A nameless friar turns up at Halfwell Station at the same time that Ana, the adopted daughter of the station owners, discovers a body in the desert during her midnight walk. But when Ana returns to look for it, the body is gone.
Death Leaves the Station brings the cosy country-house intrigue of crime fiction’s golden age to the Australian wheatbelt, and was written for fans of classic mystery and crime fiction.
Read our Preview reviewer thoughts here:
The book is riveting and keeps you guessing. Told in a way that we truly see a glimpse of a historical era that although seems long ago, we still debate similar ideologies and prejudices. The development of the characters, in particular, our friar is faultless! – Constance, NSW, 5 Stars
I was blown away by Death Leaves the Station! It gripped me fast with its realistic characters and detailed prose, and it didn’t let me go until the final page. I was impressed to find out this is a debut novel – it was so polished and well written that I thought it was by a seasoned author! I loved the whodunnit plot that kept twisting and turning right to the end, and I enjoyed the Australian setting and the snapshot of what life was like back in the 1920s. The characters were also complex and fascinating (especially the friar). I look forward to hopefully seeing more from this author in the future! – Lisa, VIC, 5 Stars
Beautiful written, this novel magically transports you to the vast West Australian landscape in the 1920s. Rich with historical references to Australian yesteryear and mystery. This book will not disappoint! I’d love to see this on the screen! – Dianne, SA, 5 Stars
Alexander Thorpe’s debut novel is a fun, fast-paced adventure straight into outback Australia. Set in 1927, it explores the relationships between an unlikely group of people forced together under suspicious circumstances, and how their secrets are uncovered as the mystery unravels. The characters are easily likeable, the story well-paced, and Thorpe’s beautifully descriptive prose makes you feel the outback sun on your back and the dust in your throat as you read along. It is the perfect story to curl up with, on the lounge with a cup of tea in hand as you read in anticipation for the final development to expose whodunit. The twist at the end is well thought out, unexpected and unusually charming for a murder mystery. Overall, it was an enjoyable and exciting read, and I cant wait to see what else this author has in store for us. – Shontel, NSW, 5 Stars
Thorpe creates instant intrigue with a nameless friar, a plucky young woman, a native tracker and a pompous detective sergeant who set off to locate a missing corpse, and then pursue a murderer. His rendering of era and setting is excellent. With its strong Arthur Upfield flavour, this is a very impressive historical crime debut novel. More, please! – Marianne, NSW, 5 Stars
Halfwell station is home to Mariana Harris and her adoptive parents Ruth and Neville Harris, its 1927 and Mariana discovers a body that vanishes, with the police a native tracker and a mysterious friar the search is on to find the body, this book takes the reader on a journey from the outback to the city a great read I thoroughly enjoyed. – Deborah, NSW, 5 Stars
‘The truth will not be hidden forever. If you do not seek it, it will seek you.’ One night, in the summer of 1927 at Halfwell Station in the wheatbelt of Western Australia, eighteen-year-old Mariana Harris encounters two strangers. The first is a corpse that Mariana encounters during her solitary midnight walk admiring the skies, the second is a nameless friar who calls into the station. But the corpse has disappeared by the time Mariana takes the friar to it, although bloodstained stones remain. The police are called in. Mariana and the friar join the search, together with the powerfully moustachioed Detective Sergeant Arnold Parkes and Cooper the tracker. Their search (which will include Mariana’s third trip in a car) will take them from the goldfields to the city and will uncover several secrets. This is a journey through a racist Australia, where the treatment of Cooper (and others) is particularly uncomfortable. Who does the corpse belong to, who moved it and to where? Mr Thorpe combines an interesting cast of characters and an intriguing mystery (or two). I enjoyed this novel, a comparatively quick read at just under 200 pages. ‘A slow understanding spread throughout the room.’ – Jennifer, ACT, 4 Stars
Set in the 1920s in Western Australia, Death Leaves The Station is an insightful story of mystery and intrigue. Coming in at under 200 pages I would class this as a novella, a quick and easy read which was extremely informative on early Australian life. Halfwell Station hosts the story as a body is found and consecutively lost. This leads the protagonist, eighteen-year-old Mariana Harris on a mission to discover the truth accompanied by a nameless friar who wandered onto the station. Accompanied by the local Detective Sergeant this odd couple travel across the vast Australian outback accompanied by the local aboriginal tracker Cooper in search of the missing corpse. The story shows the plight of the local indigenous people and their unjust treatment, it is quite an eye-opening and a must-read for our younger generation. The mystery unravels with well-woven clues along the way, keeping you engrossed in the story and trying to piece together the conclusion. Death Leaves The Station was an enjoyable read that kept me guessing until the very end, it’s historical content was very thoroughly researched and made the story entertaining with a satisfying finish. Well done to author Alexander Thorpe. – Cassandra, VIC, 4 Stars
