Black River by Matthew Spencer is set in Sydney, Australia and much of the action takes place along the river in the title where the killings seem to be concentrated. The book follows the efforts of the police, principally Sergeant Rose Riley, to find the killer. Rose is assisted, or possibly hampered, by an investigative journalist, Adam Bowman, who becomes involved in the case because he has knowledge of the elite school where the first body is found. Unlike a lot of detective novels the book doesn’t spend a lot of time with the killer and concentrates on the steps needed in a proper investigation to uncover the perpetrator although, of course, there are times when the police do things which might politely be described as unconventional.
The book is very much infused with the landscape and environment of Australia including using some local slang in places. I enjoyed this aspect of the story because it is good to read about other places instead of everything taking place in London or some urban American setting. Other crime novels which I have read that are set in Australia tend to take place in rural areas (see the Dry by Jane Harper or Scrublands by Chris Hammer which I review here).
I enjoyed this novel a lot. I was gripped from the beginning and I liked the way that we followed the detectives through their investigation and that we saw how the whole team operated and not just one individual. The Sydney location made it more fun. This is a fast paced and entertaining detective novel – I shall look out for the next in the series.
Anne Is Reading 