An atmospheric Australian crime drama with great characterisation. The plot was rather slow paced and weak for me but it is a well written novel.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a digital ARC.

This book had me intrigued right from the start. I have always been a huge lover of a mystery, and the plot line behind this story was truly fascinating.
The story focuses on the mysterious disappearance of Nathan, who vanished without a trace 15 years ago. Then, completely out of the blue he reappears - but not just anywhere, at the scene of a crime.
Dana is a detective who is called in to work on the case. It is obvious that Dana is struggling with something, but the reader is left not knowing exactly what is behind her misery which to me made it all the more intriguing. A lot of the story is set in an interview room, something which seemed to help build the intensity as the story began to unfold.
I particularly liked how Dana's story unfolded as we followed the actual case too, as this was something that has genuinely caught my interest right from the beginning. Each of the characters in this book added something extraordinary to the story, it being their unique quirks or their troubled past pasts
This book, in its entirety really did captivate me! The plot was so brilliantly paced that it kept you intrigued throughout, and I really loved following the story as it all unfolded. Brilliantly written and a definite page turner.

I'd heard great things about this book and really wanted to enjoy it. The book starts with you being thrown straight into a case where a shopkeeper has been killed by a single stab wound and the attacker is in custody. It should have gripped me but sadly it didn't. The book is set in Australia yet I just couldn't picture it and found it a slow burn.

Hermit is a wonderful slow burning crime novel that I really enjoyed. It’s set up as a rather standard procedural crime story: a murder is committed, someone is placed under arrest at the scene, enter the police team. But! Here’s where it gets interesting: the book does not go into a regular hunt for the killer, but rather turns into a psychologically astute portrait of the childhood and life of the supposed killer, as well as of the lead detective.

The result is a book which is not your average crime novel, it’s more of a deep dive into what childhood trauma does to an individual years down the line. Yes, there is a murder and there is a team of detectives, but the way the book is structured is more of a novel of cause of effect, of the effect of growing up without love and how that affects a person’s choices.

The ending is extremely abrupt and it almost feels as if there should have been at least one more chapter to the book. I actually had to go back and reread parts to see if had missed something leading up to the end!

If you’re looking for a crime drama with all the lines of enquiry neatly tied in a bow by the end, this is not that book. Still, it is very powerful and the author clearly skilled, so I’ll look out for more by S R White!

I both listened to the audio and read the e-galley was given in return for an honest review (thank you Netgalley!). The audio books was such a delight to listen to, sometimes strong accents or dialects can get in the way, but not here. Recommended!

I'm so glad I discovered this writer. It's a gripping read from the first page. I really enjoyed my time.
Loved the writing, the suspense and the plot.

Thanks a lot to NG and the publisher for this copy.

This book is a two hander Dana, an Ozzie cop with a traumatic past (don't they all have one now?) facing off against a murder suspect, Nathan, who life has some eerie parallels to her own. Dana has to draw on her own experiences to elicit information from the closed off Nathan. We've seen this quid pro quo dynamic before, most notably Clarice versus Hannibal Lecter. I think I was expecting many more twists and switchbacks through this book, and was surprised that they didn't come. Its possible that my expectations were at fault here but I found this book started with a bang and tailed off towards to the end, where I would expect it to go the other way.

I really loved this book! I enjoyed how the story was told, mainly through the interrogation room, with the investigation as back up, which is directly at odds with many other police fiction books I've read. This leant itself well to a real character-driven story. However, this is not a slow-paced book! The story flows well, and I was constantly engaged, wanting to find out more about both Dana's life, and the suspect's.

I enjoyed the characters a lot - they're definitely flawed, and I liked how White explored this through the storytelling. I loved how I got to know Dana at the same time as getting to know the suspect. And I adored the ending, I love how it left you still wanting a little bit more, and still unsure about what actually happened/what would happen.

I would definitely read another book by White, and look forward to seeing what he writes next!

