Books & Literature

Book Review: Into the Night, by Sarah Bailey

This follow-up to bestselling novel The Dark Lake is an urban police drama set in the grittiness of Melbourne’s inner city, where Detective Sergeant Gemma Woodstock has made some tough personal choices that see her story relocated from the rural setting of Smithson.

Sarah Bailey’s follow-up to her bestselling debut, The Dark Lake, is urban police drama, Into the Night. Set in the grittiness of Melbourne’s inner city, protagonist Detective Sergeant Gemma Woodstock has made some tough personal choices that see her story relocated from the rural setting of Smithson.

Moving the story to Melbourne allows Bailey a wider canvass on which to paint Gemma’s story, including the introduction of new characters like her sarcastic partner and a station full of new work colleagues. The city setting also opens up more possibilities for crime than the rural setting could support and, in this novel, there are three inter-related murders.

At first, Gemma swears to solve the mystery of a homeless man murdered on the street, but the following day a more media-worthy crime occurs that demands all her attention.

An up-and-coming actor is killed in front of hundreds of witnesses, but no-one knows the truth. Sterling Wade was in the middle of shooting a movie featuring a mass zombie attack when one of the masked extras stabbed him to death. Despite the incident being captured on film, identification of the perpetrator is impossible, made worse by the hundreds of conflicting witness accounts. Everyone in Sterling’s life, from his girlfriend to his supposed gay lover and own siblings, have secrets connected to the murder, and Gemma trusts no-one.

On top of this is an unsolved case involving a mystery witness to a murder, and newcomer, Josh, who seems like the perfect boyfriend. But as Gemma gets closer to the truth about all the cases, she learns she can’t trust those close to her.

The Dark Lake presented a deeply troubled protagonist, haunted by a constant sense of loss and inability to allow loved ones to get close. There was some sense that this had shifted for Gemma at the end of The Dark Lake but now, two-years on, she is again isolated and grief-stricken. Prickliness, bad life decisions and perpetual misery attach to this modern version of the hard-boiled, world-weary detective. A standard for the golden-era of crime novels, encountering such a character in young and female form is both refreshing and disconcerting. While the character is difficult, she’s also deeply human and relatable.

Into the Night is another multi-layered novel, but there is not as much personally at stake for Gemma in this story. Her foibles here are of her own making, rather than the past coming back to haunt her. Providing her with regrets, such as her inability to be the mother and life partner she’d like to be, keep her human and prevents the story from being just another murder mystery. Bailey’s writing is sharp, her sense of place harrowing, and her mystery intriguing.

A great read for anyone who likes complex characters and gritty crime.

Reviewed by Samantha Bond
Twitter: @SamStaceyBond

Rating out of 10:  8

Distributed by: Allen & Unwin
Released: June 2018
RRP: $32.99

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