It's a masterpiece

Highway 13

Fiona McFarlane

Paperback. first published August 13, 2024

A group of fictional short stories revolving around a serial killer and the murders that happened near the township of Barrow in Australia. This is not about the serial killer Paul Biga, this is not about solving the murder, this about how a crime can impact, influence and effect people. The stories are not told in a linear approach but jump around and it makes perfect sense.

The first story, Tourists, explores how people believe they can walk into the scene of the crime and make important discoveries as they have a special connection with the place. That they can hear the voices of the victims call out to them. They have read all the books, they are across all the theories so therefore they have insight, knowledge. It is quite an unsettling read.

Demolition was one of my favourites in the collection and I really do not want to give anything away. The story centres on the killer’s house being demolished, a woman who has lived opposite the house for all her life is approached by a true crime author hunting for another tidbit for a book. The exchange between the two women is just extraordinary in what is revealed about each.

Democracy Sausage is a little about sharing the same name as the killer and blaming that link on your possible poor showing in the polls. However, this story of about six pages is one single paragraph. It took me some time to realise, I went back and checked so I am fairly confident I am right.

There are several times in the book where you find real moments of being uncomfortable. Like where the couple dine out on the story of having helped one of the victims prior to her disappearance. Then there is the podcast banter and unpacking the ethics, morality and humanity would take several pages. That is what I really liked that each of the stories has so many levels weaved into them, that makes you stop and think about the assumptions we have make.

While you get some amazing stories, what you are also presented with is an author who paints the most vivid descriptions of people and places. MacFarlane is an absolute master with words, she can succinctly capture the essence of a person or a place. Plus, the ideas, wow, how she came up with some of these, they are just really unique. I mean, as you think you are going one way and then you are taken in a different way. Yes, the resemblance to Ivan Milat and the Backpacker murders is evident but it just that. The characters and places are all MacFarlane’s creation, and it is sublime. This is a novel that breaks new ground in the crime genre and is a must read.