Is it Shepp or Shep, when it comes to abbreviating Shepparton?
I’ve been pondering this of late, as I read the book I’m reviewing today, Wild Card by Simon Rowell.
It’s set in Echuca-Moama and is a gripping crime novel about bikies who live on the border with strong connections to Shepparton, and a drug turf war.
Homicide detective Zoe Mayer and her offsider Charlie Shaw are hastily despatched to the area from Melbourne, after a local bikie is murdered and his body partially burned.
At first the investigation seems to go round in circles, and then it escalates out of the blue when two more crime figures are executed, and Charlie is critically injured while stopping a suspect from escaping.
I read this book in a day. It is full of suspense and keeps you guessing right to the end.
Zoe, the lead investigator, is whip-smart and is determined not to miss a trick.
The book gives wonderful insight into just how observant Zoe has to be to keep on top of things and how she is not afraid to revisit information and suspects, especially when her instinct is telling her something doesn’t add up.
Zoe is also intriguing. She has a golden retriever named Harry, a Victoria Police service dog, assigned to her after she suffers ongoing blackouts due to PTSD, as a result of a violent incident in Melbourne.
Wild Card is the second in a series of crime novels by Simon Rowell.
He’s busy writing the third, titled Higher Ground.
In the meantime I think I’ll read the first offering. It’s bound to be good.
And the Shepp or Shep abbreviation? The Shep version crops up a number of times in Wild Card.
My money’s on Shepp because it makes more sense, and Shep was the name of a much-loved family dog in my childhood.
Wild Card by Simon Rowell is published by The Text Publishing Company.