The Carnival is Over is the second book in the Mick Goodenough series featuring Sergeant Goodenough and local teen Hal Humphries. This story is set several years later, in the early 1970s, and Hal is now 17 and trying to survive in his job at the Moorabool abattoir. Several suspicious suicides occur in short succession and Mick and Hal are suddenly drawn into a dangerous situation. I love Greg Woodland's Australian crime stories and hope this series continues. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my digital copy.

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

My love affair with Australian crime novels continues. This second book by Greg Woodland exceeded my expectations. How there is more to come from Mick Goodenough and his crew.

Another very enjoyable read in the Mick Goodenough series of books.

Like all good mystery stories the plot is convoluted but believable, the characters interesting and the plot is well paced. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and look forward to reading the next in the series.

A great gritty crime novel with likeable characters and well developed plot. Fans of crime will love this story set in a small town with lots of police procedural and murders.

The Carnival is Over is a gripping Aussie Noir read, combining a twisty plot and great characters with an evocative sense of setting in both time and place - it's 1971 in Moorabool, a (fictional) rural town in central northern NSW.

The central characters from The Night Whistler - Mick Goodenough and Hal Humphries are five years older than they were in The Night Whistler and both their circumstances have changed somewhat. Mick has been promoted back up to Sergeant and is running the show at the Moorabool police station, where he's enjoying substantially better relations with his fellow officers. He's also conducting a clandestine affair with Eileen Stretton, the wife of Moorabool's Mayor. Meanwhile, 17-year-old Hal is working in the meat packing room of the local abattoir - it's thanks to Mick's intervention that he's on a good behaviour bond and not in juvie, after he and a friend wrote off a stolen Holden Torana. He's the target of derision from his co-workers, and his once close relationship with Allie Tenpenny has deteriorated.

When Moorabool's Deputy Mayor, Tony Poulos, who also happens to be the Deputy Chairman of the abattoir, is found dead in his shiny new GTS with a bullet in his brain, Mick is reluctant to accept Dr. Ruth Fischman's conclusion that his death was suicide. His investigations uncover a murky underbelly beneath the veneer of Moorabool's social elite, reinforced when a second suspicious death occurs, this one closer to home for both Mick and Hal. The drama builds to a thrilling crescendo as the characters converge at a Rodeo event, and are then engaged in a gripping night-time car chase towards the Queensland border.

Author Greg Woodland's character dynamics are superb and multi-layered. The plot is complex and twisty, and the setting evocative of a period in Australian history that will be familiar to many readers, including myself. The small-town setting of Moorabool is well-developed in terms of both physical and socio-cultural character, and we can well believe the nepotism and petty prejudices that both Mick and Hal frequently encounter.

I'd highly recommend both The Carnival is Over and its predecessor The Night Whistler to any reader who enjoys tautly-plotted and grittily realistic crime-thrillers. I found it particularly poignant to have been reading this book when news broke of the sad death of Australian performer Judith Durham, whose 1965 hit "The Carnival is Over" (with the Seekers) presumably inspired the title.

My thanks to the author, Greg Woodland, publisher Text Publishing, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this fantastic title.

4.5★
“All we wanted to do was borrow a car for a few days to go up north and get a job on the trawlers… Now this.”

In their late teens, Hal and his friend Lloyd were tearing up the road, heading from northern NSW for Queensland, the destination of choice for so many young people from the inland country towns of Australia. Wrapping their car around a tree was not a great start.

“September, 1971. Spring had finally hit Moorabool, draping the winter streets and back roads with bright yellow explosions of wattle and creamy eucalyptus blooms.”

Hal would rather be out on those back roads, but he’s now working off his community service job in the local abattoir to avoid a jail sentence, and it is as miserable as it sounds. He is bullied and is at the very bottom of the pecking order in the meatworks.

I lived in this part of the country where there were few places for high school kids and older teens to earn money except as farm hands or, if they were lucky, possibly score a few hours in a supermarket or retail shop.

There were no fast food outlets in town then, turning over young staff. In the abattoir, they start sweeping and cleaning, working their way from the offal and sausage areas up through the hierarchy.

“When they got out at the car park behind the huge sheds, Lloyd would sniff the foetid air, listen to the bleating of a new truckload of sheep and say, ‘Another day in paradise…’ ”

Yeah, right, but it beat sitting in jail, although Hal would have been safer in the local lockup. It seems the Moorabool Abattoir has already been investigated for dodgy dealings.

“Her eyes on the door, Christine lowered her voice to a whisper, ‘I know someone that’s very interested in what happened, after all the... shenanigans?’

