5+ stars!

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“Innocence travels slower than guilt.”

A young girl goes missing in a small town.

Part police procedural crime fiction, part small town mystery, this book had me hooked from start to finish. I loved every aspect of this story — the atmosphere, the detective, the small town characters, the mystery itself, the audio narrator, the pacing, the narrative switches, the slow reveal of the missing pieces of the puzzle. It was all done extremely well and had me engrossed throughout.

This is a quiet, slow burn. A story to take your time with to truly savour the writing and atmosphere. There are multiple narratives, each adding compelling layers to the plot. I adored the main police detective and all that she brought to the story.

This was a NetGalley backlist title that I’m regretting not getting to earlier. A hidden gem! Highly recommend!

Audio rating: 5+ stars! The audio narrator was excellent and added immensely to my connection and enjoyment. I highly recommend the audio!

This book was phenomenal. I loved how the book shifted the points of view so that we had varying characters weighing in on the events. It tugged on the heartstrings.

I look forward to more books by this author.

Esther Bianchi & Ronnie (aka Veronica) were best friends in Dutton aka Dirt Town. Esther disappeared without a trace on the way home from school. DS Sarah Michaels & her partner investigate her disappearance but it's soon clear the town is hiding secrets they don’t want revealed. Even Lewis, one of Esther’s classmates, knows more than he is telling but what is he hiding? What are they afraid of?

Dirt Creek is a highly atmospheric, intense story with a mood and tone of malice throughout. Scrivenor's writing is creative with great plot development and characterizations. Readers should be advised of domestic violence, gang rape, and bullying. The mystery will keep readers turning pages through the end.

I really enjoyed this atmospheric Australian mystery about the disappearance of a young girl. Suspects abound and the police identify several unsavory characters. The ending is satisfying with a shocking twist. I look forward to more from this author.

Well that was a ride. Definitely didn't guess the ending but I was massively disappointed by it. Scrivenor is a great storyteller and kept my attention through the whole tale, but I just can't forgive a twist that undoes the entire plot so with so little satisfaction. There were good mis-directs, excellent characters, and good pacing though, so if a left field low stakes twist is your vibe, pick this one up!

**Thank you NetGalley and Flatiron Books for the eARC**

I feel really bad, because I know this one was hyped all around social media and literature community, but I just couldn’t’ get into this one. It gave me notes of “Coming of Age”, “YA” and a slow burn mystery that felt like it was never going to unfold. I actually have placed this one on my DNF pile, because it was just so rigid and dry that I could barely keep my eyes open most days, but I am thankful for the opportunity to try it out.

This story takes place in a small, rural Australian town called Durton. Durton Creek is called "Dirt Creek" because it is shallow and muddy. We know early on that twelve year old Esther Bianchi is dead because the narrator(s) of the first chapter open with this. They are "We," a group narrator, not quite omnicient, but telling parts of the story as a group. In Dirt Creek, we eventually can put together a linear story of Esther's disappearance on her way home from school; the discovery of her body four days later; and how pair of specialists on missing children, Detective Sergeant Sarah Michaels and "Smithy," a Constable working with her find out what happened.

What makes this an exceptional novel is not that linear story, which is beautifully written and makes us long for lively Esther to be found alive even though we know she will not. We become attached to her best friend, Ronnie (Veronica) and her single mom who has never revealed her father's identity. They have taken on Lewis, a classmate suddenly rejected by the other boys because he is effeminate/different. He eats lunch with the girls. Scrivener builds each child's family, extended family, townspeople and the town itself chapter by chapter. They are totally engrossing.

Esther and Ronnie, as usual, walked partway home from school that day and split up at the church. Esther was never again seen alive. Children are questioned, old conflicts are exposed, we spend time in each of the three children's homes, finding out their secrets, the parents' fears, how they are being raised and whether that has anything to do with the death. Esther's mother, Constance, never wanted to move to Durton. Her husband Steve suggested they move to his hometown, where their daughter could walk to school and experience the small town childhood he recalled. The spoilers would come in this case, by discussing the evidence and suspects. Everything matters, in one sense: You cannot rebury what is revealed about the town or the people once it's revealed. And yet, some answers are not provided. In conclusion, "We" reflects on what it all means and tells us who this group narrator is. This is a dreamy book, put together with alternative narrators/points of view. These include Ronnie and Lewis, Constance, Sarah and "We." I appreciated this structure and the fact that once more, an author has brought a small town with its uniqueness to life so that I am drawn to the originality and the sameness of small town novels. I strongly recommend this novel.

