Like Hammer’s previous novel, there is the continued descriptive prose which brings the setting and surrounds to life, in vivid visual detail – an aspect that garnered the highest praise for the novel. The better part of Silver however, was the more intimate and personal details of Martin’s life in Port Silver. Unlike Scrublands, which I found to be a tale about a place and its people; Silverhas a deeper personalised story, revealing greater detail of what makes Martin Scarsden the hard-nosed journalist we met in Riverside.

Silver can also be easily read without having experienced Scrublands, with only cursory references to the previous novel, which will in no way dampen a post-Silver reading. It will be interesting to see when and where and, indeed if, Hammer will return with a third Martin Scarsden novel, possibly harking back to Martin’s time in the Middle East? Whatever may come next, take the time to enjoy these “Aussie noir” novels.