The River: a journey through the Murray - Darling Basin

In March I read a copy of Chris Hammer's non-fiction book, The Coast, where he wrote about locations on the eastern coast of Australia. In The River: a journey through the Murray - Darling Basin Chris Hammer records journeys he made in the summer of 2008-2009 to parts of the Australia's important river system. 

As well as the two main rivers there are many tributaries and river basins that cover a wide area of eastern Australia including southern Queensland, much of New South Wales, northern Victoria and part of South Australia. The importance of the rivers, and water in general, to people living in and working the land in those areas is one of the themes discussed, especially with the controversy about the implementation of irrigation systems in some regions.

As the author's discovery tours took place towards the end of a long drought that affected much of Australia resulting in the implementation of severe water restrictions, the important topics of water supply and water management feature throughout the book. During Chris Hammer's travels we also learn about the history of the regions he visits and how many of the regions have had to adapt or are changing. He interviewed a variety of local residents, each with a view of what was wrong with the rivers and water supply making it obvious that one solution will not please everyone.

As with The Coast, many of the regions visited are places I have visited and also where family members have lived on properties in the past. However this is a book that any Australian should read for an overview of an important part of our country and the country's river systems as a whole. The fragility of water supply in much of Australia, environmental issues and climate change are topics discussed as well as an overview of the history of local areas visited.

Additional information: 

Millennium Drought (River Murray 2002-2010) -  Dept for Environment and Water

The Drought That Changed Us - ABC 

The Coast

A major feature of Australia is its dramatic coastline which, being an island continent, is extensive. In The Coast by Chris Hammer, originally published in 2012 and republished in 2026, the author explores some of the areas of the majestic eastern Australian coast which stretches more than 3,500 kilometres.

Chapters in the book focus on the Barrier Reef and its environmental issues, the islands in the Torres Strait, living on the 'cyclone coast' of Queensland, the Gold Coast, beaches on the coast north of Sydney, Bermagui and Bass Strait. When visiting Heron Island the staff of the scientific centre on the island had to evacuate as Cyclone Yasi was approaching. Later in the book we learn of the effects of Yasi and other cyclones on the Queensland coast.

Many of the locations described in the book were places that we had visited including Horn Island and Thursday Island in the Torres Strait, Cairns when we holidayed at Port Douglas and Mission Beach near Dunk Island where we enjoyed a holiday before Cyclone Yasi devastated the island. The effect of the environment, especially climate change, are topics discussed throughout the book. Surfers Paradise is a very different built-up, commercial area on the coast.

Chris Hammer explored various parts of the coast at different times. Sometimes this journey provided the opportunity to explore areas associated with his family in the past, especially on the NSW coast. The chapter on Bermagui included reflections on family holidays in the area which can lead readers to reflect on their own family beach holiday experiences. Further south he encounters the Bass Strait between Victoria and Tasmania which leads to exploring parts of northern Tasmania before concluding with a visit to Loch Ard Gorge and the Twelve Apostles in Victoria.

I found this an interesting book to read as the author described a significant part of the Australian environment and how we need to appreciate it and protect it. By telling of his own experiences with holidays on the coast he encourages readers to remember coastal areas significant to them and their family story.

Legacy

Martin Scarsden is once again the main character in this novel by Chris Hammer. We first met Martin in Scrublands, Silver and Trust. In this latest novel, Legacy, Martin and his family attend the launch of his latest book involving the investigation of a Melbourne crime family when the police evacuate the hall before a bomb explodes. Martin fears for the welfare of his family who are removed to a place of safety. On the advice of Jack Goffing from ASIO, Martin takes on a new identity and then disappears to Paroo in outback New South Wales where he hopes he will not be recognised.

So begins a fast paced thriller with Martin attempting to remain incognito as he tries to discover who has set out not just to kill him but also to totally discredit his reputation. He also discovers a long standing feud between two families - the Carmichaels and the Stantons. He considers this as a possible topic for a new book but his investigations lead to additional danger including an attempt on his life.

There are parallel stories in the book. As well as Martin's story we meet Ecco who has been employed by Clay Carmichael to write the family story. Her investigations lead to the discovery of a mystery that occurred more than one hundred years earlier. She also learns about a murder committed twenty years ago and the disappearance of  Clay's daughter, Chloe. Information from Chloe's diaries provide additional information.

Once again, when the police become involved, we again meet Ivan Lucic and Nell Buchannan from the Homicide Squad who have featured in other Chris Hammer novels. The environment of the outback is a feature of the story, especially the flood waters travelling into New South Wales from northern Queensland, hopefully resulting in the regrowth of pasture for any livestock remaining after a drought.

Legacy is another excellent addition to the genre often referred to a Aussie Noir.

