Dirt Creek by Hayley Scrivenor
March 22, 2025
In Durton (or Dirt Town, as all the children call it), a small, rural town in Australia, a little girl has gone missing. As the crime is investigated, the whole town is thrown into grief and suspicion.
I thought this was a great mystery, though I almost hesitate to call it that as it leans into the small-town interpersonal drama of it all more than a typical mystery. It's perhaps more of a character study of this dying town, narrated, in part, by a Greek chorus of all the children who have and will ever live there, and there's something about that that really worked for me. It feels almost steeped in nostalgia, as if I too grew up in Dirt Town. As if I grew up with these kids and, in some other existence, my child self still exists along with all the other children I used to know.
The element I most enjoyed about this book was reading the chapters from Ronnie's point of view - one of our child main characters and the missing girl - Esther's - best friend. Hayley Scrivenor captures the emotions and rhythms of children and those childhood relationships so well.
I was also surprised, but delighted, at how Australian this book actually was. I think it can be so easy to Americanize stories that don't actually take place in America so that you end up losing a strong sense of place. But the setting and the Aussie slang feels distinctly familiar...but foreign.
At first, I was kind of let down by the conclusion, but the more I sat with it, the more I liked the fact that it was a bit of subversion. This doesn't end the way you might expect a story of a little girl gone missing to end. It was simple, senseless, and tragic, which made it feel more realistic and grounded, rather than exploitative, which I think it could have fallen into if it'd had a different outcome.
On a more personal note, I also found this quite a cathartic read, at times, as it has several moments that convey the emotions of losing a child so poignantly that I couldn't help but relate, despite my own circumstances of loss being so different.
Final thoughts: there's was a lot here that was good - I thought the characters were compelling and the setting felt grounded and real. It did lag for me a bit in the middle, I think because I wasn't as invested in the actual mystery. Despite it being a mystery, I would this more character-driven than plot-driven and I sometimes struggle witht that, no matter how much I'm enjoying a book. I'd recommend it if you like Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng.
