RIPPER
by Shelley Burr
(Hachette, $37.99)
Fresh from winning a Ned Kelly Award for her outstanding first novel, which meshed true-crime obsession with Outback noir, Canberra author Shelley Burr plunges readers into another twisting small-town mysteryLifelong Rainier resident Gemma Guillory once stared down a serial killer, but 17 years on, a tourism company, backed by some desperate locals, wants to cash in. Residents are split on digging up the town’s past notoriety, but is it their only chance of survival? When the tour operator is the victim of a copycat-style slaying near Gemma’s store, she must battle past and present fears. Could someone she loves have committed murder? Gemma is drawn into the investigation and so too is Lane Holland, a private eye whose sleuthing must take a different tack, given he’s now a prisoner incarcerated alongside the original Rainier Ripper (following the events of Burr proves she’s no one-hit wonder with a terrific second effort that delivers tension and humanity, and blends crime story with explorations of people, place and trauma.