4.5 stars

Rural Australia is the setting for this slow and considered crime novel which focuses on the murder investigation of a local shopkeeper. The prime suspect is man who was found at the scene and who is considered to be something of a loner, a condition which seems to be replicated in the lead detective, Dana Russo, who is, herself, something of an enigma, especially after observing her behaviour in the opening scenes of the book.

At first the murder of shop owner, Lou Cassavette, seems like a burglary gone wrong but as we discover throughout the course of the novel, this case is far from simple. Taking place over the day of the investigation Hermit is more of a slow burner of a novel, rather than an all guns blazing type, but I think that this is a deliberate skill employed by the author to enable the story to evolve entirely at its own pace.

The interaction between suspect and Russo is done in a thoughtful way with neither investigator nor perpetrator giving away too much of themselves. However, as soon as the suspect is brought into the interview room the clock is ticking and the race is on for Detective Russo to bring the case to a satisfactory conclusion. Reaching that satisfactory conclusion is where the real power of the story lies and I think the author has done a really good job of keeping everything tight and focused.

However, crime investigation is never that simple and in this case there are complexities, intrigue and horrors ahead. I don’t want to spoil anything by giving anything away as this complex character driven novel is best read with no preconceived notions of how the story will eventually play out. Hermit is an interesting police procedural novel with an unusual lead detective, it’s obvious that there is more to discover about Dana Russo and I hope we get to find out more in future crime novels.

The events in the book take place over a day giving it an almost real-time feel. But it’s not just any old day. For Dana Russo, it’s “the Day”, the anniversary of something the nature of which the reader can only guess at but immediately senses was traumatic.

Much of the book is given over to the interview sessions between Dana and chief suspect for the murder, Nathan Whittler. The reader really gets a sense of being in the interview room alongside them. It’s claustrophobic and filled with tension. I found myself holding my breath at some points while one of Dana’s questions is posed and considered by Nathan. The accuracy of the description of Nathan as “not their usual kind of suspect” becomes increasingly clear.

What I found particularly fascinating was Dana’s preparation for the interviews: the insight into her thought processes about the line of questioning she should adopt; how and when to disclose information; how to interpret Nathan’s responses and body language. It hadn’t fully occurred to me how much a police interview is akin to a psychological game of chess or poker in which picking up small signs in response to delicate probing is an essential part. In Hermit, the author conveys this element superbly.

Between the intense sessions, Dana has moments of doubt about her ability to interpret the meaning of Nathan’s “flicks, gestures, silences, and absences”. She fears the fact of it being “the Day” may have an impact on her ability to exercise her professional skills and that a mistake on her part might jeopardize what really matters to her – finding the truth. Sharing some of his introvert instincts gives Dana a degree of empathy for Nathan. “Being Nathan Whittler was clearly not easy and the sudden insight into what it involved jarred her.” But are they too alike and will she perhaps have to reveal too much of herself to get the answers she needs from him?

What the reader learns is that Dana likes – indeed, needs – order. She knows she functions best when she “was allowed to take her time – delve, think, plan.” I loved the relationship between Dana and her colleague, Mike. Their light-hearted banter is a sign of their close working partnership but also that they understand each other well. As Mike reflects at one point, “Between them they made one mighty detective. Individually, they were deeply flawed, but in different areas”. They have a tacit agreement to act as Devil’s advocate when either of them is leading a case: challenging assumptions, suggesting different lines of enquiry.

I also liked Dana’s fellow officers: Bill, her boss; Lucy, the team’s formidable secretary and administrator; Rainer, the eager young detective already displaying the instincts needed to be successful. Mike and Lucy in particular have a keen awareness of Dana’s strengths and vulnerabilities and I really loved how the author showed them supporting her in all sorts of little ways.

Hermit is a book for those who like their crime fiction to be character-driven, detailed and of the slow-burn variety. However, even a slow-burning fuse results in an explosion in the end. And, as much as you’ve been expecting it – preparing for it, even- it can still make you jump when it occurs.

I thought Hermit was terrific and I only hope the author is already working on a follow-up.

