Hands up if you are loving the Nell stories as much as me. Yes, I know Ivan is there too but I am just loving watching the development of Nell as a character.
Hammer keeps going from strength to strength and I have said it previously, I am not a visual reader but somehow he keeps showing me the landscapes of his stories and I can see them as I read.
Small country towns and their secrets...the people who keep them hidden to protect themselves and those too scared to say anything. All things come to a head when our intrepid detectives are called to town - no secret is too big or small for them to investigate.

A bit of a slow burn for me to be honest. I struggled to get into this one initially and then the action and twists picked up.

4.5 stars.

Yuwonderie's seven founding families had lorded it over their district for a century, growing ever more rich and powerful. Now one of their own was found dead in a ditch and homicide detectives Ivan Lucic and Nell Buchanan were sent to investigate. Could the murder be connected to a case thirty years ago or even to the long-forgotten story of a servant girl on the brink of the Great War?

I was so excited for this one, as I loved the grumpy x sunshine pairing of Ivan and Nell. While The Tilt was more of Nell’s storyline, this one was Ivan’s. Similar to Treasure & Dirt, we followed Ivan (or as I called him, Mr. Dry) around as he interviewed suspects and unearthed clues.

Honestly, I initially struggled a bit with the big cast of characters. The names of the seven families across the three timelines were hard to memorise upfront. I actually had to stop and note down the names before continuing! The business of water (and land) trading was so complex, it required 100% of my focus to follow and understand. I loved it though - Chris Hammer’s books always managed to teach me a thing or two.

Because I was so busy learning about these water ownerships and leasing, I forgot to play sleuth, and didn’t manage to guess the plot twist in the end. I didn’t mind at all though - I was happily caught off-guard.

Now, when do we get the next Nell book?

Chris Hammer is the king of Australian crime fiction and this book is sure to be a best-seller, just as everything else he has written has been so far. This book draws in the reader’s attention with the writing of three alternating points-of-view, in three very different time periods. This book is a rural Australian crime fiction revolving around some powerful families, with too much money and high ambitions. Hammer prides himself on digging deep into the history and the landscapes and the background behind the locations he writes about, which takes readers deeper into the story and shows us how the impact of these things is affecting the characters within the story.

Chris Hammer has once again demonstrated his mastery of the Aussie Noir genre in this book. With a plot so plausible it could be ripped from the headlines, Hammer takes readers on a captivating multi-generational journey alongside detectives Ivan Lucic and Nell Buchanan. There are some familiar faces from Chris’s other books, but this can absolutely be read as a standalone novel. These books will keep you guessing right up until the end, with so many twists and turns that it will keep you on your toes till the very last page. If you like this one, Chris has five other best-selling Australian crime novels, beginning with his first book Scrublands.

Chris Hammer is just incredibly consistent.

This is his 6th fiction novel and they have all just been so good! Three in the Martin Scarsden series and then the three in this Ivan Lucic and Nell Buchanan series, mostly all set in rural New South Wales. I have loved them all but I do admit a slight preference for the Ivan Lucic books, I just really enjoy him as a character. If you’ve missed Martin though, he does appear in this book quite briefly.

This book is set in three different timelines – 1913, 1993 and the present day and all centre around the small town of Yuwonderie in southern NSW, a town that was built and planned around a water project. The discovery of a body in a canal brings Lucic and Buchanan to the town and almost immediately things are not what they seem. The town is ruled by a group of families known as ‘the Seven’ – kind of royalty, they orchestrated the water project and reap the benefit from it, their properties being mainly situated in places that benefit the most from the water supply. They’re loaded and a lot of the town benefits from their philanthropy but they’re also quite ruthless and the more Lucic and Buchanan uncover, the more there are mysteries. How is this current body linked to the death of a member of one of the Seven families in 1993? And what do the letters from 1913 have to do with anything?

