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Into the Night by Sarah Bailey

Sarah Bailey’s second book, Into the Night, is a terrific follow up to her wonderful debut, Dark Lake. The troubled protagonist of Dark Lake, Detective Sergeant, Gemma Woodstock has shifted to Melbourne and is still readjusting to life in the city and away from her beloved son. Dedicated cop by day, with a hostile and uncommunicative partner, Nick Fleet, Gemma is a drifter at night, enjoying random sexual encounters in order to feel a brief sense of connection as well as the control lacking in other parts of her life.

When a homeless person is brutally murdered and then a famous young actor is killed on the set of his latest movie, Gemma empathises with the loneliness of the homeless man and drawn to the actor’s murder; someone killed the man in broad daylight and yet in a similar way to the other victim. Yet, while no-one sets to gain from the homeless man’s death, everyone appears to when it comes to the rich handsome young actor, but in order to solve the crime, Gemma needs to not only trust her instincts, but those she relies to do her job properly…

Not only is this a terrific police procedural that doesn’t steer away from revealing the dogged and often unexciting processes involved in attempting to solve a crime, but it’s a top-notch exploration of relationships and families as well. Professional relationships, personal bonds and how one impacts on the other whether you’re a man or woman, mother or father, are beautifully and often painfully rendered. Gemma Woodstock is such a flawed and yet relatable character and it’s her vulnerabilities as much as her strengths that make her so appealing as a policewoman and as a person.

A terrific novel with good and believable twists and great pacing.

Looking forward to seeing what Bailey writes next.

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