JENNIFER PLATT | Hayley Scrivenor cleans up with 'Dirt Town', taking thriller genre to whole new level

'Stellar debut' from latest exponent of 'outback noir'

21 September 2022 - 21:07

Most thrillers end abruptly. Some immediately after the guilty character is divulged, others with an unexpected twist to keep one thinking. However, Dirt Town by Hayley Scrivenor has a prolonged conclusion. After the murderer is revealed, there are several chapters that contain not only a wrap up of all the characters, but what happens to them years later. Normally this would irritate me, but with Dirt Town it is sumptuous indulgence. Like discovering there is a second tray of chocolates in a Cadbury’s box...

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