‘The mutton-as-lamb shenanigans? That was months ago and the cops let ’em all off. It was all bullshit, wasn’t it?’

She cracked a joyless laugh. ‘Allie, girl. You have no idea. You’re a babe in the woods.’

‘I’m not stupid.’ Allie tossed her head. ‘But those Sydney coppers didn’t find anything.’

‘They found plenty, don’t you worry,’ Christine smirked.”

There’s a lot of local politicking going on, with the big wheels in the small towns rolling over everybody else. The power players are in all the positions of influence, and as in many small communities, a lot of them are related to each other through past alliances or by marriage.

When people stay put, they can capitalise on their high school popularity or sporting prowess, get elected to public office, get promoted to positions of authority. From there, it’s just a short step to looking the other way and only another step or two to becoming involved in increasingly questionable ‘shenanigans’.

These are the steps that have tripped up many characters, which causes friction between old friends, co-workers, and families.

Hal and Allie Tenpenny were playmates and close friends as kids, and she’s working in the admin part of the business. Being Aboriginal, she brings another dimension to the story of a rural community. They are both trying to dodge the local toughs.

Meanwhile, Constable Mick is trying to sort out the causes of death of a mounting body count.

I enjoyed seeing Mick and Hal and Allie again, after meeting them in The Night Whistler, which precedes this story. Mick may have been demoted to constable, but he outshines the real detectives here.

“Maybe coincidence. But coincidence is a luxury former Homicide detectives can’t afford. Better follow it up with the bank, thought Goodenough.”

In small towns, there are a lot of coincidences. If everybody doesn’t know you, they certainly know people who do, so if you report something to the police, you may need to watch your back.

I think this one is a cut above the previous book, and it stands alone very well. I’m looking forward to what’s next.

Thanks to NetGalley and Text Publishing for the copy for review from which I’ve quoted.

I loved Greg Woodland's first novel The Night Whistler so was excited when I saw he had a new novel out. Set once again in the small town of Morrabool in 1971, 5 years on from the last book, Sergeant Mick Goodenough is once again trying to get to the bottom of crimes that are being covered up as suicides and being thwarted by the bigwigs of the town. Mick knows something is going on but doesn't know who he can trust and who is involved.

Hal the young boy from book one is now 17 and working in the local abattoir paying the price for car theft. He and his friend Allie become embroiled in what is going on and are in danger of ending up like the other victims.

Mick isn't afraid to say what needs to be said and butts heads with whoever he needs to uncover the truth, making himself less than popular with some. He's lucky that while he has one very lazy and incompetent colleague his other two officers make up for this and even when they don't quite believe his claims they are ready to follow him anyway.

Corruption is rife in Moorabool as is racism and bullying, and money it seems is more important than people's lives for some of its residents.

While I didn't quite enjoy this as much as the first book, it was still a great crime read that once I reached halfway I didn't want to put down.

Thanks to NetGalley and Text Publishing for a digital copy of this novel.

A follow up on The Night Whistler, The Carnival is Over is set approximately 5 years after the events in The Night Whistler. Hal and Allie are on the verge of adulthood and Mick Goodenough promoted to Sergeant and quite settled in Moorabool. And yet, he still likes to rock the boat especially when he's got his teeth into a puzzling mystery.

The Carnival is Over is a thoroughly enjoyable complex mystery that kept you guessing all the time with just enough suspense to get your heart racing. The switch of views from character to character were done smoothly and flawlessly that I had no problem following. If you like The Night Whistler, then you'd love The Carnival is Over.

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

I didn’t read the first book in this series, but that did not stop me from thoroughly enjoying this fabulous story, set in a small country town Moorabool near Armidale and in 1971, this one pulled me in from the start till the end, a great crime, mystery story that will keep you thinking.

Sergeant Mick Goodenough is called out the apparent suicide of the you deputy Mayor, a shocking site to find, and the local doctor says death by misadventure but Mick is thinking other things, when not long after another suicide this time a young popular woman, Christine who works at the local abattoir is found by her estranged husband and now Mick is convinced there is something going on and it is related to the abattoir.

Young Hal is seventeen and working of a debt to society by working at the abattoir and he does not like it at all, bullying seems to be rife but his supervisor Christine is very helpful and the have become friends, he is also very good friends with a young aboriginal girl Allie, but when Allie and Hal receive a message from Christine they are pulled into the mystery that is happening in Moorabool.

This is a page turner as danger lurks just about around every corner, will there be another death and will Mick get to the bottom of it all and find out who and why this is all happening, Hal is a fabulous character who is determined to help were he can even when his life is on the line he shows such strength. The characters are fabulous in this book Woodlands has bought them to life the good and the bad ones and now I need to read book one in this series and I do hope that there will be more Mick Goodenough stories this is a town I would love to revisit.

