read his new standalone, The Way it is Now. I have to say that it met all my expectations!
In his signature gritty, yet lyrical, prose style, Disher crafts the story of Charlie Deravin, a committed yet disillusioned police officer, based on the Mornington peninsula, south-east of Melbourne, Australia. Disher is a master at evoking a distinctly Australian landscape and society, which in this case is a fictional coastal town facing towards Westernport Bay. During summer, the population swells with holiday-makers, but for the rest of the year a smaller number of long-term permanent residents enjoy more peaceful beaches and coastal bushland.
Charlie Deravin is one such resident, having moved into the beach house that was once his parents' home following the breakup of his marriage. He's currently on suspension from his job based at Rosebud, following an altercation with a senior officer over a jury misconduct-tampering allegation.
Charlie uses his enforced spare time to undertake his own private investigation into the disappearance of his mother twenty years ago, from her rental home not far up the coast. Charlie's father, a retired police officer himself, was always the prime suspect in her disappearance, but Charlie is particularly interested in establishing the whereabouts of his mother's former boarder, who was questioned by police at the time, but subsequently left the area and hasn't been heard of since. His activities seem to be stirring up disquiet amongst those connected to the case, including several of his father's former police colleagues. Matters reach a head when two skeletons are discovered, hidden in the foundations of a building undergoing renovation.
There are plenty of twists and turns, potential suspects and red herrings as Charlie, accompanied by his new girlfriend - the juror at the centre of the misconduct allegations - gradually close in on the truth.
The Way it is Now is an engrossing read, intertwining a well-conceived major crime investigation plot line with several intriguing sub-plots exploring themes around family trauma, professional relationships, conflicting loyalties and self-reflection. The central characters are convincing and evoke the reader's empathy, despite their flaws and occasional questionable decision-making. While the final denouement - when it comes - is somewhat jarring and violent, it is fitting against the narrative background of long-held secrets, police corruption and dysfunctional family relationships.
I'd highly recommend The Way it is Now to any reader who enjoys well-written Australian crime fiction, and as a great entry point for those readers who are yet to discover Garry Disher's work.
My thanks to the author, Garry Disher, publisher Text Publishing and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this title.

I don't really have much to say about this one as I found it rather boring, there was no real flow to it and it seemed just a little bit weird to me. I felt like I was going in circles with tis book and in the end skipped through most of it to find out what happened.

Not for me I'm afraid!

I’ve always enjoyed Garry Disher’s writing style, so I was very excited to get my hands on his latest book. THE WAY IT IS NOW is a standalone crime novel featuring Detective Senior Constable Charlie Deravin, who returns to his old childhood home to spend some downtime whilst he is suspended from duty. Returning to the small coastal town brings back painful memories for Charlie. Twenty years earlier, his mother vanished without a trace, believed a victim of foul play. Charlie’s father, a senior sergeant on the police force, has always been the prime subject, even though nobody could ever prove anything and Rose’s body was never found. With time on his hands and old memories assaulting him, Charlie starts digging into the past ...

Disher is a seasoned, accomplished writer, which shows in the way he brings both his setting as well as his characters to life. This is a slow-burning, character driven story with an atmospheric small town Australian setting that appears almost languid in the beginning. But don’t be fooled, because it is full of scarred and damaged characters, family secrets, regret and disillusionment, and coming to terms with past mistakes. Whilst the mystery surrounding Rose Deravin’s disappearance intrigued me and soon reeled me in, the story was about so much more than a cold case. Disher’s description of life in a small Australian coastal town are spot on and made this tale seem authentic, as did Charlie’s growing disillusionment with his career, which has left him suspecting he worst of his fellow men. There is a rich cast of supporting characters who provide background and red herrings and fleshed the story out nicely. I particularly enjoyed the ethical dilemma of Charlie digging into the past, knowing that his father could be a killer, feeling torn between the love for the man and his suspicions. Set in early 2020, Disher incorporates the historical landmarks that defined that terrible year, from the bushfire crisis to the first appearance of covid cases around the world.

If you are a reader who enjoys a slower, character driven mystery with an authentic small town Australian setting, then Disher is a writer you should definitely turn to. Even though I found the ending a bit rushed, I enjoyed getting caught up in the intrigue and the slow unravelling of secrets that Disher does so well.

Truthfully, I'm drawing a blank. I've finished reading this days ago and have been scratching my head on what I really think about the novel. While I found the book to be a fairly easy read, I didn't find this cold 'personal' case to be that compelling and I am kind of offended at the abrupt ending. Don't laugh! I am absolutely stumped at where it was ended. I like my t's crossed and my i's dotted so this was really upsetting. So yeah, it's personal.

