Outback (DS Walker #1) by Patricia Wolf

From Goodreads

Two missing backpackers. One vast outback.

DS Lucas Walker is on leave in his hometown, Caloodie, looking after his dying grandmother. When two young German backpackers vanish from the area on their way to a ranch, he finds himself unofficially on the case. But why all the interest from the Federal Police, when they have probably just ditched the heat and dust of the outback for the coast?

As the number of days the couple are missing climbs, DS Walker is joined by the girl's sister. A detective herself from Berlin, she is desperate to find her before it's too late.

Walker remains convinced there is more at play. Working in the organised crime unit has opened his eyes to the growing drug trade in Australia's remote interior. Could this be connected?

As temperatures soar, the search intensifies to a thrilling crescendo against the unforgiving backdrop of the scorching Australian summer.

My thoughts

I grabbed a copy of this via Kindle Unlimited and I am so glad that I did.  

As a backpacking couple disappear without trace, is this a random event or is there something more sinister happening in the area?  As DS Walker finds himself unofficially involved on the case of a missing pair of German backpackers, he is joined by the sister of the female missing backpacker.  She is a detective herself back in Germany.  Can the pair work together to find out what has happened to the missing backpackers?  More importantly though, why are the Federal Police involved in the case?  Is there more to this than at first meets the eye? 

This was a great read that had me on the edge of my seat at times wanting to know what was happening.  The author has a way of drawing you in and engaging you in the action, making you feel that you are in amongst it all and hoping that things will work out well..

This is the first book that I have read by this Author and it won't be the last.  She has written a second one in this series and it is already patiently sat waiting to be read on my ever increasing TBR (TO BE READ) pile.

The outback in Australia is a vast area and so much of it is uninhabited.  One can only imagine the vastness of it, as it takes hours to fly across it let alone travel across it by road, if that's possible at all.

This book is well worth reading, grab a copy and be transported to the Outback.