Exquisite writing. The book cover is eye-catching and appealing and would spark my interest if in a bookshop. Thank you very much to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

This is the second book in the Ivan Lucic and Nell Buchanan series but can be read as a standalone, I have not read the first one but after reading Dead Mans Creek I will defiantly be downloading it pronto..
I read this book in two sittings and didn’t want it to end, this is a brilliantly constructed crime story that seamlessly goes from past to present drawing you in with each chapter. Chris Hammers description of the landscape is so beautiful and atmospheric I really felt like I was watching a film. The characters are really well crafted and extremely relatable.
I defiantly recommend reading this book if I could give it more than 5 stars then I would.
Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of Dead Mans Creek by Chris Hammer in return for my honest review.

Even by Chris Hammer's high standards Dead Man's Creek is an exceptional book.
Detectives Ivan Lucic and Nell Buchanan are sent to investigate the discovery of skeletal remains,discovered after an environmental activist has blown up a small dam in a remote part of a forest. Baffled as to why his boss has sent them on a long journey for what turns out to be a murder.......but an 80 year-old one, Lucic leaves Buchanan ,who grew up and has family in the area, to finish up the enquiry on her own. Another body is found and things become very personal for Nell Buchanan.

This is a book to savour,not skip through or speed read. Firstly because Hammer brings the forest alive,almost painting a lyrical picture of the remote but beautiful environment with its hidden places,the remnants of its industrial past and the flora and fauna. It almost becomes a character itself with it's own history and secrets.
Then there are the 3 timelines,yes 3,with a whole mass of characters that are at first confusing but all knit together making a fascinating and compelling tale of past sins,complex relationships ,small town rivalries and grudges held through the generations.
I was already really impressed,and engrossed,as I got towards the end of the book thinking the tale was told and it was winding down........but there were plenty of surprises to come and I finished it,sat back and thought, "Wow".

An exceptional book by an exceptional author.

A welcome return for Nell Buchanan from “Opal Country,” newly promoted to detective in homicide and reluctantly sent back to her hometown to investigate a cold case ( my favourite kind!) A regulator on the river is blown up by an eco-activist, revealing long-hidden bones that reveal a decades-old murder. But this is just the start of an investigation that will rock the small community and will reveal answers to mysteries that have weighed on its inhabitants for many years, particularly Nell’s own family, and she will risk everything to get to the truth. Her story alternates with narratives from the past featuring Nell’s mother, Tessa, and James Waters, a local man growing up during World War II who has a key role in the murder and its consequences. The gradual unfolding of the story and how it is pieced together is extremely satisfying, and it packs considerable emotional punch. The characters are well portrayed and interesting, and there is a strong sense of place and of the threats faced to the environment by progress. Chris Hammer just gets better with each book, and I love Nell, but I hope we get to see more in another book of her partner Ivan Lalic, who takes a back seat in this one. A brilliant slice of Outback Noir told with verve and depth.

4+
Ivan Lucic and Nell Buchanan #2

Location;- River Murray, the border between New South Wales and Victoria. There’s gunfire and a man is running pell mell through the forest desperately trying to evade it and a woman who blows a regulator which controls the flow of the river releasing water into the dry river beds and beyond. Thus starts the latest novel from Chris Hammer and it’s a fascinating read. Nell Buchanan is a newly promoted homicide detective while Ivan Lucic is a Detective Sergeant and he is to head up a rural flying squad based in Dubbo. Nell is reluctantly heading Tulong, near her home in Boonlea to discover why there is a skeleton in the now empty regulator and in addition, there is a missing man. The ensuing investigation shines a spotlight not just on Nell but into areas where she possibly wishes it wouldn’t.

This is my first Chris Hammer novel and definitely won’t be my last as I’ve just got one word to sum up his writing abilities and that is talent. For a start, he absolutely transports me to Australia (I wish) as it oozes Aussie atmosphere, there are some superbly evocative descriptions of the locations especially the river and the surrounding forest but also the wildlife. In a country where the most exciting thing to cross the road is either a pheasant, a hedgehog or the occasional fox or deer that stand more chance of survival than the first two, I revel in what car headlights reveal to Nell!!!

The storytelling is vivid, colourful and immersive where the past catches up with the present and how the author makes it all connect is so clever. It’s an addictive read as it twists and turns its complex way, peeling back the multiple layers so we peak and then fully confront the unpredictable truth. It flows so well with the points of view seamlessly melding into a cohesive whole, filling gaps in knowledge and revealing some ‘sharks’ along the way.

Whilst there are a lot of characters I never feel out of my depth as it’s inevitable in a plot of this magnitude. All characters are very well portrayed, some are colourful, most are very likeable and honourable and a few are downright odious True to life then!

Overall I thoroughly enjoy this compelling and well written book and look forward to the next instalment.

With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Headline/Wildfire for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.

This is the latest stellar offering from the talented Aussie crime writer, Chris Hammer, and it just might be my favourite to date. Nell Buchanan returns, overjoyed to be promoted to homicide detective, and paired with DS Ivan Lucic as part of a new flexible rural homicide unit based in Dubbo in New South Wales. Regulators are blown up so that the ancient forest is once again flooded by the Murray river. The two travel to Nell's hometown of Tulong, where the long dead murdered body of a man, shot in the head, is discovered in a regulator pool, the killer unlikely to be alive and little chance of identifying him . They meet and work with local cop, the ambitious and able part Aborigine Kevin Mackangara, Lucic leaves Nell in charge of her first cold case, he plays a minor role, supporting her, a complaint is made against her by a local pub landlord, Noel Tankard. He only takes over when it becomes impossible for Nell to lead the increasingly complex investigation when another body is uncovered in the creek.