Death Leaves the Station, while shorter than most novels, is a great read which keeps you engrossed to the end. Set in the 1920s, the book has been well researched to reflect the times and location, with interesting personalities supporting the lead character, Detective Sergeant Arnold Parkes. Lots of twists in the plot keep you thinking, as do the scattering of not regularly used language which makes it even more interesting. Hopefully, Alexander Thorpe is planning further adventures for Detective Sergeant Arnold Parkes which will no doubt entertain us as much as Death Leaves the Station does. – Jane, NSW, 4 Stars
Loved the mystery in this book. Richly described setting really enhanced the story. An awesome read! – Veronica, NSW, 4 Stars
Death Leaves the Station is a compelling novel that entices you into Mariana’s journey to discovering what happened to the corpse she stumbled across whilst taking a nighttime stroll stargazing in the rugged outback of Western Australia. Mariana, or Ana as she prefers to be called, and her travel companions the mysterious friar, the ill mannered Detective Parks & local tracker Cooper try to leave no stone unturned to find both the corpse & killer. As the story unfolds I was hooked on every word trying to piece together the many secrets until the very last page. – Victoria, VIC, 4 Stars
Death Leaves the Station is the first novel by Alexander Thorpe, released by Fremantle Press. A rich and contextual historical mystery novel, Death Leaves the Station sees author Alexander Thorpe successfully turn back the clock, immersing his audience in 1927, Australia. In this short-form novel, the reader is confronted with a missing corpse, an eighteen-year-old woman determined to locate the missing body, a friar, an offbeat detective and a tracker. This is an eclectic cast, but Thorpe brings to life this unusual group through his solid characterisation. A bush based sojourn ensues, as the group resolve to locate the body that made a strange disappearing act. It is a journey that brings shocks, twists, turns, red herrings and more. The overwhelming sense of isolation that comes from this stark wheatbelt based locale works to heighten the atmosphere of this bush based crime tale. Thorpe ensures that his readership is able to play an active role in solving this perplexing case, thanks to the old fashioned detective work of Sergeant Arnold Parkes and his unlikely search party. Death Leaves the Station is a worthy debut from an up and coming new author. – Amanda, WA, 4 Stars
This mystery gives a good insight into the way people lived in 1927 and their relationships with local Aborigines. The characters are very individual and the descriptions of the land and customs back then are amazing. The ending was unexpected, which is always great. If you are looking for a mystery and learn something about WA history at the same time. – Sandra, NSW, 4 Stars
Death leaves the station is a short but entertaining mystery. It would make a great read at the beach or in a Cafe. Being set in Western Australia I feel it could have captured the history and places visited with finer details. The story itself is entertaining. Many murder novels are easy to predict but this one manages to keep you wondering. The characters could have been more developed, I feel I didn’t get to know them as much as I would have liked. Overall it is a nice little West Australian mystery adventure! – Ray, WA, 4 Stars
Mariana Harris wanders at night surrounding herself in the land and the sky. The deluge of stars ignites her imagination and illuminates her otherwise dull life at Halfwell Station. One night on her wanderings she hears a call and finds a body at the same time as a hobo arrives at Halfwell’s front door. Character depictions from Detective Sergeant Arnold Parker’s ridiculous moustache to Ana’s mysterious name, Cooper’s stoicism, to the hobo’s cassock and manner of speaking are exceptional. Language of the time used in context expands each character and the way they see, and experience, what happens. That with the exhaustive, and eventful, trips by car to the train station, the station to the coast, to gather information to solve the case, entice the reader to continue till the last page. I enjoyed this novel immensely. The isolation and description of the country, the societal depiction of the time when discrimination between white landowners, Aboriginal people, and women undertaking paid work, was deliberate. I thoroughly recommend this debut novel and look forward to reading Alexander Thorpe’s next novel. Thank you to Better Reading and Fremantle Press Inc. for the advanced reading copy. – Cynthia, NSW, 4 Stars
Mariana Harris wanders at night surrounding herself in the land and the sky. The deluge of stars ignites her imagination and illuminates her otherwise dull life at Halfwell Station. One night on her wanderings she hears a call and finds a body at the same time as a hobo arrives at Halfwell’s front door. Character depictions from Detective Sergeant Arnold Parker’s ridiculous moustache to Ana’s mysterious name, Cooper’s stoicism, to the hobo’s cassock and manner of speaking are exceptional. Language of the time used in context expands each character and the way they see, and experience, what happens. That with the exhaustive, and eventful, trips by car to the train station, the station to the coast, to gather information to solve the case, entice the reader to continue till the last page. I enjoyed this novel immensely. The isolation and description of the country, the societal depiction of the time when discrimination between white landowners, Aboriginal people, and women undertaking paid work, was deliberate. I thoroughly recommend this debut novel and look forward to reading Alexander Thorpe’s next novel. Thank you to Better Reading and Fremantle Press for the advanced reading copy. – Kate, QLD, 4 Stars
