Thank you to NetGalley, Text Publishing and the author, Greg Woodland, for an advanced reader’s copy of The Night Whistler in exchange for an honest, unbiased opinion.

TW: Casual, pointed, and systemic Australian-centric racism. Australian racial slurs used throughout, but there’s some good bits.
TW: Animal cruelty. All part of the plot, but there’s more than one and I was in tears.

This book is one of the best Australian books I’ve ever read. Not even a wink of hyperbole. It’s really difficult to get Australian vernacular down on the page and not let it sound naive and bogan and a joke. This book read like it was set exactly where it was: country NSW in the 60s. Truly an achievement.

The story itself is compelling, with wonderful child characters in Hal, the new kid in town, and Allie, local Aboriginal girl with a winning personality. She’s the one who tells Hal about the murders that happened in 1948 at the old abandoned caravan. Meanwhile, Hal’s dad is a cad and causes a whole lot of trouble behind the scenes. Animals have been going missing. The new demoted down to probationary constable from the “city” (Sutherland no less) loses his own dog and notices some weirdness. Who is the Whistler who keeps calling Hal’s mum?

I had no idea until it suddenly all started making sense. These are the mysteries I like the best. Not even a smelly red herring. Really brilliant.

Like the Darling River after rain, a trickle of books set in small towns in Australia has started to build into a torrent. This one, coming out of one of my favourite publishers Text Publishing, adds another new entrant onto the market. The pace moves from a slow start to a brisk ending.
Based in the late 1960s, in a fictional town in the New England area of NSW, the demoted former Detective Goodenough finds himself friendless, loveless and frustrated. A series of animal killings has him raising a warning flag that a potential murderer is in town but his boss is fat and happy with looking the other way. Goodenough's only help comes from 12 year old Hal who is fixated on Sherlock Holmes and becomes an amateur sleuth.
Surrounding these two is simmering racial and sexist bigotry of the times (not that much has changed), corruption, incompetence and the old AB telephone boxes that formed the main form of communications in the good old days.

Review This is a really entertaining read. Mick Goodenough was a senior detective in Sydney and has been banished to remote Moorabool, after havimg a fight with a more well in detective. There are two narrators, Mick, and a boy called Hal. Hal’s family has relocated to Moorabool because of his dad’s work. It is set in 1966. Hal and his brother find a dead dog that has been mutilated. They bury the dog with leaves and branches.

Mick, who recently lost his dog, finds it and worries about the level of mutilation involved but is precluded from formally investigating, as he’s the runt of the litter copper in Moorabool, and is put upon by his superior officers. Hal’s mother receives strange phone calls, weird whistling and heavy breathing.

The characters are very well drawn. I particularly liked the way Hal’s friend, Allie, is portrayed. The story moves quickly. More pets are found mutilated, and the killer moves onto humans

The writing here really appeals to me. For example, lines like: The naked bulb, a sentinel over Hal’s head, hangs on until the dawn. I also enjoyed the colloquialisms, such as Sergeant Bradley being described as being as suspicious as a chook in a reptile house!

There are a range of issues featured in this book: racism, domestic violence, adultery, etc. This is a really well written, fast paced, debut novel by Greg Woodland. I highly recommend it.

Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review

The story is set in a small Australian country town in 1967. It is alternately narrated by 12 year old Hal who is on the brink of adolescence and is both wise for his age and naïve about relationships, and Mick who has been demoted from detective in Sydney to probationary constable in the remote town.

There is a series of animal cruelty episodes in the town. Mick is worried that the perpetrator could move on to more serious crimes but his incompetent, belligerent boss sergeant Bradley discounts them as trivial and orders Mick to cease investigating them. Mick and Hal form an alliance to informally collect evidence and try to identify the perpetrator. Then there are several deaths that may or may not be related to the animal cruelty.

The author has either lived through the era as I have, or has thoroughly researched it. The Australian vernacular is spot on as is the popular products and brands of the time.

Hal’s character is well developed. He lives with his younger brother and parents whose relationship is falling apart. He befriends an aboriginal girl his own age not caring about racism. Mick’s character is less defined. There are hints but few details about his fall from grace in Sydney, his marriage breakdown and his alcoholism.

