An enthralling and evocative Australian rural mystery-thriller
A Little Bird is an engrossing slow-burn small town mystery, set in rural western New South Wales, Australia.
Leaving behind a journalism career in the city, Jo Sharpe returns to her hometown, (fictional) Arthurville, taking up a job telling "good news" stories in the community newspaper, the Chronicle. Arthurville holds complex and bittersweet memories and associations for Jo - she has a dysfunctional relationship with her aging, ailing father, and is haunted by the mysterious disappearance of her mother, Merry, and baby sister over twenty years previously.
In the course of interviewing locals for stories, reconnecting with several past friends and acquaintances - including a couple of old flames - and enduring an awkward meeting with her mother's estranged family, Jo begins to scratch Arthurville's dusty surface, slowly uncovering secrets from the past. She comes across a cache of her mother's notes from when Merry herself worked at the Chronicle in the 1990s, including writing the newspaper's anonymous "A Little Bird" column, in which the embarrassing and dirty secrets of locals are alluded to. Did Merry unwittingly uncover a dangerous secret, and could that be behind her sudden disappearance from Arthurville, or was that secret her own?
Wendy James's evocative prose captures the dry, relentless heat of the Australian interior, and the feel of a community that has suffered years of deprivation and disappointment caused by drought. Her characters are flawed and multi-dimensional, relationships developing in understanding and complexity over the course of the story. The dual timeline narrative allows the underlying mystery plot to unfurl gradually and enticingly, as Jo closes in on the shocking truth of her mother and sister's fate.
I found A Little Bird to be a worthy addition to the ever-growing canon of Australian rural and regional crime fiction, and would enthusiastically recommend this title to readers who enjoy reading the work of authors such as Jane Harper, Sarah Bailey and Garry Disher. Like those authors, Wendy James combines a rich sense of setting, a cast of varied but believable characters and a well-conceived plot to weave an intriguing and satisfying mystery-thriller.
Sarah, 21/12/2021
