The Torrent by Dinuka McKenzie

What deadly secrets have been swept away by the flood?

In Northern New South Wales, heavily pregnant and a week away from maternity leave, Detective Sergeant Kate Miles is exhausted and counting down the days. But a violent hold-up at a local fast-food restaurant with unsettling connections to her own past, means that her final days will be anything but straightforward.

When a second case is dumped on her lap, the closed case of a man drowned in recent summer floods, what begins as a simple informal review quickly grows into something more complicated. Kate can either write the report that's expected of her or investigate the case the way she wants to.

As secrets and betrayals pile up, and the needs of her own family intervene, how far is Kate prepared to push to discover the truth?

The Torrent is tense and atmospheric Australian crime at its best. Perfect for fans of Jane Harper and Chris Hammer.

Review

‘The Torrent’ is a brilliant new series for Aussie Noir fans, packed full of tension, fast-paced and has a brilliant female protagonist! I would not have known that this was a debut author as the book was extremely well written and plotted! I am excited that this is the start of a series as I thoroughly enjoyed reading it!

It is set in the small town of Esserton, in the Northern Terrorities of NSW and features heavily pregnant DS Kathryn ‘Kate’ Miles as its main character. She is of Sri Lankan heritage and her father used to be a Chief Inspector in the police. Kate should be starting to lighten her workload as she is due to start her maternity leave in a week's time but when a fast food restaurant is held up by three masked assailants wearing superhero masks, she is determined to solve it before she leaves. Especially, since the brutal attack on the cashier has left her hospitalised. Her boss DCI Skinner has also asked her to conduct a review into a case where a local resident, Joel Marshall, was killed during a recent horrific flood. There is no new evidence to review but the mother of the deceased is blaming his wife, Gabrielle of killing him! It should be a straightforward review but of course, it becomes more complicated…

I loved Kate! She comes across as a dilligient and hard-working police officer, one who has got there having to work twice as hard as everyone else due to the colour of her skin and her sex. I liked how the author played with the concept of having it all - trying to balance a working life with family life and the struggle of doing so. She is also stubborn though as the whole way through I thought she was going to give birth whilst interviewing a suspect! I liked her backstory and I'm intrigued about how her brother’s non-relationship with their father is going to play out over the series.

I really enjoyed reading this book and found it to be an engrossing read - I read it in a couple of sittings and felt myself to be immersed into a whole new world. I thought it was particularly well-paced and it was clear that the author has put a lot of research into one aspect of the case. It does mention that she used sensitivity readers in the author's note and I wished that more authors did this as its a complicated and sensitive topic.

Can't wait for the next in the series!