The Creeper

The title of this book should give you a fair idea of the pervading atmosphere created by Margaret Hickey in her new standalone tale. Readers are transported from the South Australian limestone coast, pockmarked with caves (the setting of Broken Bay), to the Victorian high country. There already exists a plethora of ghosts, shadowy figures and mysterious happenings in that region (fictional or otherwise), enough to keep podcasters going for decades, but to this particular canon we can add The Creeper.

The setting is a small township where a horrific mass murder of hikers occurred a decade earlier. Echoes of that violent event still cause ripples through the community. Lingering resentments among the residents are awakened like a sleeping dragon when young Senior Constable Sally White starts asking questions about what occurred back then. Being the only police officer in town (no doubt due to fictional government cutbacks), and fairly inexperienced at that, offers her considerable challenges. But, like every good criminal investigator, White’s instinct starts to kick in, though her tenacity is unappreciated.

The jagged, rocky landscape, dense bushland, and generally inhospitable conditions are a great backdrop for this story – offering a distinct analogy to the Edenville residents. This is one heck of a creepy book, and it’s a serious page-turner to boot: a true whodunit. Margaret Hickey is an impressive writer. With each new release, I feel she’s upping the ante, with great results. With The Creeper, I feel she has achieved a near-perfect balance of inexorable pace, tension and atmosphere. I finished reading this book deep in the night, with a chill up my spine that can only be described as a ghost walking across a lonely grave. If you’re looking for a great read for a cold, wintry night, this is for you!