The Cane

By: Maryrose Cuskelly

Narrated by: Taylor Owynns, Duncan Wass

Nail-biting and atmospheric, the brilliant thriller for fans of Wimmera and The Dry.

ONE MISSING GIRL. NO SUSPECTS. A TOWN ABOUT TO IGNITE.

Quala, a North Queensland sugar town, the 1970s.

Barbara McClymont walks the cane fields searching for Janet, her sixteen-year-old daughter, who has been missing for weeks. The police have no leads. The people of Quala are divided by dread and distrust. But the sugar crush is underway and the cane must be burned.

Meanwhile, children dream of a malevolent presence, a schoolteacher yearns to escape, and history keeps returning to remind Quala that the past is always present.

As the smoke rises and tensions come to a head, the dark heart of Quala will be revealed, affecting the lives of all those who dwell beyond the cane.

The Cane is an evocative and atmospheric thriller, and announces an exciting new voice in Australian crime writing.

'A fine, brave, perceptive writer.' - Mark Dapin, journalist and author of Public Enemies

'A stunning piece of Australian rural noir.' - Mark Brandi, bestselling author of Wimmera and The Rip©2022 Maryrose Cuskelly (P)2022 W. F. Howes Ltd

Evocative, gritty and heartbreakingly real.

I felt I was reliving my youth. Growing up in cane country in North Queensland, Maryrose captured the whole vibe of small towns. the characters, the undercurrents and suspicions and the naivety of the 1970s. She helped me relive the kerfuffle over the Little Red Schoolbook and our joy as young teens getting our hands on a copy. Her descriptions of the High school teachers were so much like many of the young teachers I encountered at highly school the my mind superimposed their faces on her characters. She also reminded me of the misogynistic attitudes, the suspicion of outsiders and closed minds of small towns to anyone new or different. With the parallel storylines of the characters and a cracking good mystery, it was a story that I couldn't turn off.