The Tilt

The Tilt is the second stunning crime fiction novel from bestselling author Chris Hammer to feature Detective Sergeant Ivan Lucic and Detective Constable Nell (Narelle) Buchanan, who were introduced in Treasure and Dirt (Opal Country).

“A skeleton in the bottom of the regulator. All this time. I couldn’t believe it when I read about it. A skeleton. Who could have known that?”

Following their successful resolution of their case in Finnegan’s Gap, Detective Sergeant Ivan Lucic and Detective Constable Nell (Narelle) Buchanan have been partnered to form a rural homicide flying squad. Though they are to be based in Dubbo, Lucic and Buchanan are required to respond to any case in regional or remote NSW the brass deem appropriate. Their show more first assigned case coincidentally sends them to Nell’s hometown near the Victorian border along the Murray River, where the skeleton of a homicide victim has been unearthed after a river regulator was blown up.

Ivan takes a step back in The Tilt, leaving Nell to take the lead in what becomes a very personal investigation after a second skeleton is found. Old grudges are revived and dark secrets are exposed revealing tales of theft, assault, corruption, love, loss, betrayal and revenge. Weaving through the narrative of Nell’s present day investigation is the transcript of a statement made to the police by an elderly man, and the account of a romance between a teenage girl and a young charismatic journalist in the 1970’s. As the novel unfolds the links between the seemingly disparate threads grow clearer, in what is an impressive and compelling feat of plotting.

While I missed Ivan’s presence, I enjoyed gaining more insight into Nell’s character. She’s not entirely comfortable with being back in her hometown, convinced her family, especially her mother, doesn’t support her career choice. Things only grow more complicated for Nell when her investigation seems to indicate the involvement of members of her family.

Readers familiar with Hammer’s Martin Scarsden series will recognise one of the characters who makes an appearance in the novel, playing the part of a ‘twitcher’, he’s keeping an eye on the growing camp of ‘cookers’ nearby. Hammer also introduces another character in The Tilt Senior Constable Kevin Mackangara, the lone residential officer in Tulong, who it seems will join Ivan and Nell in future books.

Though the investigation plays out over only a week, the story spans decades. Hammer touches on historical events of note such as the diversion of the Murray River, and the POW labour camps established during WWII.

With its gripping, multi-layered mysteries, vivid characters and atmospheric setting, The Tilt is an immersive read, I highly recommend. show less

It's strange that in a country as vast as Australia, small towns can be as closed off and as secretive as anywhere else, trapping people with their secrets and refusing to let them go.

At the start I thought we were going to get an eco book with someone creeping around and blowing up the Regulator that holds back water which has meant that the forest is dying but we also meet a man running for his life and hear gunshots in the distance. We then wait a very long time to find out who these people are and how they fit into the story.

Nell Buchanon is sent along with Ivan to her hometown because a body was discovered in the emptied out Regulator. She is reluctant to spend time with her family, avoiding them and throwing herself into solving show more the case. It turns out the skeleton is old but identifiable through the teeth and a list of missing people. And slowly, slowly, a much bigger story is revealed about Italian prisoners of war and soldiers guarding them, about two boys playing in the forest and about stolen money. Who has what and when are questions asked again and again.

What adds to the drama of the story is the way it is told. The narrator switches to focus on key people and tells things from their point of view although still in third person, moving the story on at a pace, sometimes overlapping stories so that we see more than one point of view. This is a complex, multi-layered story which means the family tree at the end of the book is very useful.

The Barmah-Millewa Forest is a real place and is beautifully described throughout the book as are the storms.

It advanced quickly, not so much a front from the south-west but materialising into the air, the cloud blooming, white and glorious, rising higher and higher, backlit by shafts of gold and pink, like the heavens themselves were singing.
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Almost religious and a scene sometimes depicted in paintings. This is God's country.

For what is rain, if not a promise of new beginnings?
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Small towns are perfect for mystery. They enable secrets to be kept and whispered about down through generations. They pit family against family and the history of these families is the backstory of the book. Positioning of houses can be important and tell us about hierarchies and news can travel fast. The town can also be a character itself, larger than life, and all of these elements are present in Dead Man's Creek.

The dying forest, revived by the Regulator being blown is mirrored in Nell Buchanon's family and her love for them and desire to be with them. Sometimes, once the dam of secrets is blown, the truth can set people free and so it does in this book.

This is really a Nell Buchanon book as Ivan Lucic spends most of the time elsewhere It does, however, bring Buchanon in as a Homicide Detective. Maybe they will work together in the next book. show less

Loved the imagery of this story. I could also hear and smell the scenery. My only criticism would be the number of characters and also having to follow three time lines but otherwise really enjoyed it.

I spent this whole book thinking, forget the map, what I need is a family tree, and then I got to the end and there it was. I suppose it was a bit spoiler-y, but it would have been helpful. I didn't really find the map hugely useful, and I'm not sure I really understand even now what a 'tilt' or a 'regulator' is, but I enjoyed the story. Chris Hammer is such a good writer that I am willing to forgive him for making the whole story about the extended family of one of the detectives - what are the odds...?

From my point of view, this really is Chris Hammer's best novel so far. Multi-layered, it has a bit of everything: current political issues, current ecological issues, police procedural, cold cases, mystery, puzzles, linkings between the past and the present, history, and a family saga.

When you read this book, look for the geneaological table in the last pages of the book. I found this so useful that I photocopied it for quick reference.

The last thing that Nell Buchanan expects is for her family to be involved in the unknown skeleton unearthed near the river which is the cold case she is assigned to investigate.

The story also gives an overview of how Australia history from the First World War onwards has affected a small rural town.

I show more was interested too that some of the current issues that Hammer thinks are impacting on rural Australia coincide with those that Garry Disher referred to in DAY'S END which I read recently.

And finally, for South Australian readers, you will learn more about the history of the River Murray, very relevant today with the current flooding of the river. show less

(8.5) I found this very enjoyable, especially the revealing of Nell's personal family history.
A nice complex tale.

That I still routinely come across readers not familiar with Chris Hammer’s novels, is a mystery to me… and just as criminal as the deeds he writes about. Since 2018, this supremely talented author has somehow delivered first-class thrillers on an annual basis, and with this year’s offering The Tilt (will be published internationally as Dead Man’s Creek in January 2023) he continues his strong run.

After the success of his crime series starring investigative journalist Martin Scarsden, last year Hammer introduced readers to a new pairing of detectives Lucic and Buchanan in the Treasure & Dirt (aka Opal Country). Ivan Lucic is enigmatic and bridges the Scarsden series’ storyworld with this new one, but I loved Nell Buchanan from show more the moment she was introduced. So, I was very pleased to see the spotlight turn her way in this sequel. Once again, her local knowledge comes to the fore, and we learn a whole lot more about her personal backstory. Continue reading: https://www.bookloverbookreviews.com/2022/10/the-tilt-aka-dead-mans-creek-chris-... show less