As Darkness Falls, by Bronwyn Parry

Published only in Australia at present, Ms Parry’s debut novel, As Darkness Falls knocks it out of the park—this is an excellent, excellent book. Considered a novel of romantic suspense, it works both as a strict mystery and as a romance, with a clean and uncluttered writing voice that manages to be poetic at times, and terrifying at others.

The story is set in the small town of Dungirri, in the Australian outback. Through her writing, Ms Parry conveys a realistic appreciation as well as a deep love for the country, making the reader almost able to see the landscape as well as crave spending time there—harsh or not.

Here’s the (better than many) back cover blurb:

On the edge of the outback, the landscape can hide many secrets.

Haunted by her failures, Detective Isabelle O’Connell is recalled to duty by DCI Alec Goddard to investigate the abduction of yet another child from her home town. They have only days to find the girl alive, with few clues, a town full of suspects, and a vast wilderness to search. It quickly becomes a game of cat and mouse, with Isabelle firmly in the killer’s sight.

For Isabelle, this case is already personal; for Alec, his best intentions to keep it purely professional soon dissolve. He couldn’t be more involved if the missing child were his own, and his anguish over Isabelle’s safety moves beyond the concern for a colleague.

Their mutual attraction leaves them both vulnerable to their private nightmares—nightmares the killer ruthlessly exploits.

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