A classic Aussie crime novel arrives, like a full-throttle ute through a fence. I gobbled it up like a Pine Lime Splice on a hot day.' <b>KAZ COOKE</b><br/><br/>'It's amazing to see what Ronni Salt can do when she's freed of a 280-character word limit.' <b>SHAUN MICALLEF<br/><br/></b>It's 1974 in the Riverina</b><br/><br/><b>The weather is hot</b><br/><br/><b>But the body in the Murray River is stone cold . . .</b><br/><br/><b>A captivating and compulsive crime thriller about guns, drugs and a young woman dead on the money</b><br/><br/>When nineteen-year-old farmgirl Adelaide Hoffman applies for a cadetship at the <i>Gunnawah Gazette</i>, she sees it as her ticket out of a life too small for her. The paper's owner, Valdene Bullark, seeing something of the girl she once was in young Adelaide, puts her straight to work.<br/><br/>What starts as a routine assignment covering an irrigation project soon puts Adelaide on the trail of a much bigger story. Water is money in farming communities, and when Adelaide starts asking questions, it's like she's poked a bull ant's nest. Someone will do whatever it takes to stop Adelaide and Val finding out how far the river of corruption and crime runs.<br/><br/>Shady deals. Vested interests. A labyrinth of lies. It seems everyone in Gunnawah has a secret to keep. And too many are already dead quiet.<br/><br/><b>Set deep in the heart of rural Australia during the era of Gough Whitlam, pub brawls and flared jeans, <i>Gunnawah</i> is a compulsive crime thriller of corruption, guns and drugs from Australian Noir's most arresting new voice. </b><br/><br/>'This compelling rural crime story, embedded in the politically charged Australia of the 1970s, will intrigue fans of Margaret Hickey, Richard Osman and Lainie Anderson.' <b>BOOKS+PUBLISHING</b><br/><br/>'Well researched and marvellously written' <b><i>THE AUSTRALIAN WOMEN'S WEEKLY</i></b><br/><br/>'Ronni Salt's debut is historical crime fiction at its best, with a strong sense of place and time and wonderful characters at its core.' <b>NEWTOWN REVIEW OF BOOKS</b><br/><br/>'Salt crafts a captivating character-driven tale that draws you into the small town and its many stories . . . A striking and powerful novel' <b><i>CANBERRA WEEKLY</i></b>