I heard the author talk at the Perth Literary Festival in Fremantle 2021 and had to get a copy of his book. It is set in various country towns of Western Australia with a "clergyman" as the main protagonist. We lived in Geraldton in the 80's and I am familiar with many of the places mentioned, so I was curious and it did not disappoint. I loved the setting, the language and the writing style too. The book is well researched and there were many laugh out loud moments for me, and the book kept me in suspense right up till the end. I hope his next book is published soon!

Some links

Alexander Thorpe interview on Fremantle Press website
Review by Karen Chisholm on austcrimefiction website
Monsignor John Hawes Heritage trail and website ( )

Powered through this book, great story-telling, contemporary writing about a crime in rural Australia in the 1920's - the set up weaves in multiple insights into the history and culture of the times, not heavy handed but poignant and while it could quite rightly be the beginning of a new detective series; I would love a book 2 to hear what happens next in a number of the characters lives. ( )

Interesting plot with plenty of potential but too many adjectives for me. The author seemed to be attempting to write in a period manner and it just didn't convince, and also the attempts at humour weren't successful (assuming the business with the moustache was meant to be funny?). I came to this as it's set in my neck of the woods but left it wishing that it had had a better editor. ( )

Death Leaves the Station may be slim on pages but the text upon them is an artfully distilled vintage of the mystery genre.

Thorpe’s omniscient third-person narrative is like a dog on a leash, ostensibly restrained but alert to any opportunity to hide delightful literary whimsy in plain sight. The wry humour that crackles just below the surface is as dry as this crime mystery’s sunbaked outback setting, and a delight to read.

But, racial and gender tensions also simmer. And, over the course of the criminal investigation, Thorpe offers modern readers timely reminders of the fickle and arbitrary societal inequities that were commonplace less than a century prior. Continue reading>> https://www.bookloverbookreviews.com/2020/11/death-leaves-the-station-by-alexand... ( )

There's a really nice interpretation of classic golden age mystery styling at the heart of this lovely little novel set in the early white settlement period of rural, remote Western Australia.

Cleverly balanced between the personal story of Ana, the adopted daughter of the owners of Halfwell Station, and the search for a murder victim whose body she came across in the bush, late at night when reportedly star gazing, there's a lot of intrigue going on here. It's not just the nameless friar who appears at the Station at the time that Ana reports (to the friar initially and not her parents) discovering a man's body very near the homestead. Nor is it the obvious story behind a victim who was there (and left blood and some signs of a struggle at the location), but whose body has now disappeared. Nor is it just about the people charging around the bush on the same night, or the odd disappearance of Ana's birth parents, the strange circumstances of Ana's own life and her relationship with her adopted parents. You need to add to all of that Parkes, a very unusual investigating detective, a most unexpected police artist, and Cooper, the taciturn, and very able, Aboriginal tracker.

Of course, astute readers may be forgiven for wondering why a policeman investigating this odd occurrence would so willingly drag a young girl and a friar (identikit sketch of the man not withstanding) here and there on the investigative trail, but you'd be forgiven for really not caring about the little details that much, it just kind of works.

Mostly because the character development that occurs in such a short novel is strong, presenting the reader almost instantaneously with a great little band of intrepid investigators, travelling great distances by horse, foot, and train to try to identify the alleged victim, and then establish if he was a victim after all.

There's also plenty of opportunity, following the classic "golden age" type mystery tradition, for the reader to get on board with the mystery solving team, with lots of clues, some expected and not so predictable red herrings, and twists and turns, and a rollicking bit of storytelling along the way.

The historical setting for this novel feels just right, there's really strong character development and an excellent amount of intrigue and action, fitted nicely into a novel that's less than 200 pages in length. All of which was quite astounding given that this is also novelist Alexander Thorpe's debut novel. Here's hoping it's the start of many more.

https://www.austcrimefiction.org/review/death-leaves-station-alexander-thorpe ( )