''Dark Horse'' (2013) is a crime novel by Australian author

Honey Brown Honey Brown (born 1972) is an Australian novelist who grew up in Campbell Town, Tasmania. She attended Campbell Town High School and Launceston College before moving to Victoria. In 2009 she was involved in a farming accident which left her p ...

. It won the

Davitt Award The Davitt Awards are literary awards which are presented annually by the Sisters in Crime Australia association. The awards are named in honour of Ellen Davitt (1812–1879) who wrote Australia's first mystery novel, ''Force and Fraud'' in 186 ...

for Best Adult Novel in 2014.

Plot summary

On Christmas Day Sarah Barnard escapes her disapproving parents by taking her trusted but damaged black mare Tansy into the Tasmanian mountains. Trapped by a sudden storm she takes shelter but slowly comes to realise that she is not alone.

Notes

* Dedication: Where is the rich, dark earth, brown and moist?
Where is the smell of rain dripping from gum trees?
-John Marsden, ''The Rabbits''

Reviews

Karen Chisholm in ''The Newtown Review of Books'' cited the novel's suspense as a major attraction: "There are a few authors out there who write books that just about guarantee that sleep will be lost, and lights will be left on for quite some time after finishing them, and as with Brown’s previous work, ''Dark Horse'' has this effect. The reader knows that not everything will be as it appears. The worry sets in early and doesn’t let up." Fiona Hardy, for "Readings" bookshop, found herself unnerved by the book: "You’ll second-guess yourself throughout while reading this, and probably never go camping again."

Awards and nominations

* 2014 winner

– Best Adult Novel"Whodunnit? The women killing it in crime writing" by Stephen A Russell "The New Daily", 4 September 2014
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References

2013 Australian novels Australian crime novels Penguin Books books {{2010s-crime-novel-stub