Preview

Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Dirt Creek

By: Hayley Scrivenor
Narrated by: Sophie Loughran
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $20.24

Buy for $20.24

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

Winner of the Lambda Literary Award for Best LGBTQ+ Mystery!

In Hayley Scrivenor's Dirt Creek, a small-town debut mystery described as The Dry meets Everything I Never Told You, a girl goes missing and a community falls apart and comes together.

When 12-year-old Esther disappears on the way home from school in a small town in rural Australia, the community is thrown into a maelstrom of suspicion and grief. As Detective Sergeant Sarah Michaels arrives in town during the hottest spring in decades and begins her investigation, Esther’s tenacious best friend, Ronnie, is determined to find Esther and bring her home.

When schoolfriend Lewis tells Ronnie that he saw Esther with a strange man at the creek the afternoon she went missing, Ronnie feels she is one step closer to finding her. But why is Lewis refusing to speak to the police? And who else is lying about how much they know about what has happened to Esther?

Punctuated by a Greek chorus, which gives voice to the remaining children of the small dying town, this novel explores the ties that bind, what we try and leave behind us, and what we can never outrun, while never losing sight of the question of what happened to Esther, and what her loss does to a whole town.

A Macmillan Audio production from Flatiron Books

©2022 Hayley Scrivenor (P)2022 Macmillan Audio
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

What listeners say about Dirt Creek

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    48
  • 4 Stars
    33
  • 3 Stars
    12
  • 2 Stars
    4
  • 1 Stars
    4
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    56
  • 4 Stars
    19
  • 3 Stars
    7
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    2
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    42
  • 4 Stars
    27
  • 3 Stars
    8
  • 2 Stars
    4
  • 1 Stars
    5

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Dark, but brimming with humanity

Love the characterizations of the people in the town, and the ending was completely surprising

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Amazing narrator!

I enjoyed the narration so much. She did an amazing job with the different voices. I will look for more of her work!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Wonderful

Best book I've read in a long time and I've read some great books! yay!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A Good Listen..

An unusually literate writing, and a good story well read. One of the best of far too many I've listened to. Highly recommend.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

story was great but..

I could have lived without the LGBTQ push. It seemed a bit forced and added nothing to the plot.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Hurting children is the opposite of creative.

Children are the most vulnerable of victims, why choose to write about it. Low hanging fruit. The twist was unsurprising and yet still annoying.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Beautifully written

If you like Jane Harper, Chris Hammer, Tana French, Dervla McTiernan, you will enjoy this book.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Now that's what I call a debut

Wow. Just... wow. I've been making my way through the debut works in the past month and after a quite disappointing one, Dirt Creek made me feel eager to read all over again. Just as the title says: Scrivenor definitely made their mark and promise of greatness with this book. Characterization was through the roof. Just about a few chapters in and I was emotionally tethered already. With it being a mystery novel, the information reveal was inspired tbh. Made my mind race while at the same time throwing me off (in a *very* good way) at my every guess. Yes, there is a very good twist here. I call it good because Scrivenor had been sowing the details to support it since the very beginning. It definitely gave me that pleasurable 'ohhHhhhhhH' moment. Loughran's narration was absolutely stunning, as well. They did the voices pretty well, and was a definite factor in making me love/hate characters here and there. The modern appropriation of the Greek Chorus is a very nice touch, too. Not too loyal to the classical use for it, but not too liberal with it either. To end: Yes, spend your credit/money on this. The 10 hrs would literally fly by.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A Slow Rolling Beautifully Written Mystery

I am not a good reviewer. But when a book takes me by surprise I do like to at least give it a wing.

This story just rolls off the tongue and into your brain. Not fast paced, but told as it should be told. From the viewpoint of several children and many different adults. Life in a small rural town can be complicated and very interwoven and when tragedy strikes, you don't know who is to blame.

I am looking forward to other books by this author...

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

dark and anti-climactic

This story was alright, but had sort of a depressing tone throughout. I almost needed an org chart to follow all the characters. Most chapters were from the POV of children and their perspective of the adults is totally different from the chapters told from adult perspectives, making it difficult to track who is who. The "mystery" of the missing girl had a bunch of red herrings and an unsatisfactory wrap up. I finished the book and stayed engaged but not sure I would recommend it or look for more by this author.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!