Crucifixion Creek is the first book in The Belltree Trilogy and the fourteenth novel by Scots-born Australian author, architect and urban design expert, Barry Maitland. A former member of the Crows bikie gang shoots his girlfriend during a siege at Crucifixion Creek, in Sydney’s south-west; an elderly couple take their own lives at a beachside café; a builder is stabbed to death in an apparent mugging. Bankstown Chronicle journalist, Kelly Pool believes the incidents are connected, and she wants to trade facts with Detective Sergeant Harry Belltree.

But Harry has problems of his own: the stabbing victim was his brother-in-law and nothing about this murder makes any sense. And Harry is determined to get to the truth behind his parents’ death, three years earlier: a car “accident” that left his wife, Jennifer with a post traumatic brain injury causing blindness. While she has done much to adapt, and is an IT genius, Harry cannot let go of the idea that it was deliberate. He wants justice.

Maitland gives the reader a story that feels like it could, or possibly, has happened. A raid on a bikie compound, corrupt politicians, overseas junkets with sinister purposes, dodgy property financiers: it all sounds very familiar and quite topical. Maitland’s characters are complex and multi-faceted: while some are exactly what they first seem to be, this is certainly not the case for all of the players. Harry is appealing: a tenacious maverick who cares for those close to him but is certainly no saint.

There are twists and red herrings, plenty of tension and action delivered at a fast pace; shootings, stabbings, beatings and arson all form part of the mix, and occasionally, the reader will be left gasping at the turn of events. Of course, not all issues are resolved as this is a trilogy, but readers will be very pleased to join Harry and Jenny in book two, Ash Island. An excellent Aussie crime page-turner.