The River Mouth review: Author’s quintessentially West Australian debut flows with small-town intrigue

Perth author Karen Herbert draws on memories of her upbringing in Geraldton in her debut novel, The River Mouth. Set in a fictional crayfishing town called Weymouth, it’s a slow-burning murder-mystery centred on the fatal shooting of 15-year-old Darren Davies, whose death still remains unsolved a decade later. However, when Darren’s mother Sandra receives news that her lifelong friend, Barbara, has been found dead in a remote spot in the Pilbara, the unanswered questions surrounding his case resurface: it turns out that Barbara’s DNA is a match for a sample that was found underneath Darren’s fingernails, making her the main suspect in his murder. The story unfolds in dual timelines, with alternating chapters told from Sandra’s point of view in the close-to-present day as Darren’s case is reopened. The other sections take place in the past, counting down to Darren’s death and recounting the events of the final weeks of his life from the perspective of his best friend, Barbara’s son Colin. It’s a structural device that highlights the poignant contrast between the apparently carefree, outdoorsy adolescence that we see Colin, Darren and their friends living out and our knowledge of what’s to come. It also works to gradually ramp up the suspense as Herbert advances her intricate and deftly handled puzzle of a plot, with the tension accelerating in the book’s final hundred pages as the narrative builds towards its conclusion. One of the strengths of the novel is its sense of place, rooted in a landscape that feels recognisably West Australian and a town that is authentic in its complexity, with Weymouth depicted as a place that is home to not only a close-knit community but also tightly held secrets and dark undercurrents of racism and sexual violence. THE RIVER MOUTH Karen Herbert (Fremantle Press, $32.99)