Dirt Town

Hayley Scrivenor

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English

Macmillan
10 January 2023

Crime & Mystery; Australian Crime Fiction

My best friend wore her name, Esther, like a queen wearing her crown at a jaunty angle. We were twelve years old when she went missing.

On a sweltering Friday afternoon in Durton, best friends Ronnie and Esther leave school together. Esther never makes it home.

Ronnie's going to find her, she has a plan. Lewis will help. Their friend can't be gone, Ronnie won't believe it.

Detective Sergeant Sarah Michaels can believe it. She has seen what people are capable of. She knows more than anyone how, in a moment of weakness, a person can be driven to do something they never thought possible.

Lewis can believe it too. But he can't reveal what he saw that afternoon at the creek without exposing his own secret.

Five days later, Esther's buried body is discovered.

Character-rich and propulsive, with a breathtakingly original use of voice and revolving points of view, Dirt Town delves under the surface, where no one can hide. With emotional depth and sensitivity, this stunning debut shows us how much each person matters in a community that is at once falling apart and coming together.

Esther will always be a Dirt Town child, as we are its children, still.

WINNER OF THE ABIA GENERAL FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023 WINNER OF THE 2023 CWA ILP JOHN CREASEY (NEW BLOOD) DAGGER AWARD WINNER OF THE LAMBDA LITERARY AWARD FOR LGBTQ+ MYSTERY 2023 WINNER OF THE DAVITT AWARDS DEBUT CRIME BOOK 2023 SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2023 MARGARET AND COLIN RODERICK LITERARY AWARD SHORTLISTED FOR THE NED KELLY AWARD FOR BEST DEBUT CRIME FICTION 2023 SHORTLISTED FOR THE INDIE BOOK AWARDS 2023 FOR DEBUT FICTION SHORTLISTED FOR THE ABIA THE MATT RICHELL AWARD FOR NEW WRITER OF THE YEAR 2023 SHORTLISTED FOR THE DAVITT AWARDS ADULT CRIME NOVEL 2023 SHORTLISTED FOR THE DANGER AWARD FOR FICTION 2023 FINALIST FOR THE 2023 ITW THRILLER AWARDS FOR BEST FIRST NOVEL

Praise for Dirt Town:

'Dirt Town is a remarkable debut, Hayley Scrivenor masterful in her deft handling of the tensions underpinning a small, regional town, and the complex characters that populate it. You will not be able to put it down.' Hannah Kent

'I loved this. What wonderful writing. Scarily good! . . . Masterful. Australian crime has a new star. The characters of Dirt Town are rich, raw and beautifully realised. One of the crime books of the year. Intelligent, nuanced and compassionate.' Chris Hammer

'A heart-wrenching mystery, Hayley Scrivenor's remarkable sense of place brings Dirt Town to life.' Jane Harper

'Beautifully written, compassionate, with an entirely credible but heart-breaking ending. A stunning debut.' Ann Cleeves

By: Hayley Scrivenor
Imprint: Macmillan
Country of Publication: Australia
Dimensions: Height: 197mm, Width: 209mm, Spine: 27mm
Weight: 282g
ISBN: 9781761263804
ISBN 10: 1761263803
Publication Date: 10 January 2023
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Hayley Scrivenor is a former Director of Wollongong Writers Festival. Originally from a small country town, Hayley now lives and writes on Dharawal country and has a PhD in Creative Writing from the University of Wollongong on the south coast of New South Wales. Dirt Town is her first novel. An earlier version of the book was shortlisted for the Penguin Literary Prize and won the Kill Your Darlings Unpublished Manuscript Award.