Book Review: The Man in the Water by David Burton

Rating: ★★★.5
RRP: $19.95 AUD

A huge thank you to Aussie YA Bloggers and UQP for providing me with a copy of this book as part of a blog tour!

Synopsis:

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.

I actually enjoyed this. Although I’m not sure if “enjoyed” is the right word for it. This was such a vivid murder mystery set in outback Queensland, but it felt like a hell of a lot more than just a “murder mystery” too. It was gripping, easy to read and, in my opinion, perfect for young adult readers. Growing up in Australia myself added a totally unique and relatable understanding of the vernacular in this story too which was really fun. The Man in the Water covers a lot of important topics such as grief and suicide, and the effect it can have on those left behind in a really seamless way along side the main plot.

The story  follows 16-year-old Shaun, who finds a body floating in the lake of the quiet mining town he calls home. After finding the body, Shaun immediately reports it to the police only to find the body has disappeared once they arrive back at the lake. Not only is Shaun having a hard time getting people to believe him about the body, but he’s also dealing with his own grief having lost his father the year prior.

In terms of the plot, this was really fast paced and interesting. The characters were all very raw and realistic which I enjoyed and it was actually really fun reading a book set in Australia. I don’t often do it, so it was fun having an insider understanding of the people, places and language. However, as an almost thirty year old woman and most definitely not the intended audience for this book, at times I found following a teenage-boy-turned-detective a little tedious, but again, this book is intended for younger readers who I am sure would find it gripping and binge worthy.

Over all I liked this. It covered some intense topics with grace and candour, the characters were wonderfully real and the story itself was plot twist after plot twist! I absolutely didn’t see the ending coming and would highly recommend this to young readers interested in the murder mystery type genre. 3.5 stars!

Once again, a huge thank you to UQP and Aussie YA Bloggers for allowing me to be part of this blog tour!

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