One of my books of the year so far, Dirt Town features spectacular writing, realistic characters and a tense, atmospheric plot that you simply cannot put down.

The sense of place is superb, the scene setting and multi layered viewpoint pops, the whole novel has a beautifully melancholy feel with small town claustrophobia and a page turning story.

Might well end up being my no 1 this year, we'll see but its definitely going to be up there. Highly Recommended.

I was really looking forward to reading this book. I thought it captured the small town feel very well, with the various characters. I did find the book to be too slow for an impatient reader like me, and it just didn't move at a pace I would have enjoyed. It might well be me, and more patient readers may well enjoy it more, I hope so.

I literally couldn't put this book down, it was a gripping read that was engaging all the way through after hooking me right from the start - there wasn't a single sentence that made me wnat to put the book down, twisty and unpredictable, I loved it.

This excellent book tells the story of a missing child and the effects this has on the small outback town she lives in. The atmospheric descriptions give a great sense of place. The uncomfortable aspects of small town life are laid clear. There are some unexpected twists at the end. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and highly recommend it.

This is a story about a 12 year old girl who disappears on the way home from school. It’s set in a small Australian town and we get told the story from a number of different characters perspectives.

I felt the pace of the story was a bit slow in places, and it did struggle to hold my attention all the way through. This meant it took me a lot longer to read as I only did so in small spans. This possibly didn’t help with my enjoyment of the book because it was so piece-meal

I really enjoyed the way the story was told, using all the different people in the town, people whom were connected to the missing girl, and the police involved in the case. I thought that worked well and kept the story moving enough to want to see how it turns out. The author makes you think about cause and effect and the choices that a person makes.

I liked it but didn’t love it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Pan Macmillan for my copy ARC in exchange for this honest review

I could not put this book down and tried to guess who was behind it. It was written in such a way that it created a tense atmosphere throughout and I was gripped. Could not recommend enough!

Small town Australia in the middle of a searing heatwave, and two friends leave school to walk home together. Somewhere along the way they split up but only one of them arrives home.

Ronnie (Veronica) and Esther are the two besties, as close as best friends can be, so when Esther goes missing Ronnie is determined to find her. She enlists the help of Lewis, a geeky kid in the same class, whose home life is ruled by a violent father.

The two detectives drafted in from Sidney work well together, pulling in various theories, everything from a paedophile to a drugs haul gone wrong.

It has to be said that there is nothing new in this premise, but the telling of it is what makes this a gripping, enthralling page turner. The characters are all wonderfully believable, and whilst the women are strong, the men are often hard and violent. Dialogue is spot on, plot is clever. At times the same events will be seen from two different viewpoints which makes for interesting reading. The imagery is amazing – I could almost taste the dust. The reveal is so beautifully done, but I'll say no more about it.

This book reminds me of Megan Abbott's The End of Everything – another book I loved.

I loved this and will be on the lookout for future books by this author.

I was really excited to read this book, reading the description it really felt like something that would be right up my street.

The story focuses on a pre teen Esther who has gone missing after school. The story is told through various different perspectives, the mother of the missing girl, the missing girls classmates, the parents of classmates and finally the perspective of the police officer Sarah who is brought in specifically to help find Esther.

The story is set in a small town in rural Australia. This was a breath of fresh air for me, it's not something that has been over done and despite living thousands of miles away in urban UK I really got a feel for the claustrophobic feel of living in such a small place.

For me the strengths of this novel are the relationships and how complicated they are, Shell and Constance, Lewis and Campbell, Lewis' parents, Sarah and Amira and I really enjoyed the emotion brought by the author.

I went into this expecting a taught suspenseful thriller and it wasn't that but the quality of the writing was excellent.

The ending wasnt exactly how I thought it would turn out and overall I feel it let the book down, but this could be a very individual thing and I can see exactly why its the ending it needed and how well it did fit with the overall narrative of the story.

Thanks to Netgalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The formatting of the ARC wasnt the best, lots of repeated sentences and random bold words but I have not taken this into account when reviewing the novel as this is not the fault of the author.

A girl goes missing on her walk home from school and a small town in outback Australia reels from the disappearance. It was a hard book to put down, I spent a couple nights staying up a bit later then I should have to read. I connected with the characters and the pacing was great. It was well written and gripping but it felt like something was missing but I’m not sure what it was. Just like an inkling of a story not told or maybe too many stories told? I’m not sure. It didn’t stop me from enjoying the book though. I really liked the use of the collective first person for the children of the town although it took me a minute to get my head around it. Really good overall and have already recommended to people.