I've read 2 other books by this author and I really only liked one of them so I guess it was 50:50 chance whether I'd like this book or not. I do truly love the Australian beach setting and I liked the main character too; he's having issues but he's not completely broken and in fact, he's working to be better. However, he's still haunted by the past and this story digs it all up for him with a definite resolution. I still want a proper ending! [sorry, I'm just going to leave it at that]

My thanks to Text Publishing for ecopy of book via NetGalley in exchange of my honest thoughts

4★
“He needed to delve into the records again. Oh, right: he was suspended.”

Charlie’s a cop whose mother disappeared twenty years ago, while his parents were separating. His father, Rhys, also a cop, was quick to move in with a girlfriend, so he has been a suspect all this time. No evidence, just small town people with strong opinions. To complicate things, a small boy disappeared at the same time, just as suddenly. Abduction? Murder?

Disher gives us a bit of background as to why Charlie was suspended (a provoked punch when he couldn’t hold his temper), and why he is back at the old family home. Seeing the For Sale sign out front reminds Charlie again of people accusing his dad of doing away with an inconvenient wife so he wouldn’t have to share their assets.

Charlie is all on his lonesome with plenty of time to poke around now. His wife has left him, the east coast of Australia is on fire (2019’s Black Summer), and all he wants to do is get in the ocean and let it “settle him”.

“Tuesday, Christmas Eve, and dolphins were arcing in the glassy sea. They were right there in a straight line between Charlie Deravin, who was standing at the base of the beach steps, and the Nobbies, humped at the end of Phillip Island. He watched and nothing else moved in the half-light of the dawning sun. His best time of the day. The pinks and greys and windless clarity, everything etched, and the deep peace he needed in his life just then.”

This takes place in a seaside community in South Australia, which Disher describes as “a Peninsula beach town of unassuming shacks dating from the 1930s, side by side on a crosshatch of narrow, potholed dirt streets.” It’s not a resort – not yet, anyway.

He seeks peace at the beach, but no matter where he goes, people recognise him and either call out or pointedly avoid him. I enjoy Disher’s characters. Here are two men on the beach.

“He stepped over the tidewrack and advanced on Charlie like an unstoppable bear, blocking the sun, one frying-pan hand outstretched.”

Another – definitely not an unstoppable bear:

“He was one of those older men who seemed cobbled together from many men. Little pot belly, skinny shanks, eyes wide apart, gristly ears and a neat nose; pianist’s fingers . . . his forehead was ghostly white, his forearms and legs like old leather.”

Charlie knows the cops from back then, who are sympathetic but still suspicious of his father. The new cops and a pair of journalists are prodding some sore spots, and he’s not allowed into any of the files. What he is supposed to do, though, is go to therapy.

“The therapist had her head down, reading his file. We’re each playing a game, he thought, against an unfamiliar opponent. She’ll lob a ball, I’ll return it, and vice versa. We’ll each watch the return lob, working out the meaning behind it.

‘What does the file say?’ Charlie said.

She removed her glasses. ‘The bare bones, Charlie. I need to know what you were feeling at the time. What you’re feeling now. So we can talk through these feelings.’

‘Feelings. My feeling is, I’ve been suspended from police duties and told to see a therapist,’ Charlie said.”

Not a happy chap, Charlie. He goes hunting, trying again to track down Sean, the strange guy who was boarding in the house with his mother just before she vanished. He seemed so dodgy (the Dodgy Lodger? sorry), that Charlie and his brother threw him out. They packed up all his gear, told him it was out the front, and said goodbye.

Sean had an alibi (he was in jail), but Charlie is just sure he had something to do with it. Revenge, maybe? But a small boy vanished at the same time. Why? Now some bones have been found – an adult and a child – together. Again, why?

I liked Charlie, his story is well told, and loose ends are tied up. The ending felt dramatically sudden, but it made sense. It was also interesting to see Covid enter the story, as it was just beginning to be a concern in Australia this early in 2020. Aussies seem to love cruises and so do communicable diseases.

This is a stand-alone, as far as I know, but I’d be happy to meet Charlie again if Disher decides to carry on. He’s a young guy, and there’s plenty of scope for him to develop.

Thanks to NetGalley and Text Publishing for the copy for review.

The Way It Is Now is an engaging stand alone crime novel from Australian author Garry Disher.

