Character driven mystery of small town secrets with a flawed yet relatable lead investigator. Absorbing and satisfying!
The Dark Lake marks an impressively atmospheric first foray into the crime fiction market for new Australian voice, Sarah Bailey. Part police procedural and part character study, the result is an absorbing exploration of the secrets hidden within the small New South Wales town of Smithson. Imbued with a sense of place that takes its readers to the heart of a rural community sweltering in the build up to Christmas that is forced to turn the spotlight on itself in a search for answers. Alongside some superlative storytelling this absorbing debut is a painstakingly slow battle for lead homicide investigator, DS Gemma Woodstock, to expose the truth behind the murder of a former classmate that comes dangerously to threatening to reawaken the ghosts of her own messy past.
When the body of beguiling Rosalind Ryan, the twenty-eight-year-old English teacher at Smithson High School is discovered face down at the edges of Sonny Lake surrounded by red roses the small town is united in shock. For lead detective, DS Gemma Woodstock, who alongside her police partner, DS Felix McKinnon is assigned to the case, her own personal memories of the enigmatic and inscrutably beautiful Rosalind, who was a former classmate, threaten to cloud her judgement as she investigates. As teenage contemporaries, Gemma was fascinated by the mysterious and aloof Rosalind, who seemed to hold a magnetic pull over all her peers. Having returned from Sydney to teach at her former high school four years previously it seems that very little has changed with her students and fellow teachers professing admiration and affection for her but with very few people having ever got any closer than arm’s length with little evidence of intimacy in her life. But just what has brought Rosalind back to her rural hometown, especially given her tepid relationship which her stiff father and three awkward older brothers? And why, given his father’s status as a millionaire local businessman, is Rosalind living so frugally in a barely furnished cottage with her only expenses seemingly devoted to fine wine with a stockpile of prescription medications for depression and anxiety?
Against the backdrop of a triumphant modern reimagining of Romeo and Juliet scripted and produced by Rosalind and enacted by year twelve students the character of Romeo is played by the younger brother of Gemma’s own first love in high school, Jacob, whose suicide still looms large in her own torrid past. Unwilling to be overtly forthright to her fellow detectives about the specifics of her shared history with Rosalind for fear of being taken off the investigation and colouring their own opinions of her, Gemma is forced to play her cards close to her chest. Already struggling to keep a lid on an intense romantic attachment to police partner, DS Felix McKinnon which threatens to devastate both of their stable families and increasingly unable to connect with live in partner and father to her young son, Gemma is driven to the point of exhaustion. As a fractious community and quick to criticise media presence exerts pressure on Gemma’s boss, the supportive and plain-spoken Chief Superintendent Ken (“Jonesy”) Jones, the desire for a resolution to the case ahead of Christmas mounts. As the detective partnership of Gemma and Felix slowly piece together Rosalind’s history and more recent past, the secrets begin to come to light and in turn threaten Gemma’s own personal skeletons...
DS Gemma Woodstock is a flawed and very relatable character caught in an unenviable predicament who I found easy to relate to and empathise with. She does not shirk from facing her own mistakes and accepting responsibility for her shoddy treatment of partner Scott, which is a by-product of her frustration at the dilemmas she is faced with. Narrated almost in entirety by Gemma with a timeline that offers tantalisingly occasional glimpses into her teenage years as it steadily progresses to revealing the truth, the pace is undeniably languid. Behind the tough facade, hearing Gemma’s perspective reveals her hidden vulnerabilities and adds depth to her character. The Dark Lake is undoubtedly a character driven mystery which is as much concerned with Gemma’s own history as the murder of Rosalind Ryan and this ensures the suspense is two-fold, driven firstly by the learning the exact nature of how Gemma and Rosalind’s past is connected and secondly, the identity of Rosalind’s murderer. As the flashback glimpses comes thick and fast and the investigation reaches a head, I identified the guilty party and their motivations well before the close, however it did little to detract from my enjoyment of an assured debut. Bailey evokes a sense of place of a town that has doubled in population size in just a decade and thereby changed the landscape and culture of the community. At just over four hundred pages I did feel that The Dark Lake could have been edited to come in at a more readable length and although I enjoyed learning about Gemma’s breakthrough case it did little to further my understanding of a character whose tenacity and willingness to “go rogue” is never in doubt.
Utterly absorbing, the slow pace as the authorities break down the wall of silence and the frustrations of a police team gives The Dark Lake the authentic feel of a team taking stock and factoring in their discoveries in order to edge progressively closer to the truth. As a more accurate picture of a manipulative and selfish Rosalind comes to light with rumours of the student teacher boundary being crossed, the murkier the investigation gradually becomes. Atmospheric and tense, seeing how the unfolding case would impact on Gemma and how her past has shaped her personality is undoubtedly well examined. Forced to accept some share of the burden of responsibility, it remains to be seen whether Smithson has a future for Gemma and her family after a case which takes its toll and makes abundantly clear that perhaps she and Rosalind have more in common than Gemma might like to admit. Whether a future case without the personal connection and with a settled domestic life can offer such fodder from Bailey and DS Gemma Woodstock remains to be seen, however I look forward to following the journey.