The answer is – well a whole lot. The complexity of this plot is a masterpiece and the way in which it unfolds is so engrossing! Look, I will say it probably took me a hundred pages or so to get into it, to settle into the three timelines and the points of view we were getting in each of them. But once I hit that 100p mark, everything just began to come together for me and I couldn’t put it down. I felt like this book did such a great job (again, this is a Hammer specialty) in laying out the town and the politics therein, especially in a mostly farming town that is basically not in an area flush with water. The project meant that water was able to be accessed and dammed and distributed in a certain way – or bought and sold. I honestly knew very little about the buying and selling of water, permanent water and temporary water but this book did a good job of explaining everything in a way where it made sense to someone who has never lived on the land.

I really love Lucic as a character – he has strong flaws and he falls prey to them in a big way this book, with some pretty terrible consequences. It makes Lucic have to face his demons and address them, in order to move forward in a meaningful way. I enjoy his relationship with Buchanan and the ways in which they investigate together. This book was definitely more about Lucic and how he went about piecing things together and the impact his personal life was having on his professional life. I had sympathy for him though as his problems are not exactly your every day sort of problems and the type that would definitely be very distracting. I think despite his feelings about this posting originally, Lucic has come to enjoy his role and has learned a lot about the job that he does.

I thought the twists and turns in this were excellent – so much I didn’t predict and I thought the ways in which the events of 1913 impacted on what happened in 1993 and how that in turn, also ended up shaping the current day events, were masterfully done. There are no weaknesses in these books and this one definitely suggest that Chris Hammer could write historical crime as well, if he so chose. This is a bit of an epic, in fact any and all of these ‘Seven’ families feel like they could’ve been the subject of some crime novel or other!

I don’t know if there are plans for more Lucic & Buchanan novels but I hope so. The more I get to read about them, the more I like them as a pairing and the fact that they are in charge of such a large area really does mean that there are endless possibilities.

9/10

Chris Hammer is a master at Australian Noir crime, and the Seven is another hit to his name. Whilst it didn't wow me, those that come to Chris Hammer's books will get what they're looking for. A solid Australian crime novel

I very much enjoyed this novel by Chris Hammer which unfolds in three timelines.

In 1913 a young Aboriginal woman, Bessie, goes to work for a family who's one of several in the area (south of the Murrumbidgee River) interested in setting up an irrigation scheme. Hammer's journalistic background comes to the fore here, as it has in previous novels where he's blended history and fiction.

In the present Homicide detectives Ivan Lucic and Nell Buchanan head to the fictional town of Yuwonderie after a man's body is found in the local river. They learn that the well-heeled town was established by seven prominent families - all original landowners when the irrigation scheme was set up. The dead man was from one of the seven families and his murder is believed to be linked to his business dealings, which - given the size of the community - intersect with many of his compatriots.

And in the mid 1990s we meet some of the sons of some of the 'Seven', including Davis who's bucking the trend and keen to study rather than run the family business. He's pursuing his Masters and writing about the original establishment of the irrigation system - digging up past secrets other families in the Seven would prefer stay buried. 

I enjoyed all three timelines and found myself drawn to Bessie and Davis so was quite transfixed by their stories. We learn early that Davis's ends tragically, so his narrative is bittersweet. And of course Hammer offers no spoilers in relation to Bessie's fate, but given Australia's treatment of First Nations people at the time, we expect the worst but hope for a happier ending.

I'm not usually a fan of white collar crime, and I've mentioned that before in my reviews of Hammer's work but here the blend of the distant and recent past and present works well. I was worried at one point towards the end it was becoming a bit too convoluted, involving Land Trusts, cooperatives, Private Clubs and organised crime; but ultimately this offers a good balance between the 'business' stuff, characters we've come to care about, and a good meaty mystery. 

