This week the Matchmakers team welcomes our guest blogger, Michele Hirschfeld! Michele writes:
I hope to see more from Australian debut author Hayley Scrivenor, whose style may appeal to fans of Jane Harper and Wiley Cash. Dirt Creek, a literary, small-town crime 
mystery, is full of atmosphere and well-paced mounting tension. Many engaging, character-driven subplots supply a framework to the story, which for me adds to the appeal. I’ve added this title to a list of what I call Grit Lit, one of my favorite genres.
mystery, is full of atmosphere and well-paced mounting tension. Many engaging, character-driven subplots supply a framework to the story, which for me adds to the appeal. I’ve added this title to a list of what I call Grit Lit, one of my favorite genres.The sardonic nickname of the town of Durton, Dirt Creek explores a hardscrabble community’s reaction to the disappearance of Esther, a local 12 year old girl, and from the first chapter the reader understands that she has been killed and surreptitiously buried. The mystery of her disappearance and death unfolds with the subsequent interconnected maelstroms that follow Detective Sergeant Sarah Michaels’ unbiased investigation as an outsider. Secrets, lies, and dark crimes begin to surface while the citizens of Durton continue to deny that one of their own could possibly be responsible for Esther’s disappearance, despite several of its men falling under strong suspicion. Hayley Scrivenor offers an unflinching, harrowing, and yet beautiful and compassionate portrayal of a town coping with a tragedy that leaves no one untouched.