"Postcard from Cambodia" by Andrew Nette

“Postcard from Cambodia” is a stark, hard-nosed, crime tale from Australian writer Andrew Nette. When Moss’ 1990 Commodore, purchased for $350 and probably worth less, develops engine trouble outside Riviera, a small Australian town, he finds the trouble he’s been hunting for years. A trouble—which I’m not going to spoil for you here—Moss is willing to do anything to beat.

“Postcard from Cambodia” is a near-perfect hardboiled crime story. Moss plays a mysterious stranger, whose backstory and secrets are revealed expertly as the story develops. He is both uncomfortable and sympathetic to the reader. The prose is razor sharp, characterization nicely rendered, the descriptions vivid—

The man licked his pale lips, smiled at the prospect of a fellow conspirator.

The plot slam-bang. The ending satisfying and complete with enough wonder to make it interesting. 

I read “Postcard from Cambodia” in the excellent anthology Crime Scenes, edited by Zane Lovitt, and published by Spineless Wonders in 2016.