I read the book in one sitting finishing at 3:00 am. From me that is the seal of approval.

Thankyou to NetGalley, Text Publishing and the author, Greg Woodland, for the opportunity to read an advanced readers copy of The Night Whistler in exchange for an honest and unbiased opinion.
Such an incredible read. I could not put it down, and certainly worth the sleep deprivation.
The storyline was well thought out and written. The characters are well drawn and compelling, especially the central characters Hal and Mick. The imagery was highly descriptive to the point you feel that you have become a part of the story itself, almost hearing the crickets in the warm, summer sun. I, for one cannot wait for more from this author.
Well worth a read.

This was a very good story, it engages you from the start. Mick Goodenough was a detective in Sydney and had been demoted to a remote outpost of Moorabool, with about 3500 people after an altercation with a fellow detective. The story is told from Mick and a young boy, Hal, his family had also recently relocated to Moorabool for his father’s job. It is late 1966 when the story starts with Hal and his brother finding a recently deceased dog that had been mutilated. They bury the dog by covering it with leaves and branches. It just so happens that Mick has lost one of his dogs and not long after Hal had buried it, he finds it and determines it is his lost dog, there is a large fish hook in the dog’s mouth. Mick is concerned about the level of mutilation to the dog, he is reminded that some murderers start off with animals before moving to humans. Mick is hindered from investigating it, he is the low man on the totem pole with the police and the boss has no desire to look into it any further. Hal’s mother Corrie starts to receive strange phone calls, the caller whistles an Elvis tune and breathes heavy into the receiver. Things escalate fairly quickly to additional pets being found mutilated and soon the killer moves onto bigger prey. The story moves at a brisk pace and themes of adultery, domestic violence, and racism towards aboriginals are touched on. I highly recommend and would look for any future writing from the author. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.

I loved this book, another one set in the hot, dry and dusty Australian outback.
Mick Goodenough has been demoted to a shit hole of a place in the middle of no where, Moorabool. There he is met with distant and scorn by his peers.
Teenager Hal and his family have also recently moved to Moorabool for his fathers work. When Hal finds a dog that has been tortured and killed, a dog that turns out to have belonged to Mick, it is the start of a series of killings that escalate into murder. Corrie, Hal’s mother has also started receiving strange phone calls where some one is whistling Elvis songs, and making menacing threats. While Mick soon connects the incidents, his fellow officers think he is wasting their time and refuse to investigate. With Hals help, Mick starts looking into cases past and present, cases with the same m.o.. Then Hal goes missing and it looks like the Whistler has taken him. But who is the Whistler and can they find him before he is killed.
This is first rate story telling and I am looking forward to more from this author
#netgalley #thenightwhistler

I wish to thank Greg Woodland, Text Publishing and NetGalley for the advanced copy of The Night Whistler in exchange for an honest review.

Greg Woodland has penned a very engaging debut, it fully captivated my attention after the first chapters, I then couldn’t stop reading. There are excellent descriptions of 1960’s Australian rural life in this story with undercurrents of racism and corruption. I enjoyed the nostalgia having grown up in a rural setting; tartan covered eskies, spud guns, Malvern Star bikes – all straight from my childhood.

Two narrators tell this story, Hal a courageous boy with Sherlock Holmes ambitions and Mick a demoted homicide detective serving as a probationary constable, both are very likeable as is Hal’s friend Allie. The characters are developed skillfully. Filled with suspense and tension the novel cracks along at a fast pace. I had a good day of escapism as I read this worthy debut. I recommend this to lovers of crime fiction, another Australian writer to follow.

Being Australian and a lover of crime fiction I got very excited when I saw this new Australian crime fiction book. Unfortunately, I just could not get into it, which is very rare for me. It just took soooooo long for the author to get to the main plot having spent so much time building up the characters and the scene. You really need to catch people’s attention very early on or else you will lose them. I was very disappointed because I really wanted to love it but I just couldn’t.

Great read couldn't put it down. One of the best I have read re intrigue mystery crime story.
Well written liked the back ground describing the area where crimes occurred .
Would love a sequel to answer the original murder of the two girls.
Loved it