Moonlight Downs by Adrian Hyland

Twenty-something Emily Tempest returns to the Moonlight Downs community in outback Australia, where she grew up after being away for many years. Emily is half-aboriginal, raised by her white father, Jack, who was a mechanic at the Moonlight Downs Station when she was young. Emily has missed the “Moonlight mob", especially her old friend, Hazel. Then Hazel's father, Lincoln Flinders, the tribal leader, is brutally murdered. The prime suspect is Blakie Japanangka, an aboriginal loner who has scared Emily since childhood. At first, Emily believes that Blakie is guilty, but slowly doubt begins to creep into her mind. In Moonlight Downs, the reader meets the colorful inhabitants of the small town of Bluebush (miners, cattlemen) and the mob. Hyland creates a great portrayal of life in the Northern Territory—the sights, the sounds, the people, the politics, even the smells of this very unique environment.