I really enjoyed this debut novel by Alexander Thorpe set in the 1920s in Western Australia. This is an intriguing story surrounding the mystery of a dead body which has been discovered… but then goes missing! A nameless friar, 18-year-old Mariana who first discovered the body, the local detective and a tracker set off together in search of the missing body. The author cleverly takes us along with this unlikely group on their mission to discover the truth, giving us clues and discovering secrets along the way. As well as the mystery in the story I also thoroughly enjoyed the historical content, learning about the 1920s way of life in Australia. The racism encountered by the Aboriginal people during this era is distressing but an important element for people to read. The mystery of the dead body kept me turning pages until the end and I look forward to the authors next novel. Thank you to Better Reading and Fremantle Press for the opportunity to preview this book. – Kim, VIC, 4 Stars
Death Leaves The Station is a fantastic tale featuring a unique plot, setting and time period and a motley assortment of characters. After Mariana (Ana) Harris discovers a corpse at Halfwell Station, she seeks the help of a nameless friar staying on the property. The corpse, however, goes missing and in comes Detective Sergeant Arnold Parkes and Aboriginal tracker, Cooper to investigate this mystery. The quartet embarks on a long and harrowing journey starting in Mullewa in regional WA, across to Geraldton and finally all the way down to Fremantle in hopes of cracking the case. Unbeknownst to the quartet, this journey will also help to unravel another large mystery spanning decades. While this is a work of fiction, all the locations mentioned are real and historical context is accurate for the 1927 time period, helping to provide authenticity to the story. – Christine, VIC, 4 Stars
Death Leaves The Station by Alexander Thorpe takes you on a daring adventure. The novel is set in 1927 and we are transported back in time with the vivid scenery in outback WA and the tough demands of life in that era. The story plot of the corpse leaves you suspecting everyone along the way. The Friar, Mariana Harris, Cooper – the local tracker and the Detective Sergeant all well-formed characters that you can imagine what they look like and keeps you wondering more about who they really are and if there is another story brewing below their personalities. For me the novel digs deeper than a mystery, crime fiction it unfolds choices and consequences even in the darkest hours. Life intersections are intriguing places as the Friar recounts: “In Mullewa, at the Railway Hotel, I told you that the time for honesty would come. I believe that time is at hand”. Thorpe weaves through the twists and turns and the end is not what I guessed but totally intriguing. – Jane, NT, 4 Stars
Death Leaves the Station is a well-written, engaging novel. The description of the isolation and distance, typical of the area, is excellent, as is the depiction of the characters, each of whom has some interesting quirks to their personalities. The racial prejudices of the time, which are apparent in the story, form part of the authenticity of the novel and are acknowledged in an author’s note at the start of the book to “…have since been recognised as intolerant or harmful,” and that “…the damaging legacy of racism should not be hidden or downplayed.” This novel seems to have the flavour of an Australian Agatha Christie, especially towards the end, when the process of how the various clues are pieced together to solve the crime is elucidated, Poirot-like, by one of the key characters. I thoroughly recommend this novel and look forward to reading more from Alexander Thorpe. Thanks to Better Reading and Fremantle Press for the advanced reading copy. – Charlene, WA, 4 Stars
This was a clever, engaging tale set in the 1920s with an interesting cast of characters. The language of the book was verbose and descriptive and set the tone perfectly for the era it was set in. Based in Western Australia, the book takes us on a journey through the outback to solve the mystery of the disappearing body, initially found on an outback station. The tale contains much more as the novel reveals itself. A quick and easy read by new author Alexander Thorpe. Readers of quick and clever mysteries will enjoy this book. – Sally, NSW, 4 Stars
Nothing much happens at Halfwell Station, so when a dead man and a mysterious friar turn up on the same day, it’s a sizeable shock for the locals. Alexander Thorpe takes the reader into the West Australian outback, circa the mid-1920s, in a time when old conventions and prejudices cling on as tightly as the red dust and dry heat. For central character Ana, the events of that one fateful night are the catalyst for not only her escape from the confines of a narrow, rural existence but also the trigger for a journey that ultimately leads to self-discovery and questions Australia’s early colonial views. Thorpe delivers satisfying twists and an unpredictable ending that will delight mystery fans, along with an eclectic mix of characters whose backgrounds and motivations will leave the reader guessing until the final reveal. – Lisa, SA, 4 Stars
