Peace ( Paul Hirsch mysteries) - Garry Disher

AN ACT OF INEXPLICABLE CRUELTY. A FAMILY DESTROYED. Constable Paul Hirschhausen runs a one-cop station in the dry farming country south of the Flinders Ranges.

He's still new in town but his community work - welfare checks and a light touch - is starting to pay off. Now Christmas is here and, apart from a grass fire, two boys stealing a vehicle, and Brenda Flann entering the front bar of the pub without exiting her car, Hirsch's life has been peaceful. Until he's called to an incident on Kitchener Street, a strange and vicious attack that sickens the community.

And when the Sydney police ask him to look in on a family living on a forgotten back road, it doesn't look like a season of goodwill at all... A hugely atmospheric police procedural set in the dust of the Australian outback. Perfect for readers of Jane Harper, Chris Hammer and Chris Whitaker.