Catch up review: ‘The Man in the Water’ by David Burton

Due to some unexpected medical dramas last year, I just realised that I completely forgot to post my review for this book. A massive thank you to Aus YA Bloggers for originally including me in the release tour for this book, and my sincerest apologies that it has taken me this long to post my review.

“On the first day of Year 10, Shaun sees a dead body. When Shaun finds a body floating in the lake of a quiet mining town in outback Queensland, he immediately reports it to the police. But when he returns to the site with the constable, the body is gone.

Determined to reveal the truth, Shaun and his best friend, Will, open their own investigation. But what they discover is far more sinister than they expected, and reveals a darkness below the surface of their small town.“

Full disclosure, the premise of this book is not one that would normally encourage me to pick it up off the shelf to read. However, whilst reading I found myself engrossed in the story and mystery enfolding. It was not what I was expecting, and I was actually surprised by how dark this story became.

Based on the synopsis I was anticipating that this book would be solely about a group of kids conducting their own investigation, almost in a cartoon-type way that characters used to in the children’s shows I would watch when I was younger. But instead I found that this was less about a murder mystery and more about the harsh realities and dynamics of a small town whose prospects for its residents are slowly dwindling. Even though I am Australian, I have to say that my knowledge of the mining towns in Queensland has been framed by what I have seen (and marginally understood) in the stock reports on the news, influenced by an economic agenda. I had never really considered what it was like for the people that live there and it made for a fascinatning setting in a book and one that I would be interested to see of more in fiction.

I must also praise Burton’s writing style. Whilst I found parts of the plot to be somewhat confusing and more consulted than they may have needed to have been, the writing did a lot to enhance the storyline. I enjoyed the way that he described outback Queensland and the way that he presented the characters, particularly as I found them to be a relatable depiction of 15 or 16 year olds. `

In particular I commend the way that mental illness was presented in this book. Although I don’t know a lot about mining towns, I do know that mental health is an issue that many people face there, particularly when corporate greed and expectation is involved. It was interesting how such a premise was weaved into the main narrative and that it was brought to the attention of the reader.

On the whole, what I thought would be solely a murder mystery quickly morphed into a story that explored so much more, and was made all the more captivating by some excellent writing.

ISBN: 9780702262524

RRP: $19.95

Publication date: 1/10/19

Publisher: University of Queensland Press