The Seven

I'm embarrassed to admit that I'd never read any of Chris Hammer's bestselling crime fiction, though The Seven is number six (ha ha, six seven... iykyk...) This was another score from the Allen & Unwin offices, and my publisher saw me hesitating over it and urged me to take it, saying it was perfect holiday fiction and very readable, all of which turned out to be true. I really enjoyed The Seven and it will prompt me  seek out Hammer's previous novels.

Hammer pulls off a neat trick in The Seven, which is to run three parallel narratives: a current murder investigation (written in the present tense); events around the disappearance and probable murder of two young people in the 1990s (written in the past tense); and the story of the early history of the town of Yuwonderie, told through the letters of a young, well-educated Aboriginal woman. All these layers fold together to build a satisfying mystery, with interesting history and a cast of well-rounded characters. 

Hammer worked as a political journalist for decades before turning to fiction, which has given him both access to meaty plot substance, and a talent for economically sketching people. Terrific gifts for a crime writer. And extremely readable, to boot.