Friday 2 July 2021

Past is Present

Chris Hammer's third novel in the Martin Scarsden series -  Trust (2020) - picks up a few months after the  events in Silver (2019).  Martin, his girlfriend Mandalay Blonde, and her infant son Liam, have been living in the coastal hamlet of Port Silver. Martin and Liam are playing on the beach when a phone call shatters the serenity and starts this novel racing. 

Suddenly Martin and Mandy are transported back to their past lives in Sydney where the action in Trust takes place. The body of a man is found, and Mandy has to reveal her secret past to Martin, explaining she was once engaged to the dead man. For the past five years Mandy thought he had disappeared after stealing millions from the bank where they worked. Meanwhile, Martin is invited to meet his former editor Max, who has a story he wants Martin's help with. Before Martin can learn what hot story Max was on to, the editor is killed and Martin takes up the investigation, leading him into danger. Detective Morris Montifore, journalist Darcey Defoe and many other characters from the previous novels also appear in Trust.

Beyond Martin and Mandy, the city of Sydney is a leading character in Trust. Hammer accurately describes the harbour city - its glittering wealth and its seedy underbelly. He has also positioned this novel in time, the impact of bushfires and the pandemic never far away. The plot lines are complex and intertwined, and Hammer has a talent for holding all these threads together and keeping the story moving at a cracking pace. 

I have been critical of Hammer's earlier novels for his superficial depiction of Mandy. In Trust, he fleshes out this character, giving Mandy an interesting backstory and moving her to the centre of the action. This novel feels very much like Hammer has wrapped up the Martin and Mandy series and perhaps they will return home to Port Silver to live in idyllic peace. 

My reviews of Chris Hammer's previous novels, Scrublands (2018) and Silver (2019) are also available on this blog.