“Found the bitch”

A rural antiques store is not where you would normally expect to see an Australian crime-thriller set. Yet, in Australian crime writer Garry Disher’s latest stand-alone novel, Sanctuary, his protagonist finds a safe place in a small town’s antique store.

“She’d been calling herself Grace for a while now. Too long, probably. She’d be safer using one of the other names, of which she had a few stashed away, culled from death notices and gravestones over the years.”

In Sanctuary, career thief Grace has escaped the city after a threatening run-in with a fellow criminal. Stopping in a rural town where she has hidden a previous stash, Grace comes across Mandel’s Antiques. When the owner, Erin, hires her, Grace sees a chance for a new life, a normal job and the possibility of a place to call home. However, her safe new life soon becomes fractured when dangerous men come to town searching for Erin and Grace. Their lives threatened, Grace uses her skills to help keep Erin safe. Can she save her new friend and herself in time?

“She heard Erin Mandel move about the shop: the swish of her loose-fitting clothing; the sound of a cabinet door opening and metal objects clinking.”

While I am not a regular reader of crime or thriller fiction, I was intrigued by Disher’s complex protagonist and the unusual location of Sanctuary. There is also something captivating about the isolated red dirt road on the cover that drew me into the novel. Had the Sanctuary been part of a series, I might not have given the story a chance.

Sanctuary begins in the second person, from the perspective of an unnamed individual who the reader discovers is extremely shady and potentially a criminal. Second person narration can be hit and miss, and while the choice is a little off-putting, the sense of ill-ease is intentional and works for the novel. Without giving much away, the red herring also benefits from this stylistic choice. From chapter two the story shifts to the more familiar third person narrative and the perspective of protagonist Grace.

“But Grace had come to understand that, for Erin, the world had shrunk to the dimensions of her house, her yard and her little shop.”

Disher’s Sanctuary builds to a fast-paced, page-turner that has an unexpected plot twist that elevates the novel out of the expected genre conventions. While Disher has not converted me to the genre, I enjoyed being taken along for the ride. Sanctuary is for lovers of Disher’s thrillers and those who enjoy Australian crime fiction.

The quiet King of Australian crime writing returns with another absorbing tale, as Garry Disher masterfully lures us into the world of a small-time thief looking for a normal life, the owner of a rural shop looking for safety, and the dangerous men looking for each of them. A rich, character-driven story, Sanctuary is an apt title; it’s what various characters crave. Grace is a woman of many names who’s used to passing through. She passes through cities and towns, through windows and locked houses, pilfering small, highly valuable items. An expert thief, 13 years ago she even passed through a prior Disher novel, Whispering Death (sixth in his Challis and Destry series set on Mornington Peninsula). Now Grace is the heart of the tale, looking to lie low in the Adelaide Hills after a run-in with an old associate. Could Erin Mandel’s antiques store be a perfect haven? But Erin has her own secrets, local cop Les Liddington wants to slap the handcuffs on again before he retires, and the past is inescapable for everyone. Disher draws readers in not with explosive intros or blurb-worthy hooks or high concepts, but the quality of his writing. He crafts a rich portrait of small-town life and various characters, steadily building intrigue. Disher doesn’t serve literary fast food, but marinated slow-cooked delights. Layers of flavour. While the likes of Jane Harper and Chris Hammer – whose smash-hit debuts The Dry and Scrublands have both been adapted for the screen in recent years – sparked a fast-growing global appetite for ‘Outback Noir’, and even fresher talents like Hayley Scrivenor, Gabriel Bergmoser, Emma Styles, and Shelley Burr fanned the flames, Garry Disher is a giant on whose shoulders they’re standing. A gold standard, for decades, Disher remains top of the game.

[New Zealand Listener review, 13 April 2024 issue]

I love Garry Disher’s novels, with their strong plots and vivid characters, and “Sanctuary” is a wonderful stand alone thriller which shares these hallmarks.

