The Way It Is Now is a stand-alone novel by best-selling award-winning Australian author, Garry Disher. Detective Senior Constable Charlie Deravin has been suspended from duty. As he waits to learn his fate, he’s spending the time in the old family cottage in Menlo Beach on the Mornington Peninsula, enjoying occasional visits from his daughter and, at other times, his new lover.

It’s the perfect opportunity to do some follow-up with all those who were around when his mother went missing, twenty years earlier, and maybe track down her lodger who had a watertight alibi, but disappeared soon after. Finding that man, in the hope he might have some vitally relevant information, has consumed Charlie for all the intervening time, and cost him his marriage.

Rose Deravin’s car was found crashed, abandoned, personal belongings strewn on the road, blood on the car keys, in late January 2000. Her body has not been found. Many people, including Charlie’s older brother, Liam, believed that her soon-to-be ex-husband, Senior Sergeant Rhys Deravin, was responsible: Rhys had no alibi, claiming to be investigating a security van hold-up on his own.

On the same day, nine-year-old Billy Saul went missing from the nearby beach. His body has also not been found. Now, a pair of podcasters is in the area, asking questions, flashing photos and making everyone uneasy. Charlie’s conversations with the people tracks down reveal just what a scrappy job the police made of the initial investigation and later cold case enquiries.

And then, the excavation of the block near Rose Deravin’s house turns up the skeletal remains of two bodies.

Disher gives the reader a tightly plotted tale with red herrings, misdirections and surprises in the lead up to the exciting climax, enough to keep even the most astute reader guessing right up to the final reveal. His protagonist proves to be a man of integrity despite the mistakes he admits to: a character who is easy to cheer on. The support cast are wholly credible, the people we meet in everyday life. The dogwalker in the final scene deserves an honourable mention for quick thinking.

Disher faultlessly conveys his era and setting: his depiction of the coastal Australian town will resonate with any reader who has visited one, and his inclusion of national and world events of the time, devastating bushfires, footballers considering themselves above the law, and the emergence of a certain virus, is realistically done. Another piece of superlative Aussie crime fiction from a master of the genre.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Serpent's Tail/Viper