Reviews:

There are some things that are ghoulishly fascinating to most people, and the subject of cults is one of them. The Diggers cult featured in The Blood Wood Clan is no exception. We meet this Amish-like group when Josie is sent to Digger Town (near Mudgee, NSW) to undertake doctoral research on the Diggers, a community of 500 people who use no modern technologies, enter into arranged marriages, wear 19th-century clothing, travel using a horse and cart, and grow their own produce. While this community appears harmless, strange secrets eventually emerge. Early in her stay, Josie states: 'I must be careful of myself in this place'. She soon unearths the Diggers' shrouded history, and finds out about their arch-enemies, the Ranters. From there, the plot turns ugly. Josie witnesses a disturbing act of brutality which sends the story into a self-destructive tail spin, with all the ingredients of a gritty miniseries. The characters are well crafted and oddly believable, especially Josie, and Fletcher's writing is engaging - clinical at times, emotional at others. She conveys the gamut of emotions that would be felt by anyone living in an unfamiliar community, let alone one as disturbing as the Diggers'.