Wake by Shelley Burr

Publisher's Synopsis

Evelyn simply vanished.

The small town of Nannine lies in the harsh red interior of New South Wales. Once a thriving outback centre, this ghost town now has one sinister claim to fame: the still-unsolved disappearance of Evelyn McCreery nineteen years ago from the bedroom she shared with her twin sister.

Mina McCreery's life has been defined by the intense and ongoing public interest in her sister's case. Now a reclusive adult, Mina lives alone on her family's sunbaked, destocked sheep farm. The million-dollar reward her mother established to solve the disappearance has never been paid out.

Enter Lane Holland, a private investigator who dropped out of the police academy to earn a living cracking cold cases. Lane has his eye on the unclaimed money, but he also has darker motivations.

WAKE is a powerful, unsparing story of how trauma ripples outward when people's private tragedies become public property, and how it's never too late for the truth to set things right.

My Review of Wake by Shelley Burr

The disappearance of young Evelyn McCreery from a family property outside the tiny central New South Wales town of Nannine was shocking for a tiny community and, some 20 years later, still hangs heavily over the town. For her twin sister, Mina, it’s been a long and difficult time and she still lives as a virtual recluse on the same family property.

When Lane Holland hits town he’s treated with suspicion and hostility. The man is a private investigator who specialises in cold cases, relying on the reward money linked to such cases. To everyone in town, Mina included, he’s just another opportunist come for the chance to make a name for himself and take the offered reward money.

What gradually becomes apparent is that, while he’s had past success in tracking down missing people, he also has a hidden agenda, something that’s personal and part of a closely guarded secret. The first hints of intrigue are sparked.

After some early moments of utter resistance Lane manages to establish his abilities in getting results when he helps another family in the area to track down another missing girl. It’s through these results that he begins to win Mina’s trust and is allowed onto her property where he can begin the process of gathering the information he needs to try to work out what really happened to Evelyn.

There is an uneasy chemistry built between Mina and Lane on the basis of trust and understanding. She wants to be able to trust that Lane’s motives for being there is to help her. It’s a shaky foundation that gets tested on numerous occasions. Mina has been burned in the past, ever hopeful that somehow, someone will help her find the truth about what really happened when Evelyn went missing. 

The isolation and the feeling of vulnerability this creates adds greatly to the mood of the novel. The desolate landscape, the oppressive heat and the hidden dangers in the land surrounding Mina’s homestead provide a constant reminder of just how easily a small child might disappear. 

There is no doubt that Wake is predominantly a character driven story that spotlights the emotional impact on those left behind after a tragedy strikes. Lives are altered, relationships are challenged and whole communities are affected. All of this plays out vividly through a series of apparent breakthroughs that come to nought before it builds to a dramatic conclusion.

This is a story that requires a little bit of patience as it slowly unfolds, but the slow burn reaches a jolting, jarring conclusion. Although it’s not exactly set in the outback, we’ll call Wake a fine example of outback noir that resonates with the pain of heartbreaking loss. This is a strong debut by Shelley Burr and leaves me eager to see what is coming from her in the future.