Mischance Creek

By: Garry Disher

Narrated by: Steve Shanahan

Hirsch is checking firearms. The regular police audit: all weapons secured, ammo stored separately, no unauthorised person with keys to the gun safe. He’s checking people, too. The drought is hitting hard in the mid-north, and Hirsch is responsible for the welfare of his scattered flock of battlers, bluebloods, loners and miscreants.

He isn’t usually called on for emergency roadside assistance. But with all the other services fully stretched, it’s Hirsch who has to grind his way out beyond the Mischance Creek ruins to where some clueless tourist has run into a ditch.

As it turns out, though, Annika Nordrum isn’t exactly a tourist. She’s searching for the body of her mother, who went missing seven years ago. And the only sense in which she’s clueless is the lack of information unearthed by the cops who phoned in the original investigation.

Hirsch owes it to Annika to help, doesn’t he? Not to mention that tackling a cold case beats the hell out of gun audits and admin…


‘Hirsch is one of my favourite characters…Unmissable.’ HAYLEY SCRIVENOR, author of Dirt Town


‘Disher is one of this country’s finest writers.’ TONY BIRCH


‘Disher is the gold standard for rural noir.’ CHRIS HAMMER


‘A giant not only of crime fiction but of Australian letters.’ NED KELLY AWARDS


‘A master at controlling his material, taking his readers along the dusty, rutted roads that always pop up when we expect bitumen smoothness. But it’s a journey worth taking, for the pure joy of the writing.’ HERALD SUN©2025 Garry Disher

I couldn't believe my luck.

Another Paul Hirschhausen from the brilliant Garry Disher. He has captured our weird and
crazy time so well, the mad souls out there and the dangers for the people who have to deal with them.
I recommend all the Hirsch books...and the rest. If you enjoy Australian crime fiction there's none better than this man.