Grace is a thief, an extremely good one. One of the things that makes her so good is that she knows when to walk away. It doesn’t matter how good a score is, it’s not worth getting caught. So when Grace sees a threat from her past in the middle of a job, she’s ready to run.
When Grace’s flight leads her to an antique store in a small South Australian town, she sees the possibility of a permanent refuge. Perhaps she could stay and establish a life here.

But the store’s proprietor, Erin, is also hiding. The men chasing the two women are very, very dangerous. And neither woman realises that the other is also under threat.

Disher starts with strong, empathetic characters. Despite Grace being a criminal, you’re in sympathy with her from just a few pages in. Her past is vividly drawn, including how it led to the rules she now lives her life by, including her readiness to run. She’s believable, and you’ll likely have your fingers crossed for her.

Although Grace is the central character, the novel also includes a strong focus on the men hunting her and Erin down, and to a lesser extent Erin. They’re also drawn strongly and believably. You’ll recognise them. The men are not as empathetic as the women, but even so, you’ll likely develop some sympathy for Grace’s pursuer.

The plot is straightforward but very compelling. You’ll find yourself turning the pages quickly, wanting to know whether the men catch up with their targets, if and how they’ll cross over, and how the final confrontation will play out. Sure, you can anticipate a few story beats, but this isn’t a mystery. It’s a thriller, and one you’ll find hard to put down till it’s resolved.

This is an Australian novel, and although the setting isn’t overly significant, it’s used well. I found it solidly familiar and believable, and relevant things (such as the distance between some places, or the proliferation of a certain hardware chain) were well integrated.

The bottom line is that this is a hugely readable crime thriller. I enjoyed it immensely, finding it absorbing, and well crafted. I put the book down with a completely satisfied feeling.

I WILL RETURN TO ADD LINKS ONCE I HAVE PUBLISHED THIS REVIEW

Grace is a likable grifter who longs for a simpler life - she's tired of constantly trying to outrun her past. As her past threatens to catch up with her, the tension in this novel increases. Various characters converge on the small town where Grace has been hiding out and Grace requires all of her survival skills to endure.
Grace and the supporting characters are complex and well rounded. The plot was original and never predictable. Garry Disher is an intelligent, thoughtful writer who handles his subjects sensitively.
This is a change of direction from Disher which shouldn't disappoint his many fans.
Thanks to Text and NetGalley for an advance copy to review.

LIVES OF CRIME: ‘SANCTUARY’ BY GARY DISHER
Gary Disher writes the kind of crime stories I like best: ones that focus on the people more than the crimes. He manages to show the how and why of the crimes committed, sure; but also the impact on both perpetrators and victims. This is meaningful fiction, not showcasing crime for its own sake, but to say something about humans and why they do the things they do.

Sanctuary is unusual for this genre in that the workings of the world of law enforcement are of minimal importance to the narrative. It centres on several people whose stories overlap, though for much of the book we don’t necessarily know how or why.

There is Grace, formerly known as Anita, who grew up in an unlovely and unloving foster home, along with Adam. They become a team involved in petty crime, just the two of them against a hostile world, until Anita meets a man who teaches her the tricks of a higher level criminal life. When she decides she has had enough of this man’s cruelty and control, she becomes Grace and continues her life of crime alone.

But Adam harbours a grudge and when they inadvertently cross paths on a ‘job’, she runs again, fearful of what he might do.

So begins a series of intricate and well planned moves; staying several steps ahead, constantly checking on surrounds and on people, distrusting of others, always looking for an escape, adopting a series of disguises.

Disher vividly conjures the loneliness and insecurity of this life, and we feel some sympathy for Grace as she tries to adopt another way of being, the kind of ‘legitimate’ and ordinary life that she now longs for. It takes enormous mental and physical energy to live like this. I was reminded of Maxwell Smart in the 1960’s cold-war spoof series Get Smart, in which he often says of the ‘baddies’: If only they could use their cleverness for niceness instead of nastiness.

Through the viewpoint of another character we are given insight into the mind of someone who indulges in digital stalking and illegal surveillance of people. It’s an unpleasant place and I was always relieved to move onto another scene, away from this sordid and rage-filled character’s world view. But I am very aware that sadly, technology has provided increased opportunities for people like this to frighten and hurt others.

