Bitter Wash Road — Garry Disher

When Hirsch heads up Bitter Wash Road to investigate the gunfire he finds himself cut off without back-up. A pair of thrill killers has been targeting isolated farmhouses on lonely backroads, but Hirsch's first thought is that 'back-up' is nearby - and about to put a bullet in him. That's because Hirsch is a whistleblower. Formerly a promising metropolitan officer, now demoted and exiled to a one-cop station in South Australia's wheatbelt. Called a dog by his brother officers. Threats; pistol cartridge in the mailbox. But the shots on Bitter Wash Road don't tally with Hirsch's assumptions. The truth turns out to be a lot more mundane. And the events that unfold subsequently, a hell of a lot more sinister. Garry Disher has published almost fifty titles - fiction, children's books, anthologies, textbooks, the Wyatt thrillers and the Mornington Peninsula mysteries. He has won numerous awards, including the German Crime Prize (twice) and two Ned Kelly Best Crime Novel awards, for Chain of Evidence (2007) and Wyatt (2010). Garry lives on Victoria's Mornington Peninsula. 'An absolute corker of a crime novel and puts him up there with the likes of Michael Connelly, Ian Rankin and John Harvey...This is a superbly well-plotted thriller, beautifully written - especially the descriptions of the harsh outback - and with an intriguing hero, an honest cop faced with dishonesty at every turn.' Shotsmagblog 'Disher's writing is lean, cold and spare - right to the point and never a word too many. The story starts flat-out and never lets up.' Herald Sun 'Smooth, assured mastery.' New York Times Book Review 'Disher is a fine writer about place and also people.' Sue Turnbull, Sydney Morning Herald 'Exceptional crime fiction.' Courier-Mail 'Disher's writing is as lean and relentless as his hero. No one does dryly poetic evocations of paranoia and human folly more seductively.' Australian 'Disher writes so clearly about the physical environment, the social atmosphere, the impact of change and the interaction between the people...that it is easy to overlook the depths of analysis that he provides.' Australian Book Review 'Easily the equal of those by John Harvey, Ian Rankin and other leaders of this form of crime-writing.' Canberra Times 'Disher is definitely not to be missed.' Globe and Mail ' Bitter Wash Road is superb.' Weekend Australian 'Peter Temple and Garry Disher will be identified as the crime writers who redefined Australian crime fiction in terms of its form, content and style. Disher's eye for detail is acute and his poetic analogies precise. Bitter Wash Road continues the work of re-imagining the crime genre in a very Australian way, and does it beautifully.' Age / Sydney Morning Herald 'Not a word is wasted: here the ancient, bare, distinctive landscape of the hardscrabble country bordering Goyder's Line is conveyed with admirably atmospheric economy.' Adelaide Advertiser 'A top-class writer.' The T