Grace is a thief: a good one. She was taught by experts and she’s been practising since she was a kid. She specialises in small, high-value items –stamps, watches – and she knows her Jaeger-LeCoultres from her Patek Philippes. But it’s a solitary life, always watchful, always moving. It’s not the life she wants.
Lying low after a run-in with an old associate, Grace walks into Erin Mandel’s rural antique shop and sees a chance for something different. A normal job. A place to call home.
But someone is looking for Erin. And someone’s looking for Grace, too.
And they are both, in their own ways, very dangerous men.
If authors are supposed to earn their stripes, then Garry Disher must be a zebra. In 43 years, he has written 60 books across numerous genres. But it’s his gritty Aussie crime novels that have cemented his reputation and carved out a path for the Jane Harpers and Chris Hammers of the industry to follow. With a growing international reputation, he has won four German and three Australian awards for best crime novel of the year, and been longlisted twice for a British CWA Dagger award. In 2018 he received the Ned Kelly Lifetime Achievement Award.
If you’re new to the world of Disher novels, you’re in for a treat, while established fans will love Sanctuary. Breaking away from his more recent Hirsch series, this is a standalone novel and a masterclass in Aussie crime. Writers should be reading Disher’s novels just to witness how he moves his stories forward with such sparse, polished prose; not a single word goes to waste.
In this, Grace, a minor character from a previous novel, takes centre stage. She’s a petty thief, raised in foster care, who takes from the rich and gives to herself. But she’s yearning for something more and finds stable employment with Erin, an antique shop owner. Both women are compelling, as are the range of secondary characters, and both have secrets, with are revealed over the course of the book. In true Disher fashion, there’s a pervading sense of place that adds tension to the novel, this time in the Adelaide Hills, and some unexpected twists that will have you flying through the pages.
By the end of Sanctuary, you’ll be wanting more of Grace and her gutsy antics – I think that’s what Disher wants because I foresee a sequel here. Fingers crossed. Sanctuary is marvellous.
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