Taking place over the course of a mere 12 hours, Hermit introduces Detective Dana Russo who must unravel the mystery surrounding the stabbing murder of local Jenson’s shopkeeper, Lou Cassevette, in rural Australia. Nathan Whittler, the prime suspect, must be interrogated at Carlton police station but Dana is finding this an almost impossible task given the man has been living off the grid for quite a while and appears to have become extremely socially awkward due to this. Fifteen years without human contact will do that to you. This is probably her most difficult interview ever but she must maintain composure as without conclusive forensic evidence linking him directly to the killing she must extract a confession and quickly. She carries out a series of seven intense and tedious interviews with him and gains nothing that would support their theory of him being the murderer so a change of strategy is required. In the name of justice, Dana decides to open herself up to Nathan so that he may feel inclined to trust her and do the same. Even if it makes her seem vulnerable as that may be the only way to get him to talk.

This extraordinary debut is unlike anything I've ever read in the crime genre before and is both compulsive and captivating. It's very much a character-driven thriller and feels authentic and close to life and I am sure that is because White used his twelve years working for a UK police force to inform the novel. The writing is scalpel-sharp, perceptive and pulls you in from the opening pages and the cast of characters all have individual personalities. Protagonist Dana Russo is described so wonderfully that she comes alive and jumps off the page and into your heart and I hope we are going to get to see more of her. Like Russian Matryoshka dolls you peel back the layers of the story only to reveal another underneath. The atmosphere is intense and you can sense the desperation of the police to work out either way whether Whittler actually did commit the crime and the suspense of it all is palpable. I also enjoyed how White addressed profound philosophical questions too. Highly recommended. Many thanks to Headline for an ARC.

I read a lot of crime fiction, most of it fast paced some of it slow. Hermit is probably one of the more slower paced novels that I have read, but it is the only way it could be. It works perfectly.

It concerns one murder investigation and apart from a few memories that the chief suspect, Nathan, is encouraged to reveal takes place across one day. For the chief investigator Dana it is a very long day. It is the day which she started contemplating suicide until she got the call about the murder at the local store. It is a day that she never usually works, you only find out some of the reasons why very late in the novel.

As you would expect with a police procedural novel much of the book shows the attempts to find out why the store owner was murdered but it differs because of Dana’s method of gaining Nathan’s trust. She wants to know why he has spent living the last 15 years as a hermit and how he survived without any human contact. I felt at times she envied him for his way of life. Over a series of interviews between just the two of them everything is revealed. I felt sadness and horror over what happened to him, as well as awe over how he coped until the moment it all went wrong.

There were times when they seemed similar. Both struggling with events from the last, both struggling to explain why, both coping in different ways. It could have been depressing but for Dana’s colleagues, in particular Lucy who made me smile quite a lot. I wouldn’t like to be a lawyer who had to deal with her!

The ending left me near howling with frustration, this is one book I am absolutely desperate for a follow up.

A gripping read, that draws the reader in from the very beginning.

Dana is a detective with a troubled past, who is pulled, on the worst possible day, into a murder investigation. The accused has been missing for fourteen years, and she has only twelve hours to find out the truth, but the problem is that he does not want to reveal where he has been.

As she engages with him, it becomes more and more difficult to remain aloof. In the meantime, her colleagues begin to uncover other possibilities, and the truth becomes much less clear.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good police or detective story, a psychological thriller or a procedural investigation. It is also a touching insight into the relationships and interactions between the investigating officers, and how they help each other in more meaningful ways than just the investigative legwork. It also illustrates how proper investigative work is required to build a case, and how the investigation itself can have far reaching consequences.

A man is found dead of a stab wound in a grocery store in the early hours of the morning. Beside him is a man whose hands are covered in blood.

Detective Dana Russo is assigned the case on a day of extreme personal trauma, it is the anniversary of a past event that threatens to overwhelm her and cause such mental distress that she always books the day as leave.

