Dirt Town

In a small outback town in Australia a young girl disppears. Detective Sergeant Sarah Michaels arrives in Durton, referred to by the locals as Dirt Town, to investigate. Esther was last seen by her friend, Ronnie, on her way home from school. No-one has seen Esther since and there is much speculation in the local community. Everyone knows everybody and many of the residents have grown up in Durton. As the story is revealed so are some of the many secrets of the past.

Haley Scrivenor, the author of Dirt Town, uses a number of voices to tell the story and sometimes different people tell the story from a different viewpoint. Ronnie and her friend Lewis are two of the main voices along with Constance (Esther's mother) and Sarah plus a voice referred to as We (the other children in the town).

This crime novel is very much a study of a community imploding as well as the breakdown of family and other relationships.

In the USA Dirt Town was published as Dirt Creek.

Shortlisted for the 2023 Australian Book Industry Awards - General Fiction