SHORTLISTED FOR THE NED KELLY AWARD 2018 FOR BEST CRIME NOVEL OF THE YEAR

On the fifth floor of the White Caps Hotel, four young friends are left alone while their parents dine downstairs. But when Sara Farrow checks on the children at midnight, her son is missing. The boys swear they stayed in their room, and CCTV confirms Richie has not left the building.

Despite a thorough search, no trace of the child is found. Distrustful of the police, Sara turns to Crimson Lake's unlikeliest private investigators: disgraced cop Ted Conkaffey and convicted killer Amanda Pharrell.

This case is just the sort of twisted puzzle that gets Amanda's blood pumping. For Ted, the case couldn’t have come at a worse time. Two years ago a false accusation robbed him of his career, his reputation and most importantly his family. But now Lillian, the daughter he barely knows, is coming to stay in his ramshackle cottage by the lake. Ted must dredge up the area's worst characters to find a missing boy. And the kind of danger he uncovers could well put his own child in deadly peril . . . 'Terrific crime-writing' Herald Sun 'The queen of the creepily compulsive thriller' WHO magazine 'One of our best crime writers' Canberra Weekly