The tension mounts as the trajectories of Grace, Adam and other characters head towards collision, with complications cleverly woven in.

The resolution does not tie everything up in a neat bow; that would be unrealistic and too tidy. But we are left with a hope that perhaps, at some future time, Grace and Adam can find a more satisfying way of being in their world.

Sanctuary is published by Text Publishing in April 2024.
My thanks to the publishers and to NetGalley for an early review copy.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley for an honest review.

Such a different book from Garry Disher...not his usual police procedural. Grace is a thief who keeps trying to find somewhere to settle. She meets Erin, her boss and landlord, who is also keeping secrets. Other characters such as Adam and Brodie appear and obviously have something to do with the women's history. I really liked Grace and really felt for her, particularly at the end. Would recommend.

This was my first time reading a Garry Disher and I will certainly be looking for some more of his offerings. This was a really tight thriller about grifters, in varying formats, whose paths cross in somewhat convoluted but well executed ways.
After a close call at an antiques event, Grace runs and finds herself torn between two realities - settling into a normal life in the Adelaide Hills and reverting to her nomadic lifestyle. Her former friend and fellow grifter, Adam Garrett, is keen to catch up with her, while her new boss and landlord, Erin, has concerns of her own.
You might think that all of these plot strands are too many to tie together (indeed, we also get another secondary plot which, despite its conciseness, plays a huge part in Grace's decision) but Disher weaves them together with considerable skill. The pacing of the novel is good - not breakneck but moments are given their due and the plot moves on.
Disher also manages to create, in Brodie, one of the most detestable characters I've possibly ever seen in a thriller novel.
If I had one criticism, it would have been that, in the beginning, it takes a little too long to get into the action but that could be because there is quite a bit of setup that is probably for the benefit of a new reader (with no prior knowledge of these characters).
Nonetheless, this is a really solid thriller with some great, well-developed characters and plenty of intrigue to keep a reader gripped.

My thanks to the publisher, via NetGalley for the eARC of this novel.

EXCERPT: She was uneasy suddenly. Why had Adam Garrett popped into her mind? Adam, who'd been chased off by Galt? Adam, who'd never forgiven her? Adam, her foster brother from the last of her arid foster homes, on an arid street in Sydney's west?
Because he was here. She was abruptly aware of it. In this room, glimpsed just now through the dwindling expo delegates.
Grace pivoted neatly, stepped out of the hotel and out of her role, then ducked around the museum and into QEII Park. From there to Victoria Bridge. As she went - swiftly, seeking the shadows of the city - she removed and binned her wig, her dress, her snap-off heels. Until, if you didn't look too closely, she was just another lycra-clad jogger under the city's streetlights.

ABOUT 'SANCTUARY': Grace is a thief- a good one. She was taught by experts and she's been practicing since she was a kid. She specialises in small, high-value items-stamps, watches-and she knows her Jaeger-Le Coultres from her Patek Philippes. But it's a solitary life, always watchful, always moving. It's not the life she wants.

Lying low after a run-in with an old associate, Grace walks into Erin Mandel's rural antiques shop and sees a chance for something different. A normal job. A place to call home.

But someone is looking for Erin. And someone's looking for Grace, too. And they are both, in their own ways, very dangerous men.

MY THOUGHTS: On one level, this is very different to Garry Disher's Hirsch series, which is how I discovered this marvelous author, and which I devoured. But in other ways, there are certain similarities - the moral dilemma is the big one.

After all, by her own admission, Grace is a thief, so she should be caught and have to pay for her actions - right? No, no, no. Not on my moral compass. It's hard not to love Grace. But she spends all her time on the run, using new identities, she has no friends (until Erin) and is always looking over her shoulder. Grace got under my skin, into my psyche. I don't think I will ever again take for granted the luxury of being able to walk down the street without first having to scope it out, looking for people who don't belong, people who may be watching me. That is how good Disher's characterisation is.

