Hermit by S.R. White

Publisher's Synopsis

After a puzzling death in the wild bushlands of Australia, detective Dana Russo has just 12 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 . . .

My Review of Hermit by S.R. White

The debut novel by S.R. White, Hermit is a rather harrowing police procedural crime story that features Detective Dana Russo. As well as proving herself to be an expert in interrogation, Dana is also carrying some serious psychological baggage taking us straight into heavy territory from the opening scene.

Dead in his own convenience store is owner Leo Cassavette who has been stabbed in the heart. Found with him in the store with blood on his hands is Nathan Whittler. On the surface of it, it looks very much as though Whittler has murdered the man. But Whittler comes across as a skittish man almost afraid of his own shadow. It’s Dana’s job to get to the bottom of what happened and she has the length of time they can legally hold Whittler - 12 hours - to get it done.

The majority of the book plays out through a series of interviews between Dana and Whittler. It is, in fact, a long, drawn out process that ever-so-slowly reveals that the man has been living alone off the grid for the past 15 years.

While the concept of dropping out and fending for oneself for an extended period of time was interesting, I found the telling of the tale to be slow and tedious. Much of the interaction between Dana and Whittler amounted to an extended dance around every raised subject as a game of building and maintaining trust was being played.

An added dimension to the fragile psychology surrounding Dana is hinted at in the opening pages as she sits and closely contemplates suicide. It happens to be the anniversary of a critical day in her life (repeatedly referred to as The Day) and she sits on the precipice as she attempts to cope. This internal battle proves to play a critical role in the way she interacts with Whittler. Unfortunately, there is a consistent lack of any real explanation about what happened to cause such emotional stress even though it is constantly referred to. Rather than be intrigued I found it to be an annoying distraction. (I think the thought “Will you please piss or get off the pot” passed through my head more than once).

The more meaningful investigative work was performed by the extended homicide team. Detective Mike Francis with his thorough efficiency was impressive as was the brilliantly adroit Lucy, the office administrator, whose wit was matched by her sharp tongue as she ensured no nonsense was tolerated. Another invaluable member of the team was Rainer, a young detective constable whose enthusiastic legwork in the field was invaluable. It was the teamwork carried out while the interviews were ongoing that provided some much-needed energy (and progress) to the case.

Hermit tries to balance a careful, empathetic bonding between interviewing officer and suspect with an evolving murder case. While it wasn’t always successful in being consistently compelling or even, at times, interesting, it was effective in taking us inside the minds of two troubled characters. 

A little more willingness to reveal information to me, the reader, in a clear and concise way would have been greatly appreciated.