Read this if you like: Procedural cop thrillers, multiple POVs, slow burns

Check triggers*

It's the year 2001. Twelve-year-old Esther has disappeared on the way home from school in a small town in rural Australia. The community goes wild with suspicion and grief. Detective Sergeant Sarah Michaels arrives in town during the hottest spring in decades and begins her investigation.

Esther’s tenacious best friend, Ronnie, is determined to find Esther and bring her home. A school friend named Lewis tells Ronnie that he saw Esther with a strange man at the creek the afternoon she went missing. Ronnie feels she is one step closer to finding her.

This was a well done cop thriller. I was shocked to see that it was a debut. This feels like it's from a season autho There were a lot of psychological aspects. It did move slow to me but was also what I would consider a slow burn. A lot of the pieces come together at the very end. I thought the pace could have been a little better but I still really enjoyed it. This was dark, shocking, and I highly recommend it.

Huge thank you to NetGalley, the author, and Flatiron Books for the gifted e-book! ❤️

3.5 stars. There's just something about a dry, dusty, dying Australian town that makes it the perfect setting for an atmospheric, character-rich mystery.

It's November 30, 2001, one of the hottest days of spring so far in small-town Durton, when Esther Bianchi goes missing on her way home from school. When Detective Sergeant Sarah Michaels arrives to investigate her disappearance, she discovers a town of desperate people harboring dark, devastating secrets. Told across multiple perspectives -- Esther's friends Ronnie and Lewis, her mother Constance, DS Sarah Michaels, and a Greek chorus "We" representing the children of Durton -- Hayley Scrivenor explores the ways in which Esther's disappearance affects an entire town.

The blurb calls Dirt Creek a cross between The Dry and Everything I Never Told You, and while I enjoyed both of those books more than this, I can definitely see the comparisons. Scrivenor's debut has echoes of Jane Harper's plotting and evocative writing and shades of Celeste Ng's complex family dynamics and rich character work. But Dirt Creek stands completely on its own merit in its exploration of family, friendship, and the consequences of harboring explosive secrets. It's a slow-burning, well-plotted character study with characters that are well-developed and sympathetic. I particularly enjoyed the chapters written from Ronnie's perspective. So many authors struggle to write from a child's point of view, but Ronnie's voice was completely authentic and endearing and felt very true to the way a 12-year-old girl would speak and behave.

I found Sarah's character to be a bit unsubtle, like Scrivenor was trying to hard to fit her into the "tortured cop" character trope. I would've enjoyed a more nuance in her character, and a bit more heart in the "We" chapters, which felt a bit too clinical and cold for a book of this type. But overall, this is an impressive debut and I'll be interested to see what Scrivenor writes next.

I normally am not a fan of detective heavy books but this was in my opinion was ok. I did not like the slow burn aspect of the book. I listened to the audiobook as well as read the physical copy. The audiobook was ok and it had it it’s moments where it drew me in but now I’m in a reading slump.

On the 6th of November in the rural area of Dirt Creek in Australia twelve year old Esther disappeared on her way home from school. Her best friend Ronnie was devastated.

Ronnie can’t stop thinking about her missing friend and decides she’s going to find her herself. In addition, Detective Sergeant Sarah and Smithy are working the case. In this small town where everyone knows everyone’s business they have each others backs. No one can be trusted.

Thank you to Netgalley for this arc in exchange for my honest review.

Hayley Scrivenor's debut novel is a gem! Such a well paced and suspenseful book! The twists were believable and not predictable and made sense in the puzzle. I really enjoyed this book and would love to read more by her in the future.

Dirt Creek, easily became one of my top 10 reads in 2022.

