Beneath Her Lies by Leanda Herring

Debut author Leanda Herring has written a compelling crime story involving travellers in the outback of South Australia and an evil unstable woman. Posing as an accommodation host, Annie Butler is secretly searching for a female partner for her son Ryan who has suffered terrible childhood abuse at the hands of his missing father.

The story begins with the discovery of an unknown young woman’s body at the base of a summit in the Flinders Ranges. Detective Sergeant Bianca Mills is called in to investigate and seeks the support of clinical psychologist Jack Collins, who is struggling with the loss of his Forensic Psychologist wife Melissa. Bianca and Jack find it challenging initially without Melissa’s input into the case but gradually they methodically work through the clues and leads and make steady progress. Added into the mix is the historical case of four missing female students in the same area. Could these two cases be related?

The strong character development throughout the novel provides the reader with a powerful glimpse into how each person fits into the plot. Jack seems initially weak and self-centred but over the course of the investigation proves his worth. Bianca is the stabilising influence and doggedly persistent. Annie Butler is cruel, vindictive, manipulative and unpredictable. Ryan Butler is so badly mistreated in so many different ways, that you cannot but help find some sympathy for his actions.

As a first crime novel, author Leanda Herring has achieved a degree of success with all of the elements of crime fiction: an intriguing and mysterious crime, heightened suspense, a strong likeable detective, plus two key suspects - one malicious and one broken.

Themes: Crime, Australian Outback, Violence, Detectives, Family, Travellers, Psychologists.

Kathryn Beilby