Barry Maitland’s tenth novel is the first non-Brock and Kolla crime novel he has published. Additionally, it’s the first book to be set in Australia or, more specifically, in Sydney and Lord Howe Island. What hasn’t changed is Maitland’s ability to introduce a specialist subject and make it extremely interesting while weaving it into a complex mystery. In this case that specialist subject is the sport of rock-climbing.

The story spins on the death, four years ago of Lucy Corcoran – or Luce as she’s known to her friends – who died in a rock-climbing accident on Lord Howe Island. A deathbed utterance by one of Lucy’s friends has thrown the Coroner’s finding of death by accident into doubt.

Josh Ambler, former boyfriend of Luce, was working in London at the time of her death but has recently returned home to Sydney. One evening he is visited by Luce’s best friend, Anna. A deathbed utterance to Anna by one of Luce’s rock-climbing friends who was on Lord Howe when she died, has fired her up to seek out the truth. She wants to enlist Josh’s help which he agrees to supply after a dubious beginning.

The story switches from the present day and Josh and Anna’s progress to the early days of Josh and Luce’s relationship and their rock-climbing experiences together. Through these memories we are filled in on the personalities of each of the members of the group, their interactions with each other as well as their strengths, weaknesses and ultimately, hints that might explain what really happened to Luce.

Barry Maitland writes with a strong, fulfilling style that commands your attention. The rock-climbing sequences provide an added interest but it’s the depth of the character portraits where the real strength to the story lies. There are also some moving instances of self-awareness that creeps into Josh’s narrative as he looks back on his time with Luce.

When I thought about it, I was amazed to realise how totally insulated my life had been from this world until I’d started climbing with Luce. Nature to me had been no more than a marginal risk of hurricanes or floods that could be managed with a range of financial instruments. I had only ever seen true wilderness through the filter of a TV screen or an aeroplane window. And now I was about as fully exposed to it as one could be, suspended in a gossamer net high up a mountain face in bright air.

The first half of the book is dedicated to laying a solid foundation that is used as a launching pad for what is going to unfold. It’s not until Josh and Anna decide to revisit Lord Howe Island to see where Luce died that there is a sense that some real progress is being made. There are secrets lying on Lord Howe Island and Anna and Josh begin to push the boundaries from the moment they set foot on the island. At the same time we witness a definite growth in both of them as they are bonded somewhat through their experiences together.

Barry Maitland uses the emotion of guilt as the theme that plays a recurring role throughout Bright Air. Tragedy tends to spark thoughts in people regarding how much responsibility their actions may have had in the course of events. Josh and Anna are each motivated by feelings of guilt but theirs aren’t the only consciences that will play a part in how this story plays out.

Bright Air is an engaging novel that hides the mystery side of the story with great skill. Character development plays a strong role in the story and Barry Maitland places his characters with tremendous precision. Bright Air is a triumphant progression from the Brock and Kolla police procedural series that is both entertaining and full of surprise.