Plus get our latest book recommendations, author news, and competitions right to your inbox.
0:00 /
Table of Contents
About The Book
They’re good people. Why shouldn’t they get what they deserve?
When Lou sees an ad for a long-abandoned mining town up for sale, it doesn’t take her long to convince her sister and their oldest friends to go in on the idyllic property buried in the bush – a place where the four families can hide away on weekends, get back to nature and unstick the kids from their screens.
But things start to go wrong before they even arrive for their first camping trip – a rogue deer sends a trailer off the road, a neighbour complains about the fence line and squatters have set up camp down by the river. Soon none of that will matter, though, because by the end of the first night someone will be dead.
At first it seems that hiding a body is easier than keeping other sorts of secrets: a lost job, an illegal crop, an outrageous affair, a little embezzlement. But what’s buried has a way of coming to the surface, and even in the bush, it’s hard to remain unseen.
White Lotus meets The Slap in a razor-sharp literary thriller about deception and self-deception, and how far people will go to protect what they feel they ought to have.
‘Absolutely brilliant. I wish I had written this book.’ Hayley Scrivenor, author of Dirt Town
When Lou sees an ad for a long-abandoned mining town up for sale, it doesn’t take her long to convince her sister and their oldest friends to go in on the idyllic property buried in the bush – a place where the four families can hide away on weekends, get back to nature and unstick the kids from their screens.
But things start to go wrong before they even arrive for their first camping trip – a rogue deer sends a trailer off the road, a neighbour complains about the fence line and squatters have set up camp down by the river. Soon none of that will matter, though, because by the end of the first night someone will be dead.
At first it seems that hiding a body is easier than keeping other sorts of secrets: a lost job, an illegal crop, an outrageous affair, a little embezzlement. But what’s buried has a way of coming to the surface, and even in the bush, it’s hard to remain unseen.
White Lotus meets The Slap in a razor-sharp literary thriller about deception and self-deception, and how far people will go to protect what they feel they ought to have.
‘Absolutely brilliant. I wish I had written this book.’ Hayley Scrivenor, author of Dirt Town
About The Author
© Gemma Carr
Kate Mildenhall is an author, writing teacher and podcaster. Her debut novel Skylarking was longlisted for Debut Fiction in the 2017 Indie Book Awards and the 2017 Voss Literary Prize. Her second novel, The Mother Fault, was longlisted for the 2021 ABIA General Fiction Book of the Year and shortlisted for the 2021 Aurealis Science Fiction Novel of the Year. The Hummingbird Effect was shortlisted for the 2024 ABIA Literary Fiction Book of the Year and longlisted for the 2024 Stella Prize and the 2024 Indie Book Awards for Fiction. In 2024, Kate released her first picture book, To Stir with Love, illustrated by Jess Racklyeft, shortlisted for the 2025 Indie Book Awards and the 2025 ABIA Children’s Book of the Year and Notable in the CBCA Book Awards for Early Readers. Kate co-hosted The First Time Podcast where she interviewed over 200 Australian and international writers.
Product Details
- Publisher: Scribner Australia (October 28, 2025)
- Length: 320 pages
- ISBN13: 9781761429057
Browse Related Books
Raves and Reviews
'Mildenhall is an accomplished storyteller and The Hiding Place is an edge-of-your-seat thriller with an ending that, when it comes, will knock you out of it completely.'
– The Guardian
'The Hiding Place proves that Kate Mildenhall is as twisted as she is brilliant. Twenty-first century, middle-class, middle-aged Australian shame, guilt and hypocrisy skewered like a lamb on a spit – but with more accuracy and even more mess. You’ll know these people, and fear you are these people. Brutally funny, compulsively readable and deliciously unforgiving.'
– Michael Williams, Editor of The Monthly
‘Grabs you with both fists and doesn’t let go. Eerie, tense, fabulous. I could not put it down.’
– Jane Harper
‘Absolutely brilliant ... going to take the world BY STORM. I wish I had written this book!’
– Hayley Scrivenor
‘An absolutely scorching book. At once an evisceration of those who hide duplicity under a mask of good intention, and a propulsive nail-biter of a thriller, The Hiding Place had me turning pages at the rate of knots.’
– Hannah Kent, author of Burial Rites and Devotion
‘A glorious clusterf*ck of a book – a modern-day Don’s Party. Except with kids. And bodies ... Kate Mildenhall artfully skewers the hypocrisies and self-delusions of middle Australia.’
– Chris Hammer, author of Scrublands and The Valley
‘Intense. Incredible. What a banger!!’
– Sarah Bailey, author of The Housemate
‘An utterly gripping page-turner.’
– Mark Brandi, author of Wimmera
‘Smart, profound and wildly addictive, The Hiding Place is the perfect page-turner for your next weekend away with friends, the literary mirror in which you’ll see yourself – and others – all too clearly ... Think The Slap meets Birnham Wood by way of Liane Moriarty.’
– Anna Downes, author of The Safe Place
Resources and Downloads
High Resolution Images
-
Book Cover Image (jpg): The Hiding Place
Trade Paperback 9781761429057
-
Author Photo (jpg): Kate Mildenhall © Gemma Carr(0.1 MB)
Any use of an author photo must include its respective photo credit
