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DIAMOND DOVE was one of those stunning debuts which you worry the author will never be able to equal. But Adrian Hyland's sequel blows it out of the water. The feisty and mouthy Emily Tempest is back – and now she's got a uniform (of sorts). Her old mate Supt Tom McGilivray has roped her into becoming an Aboriginal Community Police Officer. And she gets a car. Career opportunities in a one-horse mining town aren't exactly thick on the ground. And Emily has a well-developed social conscience . . . Emily and her ill-fitting uniform are soon called into action when an old geologist friend is found murdered and another seems to be the guilty party. McGilivray's laid up in hospital after a run-in with a pensioner and a zimmer frame. His replacement, Supt Cockburn, is an uptight, by-the-book sort who thinks Emily's place is making tea or doing the filing. She, of course, begs to differ. And one thing you can guarantee with pocket dynamo Emily is that her mouth will lead her into serious danger. GUNSHOT ROAD showcases a writer with the confidence to break outside of the 'wham, bam, thank you, ma'am' school of genre writing. The first chapter is set during an Aboriginal ceremony and sets the scene far better than any hackneyed flashback prologue could ever do. Hyland plunges the reader into a largely ignored world that's drastically at odds with the image many people have of Australia. Hyland has apparently worked in Australia's Northern Territory among the indigenous population. That experience permeates every part of GUNSHOT ROAD, from the searing temperatures to the poverty-ridden towns to the eccentric characters to the landscape that's alternately scarred and stunning. And through it all, the ancient traditions permeate the characters' words, thoughts and deeds. GUNSHOT ROAD is, by turns, lyrical, angry, funny and immensely shocking. It's exceptional crime fiction that puts run-of-the-mill thrillers and clichéd serial killer fare to shame. § Sharon Wheeler is a UK-based journalist, writer and lecturer.
Reviewed by Sharon Wheeler, July 2010
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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