‘Jayne Keeney is funny, sexy and tough. A cracker of a read.’ — Leigh Redhead
Shortlisted, 2014 Ned Kelly Awards – Best Crime Novel
Shortlisted, 2014 Davitt Awards – Best Adult Novel
As Jayne and Rajiv holiday in Krabi, Jayne can’t stop her mind straying to thoughts of the future: a successful business, perhaps even a honeymoon. Who would have thought she could be so content?
But then their tour guide’s body is found floating in the shallows and no one can explain the marks around her neck. Jayne and Rajiv are pulled into a case that the police have already decided isn’t one: a case that will pull at the seams of their fledgling relationships and lead Jayne into grave danger.
Listen to Angela talk about The Dying Beach with Michael Cathcart on Radio National Books and Arts Daily here.
Download Teaching notes_The Dying Beach
PRAISE FOR THE DYING BEACH
‘Angela Savage [takes the reader for a ride]…with wit and a meticulous attention to detail, her gracefully written novels, set so perceptively in Thailand, folding and unfolding in surprising directions…. Savage writes with dry humour and a beguiling sense of place, but a hard-boiled quality of menace underpins the light cleverness of her prose.’
Graeme Blundell, The Australian
‘With its intricate narrative structure, use of multiple points of view and flashbacks, this is Savage’s most ambitious and accomplished crime novel to date.’
Sue Turnbull, Sydney Morning Herald
‘You have to love a book that makes you think, that gives you such a strong sense of a place and a society so different from the one in which you spend your days. It really is impossible to finish The Dying Beach without looking forward to returning to that world very soon.’
Karen Chisholm, Newtown Review of Books
‘[T]he quality of the writing and clever plot details make spending time with expat Jayne and Rajiv…a very enjoyable experience indeed… For crime fans this novel ticks all the boxes, but it would appeal to anyone looking to escape their everyday routine with a ripper read.’
Maryanne Hyde, Good Reading
‘The Dying Beach is a detective story rich in Thai culture… [Jayne Keeney] is an endearing character to follow, even when her determination brings about dangers…’
Fiona Hardy, Readings Monthly
‘THE DYING BEACH has it all: an exotic, evocative setting; terrifically drawn characters including good guys you can’t help but like and a story that manages to be thought-provoking and an edge-of-your-seat ride at the same time. Highly recommended.’
Bernadette, Fair Dinkum Crime
‘I was really impressed with this novel…The Dying Beach…is a stylish, intriguing and entertaining novel featuring an appealing protagonist and makes the most of its exotic setting.’
shelleyrae @ Book’d Out
‘With all the twists and turns of a ‘whodunit’ detective fiction, this enthralling narrative, offering a unique insight into Thai culture, language and issues faced by local villagers, is as informative as it is gripping.’
Fiona O’Brien, The Melbourne Review
‘[The] reader comes away from The Dying Beach having had a great time, and having learned something too. What more can one ask for? Well, perhaps the next Jayne Keeney novel ASAP.’
Robert Gott, Pulp Curry
‘[A]ny understanding I have of Thai culture, manners and politics can be ascribed to the detailed and knowledgeable background to Jayne’s…adventures…’
Katharine England, The Advertiser
‘In Jayne Keeney, Savage gives us a female lead with the street-smarts and chutzpah to negotiate the cultural and linguistic terrain of Thailand. A tropical mystery tour!’
Peter C Pugsley, In Daily
‘The Dying Beach is exotic, smart and at turns disturbing and violent.’
Barbara Farrelly, South Coast Register
‘I was impressed in this novel by the author’s empathetic depiction of village life and of Thai customs…as well as the detailed explanation of the social and economic issues surrounding the murders.’
Kerrie, Mysteries in Paradise
‘[T]he language is one of the delights of the book. Without disturbing her pacing, Savage regularly surprises with telling descriptions… The dying beach is a compelling page-turner that also makes some points about cultural difference and tolerance.’
Whispering Gums
Knee deep in nefarious deeds, this book is one that keeps you up at night – I can cliché away with page turner and can’t put it downs, but they are indeed apt.
Living Arts Canberra – The Reading List
The Dying Beach made several lists of top reads for 2013.
Graeme Blundell: ‘Angela Savage’s female PI, 30-something Jayne Keeney, returns in The Dying Beach, again investigating a case in Thailand and still driven by that repressed compassion fuelling her need to see justice done’.
David Whish-Wilson: ‘One of the greatest joys this year was reading Angela Savage’s latest crime novel, The Dying Beach’
Caron Eastgate Dann: ‘Savage has an adept style that brings in these [social] issues almost by stealth, because all the time the reader is being carried along by the fast-paced story.’
Bernadette at Reactions to Reading: ‘The exotic setting is matched by terrifically drawn characters…and a story that is thought-provoking and an edge-of-your-seat ride at the same time. Extra points for depicting investigators who are not emotional cripples.’
Listen to Angela talk about The Dying Beach:
Radio National Books and Arts Daily, 17 July 2013
Aural Text, 24 July 2013 (interview starts at 01:02:25)
Angela Savage 