2023 Barry Award for Best First Novel (nominee)
2023 CrimeFest: Specsavers Debut Crime Novel Award (nominee)
2023 ILP John Creasey First Novel
2023 ITW Award for Best First Novel (nominee)
2023 Ned Kelly Award for Best Debut Crime Novel (nominee)
A NATIONAL BESTSELLER
Who's lying about what happened at Dirt Creek?
‘Blends a taut psychological thriller with a suspenseful police procedural…Fans of Liane Moriarty and Jane Harper won’t want to miss this page-turner.’ —Publishers Weekly, starred review
‘A novel of sharp-edged tempers, accidents waiting to happen and dark inheritances.’ —New York Times Book Review
When twelve-year-old Esther disappears on the way home from school in a small town in rural Australia, the community is thrown into a maelstrom of suspicion and grief. As Detective Sergeant Sarah Michaels arrives in town during the hottest spring in decades and begins her investigation, Esther’s tenacious best friend, Ronnie, is determined to find Esther and bring her home.
When schoolfriend Lewis tells Ronnie that he saw Esther with a strange man at the creek the afternoon she went missing, Ronnie feels she is one step closer to finding her. But why is Lewis refusing to speak to the police? And who else is lying about how much they know about what has happened to Esther?
Punctuated by a Greek chorus, which gives voice to the remaining children of the small, dying town, this novel explores the ties that bind, what we try and leave behind us, and what we can never outrun, while never losing sight of the question of what happened to Esther, and what her loss does to a whole town.
In Hayley Scrivenor's Dirt Creek, a small-town debut mystery described as The Dry meets Everything I Never Told You, a girl goes missing and a community falls apart and comes together.
Genre: Mystery
Who's lying about what happened at Dirt Creek?
‘Blends a taut psychological thriller with a suspenseful police procedural…Fans of Liane Moriarty and Jane Harper won’t want to miss this page-turner.’ —Publishers Weekly, starred review
‘A novel of sharp-edged tempers, accidents waiting to happen and dark inheritances.’ —New York Times Book Review
When twelve-year-old Esther disappears on the way home from school in a small town in rural Australia, the community is thrown into a maelstrom of suspicion and grief. As Detective Sergeant Sarah Michaels arrives in town during the hottest spring in decades and begins her investigation, Esther’s tenacious best friend, Ronnie, is determined to find Esther and bring her home.
When schoolfriend Lewis tells Ronnie that he saw Esther with a strange man at the creek the afternoon she went missing, Ronnie feels she is one step closer to finding her. But why is Lewis refusing to speak to the police? And who else is lying about how much they know about what has happened to Esther?
Punctuated by a Greek chorus, which gives voice to the remaining children of the small, dying town, this novel explores the ties that bind, what we try and leave behind us, and what we can never outrun, while never losing sight of the question of what happened to Esther, and what her loss does to a whole town.
In Hayley Scrivenor's Dirt Creek, a small-town debut mystery described as The Dry meets Everything I Never Told You, a girl goes missing and a community falls apart and comes together.
Genre: Mystery
Praise for this book
"I loved this. What wonderful writing. Scarily good! . . . Masterful. Australian crime has a new star. The characters of Dirt Creek are rich, raw and beautifully realized. One of the crime books of the year. Intelligent, nuanced and compassionate." - Chris Hammer
"A heart-wrenching mystery, Hayley Scrivenor's remarkable sense of place brings Dirt Creek to life. A stellar debut." - Jane Harper
"Dirt Creek is a remarkable debut, Hayley Scrivenor masterful in her deft handling of the tensions underpinning a small, regional town, and the complex characters that populate it. You will not be able to put it down." - Hannah Kent
"A heart-wrenching mystery, Hayley Scrivenor's remarkable sense of place brings Dirt Creek to life. A stellar debut." - Jane Harper
"Dirt Creek is a remarkable debut, Hayley Scrivenor masterful in her deft handling of the tensions underpinning a small, regional town, and the complex characters that populate it. You will not be able to put it down." - Hannah Kent
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