Iris and Floyd are the children of parents transported from the old country for poaching. The Renshaw name is still a byword for thievery and violence despite the twins’ best efforts. With no work on the horizon, Iris suggests they head to the highlands after hearing about a puma killing sheep and now humans. Travelling through a starkly beautiful landscape, they find a tavern, oddly enclosed with the bones of what might be a whale from when the plateau and mountains were submerged, where there’s much talk of the Patagonian who left over a month ago, now presumed dead. Iris finds herself smitten with one of the hunters with whom she and Floyd reluctantly decide to combine forces. Their quest will end in a way neither could ever have imagined.
As with his previous novels, Robbie Arnott’s writing is anchored in the natural world but he knows how to spin a compelling story, too. The magnificent landscape through which Iris and Floyd travel is gorgeously described in vivid word pictures. As they follow Dusk’s trail, the twins’ backstories are sketched in for us – the childhood stealing for their parents addled by drink, rare kindnesses remembered, the reputation that no amount of honest hard work can expunge. A strikingly beautiful novel from a writer who's become a favourite of mine.

The best book I've read so far this year. Atmospheric, thrilling and vivid. It has great characters, an excellent story and I was hooked from the start. Couldn't put it down and can't wait to see it published.