With thanks to Readers First who provided me with a free copy of this novel in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion.
When the body of beguiling Rosalind Ryan, the twenty-eight-year-old English teacher at Smithson High School is discovered face down at the edges of Sonny Lake surrounded by red roses the small town is united in shock. For lead detective, DS Gemma Woodstock, who alongside her police partner, DS Felix McKinnon is assigned to the case, her own personal memories of the enigmatic and inscrutably beautiful Rosalind, who was a former classmate, threaten to cloud her judgement as she investigates. As teenage contemporaries, Gemma was fascinated by the mysterious and aloof Rosalind, who seemed to hold a magnetic pull over all her peers. Having returned from Sydney to teach at her former high school four years previously it seems that very little has changed with her students and fellow teachers professing admiration and affection for her but with very few people having ever got any closer than arm’s length with little evidence of intimacy in her life. But just what has brought Rosalind back to her rural hometown, especially given her tepid relationship which her stiff father and three awkward older brothers? And why, given his father’s status as a millionaire local businessman, is Rosalind living so frugally in a barely furnished cottage with her only expenses seemingly devoted to fine wine with a stockpile of prescription medications for depression and anxiety?
Against the backdrop of a triumphant modern reimagining of Romeo and Juliet scripted and produced by Rosalind and enacted by year twelve students the character of Romeo is played by the younger brother of Gemma’s own first love in high school, Jacob, whose suicide still looms large in her own torrid past. Unwilling to be overtly forthright to her fellow detectives about the specifics of her shared history with Rosalind for fear of being taken off the investigation and colouring their own opinions of her, Gemma is forced to play her cards close to her chest. Already struggling to keep a lid on an intense romantic attachment to police partner, DS Felix McKinnon which threatens to devastate both of their stable families and increasingly unable to connect with live in partner and father to her young son, Gemma is driven to the point of exhaustion. As a fractious community and quick to criticise media presence exerts pressure on Gemma’s boss, the supportive and plain-spoken Chief Superintendent Ken (“Jonesy”) Jones, the desire for a resolution to the case ahead of Christmas mounts. As the detective partnership of Gemma and Felix slowly piece together Rosalind’s history and more recent past, the secrets begin to come to light and in turn threaten Gemma’s own personal skeletons...
DS Gemma Woodstock is a flawed and very relatable character caught in an unenviable predicament who I found easy to relate to and empathise with. She does not shirk from facing her own mistakes and accepting responsibility for her shoddy treatment of partner Scott, which is a by-product of her frustration at the dilemmas she is faced with. Narrated almost in entirety by Gemma with a timeline that offers tantalisingly occasional glimpses into her teenage years as it steadily progresses to revealing the truth, the pace is undeniably languid. Behind the tough facade, hearing Gemma’s perspective reveals her hidden vulnerabilities and adds depth to her character. The Dark Lake is undoubtedly a character driven mystery which is as much concerned with Gemma’s own history as the murder of Rosalind Ryan and this ensures the suspense is two-fold, driven firstly by the learning the exact nature of how Gemma and Rosalind’s past is connected and secondly, the identity of Rosalind’s murderer. As the flashback glimpses comes thick and fast and the investigation reaches a head, I identified the guilty party and their motivations well before the close, however it did little to detract from my enjoyment of an assured debut. Bailey evokes a sense of place of a town that has doubled in population size in just a decade and thereby changed the landscape and culture of the community. At just over four hundred pages I did feel that The Dark Lake could have been edited to come in at a more readable length and although I enjoyed learning about Gemma’s breakthrough case it did little to further my understanding of a character whose tenacity and willingness to “go rogue” is never in doubt.
Utterly absorbing, the slow pace as the authorities break down the wall of silence and the frustrations of a police team gives The Dark Lake the authentic feel of a team taking stock and factoring in their discoveries in order to edge progressively closer to the truth. As a more accurate picture of a manipulative and selfish Rosalind comes to light with rumours of the student teacher boundary being crossed, the murkier the investigation gradually becomes. Atmospheric and tense, seeing how the unfolding case would impact on Gemma and how her past has shaped her personality is undoubtedly well examined. Forced to accept some share of the burden of responsibility, it remains to be seen whether Smithson has a future for Gemma and her family after a case which takes its toll and makes abundantly clear that perhaps she and Rosalind have more in common than Gemma might like to admit. Whether a future case without the personal connection and with a settled domestic life can offer such fodder from Bailey and DS Gemma Woodstock remains to be seen, however I look forward to following the journey.
With thanks to Readers First who provided me with a free copy of this novel in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion.