AUTHENTIC is a word that comes to mind with this very dyed-in-the-wool novel.
McGeachin has an ear for Aussie lingo and he blends it seamlessly into a bottler of a book.
- The Diggers Rest Hotel, by Geoffrey McGeachin. Viking, rrp $32.95
We meet Charlie Berlin.
He's joined the Melbourne police force after serving in Bomber Command and being a former prisoner of war.
In 1947, Berlin is sent to rural Victoria to catch a gang of thieves.
But with his post-war ghosts, not least the haunting death of a young Jewish woman in Poland, he's a troubled man.
He drops his swag at a pub.
The Diggers Rest Hotel is not the place north of Melbourne. This hotel is set near Wodonga.
It's a story about crime and passion of a particularly Australian kind and McGeachin always has his ear to the ground.
While the story is superbly crafted with tantalising hints dropped occasionally, when Berlin gets the clue that will break the case it comes at an entirely unexpected moment.
The book creates the idea of a small town with authority and empathy.
We feel we are there and we know the characters as they are in almost every country town - they prop up the bar in pubs that locals frequent and are not blow-ins.
This is a book that is hard to fault.
There are many twists and turns and when the boxing troupe arrives in Diggers Rest, there are more than punches landed.
The writing about the actual fights is gripping.
So where's the passion? Well, there's a sparky journalist called Rebecca Green in town and she packs a punch as a character.
A terrific book in all respects and one that will have you looking over your shoulder next time you're alone in a main street of any country town.
