The Bluff is definitely an unputdownable crime novel filled with deception, betrayal and greed. It’s the second book by Joanna Jenkins whose first novel, How to kill a Client was a runaway bestseller. Joanna has both a law degree and a literature degree and her knowledge and skill in these fields is highly evident as this book had me hooked from the very first chapter.
Set in the rural hinterland of Australia’s east coast the novel’s main character, Ruth Dawson, is a recently widowed corporate lawyer who’s taken a break from city law to fill in at a friend’s small town legal practice. The author grew up in a small town and the location is loosely based on her own hometown.
This book wastes no time in setting up both a mystery and a crime with two seemingly unrelated incidents; a missing teenager and the death of a well known farmer who’s been found shot dead at his farm gate. The book then moves back in time to six months before the farmer’s death enabling the author to establish the timeline of events leading up to disappearance of the teenager, Bea, and the death of the dashingly handsome farmer aptly named, Dash. You can feel the tension building as the chapters countdown in months, weeks then days leading to the story’s climax.
The array of characters is fitting for creating a fictitious small town community but it does take several chapters to reveal all the characters and embed them into the story. The chapters shift focus between the key characters and this creates an interesting way to flesh out one character at a time while building the reader’s familiarity with them.
I certainly enjoyed how the author peeled back the layers of the characters and revealed that they are not all as they first seemed. There’s a sleazy local cop, a wealthy land-owner couple, a yoga teacher keen to recruit new students and a young indigenous boy with a smart mind and a sensitive heart.
The book also incorporates numerous contemporary issues facing people on the land such as the splitting off of areas of a farm to establish eco-tourism ventures, farmland regeneration and the destructive nature of feral cats. These all show that the author has far more than simply a surface knowledge of life on the land.
It’s fair to say that there are places in the book with disturbing dialogue and scenes featuring racisim and rape. While these are highly relevant to the plot I would suggest you give this book a miss if you’re likely to be triggered by these elements as they are quite explicit. Linked to this are some perspectives on the legal system’s handling of rape cases that are far from flattering but also highly real.
In summary I found The Bluff to be a really great read and I definitely enjoyed how the links between the characters were gradually relieved. So if you’re after a crime thriller that will keep you guessing right to the end and one that gives you plenty of other topics and issues to think about then The Bluff should be high on your reading list.
Author: Joanna Jenkins
Publisher: Allen and Unwin
ISBN: 978 1 76147 064 6
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This book review is supported by the Copyright Agency’s Cultural Fund
