THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLING, CWA GOLD DAGGER-WINNING AND NED KELLY AWARD-RECEIVING CRIME POWERHOUSE: read The Broken Shore and become hooked on Peter Temple.

'A masterpiece' John Lanchester

'Read page one and I challenge you not to finish it' Independent on Sunday

Haunted by his last case, homicide detective Joe Cashin has fled Melbourne and returned to his hometown, running its one-man police station while his wounds heal and his nightmares fade.

But when a local man is attacked and left for dead, Cashin's recovery is put on hold. And in a small town where everyone knows everyone, he finds himself standing alone fighting a battle against corruption and prejudice.

Loved The Broken Shore? Then move straight to its award-winning sequel, Truth: 'The Broken Shore was good; Truth is better' Independent

"A towering achievement that brings alive a ferocious landscape and a motley assortment of clashing characters. Indispensible." - Guardian

"It's a stone classic . . . read page one and I challenge you not to finish it." - Independent on Sunday

"The first of Peter Temple's books to be published in the UK and at last we can see why he is acclaimed as one of Australia's leading crime writers . . . This is a very fine book." - Sunday Telegraph

"It's hard to know where to start praising this book. Plot, style, setting and characters are all startlingly good." - Sydney Morning Herald

"Temple's work is spare, deeply ironic; his wit, like the local beer, as cold as a dental anaesthetic." - Australian