4.5 stars

Set in the fictional country town of Yuwonderie near the Murrumbidgee irrigation district of New South Wales this is a tale of power and corruption by wealthy families. Everything in Yuwonderie revolves around the seven founding families, known as The Seven who set up a private company in the early 1900s to irrigate and distribute water to land held around the town. Since then, the families have become richer and more powerful, buying and selling water rights, forcing out small holders who can no longer afford water and setting up a giant co-operative for all the produce from the area and a foundation that raises funds and makes donations to various causes and politicians that will benefit the area.

When the body of a local accountant Athol Hasluck is found floating in a canal on the land of the local State MP and member of the Seven, DS Ivan Lucic and DC Nell Buchanan of the regional Homicide squad based in Dubbo are sent to investigate. They are told by the head of Homicide in Sydney that they need to solve the murder quickly before the media gets a sniff of the involvement of a State politician and descends on the town. Hasluck’s assistant tells Ivan and Nell that he was in serious debt when he died, which leads them to follow the money trail and ultimately unearth some very unsavoury goings on in the town.

Chris Hammer has brought us another engrossing tale of crime and corruption in small town Australia. It is quite a long novel but there’s a lot packed into it, with several threads exploring events that happened in different time lines from 1914 and 1994 as well as the present day, each dealing with crimes and injustices that have long been kept secret. At the heart of it is the importance of water to landholders in Australia and the politics around who has it and who doesn’t. Hammer’s writing is clear and descriptive, perfectly evoking the town and the rural landscape as well as the people who inhabit it. Nell and Ivan are also developing well as strong central characters and working well together as a team. Although, while Ivan’s gambling addiction seems to be in the past, giving in to a moment of despair due to a personal problem nearly costs him dearly. Recommended for all readers of crime fiction, especially Aussie rural crime.

This is book 3 in the Lucic and Buchanan series - while The Tilt (Book 2) primarily focused on Nell Buchanan, this book centres mainly on Ivan Lucic.
When a dead body is found floating in an irrigation channel in rural NSW, Ivan and Nell are sent as regional homicide investigators to take a look. It is then realised that the channel is on the property of the local MP, the pressure is on to solve this quickly before the media descend.
'The Seven' refers to seven local wealthy landowners who have lived in the area for generations. More importantly they funded and own the irrigation channels that brought a rich farm life to an otherwise drought prone area. Once the surface of this pristine little fiefdom is scratched at, there appears to be something quite wrong with how things are 'run' in this community.
Another tremendous tale by Chris Hammer, that I will highly recommend. Thank you Netgalley as well as Allen & Unwin for the opportunity to read this digital ARC.

A new novel from one of my favourite crime writers Chris Hammer is always something to look forward to, and that’s particularly the case when it features homicide detectives Ivan Lucic and Nell Buchanan (Treasure & Dirt #1, Tilt/Dead Man’s Creek #2).

A firecracker case in Book 1 brought this wonderful detective pairing together. In Book 2 we learned a lot about Nell and her family history. Now in The Seven (Book 3), we learn more about Ivan’s traumatic past as his own childhood experiences parallel that of a key witness and he receives a dreaded phone call from far away. We are also treated to a cameo from the star of another of Chris Hammer’s bestsellers.

The murder mysteries Nell and Ivan are assigned to investigate are rarely simple, and The Seven is no exception. The setting of Yuwonderie, a thriving inland regional town literally built on the back of a water irrigation scheme conceived and developed by its founding landholders (squatocracy), has quite the ‘Stepford-Wives’ vibe about it. Hammer evokes, and indeed plots, the influence of unseen forces beautifully and believably. This only heightens reader engagement and suspense, as does his use of one of my favourite narrative structures – multiple timeline, alternating character perspectives. Continue reading at BookloverBookReviews.com >>

The Seven (also titled Cover The Bones) is the third book in the Ivan Lulic and Nell Buchanan series by award-winning Australian journalist and author, Chris Hammer. When the body of a local accountant is found in an irrigation canal on the property of Country First MP Otto Titchfield, DS Ivan Lulic and DC Nell Buchanan are sent to investigate.

