The Stoning by Peter Papathanasiou

Publisher's Synopsis

Molly Abbott, a popular teacher at the local school, is found taped to a tree and stoned to death. Suspicion falls on the refugees at the new detention centre on Cobb’s northern outskirts. Tensions are high between immigrants and some of the town’s residents.

Detective Sergeant Georgios ‘George’ Manolis is despatched to his childhood hometown to investigate. His late father immigrated to Australia in the 1950s, where he was first housed at the detention centre’s predecessor – a migrant camp. He later ran the town’s only milk bar.

Within minutes of George’s arrival, it is clear that Cobb is not the same place he left as a child. The town once thrived, but now it’s disturbingly poor and derelict, with the local police chief it seemingly deserves. As Manolis negotiates his new colleagues’ antagonism and the simmering anger of a community destroyed by alcohol and drugs, the ghosts of his own past flicker to life. His work is his calling, his centre, but now he finds many of the certainties of his life are crumbling.

White skin, black skin, brown skin – everyone is a suspect in this tautly written novel that explores the nature of prejudice and keeps the reader guessing to the last. The Stoning is an atmospheric page-turner, a brilliant crime novel with superb characters, but also a nuanced and penetrating insight into the heart of a country intent on gambling with its soul.

My Review of The Stoning by Peter Papathanasiou

The murder of a young school teacher in a lonely fly-speck of an Australian town is made notable by the method in which she was killed. Stoning is not something seen every day and brings with it a unique set of problems when trying to investigate it. This is the premise behind Peter Papathanasiou’s debut police procedural rural crime novel that introduces Detective Sergeant George Manolis.

“The ramshackle ugliness of Cobb appeared, expanding into the surrounding bushland like a malignant disease. My glorious hometown, thought Manolis.”

Bringing a city cop into a rural town to run a murder investigation is always fraught with tension. No-one appreciates the presence of the city slicker and appreciates even less advice on how their town should be run. Although he’s returning to the town he grew up in, Manolis is definitely the outsider and quickly learns his job is going to be a tough one.

The local police are not exactly running through what might be considered standard police procedures. Much to Manolis’ chagrin there is little evidence of any relevant investigation work having been done before he had arrived. Marking out a crime scene, securing evidence, taking witness statements…nope.

Manolis has to start from a point of less than zero. The crime scene is now over a day old, the police aren’t exactly falling over themselves to help and the locals want nothing to do with the outsider.

But he is investigating a murder, a point he makes numerous times in an effort to highlight the urgency of the matter. And this means he has to interview witnesses and potential suspects, gather clues and learn about any relationships between Molly, the dead woman, and the town’s residents.

Cobb is a town in serious decline. The locals spend their days drinking or taking drugs. There is no regard for the law and racism and misogyny is rampant throughout. The only thing keeping the town running economically is the refugee detention centre which, itself, is viewed with hatred by the locals.

“He’d grown tired of the fear-stoking, race-baiting, red-meat brainwashing that had been deliberately designed to appeal to residents’ basest instincts. It had been annoying at first, but now it was just plain exhausting.”

The refugee detention centre provides a further difficulty to Manolis’ investigation because the inmates are granted day release giving them access to the town. This means the potential suspect list is far greater than just the town’s residents.

The strength of the story lies in the microscope placed over the shameful social issues that we’d like to kid ourselves don’t take place in our own society. Casual racism, overt misogyny, xenophobia, alcohol and illegal drug abuse play a big role. And while there is no real answer on how to fix these problems, pointing them out and underlining them sparks a valuable conversation. 

The Stoning is a solid police procedural wrapped up in a narrative of today’s social problems. It takes some time to gain any real momentum before things take off in a rush (perhaps too much of a rush?).

Although I could see where Papathanasiou was attempting to take the story it tended to overwhelm the mystery itself. Ultimately, I was left somewhat dissatisfied with the ending and felt too much was left unresolved.