There are numerous threads that go back and forth in time, there is the statement of Jimmy Waters, who as a child is left in charge of the cattle, taking them into the forest, of a financially struggling farm when his father enlists to fight in WW2, helped only by his Uncle Reggie. In the 1950s, 15 year old schoolgirl, Tess, develops a relationship with charismatic reporter, Tycho Buchanan, he has 2 brothers, Gene and Grainger, his father, Bert running a metal scrapyard. Nell is an unwelcome presence in a town of cookers, twitchers, conspiracy theorists, anti-vaxxers, preppers, and chancers. There is a recent missing person, Jean-Luc Hoffner, and Nell herself is reluctant to renew contact with her family, feeling that her choice of career and recent promotion will not be appreciated by them. However, as danger swirls ever closer to her in this multi-layered crime narrative, Nell is to find hers is a family of deeply buried secrets, secrets that beginning to surface, along with the dead bodies.

Hammer's storytelling is mesmerising, skilfully plotted, well researched, with the stunning location holding centre stage, the magnificent forests, river and creeks. The various threads of past historical periods that appear to be unconnected, slowly begin to come together artfully, like pieces of a beautiful and complicated puzzle. The author is one of my favourite Aussie crime writers, creating and developing a wide range of disparate characters and plotlines that effortlessly snare the interests of the reader. This is an engaging and immersive crime read that will appeal to fans of Hammer and Aussie crime, and I highly recommend it to all crime and mystery readers looking for the best in crime fiction. Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.

Dead Man’s Creek is a welcome return for the character of Nell Buchanan, who we first encountered in last year’s Opal Country, and is a typically twisty and complex tale of family secrets and loss. It took me a little while to get into the narrative, switching as it does between the past - focusing on Nell’s mother as a teenager in one strand, and Nell’s grandfather’s childhood reminisces in a second - and present, where Nell is called in to investigate a skeleton found in creek mud. But once the pieces began to fall into place to form a coherent whole, it was extremely satisfying and full of the excellent insight into the human character that I’ve come to expect from Chris Hammer. Highly recommended for fans of Jane Harper.

This really was such a cleverly written and complex thriller. The characters are well written and unique, each with a very individual voice and view point. It's one of those books that is so perfectly executed that you actually feel like your watching a netflix series and become totally immersed in the surroundings. It wad a tad slow to start with but once it gets going then you won't be able to put it down. I'm so excited to have discovered a new author I hadn't read before and am now off to see if I can find more of their works!!! Grab a drink, put the phone away and prepare to completely lose track of time once you lose yourself in this one!!

Solid four stars for this one. Nell Buchanan returns to her hometown after bones are found in a reservoir/dam. The bones turn out to be decades old with no leads to chase down and no-one connected to the case who would still be alive.

However, when another body is found, the story becomes even more complex and begins to involve members of Nell's own family.

This was definitely an entertaining read but a very complex story. I have to admit that I got a little lost with the number of family members, trying to keep track of who everyone was but maybe I was just sleep deprived!

The descriptions of the rivers and lands was excellent and this is clearly a talented author. Would definitely look out for this one in the future

This is a great novel. I loved the outback setting. The story alternates between present day and previous generations. The difficulties of being a non white cop in a small town are subtly woven into the story. It got off to a slow start (for me anyway) but soon becomes a fascinating read.

Home isn't a place Nell Buchanan visits if she can possibly avoid it. She has little choice however, as she's been sent to Boonlea for work, to investigate after a body, or what's left of it, is discovered after an explosion demolishes a river regulator. With partner DS Ivan Lucic she begins the task assigned but is dismayed to discover the case, her first as a homicide detective, is likely to be nothing more than the identification of a decades old victim where any suspects are long since deceased themselves.

Unfortunately the long dead stranger isn't the only secret unearthed by the explosion and when a second body is discovered a whole new raft of discoveries look set to rock the foundations of everything Nell thought she knew about Boonlea and its inhabitants. With familiar names and faces everywhere she finds loyalty is a dangerous commodity and that, in the end, even what you thought was indisputable and strong is rooted in sand.

Chris Hammer is, for me, the epitome of a thoughtful, measured author. No word, description, or conversation, is excessive or unnecessary. Seen through three first person timelines, the story unfolds effortlessly and even though it is a complex tale is never confusing. Nell's timeline shows how she and Ivan are still exploring their strained working relationship, and although neither of them want to be in her home town there are positives for both as the case progresses to an eminently satisfying conclusion.

I loved this book, and didn't want it to finish but with so many facets to the story I will definitely read it again. 5 stars don't do this justice as it hit every single spot for me and is easily one of my top reads of 2022. I hope Nell and Ivan will return at least once more as I'm sure Lucic too has a story to tell.

I was able to read an advanced copy of this book thanks to NetGalley and the publishers but the opinions expressed are my own. If excellent crime writing is what you're looking for this is absolutely the book for you. Highly recommended.

Hammer is definitely an author you don't want to miss.
He has relatable characters, and mysteries that I never solve.
Set in small town Australia, where the heat can sometimes feel like a character in itself.
In this one, a cold case turns even more complicated than you'd ever imagine.
It twists and turns in several directions.
As always enjoyable.