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

EXCERPT: Just before seven he sat at his desk. The paperwork in his in-tray beckoned, but his thoughts kept flitting back to the funeral and the dead woman. He opened his drawer and slid out the envelope of photographs he'd taken of her. The scientifics from Inverell had taken their own photos at the morgue - two full rolls of black and white - and hadn't even mentioned the circle on her temple or the rest of it. Nor had Angus Hawley, the clerk of court, who ashed his cigar and coughed dismissively at Goodenough's suggestion.

Angus doubled as the sector's coroner and worked out of a large converted junk room crammed with boxes of files, which he referred to grandly as his chambers, out the back of Moorabool Petty Sessions Court. Angus's findings had been informed by the scientific's notes and photos, and had found nothing that would challenge Dr Fischman's call of suicide.

Goodenough took out his close-up of the small circular abrasion on Christine's left temple and studied it through his magnifying glass. How come no one else but him thought the mark looked like he muzzle of a rifle had been pressed against Christine's temple?

ABOUT 'THE CARNIVAL IS OVER': 1971—Hal is seventeen, with dreams of escaping from Moorabool to a life in the city. But right now he’s on a good behaviour bond and stuck in a job he hates, paying off the car he ‘borrowed’ and crashed. Hal’s packing-room job makes him a target for workplace bullies and the friendship of the older, more worldly Christine is all that makes each day bearable. So when she doesn’t turn up for work, he’s on the alert.

So is Sergeant Mick Goodenough. But he already knows what’s happened to Christine: the same thing that happened to the newly elected deputy mayor. When another gruesome ‘accident’ occurs in Moorabool, Goodenough suspects there’s something sinister going on behind the scenes at the abattoir.

Mick and Hal are both determined to dig up the truth. Before long each of them is going to find himself in mortal danger and running for his life.

MY THOUGHTS: I was excited to see a new book from Greg Woodland after having loved The Night Whistler. And although The Carnival is Over doesn't ooze the same atmosphere, and the palpable air of menace is missing, it's still a good solid read with a lot of action and intrigue.

Five years on from The Night Whistler, Mick's been promoted to sergeant and now calls the shots. He's still not what you might call lucky in love, but what he has works for him - sort of.

Hal's been in a bit of trouble and is paying the price, and Allie has her eyes set firmly on a better future, one that probably won't include Hal.

Again, there are multiple layers to this mystery - corruption, greed, violence, workplace sexual and racial harassment (completely normal in the early '70s), and suspicious deaths.

Somehow Woodland's writing doesn't seem quite as vivid as it did in the first book. I didn't get as good a sense of place this time around, and while I was looking forward to going back and visiting these friends, something had changed. Me? Them? I don't know. Or maybe five years is just too long between visits. There's obviously been a fair bit of water flowed under the bridge in that time, and we've missed out on most of it.

But having said that, The Carnival is Over is a cracking good read. Small town politics, resentments and rivalries, liaisons and affairs, all form the backdrop for a story of corruption and greed set in a small, outback New South Wales town. Mick keeps hitting brick walls as he tries to investigate two deaths only he seems to find suspicious, and he is unsure who he can trust. There are car chases and hostage situations, so plenty of tense action and thrills.

The Carnival is Over can easily be read as a stand-alone.

⭐⭐⭐⭐.4

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Greg Woodland is an author, screenwriter and former film director. Since 2000 he's worked as a freelance script developer and script editor and taught screenwriting at Sydney film schools and universities.

DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Text Publishing via Netgalley for providing a digital ARC of The Carnival is Over by Greg Woodland 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

The Carnival is Over is a title I was eager to get my hands on, but ultimately approached with some trepidation. Why? I absolutely loved Greg Woodland’s debut. It had that ‘special something’ required to earn a Booklover Book Reviews’ 5-star rating and was my favourite crime read of 2020. Would it be possible to conjure up that same magic in a sequel?

Of his debut novel The Night Whistler, I said:

“The historical country setting of 1960s Moorabool crackles like the dry grass underfoot, with tension and injustice — racial, gender, domestic and political.”

