Where to Start with Chris Hammer
Chris Hammer has quickly become one of the defining voices of contemporary Australian crime fiction, often referred to as 'Outback Noir.' His books are deeply atmospheric, rich in landscape detail, and populated by complex characters with dark histories. While he has written two distinct fictional series, they exist within the same shared universe. This leaves readers with two primary starting options.
Option 1: The Publication Order (Highly Recommended). If you want to experience his universe exactly as it grew, start with his award-winning debut, Scrublands (2018). Reading in publication order allows you to follow the subtle evolution of recurring characters, particularly Detective Ivan Lucic, who is introduced as a minor character in the Martin Scarsden trilogy before stepping into the spotlight of his own spin-off series.
Option 2: The Procedural Route. If you prefer classic police procedurals over journalistic investigations, you can jump straight into the Ivan Lucic and Nell Buchanan series starting with Treasure & Dirt (published as Opal Country in the US and UK). However, you will miss out on the early setup of Ivan Lucic's career and personal struggles introduced in the Scarsden books.
The Martin Scarsden Series
This series follows investigative journalist Martin Scarsden as he travels to remote Australian towns, only to find himself entangled in complex murder mysteries that challenge his investigative integrity and personal safety. He is accompanied by partner Mandalay Blonde.
- Scrublands (2018): Set in the fictional, drought-ravaged town of Riversend. Martin Scarsden arrives to write a feature story on how the community is coping one year after a charismatic local priest opened fire on his congregation, killing five people. Scarsden quickly realizes the official narrative doesn't align with the town's buried secrets.
- Silver (2019): Martin Scarsden returns to his childhood home of Port Haven, hoping for a fresh start with Mandy. Instead, he discovers his best friend has been murdered, and Mandy is the prime suspect. To clear her name, Martin must dig into the town's corrupt local history and his own painful past.
- Trust (2020): A high-stakes thriller set in Sydney. Martin's life is upended when a body is found in a demolition site, carrying a connection to Mandy's past. The investigation exposes systemic corporate and political corruption. It also introduces homicide detective Ivan Lucic in a supporting role.
- Legacy (2025): The long-awaited fourth installment. Martin's book launch is disrupted by a bomb blast and gunfire, forcing him to flee into the outback. While running for his life, he gets caught in a generational feud between two powerful landowning families, with detectives Ivan Lucic and Nell Buchanan tracking the case.
The Ivan Lucic & Nell Buchanan Series
This series shifts focus to the police side of the law, tracking the partnership of Detective Sergeant Ivan Lucic and Detective Senior Constable Nell Buchanan as they investigate crimes in rugged, isolated communities across Australia.
- Treasure & Dirt / Opal Country (2021): Set in a bleak, dusty opal mining town called Finnigans. Ivan Lucic is sent to investigate the bizarre crucifixion of a wealthy mine owner. He is partnered with local constable Nell Buchanan, beginning a partnership defined by grit, mutual respect, and shared secrets.
- The Tilt / Dead Man's Creek (2022): Nell Buchanan takes center stage in this historical procedural. Returning to her hometown region, she investigates a skeleton found in a drained reservoir. The plot weaves together three distinct timelines—the present day, World War II, and the 1970s—unraveling Nell's own complicated family history.
- The Seven / Cover the Bones (2023): The detectives are called to a wealthy enclave where the heir to a powerful dynasty is found dead in a canal. The mystery involves historical secrets, irrigation water politics, and a decades-old cover-up involving the town's elite families.
- The Valley / The Broken River (2024): When a controversial entrepreneur is murdered in a remote mountain valley, Lucic and Buchanan are assigned to the case despite a clear conflict of interest—the victim is a blood relative of Nell's. The investigation forces Nell to confront family secrets stretching back to environmental protests and police corruption in the 1990s.
Title Variations Across Regions
Readers should note that Chris Hammer's books often undergo name changes when published outside of Australia (specifically in the United Kingdom and the United States). To avoid accidentally purchasing the same book twice, keep these title conversions in mind:
- Treasure & Dirt is titled Opal Country in the US and UK markets.
- The Tilt is titled Dead Man's Creek in the US and UK markets.
- The Seven is titled Cover the Bones in the UK market.
- The Valley is titled The Broken River in the UK market.
Chris Hammer's Non-Fiction Roots
Before achieving global fame as a fiction writer, Chris Hammer spent over thirty years as a journalist and foreign correspondent. His deep familiarity with Australia's geographic and environmental issues shines through in his two non-fiction books, which serve as excellent background reading for fans of his novels' settings:
- The River: A Journey through the Murray-Darling Basin (2010): An exploration of the ecological and social challenges facing Australia's primary river system during a period of severe drought. This research heavily inspired the atmosphere of Riversend in Scrublands.
- The Coast: A Journey along Australia's Eastern Shores (2012): A portrait of the communities, history, and landscapes along the eastern coastline, which informed the coastal setting of Silver.
What to Know Before You Start
Chris Hammer writes complex, multi-layered plots that often weave past history with present-day crimes. The pacing of his books tends to be a slow burn, taking time to build the atmosphere and explore the psychological depth of both the detectives and the suspects. The landscapes of rural Australia—from the parched outback in Scrublands to the humid rainforests and damp mountain valleys in The Valley—are treated as characters themselves, influencing how the crimes are committed and solved.
For the best reading experience, take your time with the descriptions of the settings. The social issues Hammer highlights, such as water rights, environmental degradation, mining exploitation, and historical corruption, are drawn directly from his decades of real-world journalistic reporting, giving his fiction an authentic, documentary-style weight.