There are some devious scams being perpetrated in Sanctuary. Some dastardly villains. A cop who just won't let things go. There is tension and thrills, danger, duplicitous people, and a few deliciously poignant moments where Grace thinks that she might just be able to 'live a normal life'.

I was rooting for Grace throughout, but the ending shocked me. 'Grace! what are you doing?' was my reaction. Surely . . . but no. The only reason I can think of as to why Garry Disher ended Sanctuary like this is because we are going to be seeing more of Grace. I certainly hope so. She's a great character.

⭐⭐⭐⭐.5

#Sanctuary #NetGalley

THE AUTHOR: Garry Disher (born 15 August 1949, in Corporate Town of Burra, South Australia) is an Australian author of crime fiction and children's literature. He became a full-time wrier in 1988.

DISCLSOURE: Thank you to Text Publishing via NetGalley for providing a digital ARC of Sanctuary by Garry Disher for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.

This is a new standalone book by Garry Disher (although room there to be a series too). For the Hirsch fans this may be a bit disappointing, but for the Wyatt fans this is en pointe!
Grace (aka Anita) is on the move, she makes her way through life with thefts and cons. However, living a life of constant hyper-vigilance and never being able to settle is wearing her down. As she is passing through the Adelaide Hills she finds herself in a small antique store where the owner is looking for a shop assistant. Given Grace's ability to quickly assess the worth of an object, she quickly finds herself in her element. And as she gets to know Erin, the almost reclusive owner, she realises she isn't the only one with a secret past.
There are conmen closing in on both Grace and Erin, and along the way there are thefts and cons exposed that will have you questioning ever trusting an online company again!
Thank you Netgalley and Text Publishing for the opportunity to read this digital ARC.

I love the idea of providing sanctuary, a safe space. All of the characters in “Sanctuary” by Garry Disher seem to have a safe space for place for themselves, where they can retreat, hide, recharge and plan their next moves. For Grace, she has several safe spaces: disguised as she performs her criminal actions, her knowledge base in antiques and fine wares, her ability to move anonymously from place to place, and in Erin’s antique store where she finds temporary solace in the fictional South Australian town of Battendorf. Erin’s antique store has become her safe haven, away from those who are watching our for her, ready to find her again. Both of these women are unknowingly looking out for each other as they look over their shoulders with apprehension.

There is a slowly building tension and nervousness that builds with each chapter, and there is an immersion into every step Grace takes and as she unknowingly lets her guard down. No matter how many precautions are taken, there is always room for error, and this is cleverly explored as the story progresses. The criminal actions and errors of the men who are seeking out Grace and Erin (Adam Garrett, who knows Grace as “Neet” and the narcissistic Brodie Hendren) are also explored and unpacked; they are just as complex. Not to mention xxx, about to be retired, who is looking for one more heroic case to solve. They are all equally multifaceted characters with sinister back stories and connections to Grace and Erin respectively, and this adds to the suspense and simple story lines that all weave together at the very end in a moment of unease and turmoil. The shadiness of moving across country anonymously gave this book a chilling feeling, reminding you that they could be someone watching, and that even in the safest spaces, you’re only one step away from danger.

4.5★ A FAVOURITE AUSSIE AUTHOR
“It was even possible Grace had burgled that stockbroker at some stage in her life. She wouldn’t necessarily have remembered. People like that were not real to her in the way Children’s Services bureaucrats, teachers, policemen and foster carers were real.”

Add to that the fact that she didn’t like or trust those ‘real’ people either. Grace (originally Anita) lives by her wits, one scam after another, because that’s all she learned how to do. Her last real friend was Adam, her foster brother in Western Sydney, but although they had worked together as thieves, they eventually turned on each other, and he wants revenge.

She’s at the big Brisbane Stamp Expo, mingling, watching, listening to conversations to see who’s buying and likely to have a small envelope of valuable stamps in a pocket or bag. Then she spots Adam across the hall and decides to cut her losses and GO.

Adam has been trying to find her, and because he knows all her tricks, she has to be extremely vigilant. She figures he’s probably after the stamps she’s interested in, so she leaves, hoping he hasn’t seen her. Is home safe?

