Title: Lowbridge
Author: Lucy Campbell
Published: July 5th 2023
Publisher: Ultimo Press
Pages: 384
Genres: Fiction, Contemporary, Thriller
RRP: $34.99
Rating: 4 stars
Where everybody knows everyone, how can somebody just disappear?
A missing girl. Decades of silence. A secret too big to bury.
1987: It’s late summer and a time of change when 17-year-old Tess Dawes leaves the local shopping centre in the sleepy town of Lowbridge and is never seen again.
Tess’s unsolved disappearance is never far from the town’s memory. There’s those who grew up with Tess, and never left. And those who know more than they’re saying …
It just takes an outsider to ask the right questions.
2018: Katherine Ashworth, shattered by the death of her daughter, moves to her husband’s hometown. Searching for a way to pick up the pieces of her life, she joins the local historical society and becomes obsessed with the three-decades-old mystery.
As Katherine digs into that summer of 1987, she stumbles upon the trail of a second girl who vanished when no one cared enough to see what was happening in plain sight.
Her trail could lead right to Katherine’s door.
In a town simmering with divisions and a cast of unforgettable characters, Lowbridge is a heart-wrenching mystery about the girls who are lost, the ones who are mourned and those who are forgotten.
Review:
Leading edge Australian publisher Ultimo Press presents Lowbridge, a debut novel by Lucy Campbell. A murder mystery with themes of wealth, power, gender choices, small town politics and grief, Lowbridge is a gripping quintessential Aussie crime fiction tale.
Crossing the time periods of both 1987 and 2018, Lowbridge follows the devastating fallout of a crime that occurs that rocks a small Australian township. The inhabitants of Lowbridge are shocked when a seventeen year old girl disappears from a local shopping haunt and never returns home. This tragic and unexplained loss hits the local area hard. Young Tess Dawes’ case becomes etched in the minds of the locals. But there are some members of this community who would rather keep the details of this case under wraps. Moving forward in time to over three decades later, Katherine Ashworth is grieving after the loss of her daughter. Time back in her partner’s hometown gives Katherine some much needed time to convalesce and investigate the cold case involving Tess Dawes. Katherine’s search for new answers to an old case leads her to find a vital connection between Tess’ case and another missing girl. These two linked disappearances could hold an essential clue to cracking more than one crime case. But Katherine’s search leads her to uncover some uncomfortable personal truths. What will Katherine find?
Lowbridge has authentic Australian crime written all over it. I immediately felt like this book was almost a true crime, not a fiction tale. Lucy Campbell’s debut is definitely one that has catapulted her into the category of rural Australian crime fiction, a genre that continues to flourish. I really hope we hear more from Lucy Campbell, she is a fantastic new voice in Australian fiction.
I must say I found a quick connection to the setting and time frame of Lowbridge. The dual timelines seem to work for me as this one features both a 1987 and a 2018 narrative. Both these timelines were covered well and I found myself equally invested in both time pockets. I really enjoyed the nostalgic 1987 period, it felt quite haunting to me being a 1980s born child. In the present day, we have a fairly dominant character who makes some interesting moves. Campbell ensures that she balances her cast out with some agreeable but also a few unlikeable characters. Readers will be drawn to the almost suffocating small-town setting, complete with some unspoken rules and expectations. Within Lowbridge, Campbell examines themes of wealth distribution, the vulnerable, welfare, women’s rights, violence and suppression. Toxicity is a huge overlapping conflict in the novel, highlighting some pertinent points for the audience to consider. However, at the heart of Lowbridge is the core murder mystery. I loved the mechanics of the case and I enjoyed being a part of this complicated investigation.
Lowbridge is a worthy addition to your TBR pile. I look forward to seeing what Lucy Campbell releases next.
Lowbridge by Lucy Campbell is published on 5th July 2023 by Ultimo Press. Details on how to purchase the book can be found here.
*Thanks is extended to Ultimo Press for providing a free copy of this book for review purposes.
