A country town, a brutal murder, a shameful past, a reckoning to come... The injustices of the past and dangers of the present envelop Aboriginal policewoman Renee Taylor, when her unwilling return to the small outback town of her childhood plunges her into the investigation of a brutal murder.

Renee Taylor is planning to stay the minimum amount of time in her remote hometown—only as long as her mum needs her, then she is fleeing back to her real life in Brisbane.

Seconded to the town's sleepy police station, Renee is pretty sure work will hold nothing more exciting than delivering speeding tickets. Then a murdered woman is found down by the creek on the outskirts of town.

Leading the investigation, Renee uncovers a perplexing connection to the disappearance of two young women thirty years earlier. As she delves deeper and the mystery unfurls, intergenerational cruelties, endemic racism, and deep corruption show themselves, even as dark and bitter truths about the town and its inhabitants' past rise up and threaten to overwhelm the present...

Authentic, gripping crime drama from a bright new voice in fiction.

'A page-turner with purpose. Refreshing, surprising, and propulsive. Angie Faye Martin is a name to watch.' Tracey Lien, author of All That's Left Unsaid

'Melaleuca is rich with authenticity and heart. Angie Faye Martin skillfully paints a picture of outback Queensland so that the scents, sounds and heat become a physical experience for the reader.' Laura McCluskey, author of The Wolf Tree

'Atmospheric and blistering. Melaleuca will leave you wanting more. What a remarkable debut.' Fleur McDonald, author of The Prospect

'A fresh, authentic perspective to the much-loved genre of the Australian outback thriller. Compelling, thought-provoking and twisty, Melaleuca is both a gripping, tightly plotted mystery and an unflinching exploration of the dark underbelly of institutionalised racism and corruption in Australia.' Kate Horan, author of The Inheritance