Mosquito Creek

Huge floodwaters have engulfed a remote Victorian goldfield, reducing the prospect of digging up a fortune from very slim to impossible, and adding disease to the many possibilities of sudden death in harsh conditions. As sickness starts to take its toll and calls mount for the rescue of diggers stranded by the raging torrent, Sergeant Niall Kennedy must try to keep order in a place where frictions can become murderous. Does a suspiciously abandoned tent suggest there has already been a killing? And why has Mosquito Creek's erratic Commissioner Stanfield drafted in special troopers behind Kennedy's back? In a new country where everyone's past has a question mark, asking too many questions is dangerous. But how else can you get to the truth? Mosquito Creek is a rare treat - historical fiction that brilliantly evokes the hardships of early Australia, and a crime novel in a setting where crime touches upon everyone and everything. A priceless relic from the Old Country deepens the mystery and adds a mythic quality to the events unfolding in this isolated settlement. An Australian Deadwood. 'Enthralling' – Good Reading 'Engwerda's novel offers a gripping and multifaceted exploration of the influences of the past ... In many ways, a book about masculinity' – Australian Book Review 'A gripping drama of how a group of colonials interact when they are either trying to escape, conceal or move beyond their past. Mosquito Creek is a place of secrets and lies, like the rest of Australia in its formative years' – Daily Telegraph 'Tense and entertaining, sometimes relentlessly so ... A rollicking tale of deceit, water and a great deal more' – Adelaide Advertiser