“Listening, adjusting to the darkness, nostrils flaring for smells that didn’t belong: aftershave, perspiration, cigarette smoke caught in the weave of fabric. Finally, she knelt to gaze across the top of a little rug that she kept just inside the door. She’d vacuumed it before she left: no unwelcome visitor had trampled the fluffy raised pile. Doing all of these things was completely routine, necessary and automatic. It was what kept her alive.”

Then there’s Erin, originally Karen Hendren from Brisbane, who’s escaped her abusive, health-drink promoter husband who is paranoid about finding her. Brodie Hendren is a dreadful piece of work with none of the redeeming features Adam seems to have. He is vicious, while Adam is mostly angry.

Grace meets Erin Mandel in a village near Adelaide, South Australia, where Erin runs a good antique shop but is frightened of shadows, calling herself agoraphobic. Mandel’s Collectibles is looking for help, so Grace pops in. The place is chock-a-block! Disher describes the kinds of pieces Erin Mandel has collected and sums it up.

“All of it was variously tired, exquisite, bulky, beautifully restored or unlikely to be bought by anyone in their right mind. All of it smelt faintly of furniture polish and faded aspirations. On the other hand, little of it was junk.”

So now we have two women in South Australia fleeing two men in Brisbane. Disher has plenty of history and back story for the characters, although there are more invented histories than I’ll ever remember. There were times I felt a little bogged down in details, but as it turned out, some of them did affect the action later.

Disher has been writing stories and novels, not all mysteries, since the early 1980s, and I have to say this one has more technology in it than I've ever associated with him. Australia is becoming more and more like the British crime tv series that I enjoy where police can find almost anyone on CCTV footage somewhere, if they know where to look.

It’s not a spoiler to say that Hendren spotted his wife (now Erin) in the footage on a true crime tv show where she was in the background of a big hardware store where a killer was lining up on another shopper (successfully for him, bad news for the shopper). What are the odds that any of us might turn up on film as innocent bystanders?

Nobody can hide. In one instance, Grace is checking out a guy whose place she is planning to break into, but she wants to see, does he “deserve to be robbed?”. She googles hundreds of men with his name.

“And there he was in a Guardian article about corporate bastardry. Last Christmas Eve he’d sacked a hundred workers by email.

A voice in her head: You’re better than him?

She swallowed and straightened her spine. One last job. Be a better person later.”

I enjoyed this and Grace. She does want to be a better person... later, but... you know, circumstances make it hard for a girl. I heard Disher interviewed recently about the book, and he said she was a minor character in a previous book, but she stuck with him and pestered to have her own story told.

I’m glad, and I think there’s possibly room for him to write more about her. She’s tough, clever, quick-witted and a handy liar, but she’s not evil, and at times, she actually risks her safety on behalf of others.

Thanks to #NetGalley and Text Publishing for the copy of #Sanctuary for review.

I always enjoy Garry Disher's books but this one did not grab me the way his Hirsch or Wyatt series do. Nevertheless it was an interesting story and an enjoyable read.

In Sanctuary we meet Grace, a young woman who makes her way in the world by stealing art. She is extremely knowledgeable and would be able to live very comfortably except that she is constantly on the watch for someone dangerous from her past. Most of the important characters in the book are criminals and as such there are quite a few scary moments when their paths collide.

So, interesting, enjoyable and with a rather abrupt ending - unless Disher intends to make this into a series?

It's a romantic idea, the life of a criminal on the run, moving through the world plying your dastardly craft (in this case theft) and being invisible and mysterious. However, Grace's life on the run is far from romantic. It's dangerous, bad people are after her, she owes them and they want payback. Grace is clever and quick but perhaps not clever enough to outwit those who want her. Grace's expertise is in small high-value items like stamps and antiques that others might not see as important or valuable, but she has a lot of knowledge and knows her stuff. When she shows up at an auction hoping to be invisible, she encounters her old colleague and then knows her cover is blown. She needs to get out, to cover her tracks and keep herself safe. Then in a fortunate seeming accident, she ends up meeting Erin, a nervous wreck, who owns an antiques shop in a small rural town. Grace is offered a job and believes she might have found peace with Erin. Unfortunately, Erin is full of secrets of her own and Grace's new found peace is threatened.

