{"product_id":"9781867270881_melaleuca-the-1-bestselling-debut-of-2025-a-gripping-australian-outback-crime-thriller-where-a-murder-in-the-present-leads-to-a-long-buried-injustice","title":"Melaleuca: The #1 bestselling debut of 2025. A gripping Australian outback crime thriller where a murder in the present leads to a long-buried injustice.","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eShortlisted for the Matt Richell New Writer of the Year, ABIAs 2026\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA country town, a brutal murder, a shameful past, a reckoning to come... The injustices of the past and dangers of the present envelop Aboriginal policewoman Renee Taylor, when her unwilling return to the small outback town of her childhood plunges her into the investigation of a brutal murder.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eRenee Taylor is planning to stay the minimum amount of time in her remote hometown - only as long as her mum needs her, then she is fleeing back to her real life in Brisbane.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSeconded to the town's sleepy police station, Renee is pretty sure work will hold nothing more exciting than delivering speeding tickets. Then a murdered woman is found down by the creek on the outskirts of town.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLeading the investigation, Renee uncovers a perplexing connection to the disappearance of two young women thirty years earlier. As she delves deeper and the mystery unfurls, intergenerational cruelties, endemic racism, and deep corruption show themselves, even as dark and bitter truths about the town and its inhabitants' past rise up and threaten to overwhelm the present...\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAuthentic, gripping crime drama from a bright new voice in fiction.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e'A page-turner with purpose. Refreshing, surprising, and propulsive. Angie Faye Martin is a name to watch.' \u003cstrong\u003eTracey Lien, author of \u003cem\u003eAll That's Left Unsaid\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e'\u003cem\u003eMelaleuca\u003c\/em\u003e is rich with authenticity and heart. Angie Faye Martin skillfully paints a picture of outback Queensland so that the scents, sounds and heat become a physical experience for the reader.' \u003cstrong\u003eLaura McCluskey, author of \u003cem\u003eThe Wolf Tree\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e'Atmospheric and blistering.\u003cem\u003e Melaleuca\u003c\/em\u003e will leave you wanting more. What a remarkable debut.' \u003cstrong\u003eFleur McDonald, author of \u003cem\u003eThe Prospect\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e'A fresh, authentic perspective to the much-loved genre of the Australian outback thriller. Compelling, thought-provoking and twisty, \u003cem style=\"font-size: 1em; letter-spacing: 0em;\"\u003eMelaleuca \u003c\/em\u003eis both a gripping, tightly plotted mystery and an unflinching exploration of the dark underbelly of institutionalised racism and corruption in Australia.' \u003cstrong\u003eKate Horan, author of \u003cem style=\"font-size: 1em; letter-spacing: 0em;\"\u003eThe Inheritance\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e'This intense, heart-wrenching and beautifully written novel introduces a bold, and important voice in Australian crime fiction. Set in a small, outback Queensland town, it features the resilient, courageous, and marvelously flawed Aboriginal detective, Renee Taylor. An atmospheric, compulsive read that I defy you to put down.' \u003cstrong\u003eKaren Brooks, author of\u003cem\u003e The Good Wife of Bath\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e'Powerful First Nations crime noir that interrogates law enforcement and how it intersects with Indigenous victims. Melaleuca is a compelling exploration of a police officer caught between two worlds, small-town complicity and justice long overdue.' \u003cstrong\u003eDinuka McKenzie, author of \u003cem\u003eThe Torrent\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e'Angie Faye Martin brings an important new voice to Australia's rich rural crime tradition. With a gutsy First Nations heroine, an atmospheric setting and a shocking crime that exposes a small town's prejudices, this is a book that deserves a large and enthusiastic audience.' \u003cstrong\u003eCassie Hamer, author of \u003cem\u003eThe Stranger at the Table\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Angie Faye Martin","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46905474810005,"sku":"9781867270881","price":34.99,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0484\/3175\/9509\/files\/9781867270881.jpg?v=1779845229","url":"https:\/\/harpercollins.com.au\/products\/9781867270881_melaleuca-the-1-bestselling-debut-of-2025-a-gripping-australian-outback-crime-thriller-where-a-murder-in-the-present-leads-to-a-long-buried-injustice","provider":"HarperCollins AU","version":"1.0","type":"link"}