Childhood is a strange place. As we integrate into our minds the information we need to grow our understanding of the world around us, and hopefully come across nothing that stunts our evolution into emotionally maturity, we forget what it was like to operate in the world with so little knowledge, understanding and control. When we had to spend a lot of time trying to make sense of what can often appear confusing, scary, arbitrary or bizarre.

While some praise Hayley Scrivenor's debut Dirt Town for it's sense of place, the all important jewel in the crime fiction crown, I believe that the real craft in Scrivenor's arsenal is her ability to write the inner monologue of the children.

When twelve year old Esther Bianchi goes missing much of our understanding of Esther, her family and the residents of Durtown come from Reggie, and Lewis her best friends. It is their innocent interpretation of the world around them, tettering on the edge of a deeper understanding of themselves and others, and their attempts to solve their friends disappearance, which is then filtered through the lens of DS Sarah Michael's, which is the beating emotional heart of this novel, and lifts it from being just another missing girl story, into a coming of age tale.

There are occasional missteps in the novel, the collective "we," of the towns children could have been structured more evenly throughout the novel, and Shelly's confession of past wrongs done to her, was perhaps less artfully managed than Scrivenor's talent would have you believe is possible. However despite these flaws what we have in Scrivenor is a writer who is unafraid to be ambitious with what crime fiction can do, and crime fiction can only benefit.


With the last chapters we look at how this relatively short, but highly intense, period came to shape the characters future lives, and became woven into their emotional foundations. Genuinely, I wept. Who out of us would not weep when faced with the great tragedy of all human lives, that even when the blissful moments of childhood are infrequent, it is a state we all yearn for, but will never be able to return to, exiled from it as we are by the knowing that we sought, and the knowing which was thrust upon us.

Hayley Scrivenor - write another book soon please! I loved this novel from the very first line. The people who live in Dirt Town, and their surroundings, are described so perfectly. I was there in the small town with everyone who lived there - all their imperfections and day to day lives are so believable. A young girl goes missing one day and that is when we really start to find out who is who in Dirt Town and who could possibly have anything to do with Esther's disappearance. As it is a small town, a number of people are under suspicion.
This novel is so worth reading. Hayley has a way of making the physical place so evocative and I was just there, with the characters, every step of the way.

A brilliant debut, with writing that grabs you by the throat from the opening lines. Hayley Scrivenor's "Dirt Town'' burrows under your skin and stays there. I found it atmospheric with a strong sense of place. Scrivenor also employs a wonderfully imaginative turn of phrase, particularly when describing characters or setting. If you enjoyed "Mare of Easttown", or Chris Whitaker's "We Begin At The End", then "Dirt Town" will be right up your street.

Dirt Town by Hayley Scrivenor is the story of twelve-year-old Esther who goes missing on her way home from school in the small, rural, Australian town, Durton (a.k.a. Dirt Town). It's also the story of Durton's other children and their economically- and socially-challenged lives and friendships. The two city-detectives, Sarah and Smithy, who are assigned to the case uncover a drug operation. Initial investigations and interviews reveal little relating to Esther's disappearance with no clear suspects, motive, or even evidence of a kidnapping, murder or otherwise.

The story is well-written and is presented from multiple perspectives: Ronnie (Esther's best friend), Lewis (Esther's next-best friend), Esther's parents, and also Sarah (the lead detective) all reveal complex stories of their own. Each of these supporting characters have real and troubled relationships and lives that enrich the central story.

The author conveys the smallness and intensity of a rural community: inter-relatedness, long histories and unforgotten grievances, unhappy marriages and parenting struggles. But the author also conveys the innocence of children's perceptions of real life - of Esther's disappearance, single parenting, friendships, and fragile rural-Australian economics. The story of finding Esther is paced perfectly, with just the right amount of character and plot development to tempt the reader into reaching premature conclusions.

Dirt Town is a compelling and enjoyable story that kept me interested from start to finish.

I didn’t know what to expect from Dirt Town and deliberately didn’t read the blurb other than it was set in the Australian outback. This is a really good debut novel which although bore a few similarities to Jane Harper’s Australian noir thrillers, definitely ploughed its own furrow and provided a different voice and style. A very welcome one at that. I’ll be waiting in anticipation for Hayley Scrivenor’s next book!

