an exotic setting with noice local color and an acceptab;le plot
enjoyed it and will try others in the series ( )

A mixed race (half Aboriginal, half white) woman, Emily Tempest, returns to the outback after running away, just in time for the de facto head of their town to be murdered. Emily is struggling to fit back in with her old friends, but is determined to find justice. The most obvious suspect is a wilder, who is impossible to track or capture. As she continues to investigate though, other secrets come to light, leading to a broader list of suspects. Some good twists at the end; however, the Australian and Aboriginal slang is overwhelming, detracting from a good mystery staged in an unusual setting. I think an American edition, replacing much of the slang, would increase the visibility/popularity of this book. Not sure whether I will read book #2. ( )

Emily Tempest is finally home after a long twelve-year absence. Half white and half Aboriginal, she must relearn her place in the landscape; to re-establish old relationships with the community and people she used to love. But, at the same time she is a pesky armchair detective, always poking her nose where it shouldn't be. When a beloved member of the Moonlight Downs mob is murdered, Emily goes on the hunt to find his killer. It's personal because Emily has an extra special relationship with the victim's daughter.
Confessional: all throughout the book, when Emily was fearing for her life I thought it was an exaggeration until a few more people die. The amount of violence towards the end of the book was surprising.
Another confessional: you will appreciate Hyland's glossary of Aboriginal words in the beginning of the book. ( )

[Moonlight Downs] by [[Adrian Hyland]] is a mystery that takes place in Australia. The main character is "half Aborigine and half white". She has lived in both cultures and traveled a large part of the world, and chosen to return to live in the Bush. This story takes place during her re-entry to that world and her people and the adjustments that come with that choice. The perspectives of both worlds enter the mystery and it is great fun - well, fun for me because I get to visit a new place. Not so much for the people who are murdered.

I think of nature as alive and am especially attached to trees, which I think is pretty common. Hyland has written about the landscape from an Aboriginal perspective that makes even the rocks and boulders come alive. When he describes the landscape, it is like reading the history of a place by looking deeply at your surroundings. It has increased my understanding of the value of land to native populations and the importance of spiritual and holy sites. I have moved around too much to develop that type of attachment and appreciate that fully. I learned about both of these cultures about which I know nothing, and want to learn more. I'll read another of Hyland's mysteries, as well as delving into Australian history.

ALSO - congrats to Australia for winning The Masters this year for the first time! ( )

This book is set where I live, in the Northern Territory, in the center desert country – the author is a white man who is writing from the point of view of an Indigenous Australian – and doing it very well. Adrian Hyland spent many years on communities in the Central Australian desert area – so has at least lived with the people whose culture he recreates so achingly well.
Emily Tempest has a white father and an aboriginal mother. After her mother’s death her father took Emily to her mother’s people in the desert area of Central Australia; to Moonlight Downs. When she reached her teens, circumstances saw Emily leaving the community and moving to the big city for an education. The book opens with Emily returning to the community to get in touch with half of her ancestry. Emily has a foot in both the white world and the Aboriginal world, and is not sure she belongs in either. Almost immediately the community is plunged into chaos when one of the Elders is brutally murdered. All the evidence point to Blakie, a half mad mystical man who the whole community is afraid of. The police seem to agree and a hunt is set up for Blakie

Gradually Emily becomes convinced that no matter how scary he is, Blakie is innocent – and decides to look into the matter herself, trouble is, where does she start? If it isn’t Blakie, then who is it? Emily could be biting off a lot more than she can chew.

I have had a lot to do with Aboriginal Communities in the NT – including some of those in the desert region. Well I have to tell you that Adrian Hyland has captured the essence of the people truthfully. He presents the problems in a matter of fact way, he seems to be saying this is what happens, I’m not dwelling on it, I’m not condemning anyone, I am not blaming anyone – it just is. Land rights, health issues and alcohol problems being a just a few of the areas touched upon. But he also touches on the artistic abilities, the dreaming, the mysticism, the poverty and the resilience of the desert people; all is is portrayed perfectly. On top of this is an edge of the seat adventure with a cast of wonderfully crazy realistic characters like no others I have read about. But they seem oh so familiar to characters that I have met in the settlements and bush pubs across the Territory.

This book was the winner of the 2007 Ned Kelly Award for best first crime novel – a good measure of this books excellence.