*** LONGLISTED FOR THE CWA GOLD DAGGER AWARD ****** A SUNDAY TIMES CRIME PICK OF THE MONTH ***'A scorchingly good novel' - MICHAEL ROBOTHAM'Disher is the gold standard for rural noir' - CHRIS HAMMER'An utterly compelling mystery with rare heart and humanity' - DERVLA MCTIERNAN________________________________________AN ACT OF INEXPLICABLE CRUELTY. A FAMILY DESTROYED.Constable Paul Hirschhausen runs a one-cop station in the dry farming country south of the Flinders Ranges. He's still new in town but his community work - welfare checks and a light touch - is starting to pay off. Now Christmas is here and, apart from a grass fire, two boys stealing a vehicle, and Brenda Flann entering the front bar of the pub without exiting her car, Hirsch's life has been peaceful.Until he's called to an incident on Kitchener Street, a strange and vicious attack that sickens the community. And when the Sydney police ask him to look in on a family living on a forgotten back road, it doesn't look like a season of goodwill at all...A hugely atmospheric police procedural set in the dust of the Australian outback. Perfect for readers of Jane Harper, Chris Hammer and Dervla McTiernan.________________________________________'In this brilliant novel, Disher takes his readers on a harrowing journey' - JOCK SERONG'An atmospheric and nail-biting novel by one of Australia's finest writers' -THE TIMES'Disher is brilliant at rural noir, capturing the stifling atmosphere of a small town where resentments simmer' - SUNDAY TIMES