Blacklands by Belinda Bauer

Blacklands is the debut novel by Belinda Bauer, published in 2010. I’ve previously read her books Exit, Snap and Rubbernecker, and I’m always thinking I should read more. I picked up Blacklands with my Waterstones Christmas voucher. It is the first book in a trilogy, so I will need to read the rest of them now.

Twelve-year-old Steven lives with his mum, his nan and his little brother, Davey. His home is an unhappy one. What his family don’t realise is that he spends all his spare time digging on Exmoor, looking for the body of his uncle Billy, who disappeared when he was 11. Billy was a suspected victim of convicted serial killer, Arnold Avery, but his body was never found. Steven believes that if he can be the hero who finally finds the body, his family will be happier.

But after three years of digging, he’s no closer to finding what is left of Billy. So he decides to write a letter to Avery in prison to see if he will offer any help. Blacklands is actually the second book I’ve read in 2025 in which someone writes to a serial killer in prison – the first one being Butter.

Avery is excited to get a strange letter from the outside world. He doesn’t realise it is from a child, but he decides to string out his responses to break up the monotony of prison life. Will Avery give up his secrets and will Steven finally find his uncle’s body and help his family to move on?

The chapters are written in the third person – with some focusing on Steven and some on Avery. Completely coincidentally, this was my third consecutive novel about a child living in an unhappy family – following on from The Truth About Melody Browne and The List of Suspicious Things.

Although the subject matter is upsetting and depressing, Belinda Bauer is a very humorous writer and I found myself laughing out loud several times. If you like your crime novels with a bit of humour thrown in, you will love Belinda Bauer, and Blacklands is a great place to start.

You can read my reviews of the second and third parts of the Exmoor trilogy here – Darkside and Finders Keepers.