After an assault on his venal boss, Detective Senior Constable Charlie Deravin has been suspended from duty. While waiting to learn his fate, he’s staying at his childhood home in Menlo Beach on the Mornington Peninsula, spending his mornings in the surf and his afternoons reinvestigating the disappearance of his mother twenty years earlier.

In what is a tightly plotted, absorbing police procedural, Charlie attempts to unravel the truth behind the disappearance of Rose Deravin and the nine year old boy who vanished during a school excursion on the same day, after their bodies are discovered buried in a vacant lot. For decades Charlie’s father, Senior Sergeant Rhys Deravin, has lived under a cloud of suspicion, thought to have killed his wife because Rose had left him, but unlike his brother, Liam, Charlie had never believed it could be true. The investigators are none too impressed by Charlie’s insistence that there were flaws in the original investigation, or his interference in the current one, believing his motives self-serving.

Their attitude towards Charlie isn’t improved by the rumours surrounding his assault on his commanding officer. Ostensibly, Charlie has the high ground as his Inspector has been interfering in a trial involving the rape of a young woman by a footballer, but Charlie’s actions in undermining the defence’s case have put many offside. As a result both he, and his new girlfriend, are targeted by someone determined to shut them up, and the failure of Charlie’s colleagues to take the threats seriously reinforces his growing disillusionment with the force.

Disher’s style of storytelling tends to be low-key rather than driven by action, but elegant plotting engages and maintains interest, as does strong characterisation. The Way It is Now is an gripping and entertaining novel.

******Spoilers******

This guy writes a good story. This is the third book I have read by this author and I have loved all of them.
Charlie has been suspended from the police force for shoving a senior officer. He uses his time to keep looking for his mother who disappeared 20 years ago. He has had a falling out with his brother Liam as Liam has alway suspected their father, a then police office, of killing their mother. Life has moved on in the years since she disappeared. Charlie’s marriage ended and he is in a relationship with a witness from a case he had been working . His father, who had an affair and subsequently left his mother, is now married to her (Fay) . At the time of his mothers disappearance, Charlie was looking into the disappearance, of a young school boy Bille. Now Billie has been found buried, and beneath him, Charlie’s mother.
As always the settings play a big part in my enjoyment of these books. A small coastal town, the relentless heat, the terrible bushfires and the start of the Covid epidemic are all part of this story as well as lots of really great characters.

#NetGalley #TheWayItIsNow

This was my first Garry Disher book, it won’t be my last, can I say wow what a fabulous story, a compelling mystery that had my mind going in all directions trying to sort things out, and we meet Charlie Deravin a detective with the Victorian police force currently on suspension and living back in his family home on the coast, this brings back many memories for Charlie mainly the fact that his mother went missing twenty years before and has never been found, the day as a young constable he was out searching for a missing young boy, Charlie’s life has never been easy and care-free and things now are just going to get worse.

Charlie has never given up investigating his mother’s disappearance knowing full well that his father also a cop has always been the main suspect in her disappearance in which his brother Liam is sure of the fact, his father is re-married now and Charlie is close to him and sure of his innocence, but things suddenly change and very quickly when skeletal remains are found on a property very close to where his mother was living. Two bodies that of an adult and a young child, are they his mother and the child he was searching that day twenty years ago how are they connected?

This was a page turner for me there is a lot going on and lots of people we get to know who maybe are connected with both deaths or maybe not and Charlie is more than determined to investigate even while on suspension and he does tend to tread on a few toes along the way people are after him as well, which adds to the story. There are many twists and turns that kept me engrossed in this story and Garry Disher has built a fabulous case that had to be unraveled in a way that kept me and I am sure any reader of a good mystery engaged, the characters come to life on the pages and are real, this is one that I would highly recommend, it is a fabulous read, I must say although I had all the answers I needed at the end it was a little abrupt I would have loved another page or two.

My thanks to Text Publishing and Netgalley for my copy to read and review

This is a standalone (though possibly an option to keep the story going) novel. Set on the Mornington Peninsula and the suburbs of Melbourne, Charlie is a police officer on suspension. Divorced with one daughter, he finds himself in his childhood home near the beach. Shunned by his fellow officers for overstepping the line with a witness and decking his superior officer.
Given the time on his hands he decides to look into the disappearance of his mother twenty years earlier. She had been renting a place close by and had a boarder who made her very uncomfortable. Charlie and his brother Liam had evicted the boarder a few days before her disappearance but he had an alibi for the day she went missing.
Charlie is determined to unearth some evidence that will somehow prove his father's innocence, as it is his father who is the prime suspect. The thing is Charlie is starting to have his own doubts.
Like in his other books, Disher gives us a main character with a lot of baggage and who seems to find trouble in everything he does.
Great story, thank you Text Publishing and Netgalley for the opportunity to review this digital ARC.

