‘Tipping Point’ by Dinuka McKenzie

Published by Canelo,
18 July 2024.
ISBN: 978-1-80436638-7 (PB)

In the sweltering heat of Christmas-time in Australia, Luke, estranged brother of Detective Kate Miles, comes home for the funeral of his childhood friend, Ant. It’s hard to face his family again, especially as he’s keeping his recent sacking by his high-powered law firm from them. Then there’s a second death ...

This one was hard to put down. It’s told mostly in third person focused on Kate. She’s a sympathetic heroine, torn between the needs of her husband and the demands of her job, then, as police attention moves to Luke, between family and her police integrity. It doesn’t help that a former lover, Leo Esposito, has been sent up to help with the case. Luke gets our initial sympathy, as he’s fired in a ruthless fashion, but his treatment of his family and his drug use has the reader wondering what he’s capable of. The plotting’s clever, with themes hidden in plain sight, and a totally unexpected end twist. I particularly enjoyed the setting of small-town politics and ‘who you know’ links, the constant, inescapable heat, and the pressures of Christmas when it’s your least-favourite time of the year.

An excellent Australian police procedural with a great female lead, a good supporting cast, clever plotting and a vivid sense of place. I hadn’t come across McKenzie before, and Tipping Point didn’t read like one of a series, but it’s the third book starring DS Kate Miles. I’ll certainly be looking out for the others, The Torrent and Taken.-------
Reviewer: Marsali Taylor

Dinuka McKenzie is an Australian writer and book addict. Her debut crime fiction novel, The Torrent, won the HarperCollins Australia 2020 Banjo Prize and was published in February 2022. She is represented by Alex Adsett Literary. When not writing, Dinuka works in the environmental sector and volunteers as part of the team behind the Writers Unleashed Festival. She lives in Southern Sydney with her husband.

Marsali Taylor grew up near Edinburgh and came to Shetland as a newly qualified teacher. Marsali is a qualified STGA tourist-guide who is fascinated by history, and has published plays in Shetland's distinctive dialect, as well as a history of women's suffrage in Shetland. She's also a keen sailor who enjoys exploring in her own 8m yacht, and an active member of her local drama group.  She lives with her husband and two Shetland ponies.

www.marsalitaylor.co.uk