Blood Moon

by Garry Disher


The Text Publishing Company. Australian, Crime, Mystery. Paperback rrp $32.95

If you haven’t read any of Garry Disher’s books, you are really missing out on a read that will keep you intrigued until the very last page. I admit I have only read two of Disher’s books, Chain of Evidence (which won the 2007 Ned Kelly Award and was reviewed in Issue 5) and Blood Moon, but I always pass these ones onto my husband to read and he agrees with me – they are ‘must reads’.

Blood Moon is the fifth novel about Detective Inspector Hal Challis and Sargent Ellen Destry. It follows on from Chain of Evidence where Challis and Destry are now partners, not only in the police station where they work, but also in life. But don’t be fooled into thinking you will find plenty of romance. Far from it. Challis and Destry have crimes to solve and murderers to catch.

Set in the coastal town of Waterloo in Victoria, it is Schoolies Week and along with the influx of young school leavers, a more sinister element arrives ... Toolies.

The local private school’s pastoral counseller being brutally bashed, a girl accuses a boy of rape the year before and a woman is found dead. Are all these crimes related? Or does the moon’s eclipse have something to answer for?

Complicating the investigations, local police have problems within their own ranks. Challis has got his work cut out for him this time.

I love crime novels and Blood Moon is a very strong modern and realistic narrative. It is a gripping and entertaining read, which may well leave some parents feeling a little uneasy about end-of-school trips.