Constable Paul Hirschhausen runs a one-cop station in the dry farming country south of the Flinders Ranges. He's still new in town but the community work—welfare checks and working bees—is starting to pay off. Now Christmas is here and, apart from a grass fire, two boys stealing a ute and Brenda Flann entering the front bar of the pub without exiting her car, Hirsch's life has been peaceful. Until he's called to a strange, vicious incident in Kitchener Street. And Sydney police ask him to look in on a family living outside town on a forgotten back road... Suddenly, it doesn't look like a season of goodwill at all. "Disher is the gold standard for rural noir" CHRIS HAMMER "An utterly compelling mystery with rare heart and humanity. If you enjoyed Jane Harper's The Lost Man, this novel is for you.' DERVLA McTIERNAN "A scorchingly good novel" MICHAEL ROBOTHAM