Dirt Creek is a suspenseful, psychological thriller with some police procedural elements. Typically, I shy away from police procedurals as I really prefer to be thrown to the wolves and read from either a victim or villian's point of view. However, Dirt Creek, has taken the blinders off of my eyes and now I can say, I might just be a fan of this genre.

Ready for the kicker? This is a DEBUT!!!!!

Hayley Scrivenor, completely slayed! My jaw is literally hanging out on the floor after concluding Dirt Creek.

The pace was consistent and steady throughout the entire book, the characters were multi-dimensional and felt incredibly real. The narration was done from multiple points of view and executed with perfection. The twist? You wont see it coming!

Dirt Creek possesses every key element of a bestseller. I am wishing Hayley Scrivenor, all the success in the world. Five Stars!

This was an incredible debut filled with mind bending twists and turns.. It had excellent writing and a fascinating plot. A heart wrenching mystery about a missing 12 year old girl and a no nonsense detective. A real page turner.

Really good police procedural. I enjoyed the small town vibes and the detective work, I definitely never suspected the person it ended up being, but I also loved that it wasn't like a GOTCHA moment either. The Australia setting was unique for me without being unrelatable, it mostly felt like it could have been anywhere and that was good. I liked all the side stories happening throughout the book except for the WE narrator I didn't like that voice and if it hadn't been for that part I probably would have given 5 stars. Overall though very happy with the book.

When twelve year old Esther disappears on her way home from school in a small town in Australia, suspicion is all around the town. When her friend Lewis tells Ronnie, Esther’s best friend, that he saw Esther with a strange man at the creek on the afternoon she went missing, Ronnie wants to go to the police. What happened to Esther? Small town mystery well worth reading.

Dirt creek by Hayley Scrivenor released august 2022 Twelve year old Ester disappears while walking home from school. There are so many secrets in this hot December Australian dirt town. Can two detectives get the answers. This is a good book to get that sleuth mind working

Everybody in the little down of Durton, also known as, Dirt Town has secrets. Twelve year old girls, Ronnie and Ester are best friends, and one day Ester goes missing. DS Sarah Michaels and DC Wayne Smith arrive in town to do all they can to find Ester. The story is told from different view points, both adults and children, as well as through a collective "we." The Greek chorus chapters fell a little flat for me, but overall this was a really slow burn, character driven crime novel. Perfect for fans of Jane Harper!

Ronnie's best friend Esther disappeared on her way home from school. While the mystery kept me reading, I found that there were too many characters and at times this created confusion. The characters were somewhat interesting - some dark, some damaged - and everyone could potentially have something to hide which I liked. Overall, this was an ok read, I thought the detective seemed more concerned with personal issues at times and that detracted from the story

"It was a myth that Missing Persons had to wait twenty-four hours to start searching, particularly for kids. Excluding custody disputes, most children not recovered in the first three hours were already dead. In this case, it had been more than four hours since the child was last seen."

In rural Australia, the disappearance of a young girl rips a small town apart as dirty little secrets are revealed, and tempers flare. This is an involving tale, with much of the story being told by the missing girl's friends and classmates. I was waffling between three and four stars for the book, though the fine ending pushed my final rating up a bit.

A good first novel by a promising new author.

Dirt Creek is a wonderful character driven mystery that takes place in a hard scrabble area of Australia. When Esther disappears, her best friend Ronnie is distraught and blindsided. This is a small town where everyone knows everyone else and it is frightening to have someone disappear right from underfoot. Not only is there a disappearance to deal with, there are secrets and wounds, long held close to the chest.

Told from the different vantage points of adults and children who knew Esther, the reader is privy to the inner lives of the townspeople and the investigators who are sent to find Esther, dead or alive.

Ronnie and Lewis are the children who were closest with Esther. Lewis is holding a deep secret as is Sarah, the chief investigator. Sarah is trying to recover from the recent breakup with her girlfriend and is finding it hard to focus fully on the case.

Little by little, in delicious prose, the story unfolds and the reader is caught up in a twisting mystery and a legacy of lies.