Author: Margaret Hickey
Publisher: Penguin Books Australia
Genre: Crime, Mystery, Outback Noir, Suspense Thriller
Year of Release 2022
Release Date: 05/07/2022
Rating 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Book #1 of #3
Synopsis
A desert highway. A remote town. A murder that won’t stay hidden.
New Year’s Eve, 1989. Eighteen-year-old Ingrid Mathers is hitchhiking her way to Alice Springs. Bored, hungover, and separated from her friend Joanne, she accepts a lift to the remote town of Cutters End.
July 2021. Detective Sergeant Mark Ariti is seconded to a recently reopened case, one in which he has a personal connection. Three decades ago, a burnt and broken body was discovered in the scrub off the Stuart Highway, 300km south of Cutters End. Though ultimately ruled an accidental death, many people – including a high-profile celebrity – are convinced it was murder.
When Mark’s interviews with the witnesses in the old case files go nowhere, he has no choice but to make the long journey up the highway to Cutters End.
With the help of local Senior Constable Jagdeep Kaur, he soon learns that this death isn’t the only unsolved case that hangs over the town…
Review
1989 New Year’s Eve, 18-year-old- Ingrid Mathers accompanied by her friend Joanne Morley have made plans to travel 500km north. The pair are hitchhiking to Alice Springs to attend a New Year’s Eve party to celebrate their graduation. One morning Ingrid wakes early bored and hungover ready to continue their journey, however the two friends have gotten separated, and Joanne hasn’t shown up at the agreed rendezvous point unable to contact her Ingrid decides to wait a little while, in the end, she accepts a lift to the remote town of Cutters End in the South Australian outback.
July 2021 Detective Sergeant Mark Ariti is called upon to investigate a cold case from 1989 it shouldn’t take up too much of his time, it’s mostly about tying up any loose ends make the powers that be happy. Mark discovers he has a personal connection to the case. Three decades earlier a broken and burnt-out body was discovered in the scrub off the Stuart Highway 300km south of Cutters End. At the time it was ruled an accidental death, many people including a high-profile celebrity- even to this day are certain the body has met with foul-play-murder. The interviews Mark is conducting is turning up no new information and with the pressure mounting Detective Sergeant Mark Ariti finds himself making the long journey up the highway to Cutters End.
Upon arrival Mark meets with local Senior Constable Jagdeep Kaur it becomes clear to Mark that the burnt-out body isn’t the only cold case that surrounds Cutters End.
Every once in a while this reader gets an absolute hankering for a good Mystery/Thriller and the Audiobook for Cutters End was available in the library, having not read anything but glowing reviews for this series and hearing nothing but praise for the authors writing I had nothing to lose, and I was not disappointed from the opening sentence of “He wasn’t coming back. The finality of it hit and hot tears welled, growing soggy once more” to the very last line.
The moment the reader begins reading the Prologue it’s impossible not to care about these people even if they would be considered by other readers as strangers, author Margaret Hickey has crafted a diverse universe of believable and likeable characters that come to life as the plot progresses, but I found myself wanting to know more about them as people.
In recent months I have myself more and more intrigued and drawn towards the Mystery Thriller genre and Mark Ariti makes for the perfect character in which to delve into the genre, unlike many police procedural protagonists before him I was able to form a really strong and fast bond with him as a reader I only hope he becomes a more dynamic character as the series progresses because he doesn’t make me cringe and flinch away from the novel or series altogether, in fact, I would happily be his damsel in distress!
Although Jagdeep Kaur is a static character she isn’t completely unlikeable as a character I’m keen to find out if she remains throughout the series.
When the big plot twist was revealed, I felt somewhat like a dear in the headlights, it took me reading back over those pages a few times to fully comprehend what this reviewer was reading! This in no way takes away from the plotline if anything it shows just how invested I was in the story and the future titles in the series.
The plot much like the tagline keeps you on the edge of your seat making it harder to put the book down, so be prepared to not be very productive with your days once you open the book.
As I said before I haven’t read many police procedural crimes, so I found myself really emersed within this story as it feels original and deeply character-based rather than focusing on the shock value of the story but at the same time the shock value doesn’t take a complete backseat this is the reason behind the 5-star-rating.
If I had to describe Cutters End:
- Outback South Australia
- Hot
- Dry
- Middle of nowhere
- Small town
- Tight-knit community
If you enjoy police procedurals, small towns with secrets, and crime then Cutters End is well worth investigating.
Subplots included in Cutters End:
- Small town
- Marital problems
- Dual Timeline
- Whodunnit
- Misjudged death
- Early suspect
- Multiple murders
- Light bulb moment
- The big reveal
- The twist ending.
- High School Reunion
Tropes included in Cutters End:
- Small town
- Marital Problems
- Dual timeline
- Trustworthy policeman
- Outback/rural South Australia
- Cold cases
- Media influence
- High school reunion
- Multiple murders
- The big reveal
- The twist ending
In my opinion, the ending was something I didn’t see coming; I also believe some of the details that lead the reader to the closing builds enthusiasm to continue with the series in the very near future. I reluctantly left Cutters End feeling like I was glad to have met these characters and ultimately a little frustrated with some parts of humanity, but strongly satisfied with the outcome, I am eager to read more from this author and, if Detective Sergeant Mark Ariti is in change consider me a law-abiding citizen read the reviews for Stone Town and Broken Bay.
I highly recommend this series to a mature audience if you enjoy police procedurals, outback noir novels crime series with strong descriptive writing and what a cracking debut novel my only regret is that I didn’t discover it much, much sooner.