A thriller set under the shadow of a mountain, Claire Sutherland’s The Crag will have you hanging on for dear life.
While walking on an isolated track in the windswept Wimmera, rock-climber Skye discovers the body of a young woman. The body has injuries that suggest a rock-climbing accident, but it’s been found more than 5km from the nearest cliffs at Mount Arapiles.
Police ask Skye to help them navigate the perilous world of rock climbing as they try to unravel what happened.
Skye is secretly thrilled to be part of the investigation, but as it becomes clear that a killer is on the loose, all thrill turns to fear. In the isolated crags of the mountain, stark beauty can conceal horrific truths.
The intense experiences of rock climbing – where fear collides with exhilaration, problem solving and trust are essential skills – are hair-raisingly explored and amplified in The Crag. In the background, the beautiful yet haunting mountain with its sharp and towering cliff faces loom aver the characters, waiting for them to discover the truth.
A brilliant female-focussed police procedural that grapples with the many shapes that violence against women can take, The Crag will appeal to readers of Candice Fox and Jane Harper. And with literal cliffhanging suspense, the book will also appeal to fans of the documentaries Free Solo and The Dawn Wall.
Claire was born in Scotland and moved to Australia at the age of three. She was a metropolitan journalist with the Herald Sun for more than 20 years, and before that at the Footscray-based Western Times, for which she won the Melbourne Press Club’s 1995 Young Journalist of the Year award.
During her time at the Herald Sun she held roles including books editor, film writer and features editor. She was the editor-in-chief of mX and News Corp’s national head of entertainment before leaving to pursue a career in freelance writing. Her hobbies include hiking, rock climbing, cooking and dystopian sci-fi films. The Crag is her first novel.
The Crag is published by Affirm Press and is available from all good book retailers including QBD Books.
Image: The Crag – courtesy of Affirm Press