This is a stand alone novel, and the first of Garry Disher's novels that I've read that haven't been in his series about my favourite policeman Hirsh, and I really really liked it. The tension ramped up as it went along, Grace is a great character to connect with, every decision she makes throughout has consequences and sometimes you just want to grab her and say stop Grace, think for a moment. I was incredibly invested in her survival. I had such a great time cheering her on.

Brilliant novel, so much fun to read and once I started I couldn't put it down. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me access to this wonderful read.

As a young girl, Grace Latimer grew up in foster homes and developed a friendship with fellow foster kid Adam Garrett. The pair of them both developed a talent for theft as well as the ability to hide in plain sight, changing appearance to blend into their surroundings which made them very effective in performing their burgeoning talents.

They grew apart as they grew older, going their own ways leading busy lives of crime. But their paths crossed one final time when Adam accused Grace (at the time she went by the name Anita) of stealing his Jaeger-LeCoultres watch.

Years later and Grace is prowling through a Brisbane stamp exhibition hoping to pick up a few high-value pieces when she spots the once-familiar face of Adam. Panicked, she quickly exits the place and decides it’s time to move on from Brisbane and the entire state.

She eventually finds herself in South Australia and has landed in the small Adelaide Hills town of Battendorf. She walks into Mandel’s Collectibles, lured by the sign proclaiming Help Wanted and confident the specialist skills she’s picked up obtaining small valuables over the years will give her the credibility needed to convince Erin, the proprietor, that she can do the job.

With Erin suffering from agoraphobia she asks Grace to take over the running of the store as well as visiting sale events such as deceased estate auctions and the like. It’s the kind of job that’s just tailor made for Grace. But Grace has always found it necessary to play it cautious. Her life of crime is long and there’s always someone out there who may recognise her from her past. The feeling of a shoe that’s about to drop hangs over her head.

Meanwhile we get an understanding of Adam’s life and it appears his early education of petty theft has opened him up to paying off his debts to a far more devious crim who uses him as her operative. He’s involved in some serious scams that prey on the vulnerable, fleecing the unsuspecting marks for huge sums. His life is right on the edge.

It’s possible to find elements from a couple of Disher’s popular series within the pages of Sanctuary. Although nowhere near as edgy or hardboiled as the Wyatt series, it appears that Garry Disher has mined the world of the master thief and dipped back into the criminal underworld to come up with four modern day crooks. And then there’s a Challis-like police character, a cop nearing retirement who finds himself on Grace’s trail. He’s an unassuming sort of man but has a mind like a steel trap and is clearly nobody’s fool.

Through Grace and Adam we understand that living in the world of burglary, cons, scams and grifts is a dangerous way to exist and requires full time vigilance for fear that the victims you’ve left behind don’t find you. Disher navigates this world with great skill and illustrates exactly how dangerous the life can be, no matter how many precautions are taken.

His ability to immerse the reader in a location is once again on display with the Adelaide Hills and Barossa regions brought to life with great effortless descriptions. Even though the fictional Battendorf was the primary small town destination, my mind’s eye had it pegged for another (similarly named) quaint bustling town up there.

Sanctuary is a beautifully constructed story of suspense featuring sharply complex characters as well as descriptions of some devious scams. With numerous disparate threads at play, it’s all brought together to reach a tense conclusion. Perfectly paced and consistently entertaining, this is a story that flows effortlessly.

My thanks to NetGalley and Text Publishing for supplying me with an eARC to read, enjoy and review.

'Grace' is a chameleon and a thief, moving through her murky world with senses constantly heightened, avoiding capture. Still young, she's been taught well, and she's very good at what she does. Which is how she's been able to make a decent living from her life of crime. Specialties: antiques, collectibles, luxury items and fine art.

