Book review: The Seven by Chris Hammer

Belatedly publishing a brief review I posted in Goodreads.

I very much enjoyed The Seven by Chris Hammer – the third in the series – 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.