Title: The Night Whistler by Greg Woodland
Publisher: Text Publishing
Genre: Historical (60s), Mystery, Suspense
Length: 400 pages
Book Rating: B+
Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Publisher Through Edelweiss
Summary:
The summer of 1966–7. Hal and his little brother have just come to live in Moorabool. They’re exploring the creek near their new home when they find the body of a dog.
Not just dead, but killed.
Not just killed, but horribly maimed.
Constable Mick Goodenough, recently demoted from his big-city job as a detective, is also new in town—and one of his dogs has gone missing. Like other pets around the town.
He knows what it means when someone tortures animals to death. They’re practising. So when Hal’s mother starts getting late-night phone calls—a man whistling, then hanging up—Goodenough, alone among the Moorabool cops, takes her seriously. But will that be enough to keep her and her young sons safe?
Nostalgic yet clear-eyed, simmering with small-town menace, Greg Woodland’s wildly impressive debut populates the rural Australia of the 1960s with memorable characters and almost unbearable tension.
Review:
Set in 1966-67, The Night Whistler by Greg Woodland is a gritty mystery set in rural Australia.
Twelve-year-old Hal Humphries, his younger brother, Evan and their parents, John and Corrie, have recently relocated from Sydney to Moorabool. Hal’s dad is a traveling salesman whose recent promotion is intended to ensure he is home more. Much to Corrie’s dismay, John is soon back on the road but family friend Doug Slocombe keeps a close eye on the family. Hal and Evan’s horrid discovery of a murdered dog sets the scene for frightening occurrences that include eerie phone calls to Corrie, someone lurking outside their home and eventually, murder.
The rural setting is quite atmospheric as Hal spends his days riding his bike and exploring an abandoned caravan. He is equally obsessed with and a little scared of the ramshackle caravan that has a terrible past. His new friend Allie resists his entreaties to explore the inside and she cuts a wide berth around it as much as possible. But curiosity brings him back the caravan time and again until he makes a gruesome discovery.
Former detective now probationary Constable Mick Goodenough is a member of the Moorabool police station. He is the only officer who takes what is happening to the Humphries family seriously. Unfortunately, his boss does not think there is anything to be concerned about and he orders Mick to stay out of it. Mick stubbornly continues trying to lend assistance to Hal and Corrie. However, his actions are just not enough to prevent the horrifying series of events that are about to unfold.
The Night Whistler is a riveting mystery with a well-written, engaging plot. Hal is a typical boy with an active imagination who refuses to give up trying to find out who is tormenting his mum. He is very observant and some of what he sees changes his viewpoint of the adults around him. Mick is a little disgusted by his co-workers’ lack of professionalism with the townspeople. He is also dismayed at the absence of an investigation for the first murder. With plenty of suspense, Greg Woodland brings this thrilling mystery to a tension-filled conclusion.
