JourneyOnline
By Martin Roth,
Ark House, 2010,
RRP $19.95
Reviewed by John Rhule.
HOT ROCK Dreaming is a further instalment in the Johnny Ravine detective series by Martin Roth.
Set in Alice Springs and surrounding remote Aboriginal communities Hot Rock Dreaming follows the trail of a murder mystery.
The book invites you to join private investigator Johnny Ravine as he sets out to solve the mystery of why a famous 80-year-old Aboriginal artist is found dead at exactly the same time as high pressure water is added to the hot rocks deep within the Aboriginal Dreamtime landscape
This highly readable book adds the elements of mystery, spirituality, Aboriginal Dreaming, celebrity endorsement and
commercial business together to create a uniquely Australian story.
It is refreshing and somewhat disconcerting at times to read a mystery novel written specifically in the Australian context.
You will be both entertained and educated as you meet characters such as the East Timorese PI, Johnny Ravine, the
ageing rock star and social justice advocate Wolfstead Gannon, the famous Aboriginal artist Old Albert Wallaby Walker and the beautiful and mysterious Korean pastor, Mi-Young.
