Australian author PA Thomas came onto the crime scene with his enjoyable debut The Beacon. Shortlisted for the Ned Kelly Best Debut Award in 2024, this was Australian rural crime fiction set in a glitzy coastal town of Byron Bay with a suspend-your-disbelief murder and plenty of verve. The Beacon introduced journalist Jack Harris, who belongs to a major media dynasty, and Caitlin O’Shaughnessy, daughter of the editor of the local newspaper. The two investigate the murder of Caitlin’s father with the help of Jack’s best friend Ricky, who just happens to be a member of an organised crime family.
The Sunbaker brings this trio back together to solve yet another bizarre series of murders. When The Sunbaker opens pathologist Nicola Fox returns to her holiday house in Brunswick Heads to find a dead man on one of her sun-loungers complete with cocktail and a Russian book on his chest. Fox turns to Jack Harris, one of the only people she knows in the area but also tapping Harris to help investigate is local cop Begley who wants to solve the case before the organised crime squad that has been dispatched from Sydney. The organised crime squad is on the scene because the victim (and Caitlin’s boss) was a barrister who worked for a notorious bikie gang. Soon Ricky is also in Byron to help and Jack and Ricky get up to their old tricks of breaking and entering, hacking and generally annoying the police but also getting closer to the truth.
Jack is once again a little bit too perfect and too suave. Caitlin is relegated to the sidelines a bit, her arc is very much centred around her possible inheritance of Huntington’s disease from her mother and its impact on her growing relationship with Jack. And Ricky might be a computer prodigy but even he produces a number of deux-ex-machina moments (including his ability to bug the police station and call in favours from his criminal ‘uncle’). But they are a fun trio to spend time with, and that helps to just go with the flow.
Like The Beacon before it, The Sunbaker is a breezy, winking, engaging piece of Australian crime fiction. While it is somewhat based on real issues and events (including the Victorian police use of a mob lawyer as an informant), it is also light and more than a little bit unbelievable. The trick is not to take any of it too seriously. Just sit back and have a good time.
The Sunbaker by PA Thomas
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