HERMIT by S.R. White

How does one live as a hermit in an urbanised world,  CCTV cameras everywhere, social media connectedness? In this novel, another excellent Australian whodunnit, Nathan Whittler is the hermit. He has lived off grid, in a secretive location somewhere in the wild bushlands of Australia for fifteen years, disappearing from his family home. What is the story behind Nathan's unusual life,  and how is that he is found by the police leaning over the stabbed body of a grocery store owner? And how did he manage to live off grid all those years? 

Dana Russo is the lead detective in the case, and she also has her own demons that she is dealing with. We never learn the true nature of her trauma, although towards the end there are some revelations, setting the author up to write a second novel featuring this astute, sensitive and highly intelligent woman. 

Once Nathan is arrested, Dana has only 24 hours in which to get a confession out of him. She is not convinced that he is the murderer, and neither is the reader really, but it is her job to get Nathan on her side so as to peel back the story of what happened in the grocery store that night. The psychological interplay between Dana and Nathan, as she sits in the interview  room with him, acutely aware that she cannot push him too hard, is so well done, so carefully and strategically played out that the tension oozes out of the page. 

The supporting characters - the other detectives, the widow, the lawyer are also outstanding, with such diverse personalities, secrets to hide, secrets that are uncovered. It is a slow moving whodunnit, which takes a bit of getting used to in this fast paced novel world we live in. But it is never boring, and I found it very rewarding. I like the idea of there possibly being another Dana Russo novel sometime soon.