Cover The Bones (Detective Nell Buchanan Book Three) by Chris Hammer

 

Cover the Bones (Detective Nell Buchanan Book Three) by Chris Hammer.

Published 4th January 2024 by Wildfire.

From the cover of the book:

A body has washed up in an irrigation canal, the artery running through Yuwonderie, a man-made paradise on the border of the Outback. Stabbed through the heart, electrocuted and dumped under cover of night, there is no doubt that detectives Ivan Lucic and Nell Buchanan are dealing with a vicious homicide.

The victim is Athol Hasluck, member of one of the seven dynasties who have controlled every slice of bountiful land in this modern-day Eden for generations.

But this is not an isolated incident. Someone is targeting the landed aristocracy of this quiet paradise in the desert. Secrets stretching back decades are rising to the surface at last - but the question remains, who stands to gain most from their demise?

Can Ivan and Nell track down a killer before the guilt at the heart of these seven families takes the entire town down with it?

***********

A body dragged from an irrigation canal brings detectives Ivan Lucic and Nell Buchanan to the idyllic town of Yuwonderie. Quite why accountant Athol Hasluck, a minor member of one of the seven powerful families who have controlled the town for generations, was electrocuted, stabbed, and dumped on the land of a prominent local politician, Otto Titchfield, is a mystery.

Ivan and Nell's investigation is hampered from the start by political interference and misinformation. It seems that Athol was up to something, and those involved are keen to protect their secrets from prying eyes. Ivan and Nell begin to suspect that his death is connected to murky goings-on at the heart of the Seven, and their questions are putting them in danger too.

Cover the Bones is the third book in the fabulous Aussie noir series featuring detectives Ivan Lucic and Nell Buchanan, that spins off from Hammer's earlier Martin Scarsden series. It continues very much in the vein of the first two gripping books, with oodles of beautifully wrought suspense and mystery. I actually picked this one up to refresh my memory before embarking on the latest book, The Broken River, but it soon sucked me in, and I could not rest until I had absorbed the whole novel once again... Hammer gets you like that!

The story lands Ivan and Nell slap bang in an extremely knotty case that brings them up against the power of the seven families who have shaped the town of Yuwonderie, and have become very powerful in the process. It unfurls in three compelling timelines, told from the perspectives of: Bessie Walker, a young woman of part indigenous heritage who comes to the region in 1913 to work for the Titchfield family, whose letters give us a glimpse of events around the creation of the irrigation scheme in  Yuwonderie; of Davis Heartwood, who in 1993 decides to abdicate from his future role as the head of one of the families of the Seven, in favour of his older sister Krystal, and whose thesis research uncovers secrets the other members of the Seven would very much like to remain buried: and of Ivan in the present, as the investigation into Athol's death gets very complex indeed.

This very much follows the immensely enjoyable Hammer pattern of weaving timelines that gradually reveal how the impact of crimes that have gone undetected have echoed through time- beautifully reflected in parallel by the slow dawning on Ivan that something is wrong about this 'perfect' town, and some of the people in it. 

This is definitely the most complicated plot of the series so far, as so much lies behind the stories of Bessie and Davis that connects to the present investigation, with a few lovely red herrings thrown in for good measure. There is a lot about the fascinating world of water politics in Australia, and how this fuels dodgy dealing, shady power games, underhand political manoeuvring, astonishing corruption, and bloody violence. You do have to pay close attention to the twist and turns throughout, but I promise the pay-off is well worth it, particularly when in comes to the way Hammer flawlessly misleads and misdirects.

As usual there is also a fair dollop of personal life to be waded through for our crime solving duo - this time very much about the family history of Ivan, and what this means for his peace of mind and his relationship with Nell. There are lovely themes running through the whole piece too about uncomfortable history, discrimination, privilege, money, and family legacy, which are very thought provoking. 

Every time I go to 'Hammer-world' I am in awe of how easy he makes storytelling of this calibre look. Superb, as always.

Cover the Bones is available to buy now in hardcover, paperback, ebook and audio formats. 

Thank you to Wildfire for sending me a proof of this book in return for an honest review.

About the author:

Chris Hammer was a journalist for more than thirty years, dividing his career between covering Australian federal politics and international affairs. For many years he was a roving foreign correspondent for SBS TV's flagship current affairs program Dateline. He has reported from more than thirty countries on six continents.

Chris's non-fiction book, The River, published in 2010 to critical acclaim, was the recipient of the ACT Book of the Year Award and was shortlisted for the Walkley Book Award. Scrublands, his first novel, was published in 2018 and won the CWA John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger Award, as well as being shortlisted for Best Debut Fiction at the Indie Book Awards, and Best General Fiction at the ABIA Awards. It has also been longlisted for the Ned Kelly Best Crime Novel of the Year. Scrublands was released as a TV series in 2023, distributed in the UK by BBC Four.

Chris has a bachelor's degree in journalism from Charles Sturt University and a master's degree in international relations from the Australian National University. He lives in Canberra with his wife, Dr Tomoko Akami. The couple have two children.