In his depiction of 1971 regional Australia in The Carnival is Over, Woodland’s scene-setting mastery is once again on full display. For me, it is his attention to detail (the flora, the climate, the light) that really heightens reader immersion; the way he utilises all his characters’ senses, and of course all the wonderful time and place-specific references – the shop names, the brands, the car models, the TV shows and music on the radio. And yes, while there is of course multi-layered meaning in this book title, The Seeker’s iconic song ‘The Carnival is Over’ does make a brief appearance. That I read this within a day of their much-loved lead-singer Judith Durham’s passing made it all the more poignant. ... Continue reading full review at BookloverBookReviews.com

This book is the sequel to [book:The Night Whistler|53405327] and is set some five years later in the early 1970's. Hal who was a boy in the first book, is a teenager in a small country town, who having been almost jailed for stealing a car, now finds himself working at the local abattoirs. However, Hal falls somewhat to the periphery of this book with the policeman Mick Goodenough taking the lead.
After a local political figure is found dead and ruled as suicide, when a second person is found dead and it is again looking like suicide Mick smells a rat. As he starts to dig into the two deaths, he finds that he keeps coming back to the abattoir and a possible cover up.
The early 70's in rural Australia are captured well in this story and I am really hoping there is another book in the pipeline to see where Mick and Hal go to from here. I have questions!
Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read this digital ARC

It's 1971 in Moorabool, not far from Armidale in NSW and Sergeant Mick Goodenough was shocked at the apparent suicide of the deputy mayor - and man who had been looking forward to his future with happiness. Mick was suspicious but everything pointed to suicide. Then not long after, Christine, from the abattoir where a lot of the town's young people worked, was found dead, also by suicide. Mick knew deep down there was something bad going on at the abattoir, and he was determined to find out what it was.

Seventeen year old Hal was on a 12 month good behaviour bond, working at the abattoir which he hated, and he was being bullied by three toughs who also worked there. Lloyd, Hal's good friend and partner in crime, tried to help Hal, but often wasn't successful. But Hal had seen the stress Christine had been under. Would he talk to Mick or not? He wasn't sure what to think but wanted to help Mick investigate what was happening. It wasn't long before they were facing intense danger. Would they escape with their lives?

The Carnival is Over is the 2nd in the Mick Goodenough series and is set 5 years after the events in Aussie author Greg Woodland's debut, The Night Whistler. Catching up with Hal and Allie, now teenagers stuck in Moorabool, was great, and seeing Mick's elevation to Sergeant and his acceptance in the town worked well. Filled with corruption, greed, violence and murder, The Carnival is Over is an excellent rural thriller, and great sequel which I highly recommend.

With thanks to Text Publications via NetGalley for my digital ARC to read in exchange for an honest review.

This turned out to be an excellent follow up to The Night Whistler set five years later but featuring the same characters notably Sergeant Mick Goodenough and Hal. Sergeant Goodenough is really the main character in the book and what an excellent character he is. Definitely worthy of a series.

The story is set in the small rural town of Moorabool and most of the drama centres around the town's main place of employment, the abattoir. When we were all purchasing meat in the 1970's I am pretty sure we did not realise the disgusting way it was killed and prepared. Anyway, that apart there was workplace bullying, racism and underhand financial dealings ultimately followed on by a succession of murders. Mick Goodenough had his hands full.

The author writes well, the story is good and the characters are well described and interesting. I enjoyed my read very much and look forward to more from Sergeant Goodenough in the future.

Greg Woodland is back with the sequel to his blistering Aussie crime thriller The Night Whistler. The Carnival is Over sees returning characters from his debut including Mick Goodenough who had now been made a police sergeant.
I loved the setting of Moorabool in 1971, it was a refreshing reminder of the classic Aussie cars and a time with no mobile phones and internet just good old fashioned police work.

With a town full of corruption starting at the local abattoir and leading straight to the top of town in local council, Mick and his team are being run in circles to find the leaks and solve the so called suicides that are becoming commonplace. But with many people standing in their way it is no easy task.

A brilliant book with amazing charterer development, five years on from the first book I love the growth in the returning townsfolk and thoroughly enjoyed losing myself in this one.
A fast paced edge of your seat thrill ride, The Carnival is over is one I highly recommend for lovers of Aussie crime fiction. Congratulation Greg Woodland I can not wait to see what comes next!

A small town dominated by the local abattoir, scandals (mutton labelled as lamb!), affairs, threats and murders disguised as suicide. Only sergeant Mick Goodenough tries to stand up to the bad guys. Easy to read crime novel, likeable enough characters, and fast paced. Set in the early seventies so there’s plenty of racism, sexism etc.

The Carnival Is Over is the second book in the Mick Goodenough series by Australian author, Greg Woodland. Sergeant Mick Goodenough doesn’t get to see the body before Deputy Mayor Tony Poulos’s shooting is ruled “death by misadventure”. It looks like suicide, but something doesn’t sit quite right with Mick. For one thing, nobody who really knew him believes he would kill himself. Two cheque stubs for $1500 each are also puzzling.

