The Cross

From the bestselling author of Gunnawah comes a captivating small-town crime story. Perfect for readers of Richard Osman.

In the dying days of 1974, a mysterious yellow sports car speeds into the quiet Riverina town of Gunnawah. While the locals are initially intrigued by the stranger in their midst, nobody is prepared for what comes next.

At the town's only newspaper, the Gunnawah Gazette, cadet journalist Adelaide Hoffman starts looking into a proposed new resort development on the banks of the Murray. Her street-smart boss, Valdene Bullark, and Val's long-time friend, Wayne Trevaskis, have been around the block and they're pretty sure something shady is going down. Meanwhile, the town's only cop, raw recruit Jack Overlund, is about to learn the stranger has brought more than an oversized ego to the town.

Over the years, the echoing, heat-rimmed days of the Riverina have concealed a lot. A secretive priest. A pregnant teenager. The dark shadows of the Nugan Hand Bank. A faded TV star. A deadly shame. When big city money arrives and long-buried secrets threaten to surface, some will be forced to deal with their past and others will have to grapple with their future.

The richly comic and deeply dark companion novel to Gunnawah, The Cross is set in a time of football, meat pies, Gough Whitlam and shag-pile carpet. A quintessentially Australian crime story of ratbaggery, religion and revenge that deftly blends gripping crime with acerbically funny, moving and distinctly Australian characters.

PRAISE FOR GUNNAWAH

'A fantastic cast of characters... The writing is beautiful; the story is memorable. I loved it to bits.' Prof Sue Turnbull, ABC RN 'BOOKSHELF'

'An amazing debut novel from Salt that combines an intriguing crime fiction narrative with a moving Australian story... Salt crafts a captivating character-driven tale that draws you into the small town and its many stories' Michael Popple, CANBERRA DAILY

'Ronni Salt's debut is historical crime fiction at its best, with a strong sense of place and time and wonderful characters at its core' NEWTOWN REVIEW OF BOOKS

'A strong crime story underpinning the quirkiness, and the occasional flash of gunfire and violence adds the necessary excitement and tension. It is also quite moving at times' BOOK'D OUT