Vikki Petraitis is a Melbourne writer, best known for her true crime books, of which I own a few. This is her first novel.
Antigone Pollard is a police detective. She has returned to the small seaside town of Deception Bay, where she spent much of her childhood living with her grandmother, who is now in aged care and has left her the house.
Antigone left Melbourne because of a rape case which ended with the death of the victim after she was disbelieved by the legal system. Now, she sees that not much is different in Deception Bay, where a couple of girls who have been raped after their drinks were spiked at the pub are unlikely to be believed either and the “good bloke” arrested for attempting the same with Antigone gets bail. She has come to the conclusion that rapists are believed over victims, wherever you live - something that is often true in real life.
Antigone and her police partner, Warren Harvey, better known as Wozza, must find proof of the rapist - and solve a murder that happened several years ago, though it was concluded to have been a murder suicide at the time.
It’s a very readable story, if one that can’t be pinned down as a type - not a cosy and not a police procedural either, though the heroine is a police officer - one who doesn’t get on with her male boss, for good reason. The small town, where everybody knows everyone else, is a good place for dreadful things to happen and be dismissed by those with power.
As for Antigone, she won my heart when she used martial arts on the would-be rapist who attacked her in the pub carpark early in the novel after failing to spike her drink.
The author knows a lot about crime, and how investigations work, from all her true crime writing. I think she has a great future in fiction and am looking forward to reading her next novel.
The print book is available at all good bookshops and websites, and in ebook format. I bought mine on Apple Books, but it’s available on Kindle as well.
6 comments:
Antigone and Wozza -- now there's a couple of memorable character names!
Hi Sue - this does sound a very good read ... you've given us a great 'read-in' and it's definitely my kind of book ... thanks for the introduction - cheers Hilary
Hi Debra! “Wozza” is a very Australian nickname. “Barry”, for example, might be called “Bazza”.
Hi Hilary! So glad you find this of interest! I hope you can get a copy. Maybe ask your library to get it in.
Now I am curious, is there a Deception Bay in Victoria? There's one I know is on the coast of Brissie.
Hi Anita! I don’t think there is one in Victoria. And given it’s about rape and murder, probably just as well!
Hey, thanks for that info on Australian nicknames! Learned something new!
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