The quiet King of Australian crime writing returns with another absorbing tale, as Garry Disher masterfully lures us into the world of a small-time thief looking for a normal life, the owner of a rural shop looking for safety, and the dangerous men looking for each of them. A rich, character-driven story, Sanctuary is an apt title; it’s what various characters crave.

Grace is a woman of many names who’s used to passing through. She passes through cities and towns, through windows and locked houses, pilfering small, highly valuable items. An expert thief, 13 years ago she even passed through a prior Disher novel, Whispering Death (sixth in his Challis and Destry series). Now Grace is the heart of this tale, looking to lie low in the Adelaide Hills after a run-in with an old associate. Could Erin Mandel’s antiques store be a perfect haven? But Erin has her own secrets, local cop Les Liddington wants to slap the handcuffs on someone again before he retires, and the past is inescapable for everyone.

Disher draws readers in not with explosive intros or blurb-worthy hooks or high concepts, but the quality of his writing. He crafts a rich portrait of small-town life and various characters, steadily building intrigue. Disher doesn’t serve literary fast food, but marinated slow-cooked delights. Layers of flavour. While the likes of Jane Harper and Chris Hammer – whose smash-hit debuts The Dry and

Scrublands have both been adapted for the screen in recent years – sparked a fast-growing global appetite for ‘Outback Noir’, and even fresher talents like Hayley Scrivenor, Emma Styles, and Shelley Burr fanned the flames, Garry Disher is the giant on whose shoulders they’re standing.

A gold standard, for decades, Disher remains top of the game.

Anita and Adam grew up together in a children's home becoming thieves and con artists, always on the move. They lose touch after Anita steals Adam's score, but their paths cross while on a scam, and Anita, now Grace, looks for a place to pay low.
Grace meets Erin and starts working in her antiques shop and living in her annexe. However, Erin is also on the run from her violent ex-husband.
The book is great, there are lots of interesting characters; Grace, who can't resist a score or a vigilante good deed, Erin, Adam, so many bad people chasing them, Mr Tolhurst, Police Officers Swanwick and Liddington, who get involved. All the storylines are well plotted, weaving together until all the connections are revealed. Recommended.

I really like the author's work and this is another interesting and enjoyable read from him. I loved the characterisation and the plotting, based around the theft of works of art. Grace is an interesting character, strong and resilient with the Adelaide Hills and the small town of Barossa beautifully described. The ending came a bit abrupt but I really enjoyed the read and hope we see more of Grace. Thanks to Net Galley for my ARC.

far as Australian crime noir novels are concerned, Disher is my favorite.  "Sanctuary", his latest upcoming standalone novel, took me some time to get into, several story lines confused me in the beginning.  It is a complex plot and of course everything makes sense eventually. 

Grace, the chief protagonist, is a skilled thief on the run until she finds refuge and a job with Erin, a somewhat strange antique shop owner. Before too long Grace feels someone is watching her.  Could it be Adam, one of her old boyfriends from her conflicted past whom she betrayed or are other elements involved since she has not completely given up stealing while working for Erin.

Not one of my favorite Dishers but still a very solid crime noir novel.

What a fantastic read I couldn't put it down. I had never read anything by Disher and I would definitely look out for other books by him

Thank you for the opportunity to review

I’m a huge Garry Disher fan, from his short stories, young adult fiction (the Divine Wind is truly superb), his Wyatt series with its amoral central protagonist and the Mornington Penunsula police procedurals. My fave tho is the Hirsch series, stunning characters and a depiction of landscape so beautiful and dangerous that it is a character (or many), taut prose and brilliant plotting. That said this standalone, which has enormous potential to become a series is every bit as good. Perhaps Disher is giving a nod to Dickensian naming conventions in naming the main character Grace. She’s a hard bitten, brutally pragmatic criminal loner. She’s capable of meaningful interpersonal relationships but historically they have been of convenience so we’re not sure we can trust their sincerity entirely. And yet as the narratives present winds out we see she’s capable of developing genuine human relationships, perhaps longing for them. It starts to feel very much like she’s plotting a way out of the very lonely criminal lifestyle she’s grown into… but her past keeps catching up with her, making any potential transition pretty difficult. Post the superb book ending plot twist we really don’t know if she’s actually capable of making a clean break from her past life, nor it’s old habits… but I really want to find out.

A story of two women living in fear of men from their past and trying to make a new life for themselves.
A fast paced thriller that kept me entertained throughout.
This is the first book I have read from this author and I will be looking out for more of his work.
Thank you to NetGalley and Serpents Tail/Viper for my e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 ⭐

I genuinely believe you're never getting a bad read with Disher.
He's got a knack for solid writing that keeps me (and many others) entertained.
I really enjoyed the way all the pieces were put into play and the build up to the drama when they met.
I thought Grace was a great character, and everyone surrounding her too.
Another winner here I think.

This novel tells the engrossing story of Grace, who is on the run in the hope of avoiding some very bad men. She is a thief who targets high value, easily transported items. And she's good at it. Perhaps too good for her own good!

Be that as it may, Grace ends up in a small rural community renting a room from the local antique shop owner, a quiet woman named Erin Mandel. And for a change, she can feel herself being more relaxed, taking in the slower pace of rural life.

But Grace can't afford to get too comfortable, because those who are in pursuit aren't giving up so easily. And Erin has her own reasons for preferring a quiet life...

This is a fast-paced, exciting thriller, which delivers well on believable characters and a sense of place. Worth a read. It gets 3.5 stars.

Sanctuary is a stand-alone novel by award-winning, best-selling Australian author, Garry Disher. Grace is a thief, and she’s very good at it. She started as a pre-teen, was taught by the best, and knows her stuff, what she can offload quickly, and for how much. And three vital things she has learned: know when (and how) to walk away, keep it simple, and always have a plan B.

So when, at a Brisbane Stamp Expo, she spots someone who has reason to hold a grudge against her, she clears off, quick smart, heads south, changes her name, gets a different car, stays under the radar: she’s done this many times before. By the time she gets to the Adelaide Hills, though, she realises she’s tired of it: “All I want is a normal life,” is what keeps running through her head. But for someone like her, is that even possible?

In Battendorf, she spots a “help wanted” sign in Mandel’s Collectibles: she could do that, she’s good with antiques and vintage items. Her new boss is nervy, but gives Grace free rein, and the little shop does well. What Grace only learns much later is that Erin Mandel is hiding from a very toxic ex.

Going straight is harder than Grace realised, especially when there such rich pickings to be had under the cover of a buying trip to the Barossa. Is that to be her undoing? Or is it the humanity she can’t help showing in a critical moment, in combination with the appearance of said ex?

Once again, Disher effortlessly evokes his setting and his plot is intriguing enough to keep the pages turning. His characters are well-rounded and thoroughly credible: some are utterly despicable, one engaging in a particularly heinous scam; others, the reader will soon enough be hoping, even wishing, will elude capture: Grace for her courage and compassion, Adam for his conscience.

With Disher’s work, the reader often faces the dilemma: devour the novel quickly, because it’s so good and so hard to put down, or draw it out, because you don’t want the pleasure of it to end. This is brilliant Aussie crime from an author who never disappoints.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Serpents Tail/Viper