Nell Buchanan and Ivan Lucia are investigating a murder in a remote valley. The case is complicated but after DNA analysis is completed, it appears Nell was half sister to the victim. She does not as yet have her father’s identity confirmed. What a great plot twist.

Well written and well narrated novel (I listened to the audiobook). Strong characters in a novel that includes murder, goldmines, conmen, bullion thieves and even grave robbers. Lots of action in this well paced novel, enjoy.

The Valley, also titled The Broken River, is the fourth book in the Ivan Lucic and Nell Buchanan series by award-winning Australian journalist and author, Chris Hammer. The audio version is narrated by Dorje Swallow. While the murder in the mountain valley seems like one the district constabulary could handle, DS Ivan Lucic and DC Nell Buchanan are sent to investigate.

Local entrepreneur, Wolfgang Burnside, a personable man with a finger in many pies and ambitious plans for The Valley that don’t please everyone, has been found dead on the banks of the Broken River, drowned after a blow to the back of the head, with traces of cyanide in his system.

Ivan and Nell have soon decided that neither his current wife, nor his ex, are likely candidates for his murder, and are set to dig into connections of those who may have had a beef with the victim, as well as tracking down an elusive yellow van, when DNA proves that Nell has a much closer link to Wolf than she could have imagined. She’s ready to step back, but their boss, DS Packenham insists she stay.

The fact that Amber Jones, the mother she only recently discovered, spent time is the Valley is not the only surprise in store for Nell. Can she defer her curiosity about her origins to concentrate on finding who murdered the relative she never got a chance to know?

In a tale that features a massive cash and gold bullion heist, confrontations between loggers and environmentalists, a gold-mining scam, a dodgy lawyer, a dishonest accountant, and denied paternity, Hammer easily captures setting and eras. The story is told through three narratives, each with their own time-line, and there are some great twists, surprises, and red herrings.

Hammer dials back a bit on the ridiculous character names, but there are two power couples, corrupt cops and politicians, a fake photographer, and a journalist with integrity. Before matters are resolved, there’s an attempted abduction that results in a gunfight in the street, a grave is robbed, a man is thrown out of a window, and the body count exceeds ten. Again, there’s a very handy map at the front created by Aleksander Potočnik. Another exceptional dose of Australian rural crime fiction.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Wavesound Audio

Summary: Another slow burning, intricate thriller, with personal ties for Nell in the latest epic from Chris Hammer.
Alternatively known as The Broken River or The Valley (depending on your region), this is the fourth novel in the Ivan Lucic and Nell Buchanan series. As with the previous three novels, The Broken River does work effectively as a standalone novel, but I would recommend that you read the series for the pure enjoyment of Hammer's work.

By now, Nell and Luca have been working together for a number of years and have a well-established working relationship and friendship.

Add in past resentments, secrets, business interests and you have a complicated mix which Hammer deftly weaves into a fascinating case that leaves the reader curious for more.


This is a multilayered story that is told from the perspective of two timelines; the present with Lucic and Nell investigation the suspicious death of a local business man and 1994, when the actions of some newcomers to the town would have decades long consequences.
As the storyline progresses, the connections are slowly revealed and once again, we discover a connection to Nell which I particularly enjoyed.
Hammer has a gift for creating an intelligent story with an intricate plotline and is the perfect example of the Australian noir genre.
Dorje Swallow is also the perfect narrator for this e-audiobook and brilliantly brings the characters to life.
The publication of a new book by Chris Hammer is always a case for celebration and 'The Valley' is no different.

A reasonable tale but nothing to grab my attention. Good group of characters but a bit too much technical stuff about the mines which I know some will love. Perhaps I’m a lazy reader.

