Are you a fan of crime novels? And do you love to read murder mysteries set close to home? Aussie crime has never been so popular, with Chris Hammer, Jane Harper, Sulari Gentill and others making ‘bush noir’, ‘beach noir’ and ‘outback noir’ producing international bestsellers.
Now there’s a new Aussie crime writer whose works I’ll be following with interest – Dinuka McKenzie. Her first book is The Torrent, set in northern NSW and featuring Detective Kate Miles. To add to the interest of the story, Kate is heavily pregnant and only a week away from maternity leave, when a closed case is dumped on her desk. It concerns a man drowned in a flood, and Kate soon realises that the case is not as ‘closed’ as her colleagues thought. Kate is a likeable character, struggling to juggle the needs of a small child and husband along with her career, and the characters are all well drawn and interesting. The book is vivid, pacy and original and the novel held my interest from beginning to end. It won the 2020 Banjo Prize.
I see that Dinuka, who is an avid reader and who arrived from Sri Lanka when she was 12, has produced sequels. Taken was published in 2023, and her latest, Tipping Point, also featuring Kate Miles, has just come out this year. I’ll be getting both from my local library. I love discovering good new crime writers, so I hope you too enjoy Dinuka McKenzie’s books.
Have you already found Dinuka McKenzie’s books? Can you recommend another Aussie crime writer? Tell me your thoughts by leaving a comment.
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Malvina Yock
Hi Susannah, I’ve met Dinuka McKenzie at a few functions, she lives locally to me. I was quite taken with her book The Torrent and also Taken. About to launch into the third soon! Great reads, and she’s a lovely person.