"A rising star of crime fiction" Sunday Times
"Outback noir has a new star" The Times
Located off the coast of South Australia, Kangaroo Island lies surrounded by violent seas harbouring deadly great white sharks and forgotten shipwrecks.
Over the centuries the Islanders have cultivated a sense of self-sufficiency, independence and resilience. But times are changing: multimillionaires from the mainlaind are building immense clifftop mansions and filling the skies with private planes and helicopters. A quiet paradise is being transformed into a bolthole for the rich and privileged. And the locals aren't happy.
Richard Marlowe, a wealthy "blow-in" to the island, goes missing, last seen wading into the ocean for a dawn swim. A shark attack is blamed, but things don't add up. Reuniting for a new investigation, Detective Sergeant Manolis and Senior Constable Sparrow arrive on the island, but their presence isn't welcomed, either. Faced with hostility from both Islanders and newcomers, their attempts to locate the missing man are derailed by a civil war over limited resources, a fragile environment, and fractured community dynamics.
REVIEWS FOR THE STONING
"Political crime fiction of a high order" Sunday Times
"Deliciously dark outback noir" Guardian
- ISBN10 1529443067
- ISBN13 9781529443066
- Publish Date 31 July 2025
- Publish Status Cancelled
- Publish Country GB
- Publisher Quercus Publishing
- Imprint MacLehose Press
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 352
- Language English