Ripping Rural Aussie Crime: Read Our Review of Ripper by Shelley Burr

The second novel of unputdownable crime from Shelley Burr, following the internationally acclaimed and award-winning success of WAKE.

Gemma Guillory has lived in Rainier her entire life. She knows the tiny town’s ins and outs like the back of her hand, the people like they are her family, their quirks as if they were her own.

She knows her once-charming town is now remembered for one reason, and one reason only. That three innocent people died. That the last stop on the Rainier Ripper’s trail of death seventeen years ago was her innocuous little teashop. She knows that the consequences of catching the Ripper still haunt her police officer husband and their marriage to this day and that some of her neighbours are desperate – desperate enough to welcome a dark tourism company keen to cash in on Rainier’s reputation as the murder town.

When the tour operator is killed by a Ripper copycat on Gemma’s doorstep, the unease that has lurked quietly in the original killer’s wake turns to foreboding, and she’s drawn into the investigation. Unbeknownst to her, so is a prisoner named Lane Holland.

Gemma knows her town. She knows her people. Doesn’t she?

Shelley Burr is a rural crime force to be reckoned with. No wonder she became a mega bestseller with her debut WAKE. Burr’s plotting is meticulous – as in almost mind-blowing… Just when you think you have the mystery solved, she’ll throw in something you never saw coming.

Our anti-hero, Lance Holland makes a brilliant reappearance after being imprisoned for his crimes in Burr’s debut novel. Burr also provides a moving meditation on a town destroyed and haunted by past trauma. How do you ever rebuild it? And what if the rebuilding of it invites more pain and more trauma?

Burr’s writing style is both keenly incisive and deeply humane. Not only is this a heart-pounding and relentlessly tense page-turner… it’s also a deep insight into the actions and consequences of our actions on others and our environments.  How our best laid plans are so often thwarted, usually by our deeper motivations and character.

Buy a copy of Ripper here.