Behind the Headlines

Some of my favourite novels are written by journalists, who turn the skills they honed investigating real events to spin a terrific yarn. Geraldine Brooks infuses her novels with meticulously researched detail. Annie Proulx deeply understands human nature. Chris Hammer understands police procedurals. Mark Twain, Ernest Hemingway, Tom Wolfe, George Orwell and others have all forged successful careers both in journalism and as novelists. 

Investigative reporter Louise Milligan has turned her attention to fiction in her debut novel, Pheasants Nest (2024). The story centres around Kate Delaney, a dynamic journalist who becomes a news story when she goes missing, presumed kidnapped. Her lawyer boyfriend, Liam Carroll, and best friend, fashion writer Sylvia Estrellita, contact the police. They don't hold out much hope, so hit the road themselves looking for clues. 

Meanwhile, Kate is in the back of a car, bound and gagged, racing down the Hume Highway with a man only referred to as The Guy. Kate is in pain from his assault on her, and terrified by the prospects of what might happen to her. She has attended enough courtrooms to know what sort of fate might await her. Will her kidnapper make a mistake? Will her boyfriend find her? Will the police solve the crime?

This is a quick-paced page turner and I read this novel in a few hours. There were aspects of it that I didn't like - too much backstory about various characters, an impossibly fabulous central character who is just the right kind of victim, and the way Milligan always used people's full names. However, Pheasants Nest is an impressive debut novel and I am glad Milligan made the leap into fiction.

My review of Louise Milligan's Witness (2020) is available on this blog.