Death Leaves the Station is an outback murder mystery centred around the hunt for a missing corpse. Eighteen-year-old Mariana (Ana) believes she witnessed a murder late one night on her adoptive parents’ station. She tries to confide in a visiting nameless friar (the mendicant), only to find when she takes him to see the corpse that it has vanished. The investigation involves Ana and the friar, in the company of the police, travelling the countryside and then on to the city in their quest to locate the corpse and to solve the mystery of the identity of the dead man. Death Leaves the Station seems a book of a bygone era with the written style reminiscent of the period, 1927, the year in which it is set. The story meanders along, reflecting the times when forensics consisted of a local tracker and a reconstructive portrait artist, telegrams were the most rapid form of communication and travel was by horse-drawn buggy, slow rattly motor vehicle over dirt roads, or by train. The characters are slowly developed, with old secrets drawn out during the course of the investigation. I love the beautiful classical English prose in the novel: I was unsurprised to learn the author is an English teacher “inflicting his idiosyncratic brand of English on innocent students”. I did find it somewhat frustrating that the back story of the friar remains limited, and his name is never revealed, however, this seems to leave him open for further development in potential future novels, for which I will watch with interest. – Fenella, NSW, 3 Stars
I’m afraid this book really didn’t do it for me. There has just been too much effort put into trying to add flowery adjectives to everything and to say things in the most complicated way possible. For me, it detracted from the storyline, which was, of itself, quite reasonable. – Karen, VIC, 3 Stars
Overall, a decent story that I was able to read quite quickly, despite the writing to be, in my opinion, excessively verbose, overly descriptive and in many places, too complex for the story. I found the ‘sub-plot’ revolving around Detective Sergeant Parkes’ moustache to be mostly pointless and annoying. I don’t believe it added to the story in any way. The ending appeared almost like a comedy of errors, too convenient – tied up with a neat bow. An enjoyable enough story and I hope this author will continue to write books with a distinctly Aussie flavour. I look forward to reading them. Thanks to Better Reads for an advance copy in return for an honest review. – Tracey, VIC, 3 Stars
A well-written book telling the story of a crime and the efforts to solve it in the early 1900s. Well done. – Brodie, VIC, 3 Stars
Noticing that I’ve been trending towards Australian bush crime novels, the blurb was intriguing and up my alley. Set in the summer of 1927, this novella captured the facets of station living and the city. Overall an enjoyable read although in parts I struggled with the relationship arc of the main characters. A good twist that I didn’t pick up on. I will reread again to see if I can see the clues. Overall, a solid read with some great historical content. – Jen, NSW, 3 Stars
I didn’t know what to expect from this book when I received my copy from better reading. I had not heard anything about it & all, but I was quite pleasantly surprised by the story. I have to be completely honest & say that it did take me a few chapters to get into the writing style, however, when I did, I really started to enjoy the storyline. The descriptions of the Australian landscape were excellent, and I could really picture the scenery. I did also like the way that some of the female characters were written, especially despite the fact that it is set in 1927 they were not always meek & mild-mannered. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of many of the male characters who are extremely unlikeable. I found the only male characters that were likable in the book are the Friar & Cooper. I also found the unnecessary focus on Parkes moustache became tiresome throughout the novel. For fans of Australian stories, it is an entertaining read. Overall a 3-star rating from me. – Susan, VIC, 3 Stars
An enthralling, whirlwind journey through the WA outback, the landscape adding to the mystery and intrigue of the storyline and characters. – Jacquelyn, NSW, 3 Stars
I did like the setting in 1927 and it was a good mystery but it was so hard to read so many extra unnecessary words. It was read quickly because I did want to see how it ended, it wouldn’t be a book I would recommend. – Lee-anne, NT, 3 Stars
This was an intriguing Australian crime novella. It was an easy and quick read that I managed to finish in one sitting. While the whole story concerns the investigation of a mysterious death, it almost seemed incidental compared to the exploration of societal views of women’s roles, Indigenous Australians and community. The implausibility of a young lady travelling with the police to investigate the crime was the only glaring flaw to the story. I will definitely read the next book by this author. – Karen, ACT, 3 Stars
This started off really intriguing with a murder where the body goes missing and a mysterious friar who turns up out of nowhere. Unfortunately, the author made very poor use of the characters and storyline. It didn’t move it keep me guessing I was just confused by the boring way the events unfolded. Would not recommend as what seemed like an exciting start just didn’t grab my attention and was a struggle to finish. – Leanne, SA, 1 Star
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