This crime novel is masterful at using the interrogation scenes to explore the parallels between suspect and investigating officer. Dana has to find a way through to a man who has lived in isolation for 15 years and has a deep distrust of any form of contact, yet she cannot jeopardise her professionalism or the case.

I found this refreshing in its depiction of a female detective who, despite personal issues, is empathetic and strong. Themes such as childhood trauma, mental health, coping mechanisms, and trust are explored.

I would love to read more about Russo in further installments as the author has left intriguing threads dangling.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Headline for a review copy of Hermit, a stand-alone thriller set in rural Australia.

Detective Dana Russo is having a day off when she is called in for a murder case. Nathan Whittler has been found standing over the dead body of shop owner Lou Cassavette in his shop, but with no weapon and minimal traces of blood on him it is up to Dana to discover what happened.

I thoroughly enjoyed Hermit which is an intriguing read and strangely compulsive when the bulk of it comprises of conversation between Dana and Nathan, or the more formal Detective Russo and Mr Whittler as they refer to each other. I wondered what I’d got myself in to when the novel opens with Dana contemplating suicide but that is merely background to the main event. Both Dana and Nathan have trauma in their past so she understands his skittishness in the interview. He did, after all, go off grid in 2004 and has remained hidden ever since.

The novel is basically a game of cat and mouse with Dana trying to tease out the socially inept Nathan’s secrets. What makes it fascinating is that their interviews are interspersed with her colleagues verifying the information he gives, investigating other lines of enquiry and helping her with interview planning and strategy. I loved all that backroom stuff. Nathan has a compelling tale to tell and it is eked out over the course of the novel, with a final unexpected twist. It is sufficiently lurid to grab the attention, but, for me, not as interesting as the investigation.

Running through the novel is Dana’s preoccupation with the Day, i.e. the day she always has off to do some thinking. It’s an anniversary of some kind but it isn’t explained, and even then only in part, until the last few pages. I didn’t find all the references suspenseful, more annoying.

I think this novel is slightly too long as I found myself losing a bit of interest by the end. It weaves quite a web with all the possibilities but seems to fizzle out when the information finally starts flowing.

Hermit is a good read that I have no hesitation in recommending.

How to describe this book? It’s a mystery but not in any traditional sense. It messes with your mind, makes you think, and pulls you in. It takes place over only one day but you feel like you have lived a lifetime by the end. Nathan is found in a convenience store, next to a dead body. The police can find out nothing about him. It appears he disappeared off the radar 15 years ago. Where has he been? Why did he leave? Slowly, we find out, when Dana, one of the detectives, questions him carefully. We find out about his life as a child, why he left and whether he is guilty of murder, or not. Dana is the right person to question him as she is hiding something of her own.
You must read this book. Be prepared to forget you have to go to work, cook dinner, or need sleep. It reeled me in and kept me there.

4.5 stars
This book is so much more than just the crime being investigated. It's as much about the two very interesting and intriguing, and rather complex, two main characters.
We start with a crime. A man lies dead in the store he owns and runs. There's another man on the scene, deemed to be the prime suspect. He's arrested and taken to the police station for interrogation by Det Dana Russo. But he refuses to speak, to say anything of consequence. Not his name, his address, nothing personal at all, let alone any sign of a motive. Aside from him, the police also start to investigate the victim. Who would want him dead? Who gains from his demise? As the custody clock ticks down on the still unknown suspect, time is running out for Dana as she desperately tries to make a breakthrough with him. Dana reaches into her own troubled past to try to connect with him and soon starts to chip away at his barricade, quid pro quo. Starting with his name... which throws a new spin on why he was there...
The fact that this all occurred initially on a day that Dana religiously takes as leave every year throws a whole other layer of intrigue into the mystery around the death of the store owner. The fact that she has to delve deep into her own problems to try and solve the mystery was a refreshing extra layer that really made this book pop. And it's really the relationship that builds up between Dana and, as we eventually get to know, Nathan as the two of them open up to each other. Less is definitely more going into this book so I would recommend that you go into it as blind as possible as the author's skill really lies in the way they slowly release the facts at exactly the right moments to both keep the interest and intrigue of the reader whilst throwing enough bones in to keep them reading.
It's a slow burn initially and I do admit to having to keep a lot of balls in the air along the way. But things do start to become clear quite quickly so it was easy to keep reading, there was enough resolved aside from the main battle between Dana and Nathan to keep me going. I found the interactions between the two MCs to be very well crafted, which they needed to be, so integral to the story they were. Both are complex characters with very different reasons for the way they find themselves when we meet them. Reasons that give the book a very dark and claustrophobic atmosphere. The intensity of the interrogation is neatly offset with some of the lighter moments away from that. The relationships between Dana and her colleagues especially.
If you like yourself a juicy, intriguing mystery, played out in a very character driven way then this is definitely a book that will tick those boxes for you. Me, I'm hoping that this isn't the last we see of Dana, I feel she has more to give and I'd love her to return.
My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

