-
Access Our
Best Book Club
Books of 2025!
A Belltree Mystery
by Barry Maitland
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.
"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.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
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.
Your guide toexceptional books
BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.
