Hot, Humid, and Downright Dangerous: Read our Review of Still by Matt Nable

Darwin, Summer, 1963.

The humidity sat heavy and thick over the town as Senior Constable Ned Potter looked down at a body that had been dragged from the shallow marshland. He didn’t need a coroner to tell him this was a bad death. He didn’t know then that this was only the first. Or that he was about to risk everything looking for answers.

Late one night, Charlotte Clark drove the long way home, thinking about how stuck she felt, a 23-year-old housewife, married to a cowboy who wasn’t who she thought he was. The days ahead felt suffocating, living in a town where she was supposed to keep herself nice and wait for her husband to get home from the pub. Charlotte stopped the car, stepped out to breathe in the night air and looked out over the water to the tangled mangroves. She never heard a sound before the hand was around her mouth.

Both Charlotte and Ned are about to learn that the world they live in is full of secrets and that it takes courage to fight for what is right. But there are people who will do anything to protect themselves and sometimes courage is not enough to keep you safe.

Ever since I watched The Dry in cinemas, Matt Nable has been on my radar as an actor to keep an eye on. So you can imagine my excitement when I found out he’s also a writer. But I wasn’t ready for just how good his latest book turned out to be. Still is an evocative, confronting page turner, set against a haunting Australian landscape.

Still is not a fast-paced book, but that’s the best part about it. Nable takes his time building up the characters and tension, but when the dark elements of the story hit you, they hit hard. Abuse and corruption are some major themes explored in the novel, and Nable handles them expertly. Even though I read a lot of crime, this is a novel that left me shaken more than once.

Nable has written something truly special, and I hope that anyone who is a fan of Jane Harper or Chris Hammer picks this up immediately. Still is an absolute favourite of mine that I’ll be recommending for years to come.