‘Laura Elizabeth Woollett has done it again. The Newcomer pulls you in from its eerie opening and drags you along with intriguing characters and beautifully wrought prose. As the mystery deepens, you begin to realise things are never clear-cut, and everybody is guilty of something. A cautionary tale inspired by true events by one of my favourite authors. Read this book now.’

JP Pomare, author of Call Me Evie

‘The Newcomer is a dark and disturbing novel, speaking to some of the most troubling aspects of contemporary Australian society. As in Beautiful Revolutionary, Woollett's prose is delicate and brutal in equal measure, offering an intimate portrait of a small and tight-knit community. With a fast-paced narrative and a complex central character, this is a searing exploration of sexual violence and victimhood, taking forward important conversations within our national psyche.’

Catherine Noske, author of The Salt Madonna

‘Laura Elizabeth Woollett is my kind of writer — fearless, incisive, and darkly poetic. The Newcomer is by turns tragic, funny, sinister, and completely riveting.’

David Whish-Wilson, author of Shore Leave

‘Intensely chilling and sucker-punch powerful, The Newcomer is a murder mystery but not as you know it. With a seamless blend of electric prose, simmering tension, and a deeply evocative setting, Woollett sharpens her focus on the humanity of the victim rather than the identity of the killer. The small-town intrigue sets your heart pounding — but it's the characters, so nuanced and vivid you can almost reach out and touch them, who make it bleed. They pull you into their world from the first page and stay with you long after you've turned the last, forcing you to consider the stories of those who often go unnamed or unnoticed in the wake of violence and tragedy. The result is a crime novel that, like its protagonist, throws out the rule book and blazes its own dark and unforgettable trail.’

Anna Downes, author of The Safe Place

‘Intriguing and touching, The Newcomer is a new kind of crime novel.’

Mirandi Riwoe, author of Stone Sky Gold Mountain

'With its refreshingly real voice, Laura Elizabeth Woollett’s The Newcomer takes Australian crime fiction to a whole new level. Haunting. Raw. Compulsive. I can’t stop thinking about it.’

Anna Snoekstra, author of Only Daughter

‘Woollett is a dexterous storyteller — she has a keen sense of place and dialogue, evoking a Kath & Kim-esque fish-out-of-water story as she illustrates the relationships between Fairfolk Island’s many locals and Paulina, a "mainie" who is as strange to them as they are to her.’

Cher Tan, Books+Publishing