Name: Crucifixion Creek
Rating: 5 (0 reviews)
Author: Barry Maitland

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Summary

Book Summary

A meth-addicted biker shoots a woman during a police siege. An elderly couple commit suicide on the terrace of their favorite café. An unidentified white male is stabbed to death in the street.

For Sydney homicide detective Harry Belltree, not long out of the military and a grueling tour of Afghanistan, these three deaths appear to be just another day at the office. Until, that is, he identifies the stabbing victim as his own brother-in-law Greg, and journalist Kelly Pool suggests there's a link between the three incidents. It seems Greg and the old couple had ties to the same man, a corrupt money man with a murky past and friends in both high places and low.

Harry Belltree can't get officially involved in Greg's murder, but he's not going to leave it in the hands of others. That's when he goes off-grid to investigate the links between these deaths. That's when things start to get dangerous.

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Media Reviews

"Starred Review. First of a series. Though you'll wonder early and often how Harry can possibly survive for any sequels, you'll hope again and again to be proved wrong." - Kirkus

"Starred Review. Well written with an elaborate plot, this fast-paced novel explores some aspects of the racial divide in Australia. Recommend for Claire McNab readers or anyone who likes police procedural." - Library Journal

"Recommend this bare-knuckle tale to fans of Peter Temple, another hard-boiled Aussie who likes it rough." - Booklist

"Complex, interesting characters will keep readers engaged until the improbable and unsatisfying ending." - Publishers Weekly

This information about Crucifixion Creek was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

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Reader Reviews

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Cloggie Downunder

An excellent Aussie crime page-turner.
Crucifixion Creek is the first book in The Belltree Trilogy and the fourteenth novel by Scots-born Australian author, architect and urban design expert, Barry Maitland. A former member of the Crows bikie gang shoots his girlfriend during a siege at Crucifixion Creek, in Sydney’s south-west; an elderly couple take their own lives at a beachside café; a builder is stabbed to death in an apparent mugging. Bankstown Chronicle journalist, Kelly Pool believes the incidents are connected, and she wants to trade facts with Detective Sergeant Harry Belltree.

But Harry has problems of his own: the stabbing victim was his brother-in-law and nothing about this murder makes any sense. And Harry is determined to get to the truth behind his parents’ death, three years earlier: a car “accident” that left his wife, Jennifer with a post traumatic brain injury causing blindness. While she has done much to adapt, and is an IT genius, Harry cannot let go of the idea that it was deliberate. He wants justice.

Maitland gives the reader a story that feels like it could, or possibly, has happened. A raid on a bikie compound, corrupt politicians, overseas junkets with sinister purposes, dodgy property financiers: it all sounds very familiar and quite topical. Maitland’s characters are complex and multi-faceted: while some are exactly what they first seem to be, this is certainly not the case for all of the players. Harry is appealing: a tenacious maverick who cares for those close to him but is certainly no saint.

There are twists and red herrings, plenty of tension and action delivered at a fast pace; shootings, stabbings, beatings and arson all form part of the mix, and occasionally, the reader will be left gasping at the turn of events. Of course, not all issues are resolved as this is a trilogy, but readers will be very pleased to join Harry and Jenny in book two, Ash Island. An excellent Aussie crime page-turner.

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Author Information

Biography

Barry Maitland

Barry Maitland is the award-winning author of several previous novels featuring DCI David Brock and DI Kathy Kolla, most recently The Raven's Eye, which was a Library Reads selection. Born in Scotland and raised in London, Maitland lives in Australia.

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