Dead Again by Sandi Wallace *Guest Post & Review*

Dead Again by Sandi Wallace *Guest Post & Review*

Hey Everyone!

I'd like to introduce you to Sandi Wallace who has just released her latest novel, Dead Again. Dead Again is Sandi’s second rural crime thriller starring Georgie Harvey and John Franklin and can be enjoyed as a standalone or as part of her rural crime series. It is the sequel to her debut novel, Tell Me Why, winner of the 2015 Davitt Award Readers’ Choice and shortlisted for the 2015 Davitt Award Best Debut. She has also won prizes in the Scarlet Stiletto Awards for her short crime fiction.

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IT COULD ONLY HAPPEN IN THE COUNTRY


In the urban world, everyone hurries, everywhere. Noise clamours 24-7 via trams, trains, trucks, tooting cars, music of all types, accents of all origin, laughter, arguments, haggling and begging, with this eclectic cultural fusion set to equally diverse odours and aromas. And residents are likely to know one or two of their immediate neighbours, although probably not well, and few of those living further along.

Contrast that to rural life, which tends to meander at a slower pace, and to a much quieter soundscape, with livestock replacing trams. Some folk come from way back – so far back that roads in the area are named after their family or the old homestead and even the “incomers” (anyone who hasn’t lived there: a. all their life or b. thirty years, depending on who you ask to define “local”) tend to know loads of people in the area. So, the community is tighter, at times almost to the point of suffocation, but mostly the upsides outweigh the loss of privacy.

The two worlds sit in sharp contrast, don’t they? And while bad things and crimes happen everywhere, some are more common in the city—such as white-collar embezzlement—and urban crime seems detached, somewhat anonymous, yet not victimless. Often, even a crime against person in a metro area strikes hard at only a relatively small number of people, while a similar occurrence in the country will rock that entire community.
Daylesford cop, John Franklin says, “All this fallout … could only happen in the country,” in Dead Again. Could he be onto something?

Picture a tumultuous love triangle involving neighbours in the spa town of Daylesford. One bloke considered an incomer because he left town as a kid although he re-inherited a tribe of relations when he returned; the other having lived there all his life. It’s a fractious situation likely to blow its top at some point and where hardly anyone would have a clue about this dispute if it went on in inner suburbia, it’s different in the country. Lots of people know the players. They’ll take sides.

They might bend the truth. Things could get out of hand … and fast.

And that’s just part of Franklin’s current caseload.

And then, across the state, Melbourne journalist, Georgie Harvey is researching a feature story on the tiny town of Bullock and its recovery after being ravaged by wildfire two years earlier. It is a community trying to find its way forward, but in limbo without the arsonist being held accountable, and under the cloud of controversy about whether rebuilding should be allowed.

Yep, that’s a melting pot in the making, right there.

The outcome is driven by what Georgie uncovers in Bullock. How that connects with a crime spree in Daylesford that has Franklin frustrated because he’s supposed to know everyone and what they’re up to on his patch. And how desperately a murderer wants to keep his secret.

So, what do you think? Could some things only happen at that time, at that place, in the country?


Dead Again by Sandi Wallace

It is almost two years since wildfires ravaged the tiny town of Bullock, and Melbourne journalist, Georgie Harvey, is on assignment in the recovering town to write a feature story on the anniversary of the tragedy.

In nearby Daylesford, police officer, John Franklin, is investigating a spree of vandalism and burglaries, while champing to trade his uniform for the plain clothes of a detective.

When Georgie’s story and Franklin’s cases collide, she not only finds herself back in conflict with the man she’s been trying to forget since their first encounter, but she uncovers the truth about how the fires started – a truth no-one is wanting to believe.


Hey! Here's my review.

This is the second book involving Georgie Harvey and John Franklin. I enjoyed it as a stand-alone novel. You don't need to read the first book to understand this one, but if you have the chance, I'd recommend reading book one first.

I grew up in country Victoria and loved the familiar setting for this rural Aussie crime novel. A journalist and a cop make a great crime solving team even when they don't realise they're working together. I loved following all the different threads of the story and seeing them all interweave.  I reviewed a complimentary copy.

★★★★★

  • Where: Review Request
  • Format: ebook