Senior Constable Jacob Porter loves his life in the small town of Tallowwood in the middle of the rainforests in northern New South Wales. He runs summer camps for the local Indigenous kids, plays rugby with his mates, has a close family, and he's the local LGBTQIA+ Liaison and the Indigenous Liaison Officer.
When human remains are found in the camping grounds at Tallowwood Reserve, Jake's new case turns out to be linked to August's cold cases, and Jake agrees they're not suicides at all. With Jacob now firmly in August's corner, they face one hurdle after another. Even when more remains are found, they can't seem to gain ground.
But when the body of a fellow police officer turns up under the same MO, it can't be ignored anymore. August and Jake must trace the untraceable before the killer takes his next victim or before he stops one of them, permanently.
Comment: I had seen this book being recommended by several readers and I enjoyed the books by the author I have read already, thus choosing to try this one as well wasn't difficult at all.
Human remains are discovered in Tallowwood, a quiet place in the northern part of New South Wales and the similarity to other cases makes senior constable Jacob Porter to call detective August Shaw, responsible for investigating those cases. It does seem the cases might be connected but doing all that is necessary is complicated since not many people believe August when he says the murders are the work of a serial killer. As the investigation develops, with sudden new little things becoming obvious, August and Jacob become close and despite the difference in their personalities and ages, they do form a bond... but is there room for romance when a killer ants up his tally?
I've found this book to be engrossing and captivating to read. It has a murder investigation which is vibrant and interesting without too much graphic details and goring scenes, which makes it bearable to go through, and includes a cute romance between two people who might pose for the definition of "opposites attract", and this did please me a lot.
August is a 41 year old detective who has lived through a terrible loss, especially hard since it was linked to the cases he is investigating. He is now a loner, only dedicated to his work but still determined to catch the killer who has been murdering gay men for years. The fact he is gay too makes it even more important for he feels it's his duty in a way, to try to help others he empathizes with and he wants to give closure to the family members still waiting for news. He is likable and competent but he was a little too aloof, this is true. I liked him, though, and his dynamics with Jacob helped to give him perspective.
Jacob is bubbly, sweet and competent, is 29 and dedicated his time to many things, loves his job and his family and the rain forests around Tallowwood. He is very different from August but as keen to find the killer, not only for the same reasons as Augusts' but also because he wants to give back serenity and peace to the place and he believes in the spiritual beliefs of his Aboriginal ancestors. I liked him a lot, I loved the fact he went though prejudice of course,but this didn't bring him down and his confident personality makes him a very approachable and humble person to want to see succeeding.
Their romance is sweet and develops slowly, with some cute yearning scenes, a lot of consideration for what they are doing but always a certain notion there can be something special about the other. Their age difference isn't much of a deal except for some light teasing, and I was convinced their personalities would adjust fine to one another. I still think the story would have gained from a more obvious romance development (no, I don't mean sex scenes), mostly to counterbalance the sadder aspects of the police investigation, but the focus was not on romance alone.
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