'Disher is the gold standard for rural noir' CHRIS HAMMER 'The equal of Joseph Wambaugh and
James Lee Burke' THE TIMES 'A superb chronicler of cop culture' SUNDAY TIMESWHEN HATE RUNS DEEP
THE INNOCENT SUFFER Constable Paul Hirschausen's rural beat in the low hills of South Australia
is wide. Daybreak to day's end dirt roads and dust. Every problem that besets small towns and
isolated properties from unlicensed driving to arson. But now just as Hirsch has begun to
feel he knows the fragile communities under his care the isolation and fear of the pandemic
have warped them into something angry and unrecognisable. Hirsch is seeing stresses heightened
and social divisions cracking wide open. His own tolerance under strain people getting close
to the edge. Today he's driving an international visitor around: Janne Van Sant whose
backpacker son went missing while the borders were closed. They're checking out his last photo
site his last employer. A feeling that the stories don't quite add up. Then a call comes in: a
roadside fire. Nothing much - a suitcase soaked in diesel and set alight - but two noteworthy
facts emerge. Janne knows more than Hirsch about forensic evidence. And the body in the
suitcase is not her son's. From the multiple Ned Kelly Award-winning author of Consolation
comes a stunning new thriller for readers of Jane Harper Ian Rankin and Chris Hammer.