Athol Hasluk’s was a one-man accounting practice in the small Riverina town of Yuwonderie. He was respected and well-liked, although he didn’t have the large accounts of The Seven: the powerful and influential founding families of the Yuwonderie Irrigation Scheme, even if he was a junior member of one of those families. He didn’t drown in the canal, though; he might have been electrocuted; he was stabbed, possibly drugged, and definitely tortured.

His widow is adamant that he wasn’t having an affair, although lately he had been worried about something. Otto Titchfield says he may have had ambitions to join state politics. But his recently employed assistant has a bombshell or two to drop about his financial status. Turns out Athol was investing in water trading, a dodgy-sounding water extraction scheme, and a dry block of land.

In late 1993, Davis Heartwood, heir to a position as one of The Seven, decides instead that he will do an honours year in his History studies, and believes the founding of the Yuwonderie Irrigation Scheme will make a suitable topic for his thesis. Given free access to their archives, he becomes fascinated with how and why the nine families that undertook the original feasibility study became seven. He’s aware that the family heads, the town’s ruling clique, are trying to steer him away from that aspect, but he has no idea just how explosive are the facts he will uncover, nor the danger that represents.

In 1913, Bessie Walker, daughter of a white man and a part-indigenous woman, arrives at Castle View to work for the Titchfields, just as Horace Titchfield is trying to convince his neighbours to band together to explore the viability of an irrigation scheme on the southern side of the Murrumbidgee River, just like the NSW Government is funding on the north.

Jack Marney is one of those neighbours, and Bessie has caught his eye. Their plan to marry is delayed by the Great War, but he assures her before he heads to Gallipoli, that he has made financial provision for her, should he not return.

It’s pleasing to see how well Ivan and Nell work together after two years as the Rural Homicide team, and Kevin Nackangara’s appearance to work his forensic accounting magic is welcome. Ivan gets some disturbing news from overseas that sends him off the rails, back to a habit he thought he’d kicked.

Hammer’s cleverly constructed plot includes arson, suicide and attempted murder; a familiar conman reappearing; an unexpected departure via private plane; Martin Scarsden poking his pen in; again, the threat of Professional Standards in the form of Feral Phelan; and some high-power lawyers getting involved.

Three narratives, over three timelines that spread over ninety years, and include letters from a daughter to her mother, and some diary entries: just how they all tie in keeps even the most astute reader guessing up to the final reveals. Again, there’s a very handy map at the front created by Aleksander Potočnik, excellent cover art by Luke Causby, and Hammer easily captures setting and eras. Superlative Australian rural crime fiction.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Allen & Unwin.

WOW what a page turner this one is, homicide detectives Ivan Lucic and Nell Buchanan are back, this time in the country town of Yuwonderie to investigate the murder of a member of one of the seven founding families.

The seven foundling families set up the irrigation system and have lorded over the district for one hundred years, they have their hands in everything that goes on from selling and buying water, control over moving fruit and vegetables from the wholesalers, one of them is now a member in parliament, but when one of the spares is found dead in a canal the investigations begins, could this murder be linked to another that happened thirty years ago?

Ivan and Nell are digging deep and doing their best to keep the media out because of the political ramifications this could hold, but with the murderer still on the run there is danger brewing as more secrets are uncovered, will they find their killer and uncover the truth?

This is a very well written crime, mystery story that is filled with twists as we are taken back in time to the 19oo’s through a series of letters and 199o’s both times that affect the situation now, it is compelling reading and once you start you will not be want to put it down and the ending was not what I expected but so good.

I loved this story and I do highly recommend it to anyone who loves a good crime story to get them thinking.

My thanks to Netgalley and Allen & Unwin for my copy to read and review.

