Opal by Patricia Wolf

Publisher's Synopsis

A notorious unmarked track through outback Australia, the ‘Wire’ crosses slabs of lawless land, body-dumping grounds and mobile-phone blackspots.

Harvey Buck is certainly desperate. Racing to be with his dying girlfriend, he encounters Clare Holland, whose car has broken down. He offers the hapless traveller a ride . . . and then their nightmare begins.

The pair are ambushed by a vengeful crew - and strapped into bomb vests. As part of a deadly game, Harvey and Clare are forced to commit a series of increasingly murderous missions, or else be blown to smithereens.

Senior Sergeant Edna Norris is dealing with a runaway teenager; not an unusual job in a place where people go to disappear. But an unfolding crime spree turns this outback cop’s night into a fight for survival. Hot on Harvey and Clare’s trail, Edna finds a burnt-out car, a missing woman, a bank robbery and a bullet-riddled body.

And this road trip from hell has only just begun . . .

My Review of Opal by Patricia Wolf

The 3rd book in the Lucas Walker series, Opal by Patricia Wolf is a small town thriller set in outback Queensland. Although the title of the book suggests that we’re going to be treated to the ins and outs of the opal mining game, this is actually a murder mystery hampered by an enforced period of isolation. 

Australian Federal Police officer DS Lucas Walker’s sister is visiting from Boston and he wants to give her a visit to remember, keen for her to meet his family and the town of Caloodie. Things start off very well and their trip from Canberra to Caloodie allows them to catch up after years of being apart. But on their arrival at Caloodie, they discover that Blair Mitchell, Lucas’ cousin, is opal mining up north in the tiny town of Kanpara and needs to get home.

Ever the helpful one, Lucas offers to make the trip and Grace, eager to see more of Australia, decides she’ll go too. So, after a day’s rest in Caloodie they set off for another long drive through the outback to Kanpara where they meet up with Blair.

The pick up was only meant to be an overnighter, but before they can head for home the next morning they wake to find the roads in and out of town have been flooded. It seems that torrential rains in the north of the country have caused massive runoff floods through Kanpara which is part of the so-called Channel Country.

They’ve barely resigned themselves to being cut off in Kanpara when the chilling discovery of a double murder rocks the tiny community. The murder is brutal, one of the murder victims was Blair’s boss and, most concerning, the murderer must still be in town thanks to the floodwaters cutting off any escape.

Walker’s policing instincts kick in and can’t help but get himself involved in the murder investigation. This is something that’s not exactly appreciated by the Queensland police detective who’s been flown in to take over the case. 

Motives are plentiful. Miners are a jealous bunch and there was word that the murdered man had recently found a massive opal. Could someone have murdered him to get their hands on it? He and the murdered woman, not his wife, were killed in her bed. Jealous husband? And then there’s Blair, who had been overheard arguing vehemently with the murdered man the night before. Did he lose his cool in a big way? 

An atmospheric thriller, personal dislikes and irritations between the local population is intensified by being trapped in a small town. The inclusion of a killer among them simply creates even greater tension.

Although there are periods where very little happens, the pace of the story is solid thanks to the determination of Walker to track down the killer. The fact that the detective doesn’t particularly like him and has his own ideas over who the murderer might be ensures that the action is consistent. My only little gripe about Walker is his blinkered attitude when it comes to investigating crime. Once he makes his mind up it seems there’s no reasoning with him, even when I (and any reasonable person) could see that his reasoning was flawed.

As the floodwaters begin to recede the identity of the killer becomes clear, the intensity ramps up and we’re drawn to an exciting conclusion.