When her past almost catches up with her at the biannual Brisbane Stamp Expo, Grace drops everything and flees south, eventually finding her way to the Adelaide Hills town of Battendorf. There she stumbles into a job that could have been made for her - running Mandel's Collectibles on behalf of its agoraphobic young, female owner, Erin Mandel. Even better, Erin has a granny flat that Grace can live in. With the opportunity to relax into a straight job and straight life for a while, Grace jumps in, feet first. Only, Grace has someone very keen to find her. And so does Erin.

Although I haven't read that many books from Disher's vast back catalogue, I've enjoyed them all, and this was no exception. I loved Grace as a character, and the world she lived in (not the crime, but the collectibles), and cheered her on whether she was doing something innocent or shifty. With four main characters, each with so much at stake, I was intrigued to see how the plot was going to resolve, which kept the pages turning very quickly.

One thing that struck me as I was reading, was Disher's versatility. I kept forgetting who I was reading, and I mean that in the best possible way! I could have been reading Sarah Bailey or even (dark) Sarah Barrie, and I liked it. I think this book could win the author a new cohort of fans.

For something a little different in the Aussie crime/thriller category, I'm happy to recommend this book highly.

Sanctuary is a stand-alone novel by award-winning, best-selling Australian author, Garry Disher. Grace is a thief, and she’s very good at it. She started as a pre-teen, was taught by the best, and knows her stuff, what she can offload quickly, and for how much. And three vital things she has learned: know when (and how) to walk away, keep it simple, and always have a plan B.

So when, at a Brisbane Stamp Expo, she spots someone who has reason to hold a grudge against her, she clears off, quick smart, heads south, changes her name, gets a different car, stays under the radar: she’s done this many times before. By the time she gets to the Adelaide Hills, though, she realises she’s tired of it: “All I want is a normal life,” is what keeps running through her head. But for someone like her, is that even possible?

In Battendorf, she spots a “help wanted” sign in Mandel’s Collectibles: she could do that, she’s good with antiques and vintage items. Her new boss is nervy, but gives Grace free rein, and the little shop does well. What Grace only learns much later is that Erin Mandel is hiding from a very toxic ex.

Going straight is harder than Grace realised, especially when there such rich pickings to be had under the cover of a buying trip to the Barossa. Is that to be her undoing? Or is it the humanity she can’t help showing in a critical moment, in combination with the appearance of said ex?

Once again, Disher effortlessly evokes his setting and his plot is intriguing enough to keep the pages turning. His characters are well-rounded and thoroughly credible: some are utterly despicable, one engaging in a particularly heinous scam; others, the reader will soon enough be hoping, even wishing, will elude capture: Grace for her courage and compassion, Adam for his conscience.

With Disher’s work, the reader often faces the dilemma: devour the novel quickly, because it’s so good and so hard to put down, or draw it out, because you don’t want the pleasure of it to end. This is brilliant Aussie crime from an author who never disappoints.
This unbiased review is from a copy provided by Text Publishing.

3.5★s

Grace Latimer, once Anita - or Neet - was a foster kid, and it was there she met Adam. They were of a similar age and grew close; them against the world. And so their lives of crime began. They separated on an extremely bad note as adults, and Grace went through some harrowing times. Grace's job as a thief was one she was good at. She was constantly on alert, so much so that she was basically invisible. But when in Brisbane at an elite auction, Grace spotted someone from her past - she removed herself from there and the state as quickly as she could, hoping she hadn't been seen.

Grace finally settled in a small town in Adelaide, South Australia. Battendorf was quiet, off the beaten track and when she saw Mandel's Collectibles with a Help Wanted sign on the door, Grace thought it could be a message to her - she could make a home there, work honestly for a change. Erin Mandel was the owner; a timid, unassuming woman who offered Grace the granny flat in her yard, which Grace accepted. The two women slowly became friends, both held secrets and both were being looked for by men who wanted to harm them...

When I saw Aussie author Garry Disher had a new book coming out, I was excited. I've loved Disher's work, especially the Constable Paul Hirschhausen—”Hirsch” series, so was expecting much of the same. But Sanctuary is completely different. A slow burn suspense novel, with some nasty characters - 99% of them crooks! I enjoyed both Grace and Erin's personas, though I shook my head at some of Grace's decisions! The ending was abrupt, so much so that I back peddled, re-reading to see if I'd missed anything. Recommended.

