Sapphire Falls
Reviewed By Janet Mawdesley November 7, 2016
Author Fleur McDonald
Distributor: Allen & Unwin
ISBN: 9781760112646
Publisher: Arena
Release Date: November 2016
Website: http:/www.allenandunwin.com
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As with all Fleur McDonald’s latest books, find a comfortable chair, a good cuppa or glass of wine, close the door, turn off the mobile and get set to spend the day in in a small country town somewhere in the outback of Australia, as you get to know the locals and join in with the pace of country life.
Booleroo is no different to any country town in Australia. It has several sides to it but when tragedy occurs, country people pull together to support each other through the tough stuff; or so you would think.
But when Fiona Forrest’s beloved husband Charlie commits suicide after the death of his mate Eddie, her world is turned on its head. She is struggling to cope with the death of Charlie and the all too real fact, that now, she is solely responsible for the running of the property; a property that was only just beginning to show results for all the hard work the she and Charlie had put into their sheep.
Not only that, but persistent illness was taking its toll and after almost collapsing, her mother forces her to see the local Doctor who advises her she is pregnant, which almost brings Fiona to her knees, as she and Charlie had not been in any rush to be parents; but now it looks like that was a forlorn hope.
When life turns challenging it never seems to be just one thing, but a whole raft of things that start to disrupt the even flow and if losing her husband, taking on the load of running the property, then discovering she is pregnant is not enough, it seems there could be some issues with the accident that caused the death of Charlie’s mate Eddie, and someone out there is putting pressure on to buy her property.
When Detective Dave Burrows arrives in Booleroo to take a look at the case, he discovers shoddy work by the young constables initially sent to the scene.When a few things do not appear to make any sense he begins to think that perhaps there was more to Eddie’s death than first seemed apparent.
He reopens the case and begins to stir up the even tenor of town with his questioning about the people involved in the accident, querying where the gun came from that caused Eddie’s death, as there appears to be, more or less, depending on who you talked to, guns involved than were originally accounted for after the accident.
Fiona finally comes to accept that someone has been systematically and deliberately trying to sabotage her and her property. The final straw comes when Fiona discovers that someone has stolen Charlie’s Ashes from their special place above the fireplace.
When these two factors begin to add to a raft of other strange and unusual events that have been occurring about the property, things start to go seriously wrong very quickly. But is not until her best friend Jo, who has been involved in an affair with a local man, where the sex involved is rough and violent, turns up badly beaten, everything seems to fast tract coming to a violent and unexpected head.
As with all McDonalds’ books the plot is complex, the country people warm and welcoming, immediately taking you into their community, with the ending will keeping you guessing until the last page.