Broken Bay

Broken Bay by Margaret Hickey is set on the Limestone Coast of South Australia. Detective Sergeant Mark Ariti is visiting Broken Bay for a short break from work and family issues. While he is there experienced cave diver,  Mya Rennik, disappears. But the body retrieved from the cave is not Mya. Mark is requested by senior officers to remain in the area and investigate the case of the mystery diver and to also be present when the divers eventually retrieve Mya's body from the sink hole.

It is soon obvious that numerous secrets are held by members of families who have lived and worked in the area for many years. Before long Mark learns of two other deaths in the past that may or may not have been accidents. Then there is a murder in the town. A team of detectives from Adelaide arrives to attempt to unravel the mysteries that seem primarily to involve the Doyle and Sinclair families.

This is a novel that I just wanted to keep reading. Like so many Australian crime novels the scenery plays an important part in the story. The sink holes and underground caves are beautiful but sinister and the myriad narrow passageways joining caves can be horrific. Add to this mysteries spanning more than twenty years, the recent deaths and the secrets held by community members all help to hold the attention of the reader. Mark is also trying to resolve his own family issues.

Broken Bay is the third book in the Detective Sergeant Mark Ariti series.

This was a Monash University Alumni Book Club Book in 2024.

Stone Town

Stone Town by Margaret Hickey is the sequel to Cutters End published last year. Twelve months have passed and Detective Sergeant Mark Artri has returned to Booralama, the small rural town where he grew up in outback South Australia. Mark and his wife are divorced and he is living in his late mother's former home.

One Friday night three teenagers discover the body of property developer, Aidan Sleeth, in the bush. Two detectives arrive from Adelaide to investigate the case but it is soon obvious they are more interested in investigating the disappearance of Detective Sergeant Natalie Whitsed who was thought to have been in the area near Stone Town, close to Booralama. Then Mark is alerted by police headquarters in Adelaide that one of the detectives is thought to have connections with a cime syndicate. A short time later a young cyclist is knocked from his bike in a hit and run incident.

Mark knows the area and the people well and it is soon obvious that the death of Aidain Sleeth has connections to a move to purchase local land for property development, a lucrative activity. 

As he investigates the the cases Mark comes to a better understanding of the importance of community and the support of neighbours prevalent in the small town and the role and the esteem in which his mother was held in Booralama. 

As well as being a crime novel set in an outback Australian environment Stone Town is about the necessity of accepting and understanding grief in order to move on with life.

Cutters End

Margaret Hickey's first novel, Cutters End, is another addition to the ever-growing genre of crime novels set in Australia, often referred to an Aussie Noir. The story is set in outback South Australia with the landscape and the large distances between settlements being a feature of the book.

Detective Sergeant Mark Ariti is on long service leave when he is offered a temporary promotion to investigate a death that occurred 32 years earlier and had originally been classed as an accident. He leaves his home in Adelaide to travel north along the Stuart Highway eventually arriving at a roadhouse stop not far from where the body was discovered and 300 km south of the small town of Cutters End.

When interviewing the people originally associated with the case Mark meets again two people from his schooldays, Ingrid and Joanne, and he suspects that there is information that they are not disclosing. 

While working with Senior Constable Jagdeep Kaup at Cutters End it is soon clear that this is not the only mystery case in the area over the years. A number of young women had disappeared from the area and a discovery at the sight of the presumed accident, unrelated to the original case, confirmed that this was not the only case requiring investigation.

As well providing a well written crime novel encapsulating life in small outback communities the author examines past attitudes and cover-ups relating to family violence and assault as well as the possible dangers of hitch hiking in the outback. I look forward to reading the next book by this author.