Ripper

Three people were murdered in a small town located off the main road between Sydney and Melbourne. When seventeen years later another murder occurs after a proposal is made to operate a tour of the murder sites in the town, the small town of Ranier is once again gripped in fear as memories of past events resurface. Gemma Guillory, who witnessed the death of one of the victims many years previously, now faces the trauma of the latest murder occurring outside her tearooms and the fears of the past reemerge. 

Ripper by Shelley Burr is another gripping crime novel set in a small community where everyone seems to have a secret and nothing is as it first appears. Gradually we learn about the three people who were the original victims and their interaction with the town. One of the victims was never identified and there are several theories as to her identity. A parallel story occurs in a prison where a prison officer encourages a prisoner and former private investigator, Lane Holland, to establish whether the unidentified victim was the prison officer's missing daughter.

Ripper is another action packed Australian crime novel set in a small town with a hidden past and many complex characters providing an insight into the consequences of a person's actions on other people. 

Wake

Set in the fictional community of Nannine in outback New South Wales, WAKE by Shelley Burr is another title in the growing number of  excellent Australian crime books.

Private investigator Lane Holland arrives in the area hoping to investigate the case of Evelyn McCreery who disappeared nineteen years earlier. For several years his mission has been to investigate cold cases involving the disappearance of young girls. However he is presented with a case involving the disappearance of Crista Rennold who had also lived in the area. As Lane carries out his investigations the reader learns about events that have occurred in Lane's past that impact on his interest in these cold cases.

There are many twists and turns and dead ends throughout the novel until Lane is able to prove his theory about what happened to the missing girls.

According to a community forum, MyMurder, quoted throughout the novel WAKE stands for Wednesday Adams Killed Evie. To discover the significance you will have to read the book.

Review:

Murder in the brain-broiling heat and red dust of the outback - New York Times, 21 July 2022.