Tipping point by Dinuka McKenzie

Tipping point is the 3rd in the Detective Kate Miles series following The torrent and Taken and is another gripping police procedural with the intrepid Kate Miles bringing all her intelligence and tenacity to solve a case, this one very close to home. Her brother Luke has come home for the funeral of his best friend Ant Reed, from school. The Queensland police have closed the case as suicide, but his father is adamant that he would never have committed suicide and begs Kate to investigate. Then shortly after, another of Luke’s friends, Marcus Rowntree, the son of a famous actor, is found dead on his property. Is it suicide or murder? Luke is the prime suspect and Kate is taken off the case because of conflict of interest. Her father begs her to help her brother and she begins a parallel investigation into the two deaths.

During Kate’s investigation, McKenzie explores topical issues in Tipping Point, including the impact of date rape, the sharing of intimate photos on social media, suicide and mental health. Kate too must work through her conflicting loyalty to her family and to her job as a police officer, at the same time as she struggles with two young children and a husband who is increasingly dissatisfied with her long hours and his work as chief carer for the children.

There are many suspenseful moments in Tipping Point as Kate gradually unravels what has happened to the two young men. Readers who enjoy police procedurals will love Tipping Point and the family tensions add an extra dimension to the character. It will be interesting to see what happens to Kate in any further books in the series. A great read.

Themes: Detective fiction, Murder, Suicide, Mental health, Domestic violence, Mystery.

Pat Pledger