Peace: A Sunday Times crime pick of the month (The Paul Hirsch mysteries)

"Everyone lied, every day – especially to the police. A one-off, outright lie, from someone unused to lying, could often be identified and disproved. Constant and habitual lying was harder to recognise, let alone challenge, because the liar no longer saw a distinction between a lie and the truth. They were all just words deployed in the interests of survival. In any case, most people lied some of the time, generally layering it with the truth to deflect blame, to sugar-coat their cowardice or stupidity."

Peace is the second book in the Paul Hirschhausen series by popular Australian author, Garry Disher. Hirsch has been in Tiverton, in the South Australian mallee, a bit over a year now, and he's doing his best to establish a working relationship with the locals, even to the extent of (not-quite-willingly) putting on a Santa suit. He enjoys his extended patrols of the area and connecting with the people who need him. In the week before Christmas, no excitement would be welcome, but is apparently too much to wish for.

The drunk driving into the pub veranda and the toddler in the hot car are handled as professionally as possible; a skip of stolen copper is a puzzle, as is a beaten pet dog, but a few days on brings a much more shocking case of animal cruelty. And then, on Christmas Day, a request from Sydney Police to do a welfare check on an isolated family results in a grisly discovery.

As the brass descend on Hirsch's little patch, it's apparent that some have not forgotten the reason he was relegated to Tiverton, but others seem to have an unknown agenda, and Hirsch wonders just why this little family had fled to his corner of the state.

Disher is a master of descriptive prose and expertly conveys the atmosphere and attitude of the rural town: his cast of townspeople will likely be familiar to anyone who has visited such a place. Snippets from Mrs Keir's 19th Century journal about the local area enhance the text.

While Hirsch is mostly a by-the-book cop, he knows nothing is black and white, especially in rural policing, and is wiling to make a judgement call, to adjust his policing to suit the situation, even if it sometimes comes back to bite him. He is certainly a likeable character, deserving of a little romantic joy with Wendy, and his dry inner monologue is often a delight.

The reader should not allow the fairly benign start, filled with quite a few darkly funny moments, to lull them into complacency, because soon the action becomes edge-of-the-seat stuff, building to a nail-biting climax, and the reader will be kept enthralled right up to the very satisfying final page. Brilliant Aussie rural noir that will have fans saying: more Hirsch please, Mr Disher!

This unbiased review is from a copy provided Text Publishing.