EXCERPT: All he was doing now was licking his wounds and waiting. And looking for Shane Lambert, as he'd been doing for twenty years. The thread that remained untugged. All those fruitless leads...

And if he couldn't find Lambert, or if Lambert couldn't help, if there were no new developments, then people would continue to believe his father was guilty. Even though no body had been found. Even though there was no history of violent behaviour - barely even a cross word, since his parents had steered clear of each other, letting the divorce paperwork trickle through the system. Even though Rhys had been investigating a security van hijack that day. Just a couple of unaccounted-for hours when he was working alone, since, he'd said at the time, 'I didn't know I'd need an alibi.'

Despite all that, the theories came thick and fast. Rhys Deravin had murdered Rose Deravin because he'd have to sell Tidepool Street and give her half the proceeds. Or he'd blown his top and killed her in the heat of the moment. Or he'd killed her and hoped suspicion and blame would fall on her difficult lodger, Shane Lambert. None of these theories accounted for why her car was found abandoned out near Tooradin with a crumpled bumper, the driver's door open and her possessions scattered up and down the road. Unless... Unless Rhys Deravin, the wily out-thinker, had staged a confused and confusing crime scene because, as anyone acquainted with him could confirm, he was too smart to leave loose ends.

ABOUT 'THE WAY IT IS NOW': Charlie is living in his family’s holiday house, on forced leave since he made a mess of things at work.

Things have never been easy for Charlie. Twenty years earlier his mother went missing in the area, believed murdered. His father has always been the main suspect, though her body was never found.

Until now: the foundations are being dug for a new house on a vacant block. The skeletal remains of a child and an adult are found—and Charlie’s past comes crashing in on him.

MY THOUGHTS: Set in Menlo Beach, a Peninsula beach town of unassuming shacks dating from the 1930's an hour from Melbourne, The Way It Is Now tells the story of a burnt-out Aussie cop named Charlie Deravin.

Persona non grata with the Victoria Police, divorced from his wife and semi-estranged from his brother, Charlie has time on his hands; time to look into the disappearance of his mother twenty years earlier.

The Way it is Now is a multi-layered story of a disillusioned detective, his family, and the case he was working before being suspended. His disillusionment comes to a head one morning when he sees 'an old bloke building a sandcastle with a little girl, presumably his granddaughter; and his first thought was 'paedophile'.' Charlie realises that he doesn't see honesty and innocence anymore. All he sees is hidden motives and filth.

Disher is a master of both characters and atmosphere. You will recognize people you know in the characters in this book. You will smell the smoke of the ever present bush fires and taste the gritty ash. And you will wonder right to the last if Rhys Deravin did indeed kill his wife Rosie and dispose of her body. I did.

⭐⭐⭐⭐.3

#TheWayitisNow #NetGalley

I: #GarryDisherAuthor @text_publishing

T: @GarryDisher @text_publishing

#australiancrimefiction #contemporaryfiction #crime #mystery

THE AUTHOR: The prolific Garry Disher is a huge name in his native Australia – he’s won the Ned Kelly Lifetime Achievement Award, and has had many fellow crime fiction writers citing him as a major influence.

DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Text Publishing via Netgalley for providing a digital ARC of The Way it is Now by Garry Disher for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.

For an explanation of my rating system please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the about page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com

This review is also published on Twitter, Amazon, Instagram and my webpage

Twenty years prior, Charlie Deravin’s mother, Rose, went missing. She and his father were in the middle of a divorce and Charlie and his brother Liam had just evicted a tenant from their mother’s home. But when Rose disappeared, the police blamed Rhys, Charlie’s father. Rhys was an ex-cop and Charlie was a cop on suspension – Charlie had moved back to the little seaside town and was living in the shack his parents had called home before it all went pear-shaped. Charlie had spent a lot of the last twenty years interviewing people and trying to find his mother, ruining his own marriage in the process…

When the news hit the town of the skeletal remains of a child being found on a vacant block, and then underneath the child, the remains of an adult, Charlie was sure it would be his mother. He was positive he knew the identity of the child as well. The police homicide department was soon on the scene, opening the case once again and interviewing all those who were interviewed twenty years prior. Rhys and his second wife, Fay, were overseas cruising and wouldn’t be home any time soon. But still Rhys was a suspect. What would be the outcome for Charlie and his family as this cold case once again came to life?

