Moonlight Downs

The book cover says 'An Emily Tempest Investigation', so this is presumably planned to be the first in a series of mysteries. The protagonist, Emily Tempest, is in her 20s, and has a white father and an aboriginal mother. She took off to university and then traveled, but has come back to where she grew up. There's a murder, which she feels compelled to investigate. It's a bit uneven. I think the intent was for Emily to be tough and independent, but the character JoJo pops up conveniently on several occasions, and is super-humanly perfect. Another character is super-humanly venal, creepy and ridiculous. I find super-humans a bit unbelievable. I enjoyed the portrayal of life in the Australian bush, and found the book suspenseful. I'll look for the next one.

A very interesting book set in Australia on the fault line between Aboriginal culture and white-feller culture. The narrator's voice is funny and tough and touching. The original title is Diamond Dove.