EXCERPT: . . . when the sun was down and the lights were on, the smoke from mosquito coils wafting and the mood genial, a satisfied languor upon them, Clemence Heartwood asked his erstwhile heir a final question. 'This honours thesis - what's your subject?'
'The founding of Yuwonderie. How the Seven built the scheme.'
'Oh my,' said his grandfather. 'That should stir the pot.'
'How do you mean?' asked Krystal.
'The Seven, my dear. We do take ourselves ever so seriously. Who know what skeletons our budding historian might find?' The old man raised a speculative eyebrow. 'And in whose cupboards he might find them?'

ABOUT 'THE SEVEN': Yuwonderie's seven founding families have lorded it over their district for a century, growing ever more rich and powerful.

But now—in startling circumstances—one of their own is found dead in a ditch and homicide detectives Ivan Lucic and Nell Buchanan are sent to investigate.

Could the murder be connected to the execution of the victim's friend thirty years ago—another member of The Seven—or even the long-forgotten story of a servant girl on the brink of the Great War?

What are the secrets The Seven are so desperate to keep hidden?

With the killer still on the loose, and events spiralling out of control, the closer Ivan and Nell get to discovering the truth, the more dangerous their investigation becomes. Can they crack the case before more people die?

MY THOUGHTS: I have enjoyed every book I have read by Chris Hammer, but with The Seven he had me enthralled and captivated. If I wasn't reading The Seven, I was thinking about it.

With each book he writes, Chris Hammer addresses an environmental issue. This time it's water, more precious than gold in the Australian outback, and the source of the wealth and power of The Seven.

Told over three timelines, the early 1900s, the 1990s and the current time, Hammer lays out the history of these powerful families, how their lives intertwine, and shows us the lengths they are prepared to go to to keep their power and increase their wealth. There are, of course, a few bodies along the way, more than one skeleton in the cupboard, missing people, and a major scam worth millions.

Hammer has a wonderful sense of place. He has a feel for the small Australian town and the country that oozes from the page. Initially I wanted to go and live in Yuwonderie because it is the antithesis of most small outback towns - it is planned, clean and appears perfect. But by the end of the book I had changed my mind. All the bad stuff was still there, just well hidden.

The characters are richly depicted, relatable and seemed to jump off the page into the room with me. Other than Ivan and Nell, it's almost impossible to pick a favourite - perhaps old Clemence Heartwood and his grandson Davis, who are both men with heart and principle.

The Seven is a book with a mystery at its heart, but it is full of intrigue, secrets and murder. It is an enthralling crime thriller with memorable characters, multiple twists and turns, and an outcome I didn't see coming.

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

#TheSeven #NetGalley #Allen&Unwin

THE AUTHOR: Chris Hammer was a journalist for more than thirty years, dividing his career between covering Australian federal politics and international affairs. For many years he was a roving foreign correspondent for SBS TV's flagship current affairs program Dateline. He has reported from more than 30 countries on six continents. In Canberra, roles included chief political correspondent for The Bulletin, current affairs correspondent for SBS TV and a senior political journalist for The Age.

Chris has a bachelor's degree in journalism from Charles Sturt University and a master's degree in international relations from the Australian National University. He lives in Canberra with his wife, Dr Tomoko Akami. The couple have two children.

DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Allen & Unwin via NetGalley for providing a digital ARC of The Seven by Chris Hammer for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.

I love Chris Hammer’s crime fiction. The Seven is the third book in the Ivan Lucic and Nell Buchanan series which is a series I am loving even more than his Scrublands series. You can absolutely read each as a standalone though.

Ivan and Nell are police officers who deal with homicides in rural towns. They both have interesting pasts (of course) and this book was from Ivan’s POV rather than Nell’s. This time they are brought in to investigate the murder of Yuwonderie's accountant, whose body is found in a waterway that happens to run through the land of a state politician. This MP also happens to be a member of one of the planned town’s powerful and rich founding families known as The Seven.