Dana Russo is a damaged heroine not quite like any I have read in a police procedural / crime thriller before. Her personal struggles counterpoint those of the main suspect and the usual back and forth of the police interview gain a poignancy which is gripping. I had to keep reading. S.R. White writes vivid characters with good dialogue, the relationships are plausible and the denouement satisfying whilst not too pat or predictable. I look forward to reading more by this author and thank Headline and Netgalley for providing me with this free ARC in return for an honest review.

This is an unusual, dark, intense and claustrophobic Aussie outback crime story from SR White, that explores the developing psychological relationship of two emotionally damaged individuals, Detective Dana Russo and a murder suspect, Nathan Whittler. It begins with the murder of Jensen's Grocery Store owner, Lou Cassevette, stabbed to death in the early hours of the morning, after he had stayed on overnight in his business to catch a burglar stealing some of his stock. When the police arrive on the scene, they find Nathan's hands covered in blood next to the victim. They are not sure if he killed Cassavette or just happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Dana is off duty, she has taken the day off and is at Pulpit Falls reflecting on the traumas that have been instrumental in shaping her life, as she teeters on the edge, she gets a call from her boss, Bill Weeks, requesting her presence at the crime scene.

Dana is going to have forego her annual day off, dedicated to thinking of events that have blighted her life, but working fails to suppress the trauma within her, simply adding to the pressures she faces. She prefers to work solo, is an introvert, and has talked to hardly anyone about her traumas, it is just beyond her abilities to do so. Weeks appoints her the lead detective, rather than her colleague, Mike Francis, believing she would be the better person to interview Whittler, a fragile and vulnerable man who is refusing to talk. It turns out Whittler left his family home of his parents and his brother, Jeb, 15 years ago in 2004, and went completely off the grid, to never be sighted again. He claims to have never spoken to anyone since, which seems to be corroborated by his apparent comfort with silence, for him silence is not nothing, not an absence but an all encompassing experience in itself. Dana is in a race against time, she only has 24 hours before he must have a lawyer who will tell him not to talk.

The highlight of this crime story is the relationship that develops between Dana and Nathan, she puts a lot of thought and strategy behind her interviews with him to ensure he does not close down. She becomes a person he begins to trust, making it clear he will speak only to her, but it extracts an enormous price from her, encroaching on her shaky sense of self and her non-negotiable need for personal privacy. White skilfully draws out the disturbing ways that the two have so much in common, the quid pro quo that operates, and Dana's increasing emotional investment in her murder suspect, irrespective of the toll the interviews take on her. This is a brilliant character driven crime book that drew me in completely, it is intense, but compulsive and riveting reading that will appeal to many crime and mystery readers. Many thanks to Headline for an ARC.

** spoiler alert ** This is a perfect slow burn of a novel.
Supposedly about trying to find the murder of a local shop keeper.
I didn't care who killed him... I was too sucked in by the careful questioning and the slow release of information... leading to a terrible story of why someone felt the need to hide from the world for 15 years.
When the reveal of who actually was the murderer came about,I felt a little bit sad for both the main characters.
This is definitely one to watch out for.