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3.7 AVERAGE
3.7 AVERAGE
All of my reviews can be found at https://damppebbles.com/
Charlie Deravin’s mother disappeared without a trace twenty years ago. Now Charlie, a police officer on enforced leave following an altercation with his boss, is determined to find out what happened to her. However, Charlie cannot catch a break and comes up against dead end after dead end following years of searching for the truth. Speculation within the town where the Deravins lived has always been rife with Charlie’s father, Rhys, an ex-detective himself, firmly in the spotlight. Then one day the remains of two bodies are found in the grounds of a derelict property and life for the Deravin family will never be the same again…
The Way It Is Now is a very compelling and hugely absorbing mystery featuring an extremely well-written and multi-layered lead character in Charlie Deravin. This is Charlie’s story, documented across many years detailing his grief at the loss of this mother and his obsession with finding out what happened to her. Her car was abandoned one day with her possessions strewn across the road. To the casual observer it looked as though Rose Deravin had been abducted. But the police investigation failed to get off of the ground, particularly as the police already had their prime suspect in their sights. Now all they had to do was prove Rhys Deravin guilty, one way or another. Did Rhys kill Rose twenty years ago to prevent their divorce and the sale of their family home? What I loved about The Way It Is Now is that you can never really be sure of Rhys Deravin. Whether he’s guilty or innocent. There were always questions in my mind. Things which didn’t quite add up. I felt he was untrustworthy, part of the old boy’s network of cops back in the day, ‘turn a blind eye because he’s one of us’ and all of that. It made for gripping reading and kept me turning the pages late into the night.
Would I recommend this book? I would, yes. I thoroughly enjoyed The Way It Is Now and I am even more excited to get started on Disher’s Paul Hirschhausen series now. The Way It Is Now is a tense, unsettling, slow burn mystery with strong characterisation, a vivid setting and a highly intriguing storyline which I couldn’t get enough of. I really liked how Disher developed Charlie over the course of the book. There were softer, more emotional moments which were unexpected but endeared me to Charlie’s character even more. All in all, I very much enjoyed this book and look forward to experiencing the author’s writing again very soon. Recommended.
Charlie Deravin’s mother disappeared without a trace twenty years ago. Now Charlie, a police officer on enforced leave following an altercation with his boss, is determined to find out what happened to her. However, Charlie cannot catch a break and comes up against dead end after dead end following years of searching for the truth. Speculation within the town where the Deravins lived has always been rife with Charlie’s father, Rhys, an ex-detective himself, firmly in the spotlight. Then one day the remains of two bodies are found in the grounds of a derelict property and life for the Deravin family will never be the same again…
The Way It Is Now is a very compelling and hugely absorbing mystery featuring an extremely well-written and multi-layered lead character in Charlie Deravin. This is Charlie’s story, documented across many years detailing his grief at the loss of this mother and his obsession with finding out what happened to her. Her car was abandoned one day with her possessions strewn across the road. To the casual observer it looked as though Rose Deravin had been abducted. But the police investigation failed to get off of the ground, particularly as the police already had their prime suspect in their sights. Now all they had to do was prove Rhys Deravin guilty, one way or another. Did Rhys kill Rose twenty years ago to prevent their divorce and the sale of their family home? What I loved about The Way It Is Now is that you can never really be sure of Rhys Deravin. Whether he’s guilty or innocent. There were always questions in my mind. Things which didn’t quite add up. I felt he was untrustworthy, part of the old boy’s network of cops back in the day, ‘turn a blind eye because he’s one of us’ and all of that. It made for gripping reading and kept me turning the pages late into the night.
Would I recommend this book? I would, yes. I thoroughly enjoyed The Way It Is Now and I am even more excited to get started on Disher’s Paul Hirschhausen series now. The Way It Is Now is a tense, unsettling, slow burn mystery with strong characterisation, a vivid setting and a highly intriguing storyline which I couldn’t get enough of. I really liked how Disher developed Charlie over the course of the book. There were softer, more emotional moments which were unexpected but endeared me to Charlie’s character even more. All in all, I very much enjoyed this book and look forward to experiencing the author’s writing again very soon. Recommended.
The Way It Is Now by Garry Disher
Disher’s latest one-off mystery is an exciting addition to the catalogue of Australian crime fiction. Set on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula, the book weaves a web of corrupt coppers, family breakdown and missing loved ones as a frame to explore attitudes towards male violence, toxic masculinity and the complex web of loyalties, obligations, resentments and love that all families navigate.
The likeable, flawed lead character Charlie is a burned-out policeman, emerging from a failed marriage and haunted by his mother's disappearance twenty years earlier. The book charts Charlie’s journey towards self-reflection via a burgeoning new relationship coinciding with an enforced spell with a psychologist after the tussle with his misogynistic boss that led to his suspension.
The crime element of the novel is well-crafted, with excellent characterisations and clever plotting. While the story takes a little time to get going, the book moves at a good pace and in interesting and unexpected directions once the main elements are in place.
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ½
Disher’s latest one-off mystery is an exciting addition to the catalogue of Australian crime fiction. Set on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula, the book weaves a web of corrupt coppers, family breakdown and missing loved ones as a frame to explore attitudes towards male violence, toxic masculinity and the complex web of loyalties, obligations, resentments and love that all families navigate.
The likeable, flawed lead character Charlie is a burned-out policeman, emerging from a failed marriage and haunted by his mother's disappearance twenty years earlier. The book charts Charlie’s journey towards self-reflection via a burgeoning new relationship coinciding with an enforced spell with a psychologist after the tussle with his misogynistic boss that led to his suspension.
The crime element of the novel is well-crafted, with excellent characterisations and clever plotting. While the story takes a little time to get going, the book moves at a good pace and in interesting and unexpected directions once the main elements are in place.
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ½
dark
medium-paced
Disher verkar ha hittat sitt fack. Han tar en manlig - relativt modern och sympatisk - huvudperson och ett nytt eller gammalt brott, utan särskilt många krusiduller, som han placerar i en australisk småstad.
Det funkar, absolut.
Just den här gången är det ganska långsamt, vilket jag faktiskt inte har något emot (lite grejen med att läsa australiskt är ju att inte få amerikansk hets-takt på allt).
Jag är inget fan av att författare kastar in "the Chinese virus" i alla böcker just nu, bara för att, så det stör lite. Och latheten i upplösningen - även om den inte är värre än någon annan i genren.
En sak som jag inte vill behöva lyfta, men lyfter (lite särskilt för att vi snackar mitt älskade Australien, som tyvärr inte är något under av progression på alla områden): det är skönt att en karaktär (eller två, då vi snackar ett par) får vara homosexuell UTAN att det är en grej. Mer sånt, tack.
Det funkar, absolut.
Just den här gången är det ganska långsamt, vilket jag faktiskt inte har något emot (lite grejen med att läsa australiskt är ju att inte få amerikansk hets-takt på allt).
Jag är inget fan av att författare kastar in "the Chinese virus" i alla böcker just nu, bara för att, så det stör lite. Och latheten i upplösningen - även om den inte är värre än någon annan i genren.
En sak som jag inte vill behöva lyfta, men lyfter (lite särskilt för att vi snackar mitt älskade Australien, som tyvärr inte är något under av progression på alla områden): det är skönt att en karaktär (eller två, då vi snackar ett par) får vara homosexuell UTAN att det är en grej. Mer sånt, tack.
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
tense
medium-paced
dark
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes