This was a fantastic police procedural that has a plot twist you will not see coming. If you love Australian literature you don’t want to miss this!

At the surface Melaleuca is a gripping murder mystery that threatens to engulf a small town that’s inadequately prepared to deal with a homicide case.

At its core it’s a story that encapsulates Australian culture, racial injustices and the history of the Indigenous peoples. I would be surprised if Australian Literature courses in the future do not include Angie Faye Martin in their syllabus.

I was throughly engrossed in this story, most of which came with a familiarity of having grown up in a rural Australian town where I was one of the kids who painted the local rest and revive station. The nostalgia of small town living and quality of writing made this unputdownable. I am usually great at picking where a story is going but this blew me away.

I appreciated the throw back chapters that really helped set the scene and assert an emotional attachment to the missing girls which helped Renee break apart the case. Never underestimate the tenacity of a female in male dominated fields. Renee was a great character and her mindset really showed her determination after years of being dismissed as a mixed woman in the force. I enjoyed her full circle moment in the epilogue and if more books are written from her character view I definitely be picking them up.

Thank you to HQ Australia and NetGalley for giving me access to an eARC of this book. This is my honest review.