The Way it is Now is a standalone novel by Australia’s master crime writer Garry Disher, and it was outstanding. A relaxed but twisty, tension filled story of a family and their ongoing grief, the divisions throughout the family and the grievances which were the result of what happened, made for an excellent crime novel which I highly recommend.

With thanks to Text Publishing for my ARC to read in exchange for an honest review.

This is an excellent mystery, written in Disher's great style, and set in a small, Australian coastal town.

Detective Charlie Deravin is currently suspended from his job for bad behaviour and is living in his old family home near the beach. His life is fairly aimless and he starts to spend his time researching the disappearance of his mother twenty years ago, a mystery which has never been solved. There has always been suspicion that his father may have murdered her and as Charlie investigates even he begins to wonder.

The Way it is Now follows the pattern of a police procedural. It moves slowly but is never boring. Disher has a way with words and presents a number of interesting characters and false leads to keep the reader's interest. There is also the background of the terrible bush fires which ravaged Australia at that time and then the advent of Covid.

I was a tiny bit disappointed with the rather abrupt ending and wondered a little why the author chose to do it that way but it certainly did not spoil the book for me. This is a great story, well told and definitely worth reading.

‘He wondered if a life—or lives—could be boiled down to a house.’

A small beachside town named Menlo Beach about an hour out of Melbourne provides the setting for this novel. Twenty years ago, Charlie Deravin was a young policeman working on a missing child case when his mother went missing. His parents, Rose and Rhys Deravin, were in the process of divorcing, and his father was the main suspect although Rose Deravin’s body was never found. Rhys Deravin was also a policeman, a detective, and two of his colleagues Mark Valente and Noel Saltash also lived close by.

‘Gaps had opened in all their lives and the repairs were makeshift.’

Twenty years may have elapsed, but Charlie has never given up wondering about what happened to his mother and hoping to find answers. His marriage has broken down, he is on forced leave after assaulting his superior officer and has moved back to Menlo Beach. Charlie has plenty of time on his hands and tries to follow up some of the now cold leads from his mother’s disappearance.

Charlie is treading on some very thin ice: the police do not appreciate his unofficial involvement. His new girlfriend Anna, a juror he met on a trial that had to be abandoned, is harassed because she would not support an acquittal. Both Anna and Charlie are in danger.

On a vacant block next to where his mother was living, foundations are dug for a new house. Skeletal remains are found: a child and an adult. While Charlie will find the answers he is seeking, regret for actions taken and disappointment with others will both play a part.

I really enjoyed this novel. The tension builds: the small-town setting was well done, and the characters became real (flaws and all). Events in the past and issues in the present maintained the tension as I kept reading, keen to find the answers.

A terrific murder mystery.

Note: My thanks to NetGalley and Text Publishing for providing me with a free electronic copy of this book for review purposes.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

Garry Disher has kept the Aussie noir bar high in his latest crime thriller, The Way It Is Now.

The veteran author of more than 20 crime novels since his first 30 years ago has delivered a nicely paced, well-crafted, keep-you-guessing mystery.

It’s set in the beachy neighbourhoods along Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula, a setting Disher fans will recognise from his previous series featuring D.I. Hal Challis – although, as a standalone novel, The Way It is Now introduces a new lead character, the likeable, yet complex Charlie Deravin.

Recently suspended from his police job – and separated from his wife – Deravin has time on his hands and returns to live in his family’s vacant shack on the Peninsula. Soon enough, he’s drawn back into an unofficial – and deeply personal – investigation he’d been pursuing for 20 years: the fate of his mother.

Back in 2000, she'd disappeared, her car mysteriously abandoned, her belongings strewn on the road, her body never found, leaving his father – also a former copper – under a cloud of suspicion in the tight knit community.

Disher entwines a detailed, multi-pronged plot, along with richly-formed characters, while exploring the complexities of relationships – all while using bare, no-nonsense language. While writing with a hint of the hard-nosed, yet heartfelt style of Scottish writer Ian Rankin in his Rebus novels, Disher’s grip on evoking Australian landscapes and people is undeniable.

The Way It Is Now is another brick in the novelist’s foundational place among the newer crop of contemporary Australian crime writers, such as Michael Robotham and Jane Harper.

Those looking for an easy, fast-paced, entertaining, plot-twisty read will not be disappointed.