By Margaret Hickey
Publisher: Penguin Books Australia, 2024
Publisher’s blurb
Victim … or killer?
For the last decade, the small mountain town of Edenville in Victoria’s high country has been haunted by the horrific murders of five hikers up on Jagged Ridge.
Also found dead near the scene was Bill ‘Creeper’ Durant, a bushland loner, expert deer-hunter, and a man with a known reputation for stalking campers . . .
Conclusion: murder-suicide. Case closed.
But as the ten-year anniversary of the massacre draws near, Detective Constable Sally White – the only officer at Edenville’s modest police station – finds herself drawn into the dark world of the notorious Durant family.
Lex Durant has started to publicly protest his brother’s innocence and accuse the police of persecution.
As Sally combs the investigation to prove him wrong, it becomes all too clear that each murdered hiker had skeletons in their closet – and possible enemies in their past . . .
Review
by Kay Weller
The Creeper by Margaret Hickey is set in the rugged mountainous country of north-east Victoria. Senior Police Constable Sally White has recently moved from Melbourne to Edenville, a small town at the base of the mountains, where she has sole charge of the police station.
Ten years ago, five hikers were murdered on Jagged Ridge in the nearby high country: the body of a local man, Bill ‘Creeper’ Durant was also at the scene and because of his known reputation for stalking hikers and his proficiency in hunting the case was written off as a murder-suicide. Bill’s brother Lex, also an expert shooter, has always protested his brother’s innocence. Because of the impending arrival of a TV team who are making a documentary on the ten-year anniversary of the so-called Mountain Murders, Sally is directed to briefly ‘reopen’ the case to thwart any adverse comments on the original investigation.
After talking to Lex, Sally is struck by some discrepancies in the case and, against the advice of her boss, a long-term local Patrick Kennedy, she decides to dig deeper. Her investigations reveal that not only everyone on the hiking trip had secrets but also some of the locals involved in the aftermath, including her Park Ranger boyfriend Jim, have things to hide. Sally too, has uncomfortable skeletons in her own closet, and when she is targeted by one of the locals, with poisonous letters and attempts to run her down, she struggles to work out whether something in her past or something she has uncovered in her current investigation has triggered the attacks. For me, this constant speculation about who was really involved in the killings kept me turning the pages at a rapid rate.
Throughout the novel, the story of the murdered hikers is told by flashback which, along with Sally’s increasingly dangerous journey, ratchets up the tension. The rugged, treacherous and unpredictable nature of the Australian high country also forms a vivid backdrop, especially in the climax. Here, as part of the documentary, relatives of the victims and the sole survivor of the massacre are hiking the same route as the original party and at the last minute, Sally is co-opted into taking part. What could possibly go wrong?
I enjoyed The Creeper, reading on far into the night way past my normal bedtime. Sally’s character was well drawn, and there were just enough intriguing details in the backstory to keep me guessing until the final pages. I wasn’t sure we needed the epilogue: author Margaret Hickey had done such a good job weaving in the backstory with the events of the climax, that it seemed unnecessary. I can thoroughly recommend The Creeperto readers who enjoy well written, character driven crime novels with a distinctly Australian feel.