This time around there are two additional timelines on top of the present day murder – the first told through letters written by an Indigenous servant girl Bessie in the early twentieth century before Yuwonderie as it is now known was formally established and the second the death of a son of one of founding families around 30 years ago. Of course there are lots of secrets to uncover, there is increasing danger for Ivan and Nell as they hone in on the killer and twists and turns galore all centred around The Seven and their historical hold over the town and the Yuwonderie Irrigation Scheme that they created.

This book is trademark Hammer. He nails the multiple timelines (although I have to say this time the letters from Bessie were not quite as successful), he nails the intrigue, secrets and suspense and he absolutely nails giving us readers a page turning mystery. He is also fantastic at evoking the very Australian sense of place you find in all great Australian rural mystery writers.

Overall I really enjoyed The Seven but I do prefer the recent stories told from Nell’s POV. This however was still a book full of mystery where I didn’t at all pick the outcome – just what you want from your crime fiction!

Thank you to @allenanunwin and @netgalley for my #gifted copy. The Seven is out now and if you a fan of the Aussie or rural noir genre then definitely pick up one of Chris Hammer’s books ASAP.

Yuwonderie’s wealth is directly attributed to the irrigation of what was dry, arid pastureland. The families, known as The Seven are responsible for the innovative approach to greening this once fickle farming land, amassing great wealth and power.
Lording it over people of the township, built along Victorian era guidelines with a certain perfection of style still very much apparent, these seven founding families continue to reap the rewards of their canny ancestors. They are untouchable, powerful and have over the last Century had members of their own in Politics at the highest levels, and established several large companies to further ensure the wealth remains within their circle of influence.
When one of their own is found to have been murdered Nell Buchannan and Ivan Lucic are sent to investigate. The investigation has to be kept discreet, handled without alerting the media. Plentiful resources have been made available to get the case closed as soon as possible.
As the investigation crawls along the reason for the murder still remains elusive, none of the threads leading to anything substantial. When Nell is knocked unconscious, Alice Figtree is stabbed and the former office of Athol Hasluck is torched the stakes rise.
The Seven peels back the layers of a town that has been built on water rights, managed by the first settlement families who have over time covered up their dirty past. As Lucic and Buchannan slowly try to piece together why a quiet accountant was murdered, it would seem that there is a link, or possible link to an unsolved murder that took place there more than 40 years ago.
Throughout the story there are the beautiful letters from Bessie to her mother telling of her life with the Titchfields, which gives a depth of history and perspective to the fledgling irrigation scheme, as well as establishing the power base that was built back in the early years of post-World War One.
Water rights, money laundering and greed form the basis of the story. The Seven starts slowly setting the scene with care, before burgeoning into a fast paced narrative that once again captivates, forcing the pages to be turned with rapidity in an attempt to discover who did commit murder!
Complex and historic The Seven is slightly different to Chris Hammers previous books as the sense of history, which still relates to current day water trading and political opacity, tends to be paramount, the murder simply the vehicle to link several other intriguing storyline lines together.

The Seven by Chris Hammer is another Australian detective story set in a small town somewhere in New South Wales.

The publisher’s blurb is an excellent introduction to a complex story:

Yuwonderie's seven founding families have lorded it over their district for a century, growing ever more rich and powerful.
But now—in startling circumstances—one of their own is found dead in a ditch and homicide detectives Ivan Lucic and Nell Buchanan are sent to investigate.
Could the murder be connected to the execution of the victim's friend thirty years ago—another member of The Seven—or even the long-forgotten story of a servant girl on the brink of the Great War?
What are the secrets The Seven are so desperate to keep hidden?
With the killer still on the loose, and events spiralling out of control, the closer Ivan and Nell get to discovering the truth, the more dangerous their investigation becomes. Can they crack the case before more people die?”

Covering three major periods of 1913-1920, 1993-1994 and present day the mysteries of Yuwonderie area and its people are explored. Full of intrigue and mystery the story slowly unfolds.

There are many issues of racism, greed, corruption and the abuse of power. Probably the most unusual aspect is the story of the importance of water and the introduction of an irrigation scheme which is dominated by The Seven families. There is a lot of detail about the irrigation scheme, it’s introduction and continuance.

