Melaleuca

Set in the fictional small country town of Goorungah, Queensland, police officer Renee Taylor has only returned to her hometown to look after her mother before leaving for her new home in Brisbane. But when the body of an Indigenous woman is found brutally murdered beside the creek, Renee takes on the task of leading the investigation into the mystery woman’s death. In her search, she finds a web of secrecy that the sleepy town has hidden for decades, including the bizarre connection between the victim and two Aboriginal women who went missing more than 30 years ago.

Crime fiction, I believe – as someone who reads a lot of it regularly – can ironically be an underrated genre. It’s extremely popular for its cosy whodunits or its dark and twisted thrillers full of gory details. However, crime fiction is often the most overlooked genre when it comes to bringing important real-world issues to attention, conveying a crucial message that people don’t expect to see beyond a juicy murder. Angie Faye Martin’s debut explores systemic racism, violence against First Nations women, and the vast difference in rates of domestic violence, abduction, and homicide between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and non-Indigenous women.

Renee is a complex protagonist who struggles at times with her identity as an Indigenous woman and as a police officer. Her investigations reveal the lack of news coverage or general knowledge about the two missing Aboriginal girls, which we can certainly relate to today. In her author’s note, Martin writes that although the location and characters are entirely fictional, the novel nevertheless ‘provides a window into the lived reality of many Aboriginal people.’ Melaleuca is a masterful debut that calls for justice and change within Australian politics, the judicial system and cultural mindset.