Sarah Bailey's debut novel, The Dark Lake (2017), introduces Detective Sergeant Gemma Woodstock and a compelling new series of police procedural, crime thrillers.
Beautiful teacher Rosalind Ryan is found dead on the opening night of the school play she has directed. Her body lies in Smithson's lake, bright red roses strewn around her. Gemma and her partner Felix are assigned to investigate this shocking crime. But Gemma has a secret past with the victim, and a range of other matters she wishes to conceal, which threaten to come to the surface as the police dig deeper into the background of the dead woman and those around her.
I love unlikable protagonists. From the outset I admired Bailey's portrayal of Gemma as a deeply flawed mother, lover, daughter, friend and professional. She is complex and often makes bad decisions. As the novel progresses the two timelines - past and present - provides insight into the interwoven stories of victim and investigator.
This novel has everything I was looking for - an escape, a mystery, a distinctly Australian setting, and compelling characters. Sarah Bailey is part of a new wave of Aussie noir novelists like Jane Harper, Emily Maguire, Chris Hammer. I look forward to reading the next two novels in this series - Into the Night (2018) and Where the Dead Go (2019) - and seeing how Bailey's writing matures and learning what happens to Gemma Woodstock.