The Valley

Another great book by Chris Hammer. The Valley combines events occurring in 1988, then in the 1990s with an investigation in 2024. The story is revealed using a variety of voices as well as a general narrator.

Nell Buchanan and Ivan Lucic travel to The Valley near Saltwood in southern New South Wales to investigate a murder. This leads to the unravelling of a series of crimes, including murder, that had occurred in The Valley. For Nell, this investigation becomes personal when DNA tests reveal that she is related to the victim of the latest murder. She also learns more about the life of her mother.

There are many characters to follow in this sometimes complex plot but the author's creation of the small community in The Valley living near a forest, shear escarpments and a lake, surrounded by a national park, is an important feature of the book. The old goldmine is a focal point. Will reopening the mine provide a life-line for the local community? Who is behind the murders that have occurred over the years and why? As Nell and Ivan become increasingly aware of political corruption, who can be trusted?

Chris Hammer has written another Australian crime novel that is difficult to put down until the end of the book is reached.

Professional Book Nerds - Chris Hammer interview

In 2021 Australian author, Chris Hammer, was interviewed for the Professional Book Nerds podcast in America. The main book under discussion was Scrublands published in 2018. The location for the book is the western Rivierina. Twelve months previously five people had been killed and a journalist arrives in the town to investigate how the community is coping. He then realises that there is much more to investigate.

Chris Hammer, a journalist, writes novels for his own satisfaction. He doesn't necessarily plot the entire book in advance but may have four or five story-lines which hopefully will evolve into the final book. On one occasion he rewrote the ending of a book twice before he was satisfied with the plot.

Chris says that there are two types of writers of novels - the Plotter and the Pantser (writing by the seat of your pants). He says that his best ideas come when he is doing something else such as exercising. In his writing he concentrates on his characters and how they are being affected by events in the story-line. He enjoys adding some humour and attempts to create an immersive book for the reader. He wants to show how the characters are coping with disruptive events and is not interested in just producing a novel of fact finding. He finds it liberating not to have to continually check facts when he writes but can let his imagination tell the story.

As a journalist, Chris knows how the media works and can therefore add additional colour to the story from previous work experiences. To be a writer you have to love the process of writing. Readers of books read for different experiences. This is why books endure - when they allow people to enjoy the world that they enter when reading a good book.

The Seven

Another excellent crime novel by Chris Hammer. The Seven is set in the irrigation area of New South Wales where seven families are prominent in the management of the local irrigation scheme and much of the land covered by the scheme. When a body is found in one of the irrigation channels the police investigation discovers that all is not what it seems at Yuwonderie.

When Ivan Lucic and Nell Buchanan arrive in the area to investigate the murder they discover similarities to another murder of a family member of The Seven thirty years earlier. Could the two cases be connected?

There are three threads that reveal the story in the novel - correspondence between Bessie Walker and her mother in 1913, the death of Davis Heartwood in 1993 and the recent death of Athol Hasluck. 

Davis decided not to run the family property after his grandfather's death. Instead he wanted to continue his studies at university, starting with an honours thesis on the early development of the irrigation scheme at Yuwonderie. His initial investigations show that nine families had planned to set up the scheme, three families had dropped out to be replaced by one more family. It soon becomes obvious that many questions needed to be answered. Then Davis and his girlfriend disappeared. Ivan and Nell discover that current members of The Seven are also wary of investigations into the history of the local area. There has obviously been corruption in place for many years but uncovering it proves to be a challenge.

The Tilt

Cadell Tilt is a mysterious place. Nell Buchanan returns to her home town on the Murray River when a skeleton is discovered after a river regulator has been breached. This is obviously not a recent death and the chances of solving the case is not great. However, as Nell and Ivan Lucic investigate they uncover crimes dating back to the Second World War when the area was a camp for Italian Prisoners of War. More bodies are discovered, possibly from different time periods. 

As Nell investigates she learns more about her family. She also begins to supect that family members may have been involved in the mysterious deaths. This is not just an investigation of past crimes. During the investigation, Nell inadvertently discovers that another crime is being planned in the area.

The telling of the story alternates time periods from the present day, 1973 and events that occurred in the early 1940s. It covers several generations with members of the families still living in the area. It becomes apparent that there have been cover-ups but why?

The Tilt by Chris Hammer is an absorbing Aussie Noir crime novel. This is one book that once you start reading it you will want to continue reading to the end of the novel. There is also a family tree at the end of the book if you want to check the interconnections of the characters in the story. I really enjoyed reading this book.

Books by Chris Hammer in this blog.

