Reviewed by Gail McDonald
Di Morrissey is an Australian author who has written many novels centred around various locations in Australia. This book The Night Tide is no different in that it is set in the Pittwater area of Sydney’s northern beaches.
Di Morrissey trained as a journalist working in newspapers, magazines, television, film, theatre and advertising around the world. She wrote her first novel, The Heart of Dreaming, in 1991. She has since written and published twenty-eight bestselling novels.
This novel centres around the main character Dominic Cochrane, a political staffer for a member of state parliament, who walked away from his long-term career following an election loss. Dominic chooses to take a break in a friend’s converted waterside boat shed in quiet Sydney Flounder Bay, with the thought that maybe he might write a book on his experiences.
Dominic soon adapts to the strange living conditions of being in a boat shed and builds connections with the neighbours while still maintaining relationships with previous work colleagues and some paid employment as a researcher. His life seems idyllic – spending his days fishing and exploring the neighbourhood where he meets Snowy, a mysterious recluse.
There is intrigue involving Dominic’s nearest neighbour, Maggie – what happened to her husband Joe who simply vanished without a trace. Joe who has been missing for twenty-five years was a schoolteacher who was beloved by all. Dominic is asked by Maggie’s daughter to investigate her dad’s disappearance; however, most of the other family members do not agree and want the matter left alone.
The author introduces another plot into the story – that of a wealthy businessman who wants to buy up some of the properties in the bay to create a high-end property development. Predictably most of the residents are opposed to selling their properties with beautiful views so that one person can have it all. And a plan is developed which sees everyone as a winner.
And of course, in true Di Morrissey style, there is a love interest when Maggie’s daughter Holly finally arrives on the scene. Holly, who fits so well into Dominic’s life – she can fish, operate a boat and knows all about the people in the area and the lifestyle that he is coming to enjoy.
Eventually the mystery of the death of Holly’s dad Joe is solved and all other plots are neatly wrapped up.
This is an interesting book especially for Di Morrissey fans with plenty of intrigue, danger, difficult relationships and of course love. And for those who haven’t read a Di Morrissey novel – this one is a great one to start with.
I would happily recommend it to readers.
The Night Tide
[2022]
by Di Morrissey
Pan Macmillan
ISBN 978 176098 558 5
$39.99; 416pp