When Moorabool Abattoir forewoman Christine Makepeace ends her life by drinking weedkiller, Mick’s Homicide training again niggles: is that a gun barrel impression on her forehead? Then a child is shot, and it somehow ties in with the suicides, when it really shouldn’t. Mick is determined to dig deeper, but certain people of power and influence would rather he didn’t.

At seventeen, life isn’t quite going how Hal Humphries planned. A bungled car theft that could have seen him doing jail time instead has him on a good behaviour bond, working off his debt in the Moorabool Abattoir offal room, courtesy Mick Goodenough. Many of his co-workers are bullies, but at least the forewoman, Christine is fair and friendly. When he hears of her death, he recalls how upset she was about the Deputy Mayor’s recent death.

As Mick continues, despite the cases being closed, to look into the two deaths, he begins to wonder just who of those he has to deal with in his job can be trusted. As sergeant, he also has to deal with a lazy and somewhat dim-witted constable, while trying to rein in an eager and enthusiastic female probationary constable. Meanwhile, Hal and his one-time good friend, Allison Tenpenny share some disturbing correspondence.

Mick manages some clever detective work and the occasional use of bluff to get the information he needs. In the lead up to a nail-biting climax (or two), Mick and Ross attend a rodeo, there’s a car hijack and, later, a fight in a back alley where a knife, a gun and a fence paling are wielded to bloody effect, the latter two events involving quite a bit of violence. Moorabool Police Station’s young probie defies orders to show courage and initiative in a tense standoff with a gunman.

Woodland conveys his New England setting, and the early 1970s era, with consummate ease. While the rampant workplace bullying, the racism and the sexism will not be fondly remembered, the popular cultural references of the time may generate some nostalgia in readers of a certain vintage. This is another excellent helping of Australian rural crime fiction, and more of this cast will be most welcome.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Text Publishing

It’s 1971 and five years since the events of Greg Woodland's debut novel 'The Night Whistler' and Mick Goodenough is now a Sergeant and in charge of the station at the New England town of Moorabool. His young friend Hal’s is now seventeen and his childhood is over. After being caught joyriding and crashing a stolen car with his friend Lloyd, Hal is on a twelve month good behaviour bond, working in the meat packing room of the local abbatoir to pay for the car they wrecked. Although he hates the job, he is grateful that his supervisor Christine is friendly and supports him when the local bullies target him for his bookish ways.

Mick is suspicious when the Deputy Mayor is found dead in his car from a gunshot wound. The rifle he is holding suggests suicide but Mick finds that hard to believe. When Christine is also later found dead in an apparent suicide, he begins to suspect that something bad is happening in his town.

Greg Woodland has perfectly captured the feel of a small Aussie country town in the 1970s. It was good to meet Hal and his childhood friend Allie again as teenagers and to see Mick Goodenough now settled and respected in the town. His love life has improved and he has a good relationship with the members of his team as evidenced by the easy banter between them. The suspense builds gradually as the plot unfolds, taking Mick to the local rodeo looking for a man with a grudge and later culminating in a nightmare chase where his own life is at risk. It all makes for a very enjoyable and gripping read and a terrific sequel to 'The Night Whistler.'

The Carnival is Over by Greg Woodland is an excellent and enjoyable sequel to The Night Whistler, which I enjoyed immensely.

Set in 1971 is the New England district of New South Wales, Australia we find Sergeant Mick Goodenough ( pronounced Good-no) who is the head of police in a small country town called Moorabool. The location is superbly presented as is the period of the 1970s reflecting the attitudes of society at that time, especially in a small country town, including those towards women and aboriginal people. An assortment of characters who are realistically developed and with dynamic dialogue bringing the story alive and making the plot even more intriguing.

A couple of suicides start to look suspicious to Mick and his attempts to investigate are being thwarted from several directions. This fails to stop Mick whose down to earth attitude and approach equates to total perseverance no matter what the odds.

This story has plenty of twists and turns with humour, romance and pathos thrown into the mix.


Highly recommended read.

This review is based on a complimentary copy from Text Publishing via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

#TheCarnivalisOver #Netgalley

Another great read from Greg Woodland and I really enjoyed this one just as I enjoyed the last one.

With murders happening in the town Moorabool, apparent suicides, so it goes but not all is at it seems. Strange things happen, people are in danger and the town of Moorabool is on high alert! Someone out there wants something and will not stop until they get what they want. So who is it and what do they want?

I just couldn't put this book down, it is exciting, intriguing, a bit scary, thrilling and none stop. Loved the characters as each one really did have his/her own personality and brought something different to the story. Well written and easy to read, I now looke forward to seeing what comes next from this author.

Great read, highly recommend.