Ivan and Nell make a great combination as they investigate an increasingly complex case. There are many plots and sub-plots which add to the complexity of the story.

An enjoyable read that requires concentration so as not to lose the threads that weave in and out!


This review is based on a complimentary copy from Allen & Unwin via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

#TheSeven #NetGalley.

The Seven of the title refers to the seven 'founding' families of the local area, all of them very rich and very entitled. When one of their own is murdered Detectives Ivan Lucic and Nell Buchanan are sent to deal with the issue. These two are excellent characters who work well together and they made reading the book worth while.

There was a mystery in there too, but it was buried deep under lots of information about finance and irrigation schemes and things I did not really care about. I seem to remember when I reviewed Scrublands by this same author I said it was too long. That is my main impression of this book too. I found myself in a hurry to get to the end instead of stopping to enjoy the scenery along the way.

Still I enjoyed much of the book, particularly Ivan and Nell, but also the Australian setting which Hammer does well. I will read more of his books.

Detective Sergeant Ivan Lucic & Detective Constable Nell Buchanan are on another small town Australian Homicide Enquiry. This time it's in the small town of Yuwonderie (fictional) where a body has been found floating in an irrigational canal.

It's not long before Ivan and Nell learn the victim was connected to one of The Seven - Seven families who are well known in the district for setting up the irrigation canal system that has made their town and area do extremely well.

The Seven families have done particularly well themselves along with their descendants, and now control most of what goes on in this area including sale and transportations of crops and particularly the sale and distribution of water.

Ivan and Nell begin their investigation, piecing together the history of this region and the powerful families behind it. At first it looks as if the victim (a local accountant) was in too deep with debt. Was this why he was murdered?

The further they dig in the victim's background, the more complicated it becomes. It doesn't help when Ivan receives personal news that sends him down paths he'd thought he'd banished from his life, and the Police Professional Standards are breathing down his neck because of the political connections to the case.

While Ivan and Nell are investigating, there are two other timelines being told. One is from 1913 where a woman named Bessie Walker is writing home to her mother on the reserve.

Another is in 1993 is of a grandson of The Seven, realizing that his destiny did not have to be the land and irrigation scheme of previous generations. His history degree is more exciting at present. He begins to research the background and beginnings of the canals that have made his family wealthy for his thesis.

There are a lot of characters and much going on within this novel, and the world building is meticulous but never boring. All three timelines merge further on in the narrative, supplying intrigue until they do.

Murder, power struggles, corruption, fraud, mafia, racism, love, secrets, lies, politics, family and money all feature in this new Australian thriller by Chris Hammer.

As with all his novels, I was captured early and held until the end when my heart was pumping, my mind was spinning and then everything falls into place. Brilliant.

Homicide detectives DS Ivan Lucic and DC Nell Buchanan are once again called out into the far reaches of country New South Wales to conduct a murder investigation. This time, the setting for The Seven is in the Riverina district and makes tremendous use of the Murrumbidgee River by creating another irrigation area called the Yuwonderie Irrigation Area, a fictional clone of the established MIA.

In the fictional town of Yuwonderie a body is found floating in the waters of a local canal. The dead man’s name is Athol Hasluck and he’s a minor member of one of the area’s dominant families - one of The Seven.

Although the point of the story is the investigation into the murder of Athol, the underlying story and the source of tremendous fascination in harnessing the most valuable resource in the country…water.

The Seven refers to the original landholder families who got together to form the irrigation scheme that became known as the Yuwonderie Irrigation Scheme. Over the years, thanks to the success of the irrigation system to provide reliable water for their properties, they have become wealthy and powerful, controlling the prosperity of the entire region.

And just for reference, The Seven consist of the Titchfield, Hasluck, Blaxland, McLean, Heartwood, Horsham and Allsop families. Some of these families are pivotal to the story, particularly the lives of earlier generations and their influence on more recent events.

