THE NIGHT WHISTLER

Nostalgic yet clear-eyed, simmering with small-town menace, with its distinctive characters and almost unbearable tension, THE NIGHT WHISTLER introduces a wildly impressive new crime writer and will appeal to readers of Jane Harper, Garry Disher and Chris Hammer.

It's 1966. Hal and his little brother are newly arrived with their parents in a small country town in New South Wales. They are exploring the creek near their new home when they find the body of a dog. Not just dead, but recently killed. Not just killed, but mutilated.

Constable Mick Goodenough, recently demoted from his city job as a detective, is also new in town—and one of his dogs has gone missing.

He's experienced enough to know what it means when someone tortures an animal to death: it means they're practising. So when Hal's mother starts getting anonymous calls at night—a man whistling, then hanging up—Goodenough, alone among the Moorabool cops, takes her seriously. The question is: will that be enough to keep her safe?

Greg Woodland has worked in the film industry for many years as a scriptwriter and director. This is his first novel.