***ONE OF THE TIMES BEST CRIME BOOKS OF 2021****** WINNER OF THE NED KELLY AWARD FOR BEST CRIME NOVEL ****** THE SUNDAY TIMES CRIME CLUB STAR PICK ***'A superb chronicler of cop culture' - SUNDAY TIMES'The greatness of Garry Disher' IAN RANKIN'The equal of Joseph Wambaugh and James Lee Burke' - THE TIMES________________________________________SMALL CRIMES CAN HAVE TERRIBLE CONSEQUENCESWinter in Tiverton, and Constable Paul Hirschhausen has a snowdropper on his patch. Someone is stealing women's underwear, and Hirsch knows how that kind of crime can escalate. Then two calls come in: a child abandoned in a caravan, filthy and starving. And a man on the rampage at the primary school.Hirsch knows how things like that can escalate, too. An absent father who isn't where he's supposed to be; another who flees to the back country armed with a rifle. Families under pressure can break. But it's always a surprise when the killing starts.A hugely atmospheric police procedural set in the dust of the Australian outback. Perfect for readers of Jane Harper, Chris Hammer and Dervla McTiernan.________________________________________'Disher is the gold standard for rural noir' - CHRIS HAMMER'The Hirsch novels are Disher's finest work' - DOMINIC NOLAN'This is a book that cannot be praised enough. Read it' - HERALD SUN'Peter Temple and Garry Disher will be identified as the crime writers who redefined Australian crime fiction' - SYDNEY MORNING HERALD