The Broken Shore

I was recommended this crime novel by Peter Temple when I was at the bookstore looking for more Raymond Chandler. A clever recommendation, because they’re not immediately similar – this novel is very Australian, very modern, and uses language in quite a different way. But they’ve both got the sense of crime being something drab and ugly, the loneliness of the intelligent hero, and the vivid and exceptional writing.

This story is set in a country town. An old man is murdered. People assume it’s a robbery gone wrong done by some local Aboriginal youths. Turns out that that assumption has been planted, and the Aboriginal youths have been set up to take the fall. Turns out that the murder is part of something far more sinister. I must say the twist at the end is very, very Chandleresque – similar to The Long Goodbye, one of the greatest stories ever written.

Temple manages to put extremely realistic dialogue into the mouths of his characters, in a way that highlights the uniqueness of strine, and which creates a vivid picture of the locals. His major characters are allowed complexity, and he allows himself through his descriptions enough lyricism to build a solid picture. While he is dealing with utter evil, he doesn’t linger on it, but focuses on the people, on their reactions. By ensuring nothing is simple, he creates a solid reality about the places, situations, people.

I’m not certain if I’ll go on to read his other books. I’d quite like to know what happens to this bloke afterwards, but because it’s quite sad, I don’t know if I want to read about all the things preceding. It’s not depressing, and there’s hope at the end both for the character and the town. So perhaps I’ll wait for a sequel – the writing itself will be worth it.