Book review: The Redline by Adrian Hyland

The Redline by Adrian Hyland is the third in the series featuring small-town cop Jesse Redpath. I hadn’t realised when I started but the lead characters felt familiar so I checked and could see I’d read the second book in the series.

And. I. Made. The. Exact. Same. Error. In. Judgement! I don’t know what it says about me but again… I’d assumed the lead character (our narrator) was male. I did it with The Wiregrass as well! Of course once I read that review I remembered elements of the previous book (particularly regarding Jesse’s love interest). This doesn’t have quite the same sense of ‘place’ at its predecessor but it’s a multi-layered complex whodunnit.

It’s the festive season in the Windmark Ranges and Sergeant Jesse Redpath’s day is going from bad to worse. It begins with her having to arrest the usual drunks and troublemakers and ends with the death of a colleague out on the Redline road. A death that may or may not have been an accident.

Jesse learns there have been other deaths and disappearances in the ranges, and that the local rumour mill suggests the perp is an elusive, semi-mythical character who goes by the name of ‘Anarchy’.

My thoughts

As I was reading I made a note that it’s unusual (and so kinda refreshing) that Jesse isn’t the ‘lead’ on the case here. Rather she’s playing a support act (though pretty autonomous) with homicide detectives running the show but there’s no game-playing and power struggles which I liked. Everyone’s happy to do their bit. Of course it’s Jesse who makes the breakthroughs as it is HER story, but I appreciated the respect she has from her bosses and homicide detectives. I should mention I very much liked a new character (Eddy Vyoong), tech guru and slightly unpredictable wildcard, and think a spinoff series featuring him would be excellent.

Here, a beloved local cop is found dead in what’s initially believed to be an accident but when Jesse discovers the body’s been moved and another body is found nearby it’s obvious that there’s more at play. They’re soon handed a suspect (Anarchy) who easily evades capture again and again. Jesse tries to learn more about Anarchy’s backstory and I did find it a bit of a stretch that she narrowed old cold cases down so easily. It made me realise I needed a bit more backstory about Jesse as I’d forgotten (or not been aware) she’s viewed as having some sort of psychic powers though there are oblique references to that here.

She’s a likeable lead and doggedly pursues the truth. I loved the way she picks at clues, following each down a rabbit hole that more often than not, pays off. And of course Hyland gives us a heart-racing but very satisfying conclusion as well.

The Redline by Adrian Hyland was published in Australia by Ultimo Press.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher for review purposes.