Vanishing Falls

​“If you wanted to get away with murder, Vanishing Falls is the place to do it,” is an observation of one of the characters in this novel.
 
Ever since it was known as Van Diemen’s Land, Tasmania has had a dark and troubled history and although it has long since left behind its convict past, there are still pockets where unnamed fears and unease linger, especially in its brooding forests and small towns struggling with unemployment, drug use and other more sordid activities.
 
This all comes together in this compelling page-turning novel about a woman gone missing. She is Celia, wife of Jack Lily, the rich lawyer whose privileged family has lorded it over Vanishing Falls for generations. As people hunt for Celia in what seems like unrelenting rain, we are pulled deep into the psyche of the town and its secrets.
 
Although the evidence is strongly against him, Jack struggles to prove that he was not involved in his wife’s disappearance while trying to hide unsavoury aspects of his own behaviour. The meth-addicted poultry farmer Cliff is mired in his own messy anger and delusions, and Joelle, the apparently simple-minded wife of the local butcher, still struggles with her own horrific memories while desperate for friends and acceptance.
 
It is only through the beautifully understated and unusual characterisation of Joelle that this is saved from being yet another Australian “outback noir” novel in the style of “The Dry” or “Wimmera”, as with an innocence and clarity of vision denied the others, it is Joelle who is instrumental in solving the mystery. As she says: “Something bad happened and I did not try to stop it. I don’t want to do that again.”
 
(Many thanks to Edelweiss for the ARC.)
 
Four stars
 
(Links to book sites after publication)

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