Hayley Scrivenor: Dirt Town, Pan Macmillan, paperback,

"Dirt Town" was the  CWA New Blood Dagger Award 2023 winner and totally deserves the prize. This stunning debut held me in its grip from start to finish,  painting an unsettling portrait of a small town in Australia and a handfull of people, all connected one way or another to the disappearance of a girl. 

When 12 year old Esther Bianchi disappears, detective Sarah Michaels and a colleague are assigned to the case, interviewing those closest to her:

There is her friend Lewis who claims to have seen her with a strange man, a  boy whose own life is overshadowed by a disturbing family life and a bully of a father.

Her best girlfriend Ronnie is determined to find her friend, no matter what.

Esther's distraught mother Constanze, comforted by her best friend Shel, is stunned when her husband is arrested in connection with their daughters disappearance. 

It's one of my favorite crime novels  this year,  with well plotted characters,  completely unexpected developments painting a disturbing  story of seemingly ordinary people told from Sarah's, Ronnie's, Lewis' and Constanze's view. I will definitely keep this author and her skilled writing on my radar! If you like Jane Harper and Gary Disher this is for you.