The Torrent by Dinuka McKenzie

Publisher's Synopsis

In Northern New South Wales, heavily pregnant and a week away from maternity leave, Detective Sergeant Kate Miles is exhausted and counting down the days. But a violent hold-up at a local fast-food restaurant with unsettling connections to her own past, means that her final days will be anything but straightforward.

When a second case is dumped on her lap, the closed case of man drowned in recent summer floods, what begins as a simple informal review quickly grows into something more complicated. Kate can either write the report that's expected of her or investigate the case the way she wants to.

As secrets and betrayals pile up, and the needs of her own family intervene, how far is Kate prepared to push to discover the truth?

My Review 

This debut novel by Dinuka McKenzie is a police procedural story set in the regional town of Esserton in northern New South Wales. Detective Sergeant Kate Miles is heavily pregnant with only a few weeks until leaving on maternity leave. 

But there’s still work to do. 

In fact, there’s a couple of cases that hold the focus of the story.

Firstly, Kate is asked by her boss to go over the case notes of a drowning that had happened a year earlier. A couple had driven into flood waters only for their car to be washed away by the swiftly moving water. The husband died while the wife survived. The finding was death by accidental drowning and Kate’s job is to confirm that the finding was correct.

And then there’s an early morning hold-up in which one of the workers was assaulted at the local McDonalds is the case that occupies the majority of Kate and her partner’s time. This is the second incident in which youths wearing Avengers character masks have brazenly walked into a store and held people at knife-point.

In both cases (cold and hot) the bare facts with which Kate and her partner, Detective Josh Ellis, are confronted with merely scratch the surface and require slow and methodical investigation to gradually draw out the salient facts.

In short, this is a classic police procedural that allows us the opportunity to play along and try to work out the truth before it is revealed to us.

Naturally, both cases become increasingly complicated with plenty of unexpected twists, perhaps one or two too many coincidences and a strong array of characters who are introduced and then finely developed.

The Torrent is a strong debut featuring a story that is notable for its focused progress. There is a feeling that the investigation is always moving forward and you never get into that impression of merely treading water, waiting for something to happen. This comes down to the relentless drive from Kate and her ability to unpick the smaller clues that present themselves in the various interviews and witness interactions.

Apart from being a strong female protagonist, and a heavily pregnant one at that, Kate is also from Sri Lankan descent so there are hints of racial prejudice to deal with too. Each of these aspects of her persona only help to enhance the impression of her strength and resilience as an effective investigator in a small-town police force. She is a character I could relate to for her flaws, doubts and conflicted emotions.

Quite simply, The Torrent works as a well-constructed police procedural that establishes the small-town insulation and passion. All aspects of the two crimes, the way they are brought together and then intertwined was deftly crafted and credibly detailed.

The good news is that there is a follow-up novel featuring Detective Kate Mills where we should enjoy further development of the characters and the town in which they live. 

The Torrent won the 2020 HarperCollins Australia Banjo Prize. The sequel is going to be titled Taken and it was longlisted for the Hachette Australia 2020 Richell Prize for Emerging Writers.