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

Sanctuary, the latest book from Garry Disher held some surprises for me. I am a fan of his Paul Hirschhausen series, and without reading the book’s blurb expected a similar outback noir featuring a police officer investigating crime. There is crime galore in Sanctuary but the emphasis is not on police procedure, but on the life of Grace, a thief who specialises in stealing valuable items like stamps and watches that are easy to carry. It is a lonely life and when a man from her past spots her at a stamp exhibition, she goes on the run again, ending up in the Adelaide Hills. Seeing an ad for a job in an antiques shop, she hopes for a different life working for Erin the owner. But someone is after Erin and Grace is on her old colleague’s radar. Will she be able to finally settle down and stay safe from these two dangerous men?
Sanctuary is a memorable and absorbing crime thriller. Disher ramps up the suspense as he details the life of the two women, Erin who rarely leaves her house and Grace who is trying to have a normal life. It is very easy to relate to Grace, even though she is a thief, and I found myself on the edge of my seat wondering if her old colleague would catch up with her or if she would get caught by the police for her thefts. Other characters, including the two villains and police officers are rounded and believable. Disher’s descriptions of different antiques, the terror that abusive women feel and the shady machinations of criminals and how they operate are vivid and often eye-opening.
Disher is an outstanding crime writer and Sanctuary is another page turner that will thrill his readers.

This is a new standalone thriller from Garry Disher.

Grace is a thief who has lived her life undercover. Over the years, she’s acquired a lot of knowledge about art, antiques and collectibles: what’s of value, what isn’t. She lives poised to go on the run at any given moment. She has fake IDs, fake numberplates and cash stashed away in various locations. But it’s a tiring life and she’s starting to crave some stability.

When Grace is offered a job working in a small antique shop in the Adelaide Hills, this seems like she may be able to – very slightly – let her guard down. However, a former associate of Grace’s is still keen to track her down.

I enjoyed this. Disher weaves in an overly convoluted back story which to be honest doesn’t always quite make sense, but I was happy to go with it. Grace is a likeable character and I always have a soft spot for books about people on the run. I like the little details, the things they have to look out for and the ways they protect themselves and I appreciated the thought that Disher had given to those things.

It’s a gripping read that I polished off in a day. While I didn’t love it as much as the Hirsh series, that’s a very high bar.

Thank you to Net Galley, the author and publisher for the advanced copy to review.

Grace Latimer, just one of the many identities she has had, is a thief, particularly of small collectables and antiques. She learnt young from the best and is very good at what she does. She’s also a master at changing her appearance and identity so that she never looks the same. One day while carrying out the theft at a collectors’ convention in Brisbane, she sees a former associate she has been hiding from and has to flee.

Working her way down the east coast, Grace finally arrives in a small rural town in the Adelaide Hills. Deciding it will make a good place to lie low for a while, she finds a job in an antique store run by Erin Mandel. She is surprised to discover she enjoys this sanctuary she has found and thinks that perhaps it’s time to start living an honest life and quit her solitary life of thieving. What she doesn’t know is that Erin is also hiding from someone and soon their worlds will collide as those seeking them circle around.

Other threads woven into the tale involve several other complex characters. Adam, a man working off a debt owed to an unscrupulous woman by working as a con artist for her and Brodie, a self-obsessed body builder who sells memorabilia of criminals and and despots on his website and cares only about his image on social media.

Weaving all these strands together, Disher has served up an excellent slow burn suspense with some stellar characters. He clearly has a fondness for these characters he has wrought and his plot is tinged with humour as they go about their lives. It’s hard not to like Grace and feel anxious for her as the person hunting her sniffs ever closer. However, neither he nor the person looking for Erin could have any idea what a force of nature Grace and Erin make when combined together. This multi-faceted plot is beautifully laid out by Disher, ultimately coalescing into an addictive page turner, that culminating in a very suspenseful climax.