Blog Tour ~ Hermit by S R White

 

Thrilled to host today's final blog tour stop

Headline
17 September

My thanks to the publishers for my copy of this book
and for the invitation to be part of the blog tour

HE DISAPPEARED FOR 15 YEARS...SHE HAS 12 HOURS TO FIND OUT WHY.

After a puzzling death in the wild bushlands of Australia, detective Dana Russo has just hours to interrogate the prime suspect - a silent, inscrutable man found at the scene of the crime, who disappeared without trace 15 years earlier.

But where has he been? Why won't he talk? And exactly how dangerous is he? Without conclusive evidence to prove his guilt, Dana faces a desperate race against time to persuade him to speak. But as each interview spirals with fevered intensity, Dana must reckon with her own traumatic past to reveal the shocking truth...

What did I think about it...

Rural Australia is the setting for this slow and considered crime novel which focuses on the murder investigation of a local shopkeeper. The prime suspect is man who was found at the scene and who is considered to be something of a loner, a condition which seems to be replicated in the lead detective, Dana Russo, who is, herself, something of an enigma, especially after observing her behaviour in the opening scenes of the book.

At first the murder of shop owner, Lou Cassavette, seems like a burglary gone wrong but as we discover throughout the course of the novel, this case is far from simple.  Taking place over the day of the investigation Hermit is more of a slow burner of a novel, rather than an all guns blazing type, but I think that this is a deliberate skill employed by the author to enable the story to evolve entirely at its own pace.

The interaction between suspect and Russo is done in a thoughtful way with neither investigator nor perpetrator giving away too much of themselves. However, as soon as the suspect is brought into the interview room the clock is ticking and the race is on for Detective Russo to bring the case to a satisfactory conclusion. Reaching that satisfactory conclusion is where the real power of the story lies and I think the author has done a really good job of keeping everything tight and focused.

However, crime investigation is never that simple and in this case there are complexities, intrigue and horrors ahead. I don’t want to spoil anything by giving anything away as this complex character driven novel is best read with no preconceived notions of how the story will eventually play out. Hermit is an interesting police procedural novel with an unusual lead detective, it’s obvious that there is more to discover about Dana Russo and I hope we get to find out more in future crime novels.

About the Author

S.R. White worked for a UK police force for twelve years, before returning to academic life and taking an MA in Creative Writing at Nottingham Trent University. He now lives in Queensland, Australia.

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