General News
26 June, 2024
Mystery in the Mallee scrub
In his fourth crime novel situated in regional Victoria, author Colin King sets the action against the backdrop of Wyperfeld National Park, Lake Albacutya and Rainbow, where his characters' family has been farming for generations.
In his fourth crime novel situated in regional Victoria, author Colin King sets the action against the backdrop of Wyperfeld National Park, Lake Albacutya and Rainbow, where his characters' family has been farming for generations.
It’s close enough to his hometown of Horsham for the former project manager to know the countryside intimately.
“The Mallee wilderness is an area I’ve long been fond of,” Mr King said.
“I grew up in the Wimmera and was drawn to nearby wilderness areas as soon as I could drive.
“The Big Desert, Little Desert and Grampians are all places I’d spend time trekking and camping.”
However, his latest novel was relatively slow to gestate, taking the better part of two decades to emerge from his imagination.
“The seed of Wire and Bone arose in the 2000s when I regularly drove to Mildura through thick Mallee scrub along the Calder Highway,” Mr King said.
“On the car radio I’d hear news about badly hidden bodies that kept turning up.
“With murderers making such a meal of things, it occurred to me that all they needed to do was drive up here and drag the body 50 metres into the scrub.
“This is where a writer’s mind can wander on a lonely four-hour road trip.
“Even better: you can look at a map, see a road here and one there, put the body in between them, drop it in there from a plane - guaranteed never to be found by a human being.
“So, that’s what I did.”
At the book’s official launch in Rainbow last week, Mr King was joined by The Lazy Farmer’s Sons - Ben and Andy Gosling - performing their song Wire and Bone which was borrowed for the title of the book.
As part of the sub-plot, lead character Ella and her sister hold a couple of meetings while operating farm machinery following the death of their mother.
“I was able to pick the brain of Ben Gosling after he had spent a day in the harvester about how it all works up here with families and properties and inheritances,” Mr King said.
“I hope I got that right - if not, I will blame him.
“Anyway, when I got around to writing a Mallee murder mystery I decided to drop the body from an aeroplane so it would end up in the absolute centre of nowhere.
“Then I set about solving the case, which is the part I enjoy most.”
Mr King, now based in Bendigo, not only delivers a fitting finale to the investigation, but takes his readers on a highly believable journey through family dynamics, farm succession and small-town interconnectedness.
Wire and Bone is an engaging, fast-paced, comfortable weekend read in the style of Ann Cleeves’ phenomenally successful Shetland series.
All four of Mr King’s books are available to loan through Hindmarsh Libraries.
Wire and Bone can be purchased online, at Redrock Books and Gallery in Horsham, or at the Dimboola Imaginarium.