Shortlisted for the 2023 Australian Book Industry Awards - General Fiction

Treasure and Dirt

In Treasure & Dirt Chris Hammer has given us another complex outback thriller set in northern New South Wales near the Queensland border. The setting for the book including the sand and especially the heat, play an important role in this story about the investigation of the death of Jonas McGee, a local miner. Near the outback settlement of Finnegan's Gap the body of the opal miner is found at the bottom of the mine shaft. Not only is he dead but he has been crucified. 

Detective Sergeant Ivan Lucic arrives in the town from Sydney to investigate with the assistance of Detective Constable Nell Buchannan who has travelled to the area from Bourke. Two members of the forensic team also arrive on the plane from Sydney with Ivan Lucic.  However one member of the team remained in Sydney. 

Detective Inspector Morris Montifore has been ordered to remain in Sydney to answer charges brought by Professional Standards following a case that he and Ivan had recently successfully solved. It soon becomes obvious that Ivan may also be under suspicion. Meanwhile there is a case to be solved.

This is not the first crime to have been investigated by Sydney police at Finnegan's Gap. Morris Montifore and another detective had investigated the suspected murder of a young man, associated with a religious sect, fifteen years earlier but were recalled before investigations were concluded.

During their investigations, Ivan and Nell become aware of questionable activities occurring at large mining complexes in the area. It is soon evident that there are many secrets from the past which may affect the investigation. Ivan and Nell meet a range of eccentric characters, some involved in other crimes, but their main concern is solving McGee's murder.

There are many twists and turns as the investigators attempt to unravel what is really happening in the community. Another great Australian crime novel by Chris Hammer.

Trust

Trust, the new novel by Chris Hammer is definitey a novel that is difficult to put down. Fortunately I borrowed a copy from the library on Friday so was able to spend the weekend reading. Trust is the third book in a series about journalist and author, Martin Scarsdale and Mandy Blonde. Scrublands and Silver were set in rural Australia but the city of Sydney is the setting for Trust. A map at the front of the book allows the reader to follow where the action is taking place. 

The novel begins with Martin playing on the beach with Mandy's son, Liam when he receives a voicemail message from Mandy - a scream. Rushing back to their house Martin discovers that Mandy has disappeared and there is a man lying on the floor.

The plot of the novel contains two main stories that as investigations proceed emerge into one. Martin soon realises that there is a large part of Mandy's former life that she has not revealed to him and the past has now come to confront her. Meanwhile Martin's former editor, Max, has asked him to help investigate and write a potentially explosive story but will not reveal any details until they meet. Martin heads to Sydney to find and support Mandy but also agrees to meet Max. When he discovers that Max has been murdered he knows that he must continue to investigate the story that has cost Max his life.

This is a story of large scale corruption in many spheres, a police undercover investigation, duplicity, nepotism, surveillance, computer fraud, kidnapping and, of course, murder. As well as investigating what has and is currently occurring, Martin has to write the story and get it out to the public before authorities prevent him from making it public or the opposition publish first. 

Mandy also has to decide to come to terms with what has happened in the past and to move on with her life. She also has to learn to trust again. 

This book is another great read in the Aussie noir genre.

Silver

Silver, the new book by Chris Hammer, is the sequel to Scrublands.

When journalist Martin Scarsden returns to Port Silver, the coastal town where he lived as a boy, he did not expect to find the body of his best friend lying in a pool of blood in the apartment. He also did not expect his girlfriend, Mandy Blonde, to be the main suspect.

Martin and his lawyer assist the police with their inquiries but also work to try and find not only who murdered Jasper but what is happened at a settlement on the beach resulting in the deaths of another seven people. Martin has a strict deadline in which to work as his newspaper wants to be the first to break aspects of the story.

This is a story with many twists and turns as the plot is revealed. Martin is also forced to revisit his past and come to terms with previous family relationships and events that occurred as he was growing up. As in Scrublands, the town of Port Silver and the surrounding environment and its community are crucial to the story.

Scrublands

In Scrublands, Chris Hammer, has contributed to the growing list of excellent crime stories set in an Australian location - usually the outback. In this case the story is set in the fictional town of Riversend on the road to Hay in New South Wales. The town is suffering from a severe drought with many of the businesses closed or only open for a few hours a week. But the drought is not the only issue to be faced by the remaining population in Riversend.

Journalist, Martin Scarsden, arrives in Riversend to write a story of how the town is coping after the massacre of five men outside a church in the town almost twelve months previously. However as he interviews people for his story he discovers that the story of the massacre written and published by a colleague may not be correct. Different people in the town have a variety of views on what happened that day and repercussions from the events are still being played out in the community.

The gripping story told in this book makes it difficult to put the book down as the the journalist uncovers what is really occurring in this region. The story also provides a commentary on media, both print and television. This book is definitely, to use a well used cliche, a good read.