I’ve read a bunch of Chris Hammer’s Aussie based mysteries, and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed them all. This is the fourth book in a series featuring detectives Nell Buchanan and Ivan Lucic. They operate in remote areas in New South Wales, and this this time they’re called out to investigate the death of an entrepreneur in a mountain valley, well off the beaten track. One advantage of the locations chosen for this series is that the most likely culprits tend to be one of a number of local characters we’re introduced to along the way. But this time, there seem to be wider issues at play, potentially involving a historic robbery and a local gold mine.

I listened to this book on audio this time around, which might have been a mistake. Although it was competently narrated, I quickly started to become confused by regular changes of timeline as current events alternated with historic happenings. I’m sure these segues were flagged, and yet I seemed to regularly become confused as to which timeline I was following. I actually enjoyed the historic tale more – detailing events that would eventually lead to the death of this man – but it did all seem quite repetitive, particularly as the history of the gold mine and a significant flooding were trawled over again and again.

There’s a significant personal twist impacting Nell here, too, which adds some interest. But by the end of this tale, I found that I’d lost interest in this element too, confused as I was by the hard to follow narrative. It’s a real pity, but I found this instalment by far the weakest of the series to date. I struggled to finish it, and it’s therefore only a two star offering for me.

The Valley starts with an almost literal bang; fast paced opening involving a heist in 1994 which goes wrong. The timeline moves forward to the oresent and throughout the story, switches between the two as apparently unconnected events are aligned.

The pace slowed considerably after the opening pages and there are passages during the narrative which explain water levels and flooding. I felt the detail was relevant, but found it boring and distracting. I felt as if I was being educated and I wanted to be absorbed in a story. It’s the first time that’s happened with a Hammer title. I’ve enjoyed the other two I’ve read.

This is quite a twisted take of murder, cover up and police corruption and a few surprises. The narration is suited in that it’s rather slow and drawn out and took a while to get used to. I finished the book, but didn’t find it wholly engaging and I hope it’s not a first Hammer read for some. I’ll check out future titles but this feels a little off the boil.

Initially I really struggled to find a pace in which to enjoy the narration, if I sped up it was too fast, if I slowed down it was robotic, I settled for 1.5 and after a while I got used to it.

I don’t know if this was a me thing, when I was into the story I really enjoyed it, but I got really confused on the timelines and the characters from each, which I normally find easy to follow. I also wondered often as this is number 4 in a series if I’d have benefited from reading the first 3.

I appreciate the authors research into the water levels and gold mining however that definitely lost me, it’s a shame as I enjoyed going back to the past and there were plenty of moments that I really did enjoy, but it all just got a bit confusing.

I’d say for me this was 2.5 ⭐️ rounded up, but looking at the other reviews here it’s clearly a winning series, so perhaps just bad timing for me.

My thanks to Wavesound from W F Howes and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to this title.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Valley by Chris Hammer. (Called Broken River in South Africa, releasing in February 2025) Narrated by Dorje Swallow. Thank you to NetGalley for my audio book.

This is the fourth book featuring Nell Buchanan and Ivan Lucic.

I love Chris Hammer’s books as they are all set out in Australia and he certainly knows how to describe small town Australia.

It’s 1988 and the story opens up with a daring cash and gold bullion heist which ends in gun fire.

The story then switches to 2024 and Nell and Ivan have been called to The Valley, a picturesque small town, to investigate the death of a local entrepreneur who was planning on re-opening an old goldmine which had flooded years earlier. Nell finds out she has a familial connection to the murder victim. How is her mother, Amber, involved in this mess? Nell never knew her mother as she was adopted when she was a baby and she never knew who her father was. Will she actually get the answer to who her father is?

We also get drawn into certain things happening in 1994: tree logging, gold mining, politics and corruption. The book swaps out from 1994 to 2024 quite often, but you always know which timeline you are listening to.

To be honest some of the discussions of water levels and flooding left me a little bored (and I would have skipped those pages if I was reading the book) but as I was listening to the audio, I didn’t want to skip ahead in case I missed something important. Overall, it was a very entertaining book and the narrator did a great job with the various characters.

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