Margaret Hickey's Stone Town is a complex and readable outback noir

The wonderfully named Aidan Sleeth is the victim of a brutal shooting in bushland near the town that gives the novel its name. Sleeth has been buying up bushland for housing development, and conservationists are among the murder suspects, particularly those who are members of a co-op threatened by Sleeth's expansion. Birdwatching may also have a surprising connection to the crime.

Senior Sergeant Mark Ariti has recently moved back to Stone Town, where he grew up. His hopes for a quieter life are shattered by the murder. At the same time, another crime is being investigated; the disappearance of a detective who has been investigating the wife of a major crime figure. Ariti's investigation into the local murder is complicated by the arrival of two homicide detectives and before long, the two investigations are linked.

A detective novel relies on the believability of the main investigator, and Hickey's Ariti captures the reader's interest. He is fighting middle-age weight gain by running every day, a routine that produces moments of humour and horror. As a returned member of the community, he is asked to join sporting teams with other "old blokes".

Needless to say, he is divorced, like most police officers in literature and film. Racking my brain for images of happily married detectives, all I could come up with was Detective Barnaby of Midsomer Murders, about as far from the dark realism of Stone Town as you could get.

Ariti's reflections on town life are moments of humour to balance the tension. He describes one particularly morose farmer who is nicknamed Doris, after Doris Day. These vignettes stand in direct contrast to the interpolated narrative of a woman who is being held captive in appalling conditions. The reader does not know this character's fate for most of the novel.

"Outback noir" novels often have the environment present almost as a character in its own right. Here there is threat from flood, and the rising waters (possibly connected with climate change) bring danger to Ariti and others. Women's work in keeping communities together, and in the police force, is minimised, and this is an important thread in the novel.

One twist dealing with corruption was relatively easy to predict, but the ultimate solution to the main crime evaded me. The reader is left in the satisfying position of ultimately knowing more than the detective. Stone Town is a complex and readable crime novel, and is highly recommended.

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