In this searing, “indisputable page-turner” (Associated Press), a town’s dark secrets come to light in the aftermath of a young priest’s unthinkable last act—in the vein of The Dry and Where in fact the Crawdads Sing.

In Riversend, an isolated Australian community suffering from an countless drought, a priest does the unthinkable: he kills five parishioners before being removed himself.

A year later on, journalist Martin Scarsden arrives in Riversend. His assignment: to record how the townspeople about Scrublands are coping as the anniversary from the tragedy techniques. But mainly because Martin meets the locals and hears their version of occasions, he begins to understand that the approved description—a theory established through an award-winning analysis by Martin’s own newspaper—may be wrong.

Just like Martin believes he’s making headway, a shocking fresh crime rocks the town. As the nationwide media flocks towards the scene, Martin discovers himself thrown into a whole new secret.

What was the true reason behind the priest’s filming spree? And how does it hook up to additional fatalities in the district, if at all? Martin struggles to uncover the city’s dark secrets, placing his work, his state of mind, and his very life in danger.

For fans of James Lee Burke, Jane Harper, and Robert Crais, Scrublands is definitely “a gritty debut…sensitively rendered” (The New York Times Book Review) that marks Chris Hammer seeing that a stunning fresh voice in crime fiction.