I really enjoyed this book. I loved reading from different povs and found it to be a fast paced easy read I couldn't put down. Look forward to reading future releases from this author.

Thank you to Netgalley and Pan Macmillian for an advance copy of the book in exchange for a honest review.

Esther Bianchi, age 12, disappears on her way home from school in Durton, a small town in Australia. Her best friends Ronnie and Lewis are heartbroken and confused as their parents join the search for their friend. They cannot comprehend that someone as full of life as Esther could have disappeared.

The case is taken up by DS Sarah Michaels, who is determined to find Esther and discover what has happened. However, she is faced with the inward-facing prejudices and gossip of a small town, as well as shadows from her own personal life.

Lewis is perhaps the saddest character, with an abusive father, beaten down mother and severely handicapped brother. He clings to his friendship with the two girls as they are the only friends he has at school. But out of school he has found a new friend.

The story is told in quite a muddled way, presenting facts then backtracking to show how the characters react or what they were doing when an event happened. Interspersed are first person homilies, as if the town itself is speaking, which I found rather irritating.

Overall, I didn't enjoy the book as much as I expected to.

Thank you to NetGalley and Pan Macmillan for allowing me access to the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Pan Macmillan for an advance copy of Dirt Town, a stand-alone set in the rural New South Wales town of Durton.

When 12 year old Esther Bianchi goes missing Detective Sergeant Sarah Michaels is sent to Durton to investigate. What she finds is a town full of secrets.

I can admire Dirt Town as an excellent piece of writing, but, to be frank, it’s too character based and consequently slow moving to snag and hold my interest fully. The novel is more a reflection on how the ripples from one event affect the lives of so many. It is told from various points of view, Esther’s friends, Ronnie and Lewis, Esther’s mum, Constance, the detective, Sarah, and the collective we, providing a wider and less subjective take on events and some universal truths.

The characters are well drawn and seem realistic in their attitudes and reactions, although they all have something that pulls them out out of the banal work, marry, raise kids treadmill that the majority follow. That seems a touch forced but it adds interest to the read. There is a certain distance in the tone of the narration that keeps the reader at arm’s length and I found it hard to overcome it and really care about what happened to Esther or, more importantly, who did what. It doesn’t allow for identification with the characters.

I like the premise of the novel, a missing child brings more than just the police to a small, dying town. It brings secrets and emotions to the surface that otherwise may have gone, if not unnoticed, at least under the radar. The author is keen to point out causality, if not for this, then that wouldn’t have happened. It seems a bit fatalistic to me and avoids personal responsibility, but it also seems to reflect many people’s thinking, so what do I know?

Dirt Town is not my kind of novel in content, but I enjoyed the writing and the portrayal of the small town claustrophobia.

In the small country town of Durton, or Dirt Town as the kids call it, schoolgirl Esther Bianchi has disappeared. Her best friend Ronnie was the last person to see her when they went their separate ways after leaving school for the day. Two detectives from Sydney are assigned the case and they find a town where everybody knows each other and where several residents have secrets they don't want the police to know.

The story is told from several points of view: Sarah, the Detective Sergeant leading the case; Ronnie, Esther's best friend; Lewis, another school friend; Constance, Esther's mother and WE who are the collective children of the town. Moving from one POV to another doesn't detract from the story at all.

Thoroughly enjoyed this book from start to finish - a fantastic read.

Thanks to Netgalley, Pan Macmillan and Hayley Scrivenor for the ARC of this book in return for an honest review.

An absolutely riveting read! A child goes missing while walking home from school in a small Australian town and everyone is a suspect. Esther's disappearance triggers suspicion among the locals and secrets are slowly revealed. The pacing was spot on and the host of narrators (from Esther's best friend to the cop brought in to investigate) keep the intrigue moving. I'll definitely be looking for more from this debut author.

4+

I think this skims into my books of the year,having read it in the last few days of December.
It perfectly sums up the claustrophobic atmosphere of a small town where everybody knows you and/or is related to you.
Behind that,there are secrets, both the real sort,and the look the other way and pretend you didn't see sort.
The descriptions of childhood from Ronnie's narration were pitch perfect and had me all nostalgic,even though I've never been to Australia.
All I all,its a book that can pull at quite a few emotions,and packs a few surprises.
I raced through it in one sitting .