[arc review]
Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for providing an arc in exchange for an honest review.
Boney Creek releases June 3, 2025

<i>“She’s only ever gone after other people’s truths so she wouldn’t have to face up to her own.”</I>

Addie and Toby are a married couple and the town’s newcomers. They’ve just purchased the general store and are looking for a fresh start in Boney Creek after leaving behind a traumatic night of events in the city.

It’s not long before Addie’s journalistic roots start tingling and she becomes inspired to seek out the truth about what’s happening in Boney Creek, the town with seven deaths in just three months. Are all of these deaths truly just freak accidents, or is something more sinister going on in this town?

To say I was hooked from the start would be an understatement. The dying, desert-like town in the middle of bumfuck nowhere with an eerie history tied to it was super captivating, and every single character was unique in their own way.
To have such a strong opening scene where the entire community banded together to pull a welcoming prank on Addie and Toby by convening at the store in its opening hours before they had a chance to get their bearings was a <I>very</I> smart and memorable move. Not only did it aid in crafting the setting, but it was equally chaotic, comedic, and provided character depth through various avenues by showing how Addie and Toby adapted to their environment, the loyalty and different personalities of the townsfolk, and the tenacity of Clancy.

I really didn’t know what direction this was going to go in, if there was a potential serial killer, or something else entirely.
Through blog posts and general town gossip, secrets come to light, and several small details that seem insignificant at first, end up connecting to form a satisfying reveal.

Gleeson is a new-to-me author, but has definitely caught my attention with such a standout sophomore novel.

cw: mentions of miscarriage and suicide

This was such a great follow up book from this author! I love small town mysteries and this book didn't disappoint. There were so many twists and turns in this one and plenty of characters you weren't sure who to root for. I hope we get more books in this town and with these characters!

DNF. I was quite enjoying this book, but then the author starting using “mom” instead of “mum”. For me, that’s just not right for an Australian author.
I understand you’re trying to grab the US market, but don’t forget the Australian market as well.
Such a shame and disappointing.

When several small town locals die under mysterious circumstances, an aspiring journalist is determined to prove the connection between them, only to discover the dangerous secrets they left behind! Good book! This book had suspense, intrigue, murder, mystery, a great who done it and a few twists and turns. The story was interesting, it wasn’t my top favorite but still worth reading! I would recommend reading this book! Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for sharing this book with me!

(2.5 stars)
I didn't enjoy Boney Creek because the two lead protagonists, Addie and Toby Clarkson, are both self-absorbed and lying to each other. Addie is everything a journalist shouldn't be. She lacks ethics and is chasing the byline and fame. She tells herself: "It's the desire for answers, to get to the heart of the story" but her inability to consider others, immortalised in creating a tell-all blog the second she arrives in a tiny town without caring at all about the relationships she's disrupting (including her husband's) makes her very hard to relate to. I wouldn't even call it Aussie noir, as the landscape isn't particularly appreciated by Addie, a city-dweller, who defines country air as: "like inhaling the heat from an oven with a whiff of cow shit." She's just hanging out until they can install air-conditioning rather than making any real attempt to adjust to rural life.

Rural people in the book are presented as deviant, covering up murders, and being closed to outsiders: "That you are new here and have no right to air this town's problems." People like Addie are perhaps why towns close ranks: "Is all the trauma we've suffered just a mystery for you to solve?" While her journalistic ethics weren't particularly better, I liked Addie's former boss's description of her skills "vibes and questionable prose". Journalists are necessary for a functioning democracy. Thank goodness most of them don't behave like this, questing for public interest over self-interest.

This book was great! It had a great sense of eeriness and creepiness and your left wondering what was going on pretty much the whole time. There were a few times, where I was guessing where the twist interns were going, but there were still many twists, and turns that I was not expecting. The pacing was great as well.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for this complimentary ARC in exchange for an honest review!!