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Bitter Wash Road

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Bitter Wash Road

By: Garry Disher
Narrated by: Steve Shanahan
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About this listen

Shots fired on Bitter Wash Road....

Hirsch is a whistle-blower. Formerly a promising metropolitan officer, now hated and despised. Exiled to a one-cop station in South Australia’s wheatbelt. Threats. Pistol cartridge in the mailbox.

So when he heads up Bitter Wash Road to investigate gunfire and finds himself cut off without backup, there are two possibilities. Either he’s found the fugitive killers thought to be in the area - or his ‘backup’ is about to put a bullet in him.

He’s wrong on both counts. But the events that unfold turn out to be a lot more sinister.

©2013 Garry Disher (P)2021 W. F. Howes Ltd Crime Fiction Mystery Fiction Crime Suspense

Critic reviews

"One of Australia’s best-written crime fictions to date." (Australian)

"Fast-paced, funny, and believable." (Bookmunch)

"Smooth, assured mastery." (New York Times Book Review)
All stars
Most relevant
This story was full of characters, and they all twisted through the story and kept on surprising. I loved the narrator.

Great story!

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After my disappointment with Birds in Flight this is more like it, proper atmospheric Aussie crime.
Set in the fictional isolated speck of dirt town of Tiverton in South Australia’s wheatbelt, three hours north of Adelaide, the hot, dry landscape is as characterful as the stories protagonist Constable Paul “Hirsch” Hirschhausen. As a 'whistleblower', who reported on corrupt colleagues, he's had his promising city career curtailed & is exiled to a single-officer police station dealing with petty rural crimes, with his boss / colleagues in the nearest big town, an abusive, hostile, misogynistic bunch who he must be constantly be on his guard against.
Drawn into an investigation into suspected hit & run death, the victim a teenage girl, he finds as an outsider, getting answers from the suspicious of the police, tight knit community is difficult. A second death occurs, this time deemed suicide but to Hirsch it doesn't look right. Before long he realises that there are vested interests & hidden agendas at work covering up the truth behind both cases and that police corruption isn't restricted to cities cops & officials.
With engrossing multiple plotlines, believable characterisation, Bitter Wash Road was a well written introduction to a new Australian detective series. Particularly enjoyed author Garry Disher's descriptions, phrasings "October gathered her skirts and raced past."

Excellent South Australian policing noir!

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Really enjoyed this one. Have already downloaded the next in the series.
Steve Shanahan's narration is also excellent.

On to the next..

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Spellbinding, immersive, altogether brilliant! I could not put it to rest, need to know more! Sorry when it ended…

The characters and how they were portrayed in the delivery and reading.

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This is a really intriguing novel. The characters are believable and varied. Descriptions create images a beautiful yet struggling area.
Great narration by Steve Shanahan.

Characterisation. Descriptions. Structure of the narrative.

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