The story is told across three different time periods: 1913, 1993 and the present (2023). There is a great deal of history behind the Yuwonderie area as well as the families that make up The Seven in particular. Consequently, there’s quite a bit to get through to help us understand just what is at stake for the group who must be considered part of the main suspects.

Then there’s the 1913 storyline which unfolds as a series of letters written by a young woman by the name of Bessie Walker. Her role in this mystery slowly becomes clear throughout the course of the entire book.

When we flip to the 1993 time period we follow the exploits of Davis Heartwood. He’s part of one of The Seven families but is prepared to relinquish his entitlement in favour of completing his university history degree. To that end he is writing his thesis on the formation of the Yuwonderie Irrigation Scheme and throws himself headlong into as many historical records as he can. It’s fair to say that what he discovers from the past is going to be significant.

As with just about everything that involves money, greed and corruption seems inevitable along with the use and abuse of power.

Part of Lucic and Buchanan’s investigation involves learning more about the history of the area, how it was established and how the irrigation system operates. Also, they need to find out who benefits from the scheme and how. There’s a lot to get through but it proves to be a fascinating learning process and, for us, a mesmerising game of “what if”. Far from affecting the pace of the novel, it helps to ensure that there’s a constant sense of forward momentum.

To keep Ivan and Nell on their toes Nathan ‘Feral’ Phelan from the police Professional Standards section makes an appearance. To sum up Phelan we get the viewpoint from Ivan himself, “an utterly untrustworthy maverick, an operator, a collector of influence and secrets and leverage - with the power to end a career.” Thanks to the ‘friendly’ little conversation with Phelan, Ivan finds himself with a 48 hour deadline to wrap the case up with the threat of permanent leave should he fail hanging over his head.

Chris Hammer has a knack for building up a crystal clear picture of the settings of his books and he has succeeded in bringing Yuwonderie and the surrounding district completely to life. In exploring the historical aspects of the area the members of the principal families are brought to life. At the same time, the rich, fertile landscape of the region is also clearly defined and described providing a beautiful backdrop upon which the terrible deeds of the inhabitants are placed. The fact that I lived in the area for a number of years brought back fond memories of the beauty and wonder of the place in relentless waves as the story progressed.

The triple narrative structure was an effective way of drawing together multiple narrative threads and managed to ratchet up the dramatic tension as Ivan and Nell worked to bring the investigation to its successful conclusion. Or, at least, a conclusion that could close the case.

This is the 3rd book in the Lucic and Buchanan series but it can easily be enjoyed as a stand alone novel. Characters and incidents from this series and the Martin Scarsden series make an appearance drawing together all of Hammer’s works into a single universe.

This is an epic murder mystery that should appeal to anyone who enjoys the burgeoning Aussie rural crime sub-genre. In fact, I would go as far as to say this sits close to, if not at the top of the Australian crime tree pile from recent years if not longer.

At the start of the book I did not give it enough time for me to become invested in it and read a few pages here and a few pages there. I was thinking, wow I usually love this guys books, such great writing and intelligent plots and on the whole really engaging reads. So I sat down and started again from the beginning and did not stop till I had read at least 100 pages. I was rewarded with a compelling thriller, at the heart of it seven families who had founded and established the area known as Yuwonderie. When one of their own is found dead we are reunited with Ivan Lucic and Nell Buchanan from the 2 previous books, Tilt and Treasure and Dirt.
Told in 3 timelines we begin to unravel how the strands of these three narratives are linked and how a murder and disappearance in 1994 is linked to the body recently found.
I like to learn something when reading and the fact that the battles for water and the buying and selling of it is something that happens today was something i had naively never thought about. Sure I knew you could buy truck loads of the stuff but not on this grand scale.
The Seven is a richly told, complex novel. Full of detail and history. Another winner for sure.

#TheSeven #NetGalley