Published 2nd October 2023 by The Book Folks.
From the cover of the book:
When detectives try to close a missing persons case, a small town’s twisted secrets begin to unravel…A couple disappear in a region of the outback known for its gold mining. Some three years on, there is still no trace of them.
Detective Veronika Pope is handed the cold case. It’s cold only in name. When she turns up to the godforsaken town where the couple were last seen, the heat is sweltering; suspicion simmering.
The detectives stay in the same seedy hotel as the couple did. The townsfolk aren’t welcoming. Nobody wants the cops probing into their affairs.
From what Pope can gather, the missing duo were the perfect couple. Loving. Happy together. The picture of marital bliss.
Assuming a murder but missing a motive, the detectives do make progress. They might even find the bodies, as the trail is hot. Almost too hot to touch.
Pope is in serious danger of getting burned…
***********
Three years ago, Jonas and Laura Rankins set out from Perth for a gold prospecting adventure in the Outback, but they never returned home. Detective Inspector Veronika Pope and her cold case team are determined to finally solve the mystery of what happened to the reportedly happily married couple, to get some closure for their loved ones.
Pope and Senior Sergeant Noel Oaks arrive in remote Iron Creek hoping to track down some clues to the couple's fate. Staying in the same run-down hotel where Jonas and Laura were last seen, Pope and Oaks feel immediately that something is off about the residents of this dying Outback town - especially the sleazy owner of The Welcome Rest Hotel.
As Pope and Oaks delve into the secrets of the tight-lipped Iron Creek community, the rest of the team follow-up leads back in Perth, trying to get a picture of what Jonus and Laura were like. Were they really the perfect couple, or did something lie at the heart of their relationship that brought them to a sticky end in the Outback?
The Ideal Couple is the fourth book in the Cold Case Mystery series by Anna Willett, and she does a great job weaving together the parallel plot-lines of an investigation that combines claustrophobic small-town vibes, with an urban police procedural. The format is very much about tracking down the clues about what happened to Jonas and Laura through good old fashioned police work and intuition, backed up with forensic procedures, while bringing in longer running threads around the personal lives and working relationships of Pope's team. I have not read the previous books, but Willett gives you enough hints about the nitty gritty of the dynamics of the team and their private lives for you to get by, and the mystery itself can be read as a stand-alone.
The story takes a little while to get going, but I gradually became caught up in the slow-burn investigative style of Pope and her team completely, especially when it came to the twists and turns Willett fashions in the Iron Creek side of the mystery, which are packed with atmospheric menace. I really enjoyed how she blends some very modern themes about surveillance and bigotry into the timeless mix of murder and mayhem to give the book emotional punch, and there is some lovely play of meaning around 'ideal couple'. The personal angst of Pope and her team does get a little distracting at times, but this probably works better if you are more familiar with their backstories.
This is an entertaining Outback tale, on the lighter side of the genre. While it lacks the bite of the big hitters of Aussie noir, the well conceived surprises keep you turning the pages, and there is plenty of suspense. Willett's writing style is very engaging, and I get the feeling that it would be easy to fall in love with all the little foibles of the characters, if you were to immerse yourself in the series. Just right if you enjoy an easy-read CSI drama.
The Ideal Couple is available to buy now in hardcover, paperback and ebook formats.
Thank you to The Book Folks for sending me an ecopy of this book inreturn for an honest review, and for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.
About the author:
If you haven’t already, prepare to discover a new favourite author.
1. THE WOMAN BEHIND HER
2. THE FAMILY MAN
3. THE NEWLYWED
4. THE IDEAL COUPLE
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