From Australia's 'national literary institution' (Sydney Morning Herald), the latest mystery featuring homicide detective and family man Scobie Malone The time has come for Scobie Malone to leave the Homicide and Serial Offenders Unit of the Sydney police, and his last investigation could be the most bizarre case ever to cross his desk. Called in when a housemaid is found dead in a dotcom millionaire's penthouse, Scobie suspects he's dealing with a kidnap that's gone wrong. In fact, it couldn't have gone more wrong. The kidnappers thought they had grabbed the millionaire's girlfriend - how were they supposed to know he liked slipping into her designer dresses when she wasn't around? The plot thickens further when it is revealed that the dotcom bubble has burst, leaving the erstwhile millionaire in debt to the Yakuza and Scobie on the trail of some old adversaries. Throw in the ex-wife, a mistress or two, and the mother of all outlaws, and you have a case that would confound the greatest detective and entertain the most discerning of readers.

Two murders in one hotel on the same night.
Coincidence?

Both seem routine cases: a cleaner who beat his wife once too often and paid the price, and a prostitute who chose the wrong client. But all hell breaks loose when the dead 'hooker' is identified as the wife of the American Ambassador.

With the FBI, CIA and the federal authorities all on his back, Scobie anticipates a rough time ahead. It is the past, however, that holds the real threat. For while investigating a woman who has succeeded in erasing her imperfect past, Malone is confronted with a former girlfriend intent on rewriting history and turning a long-forgotten affair into something that could destroy his marriage.

"The Malone stories come alive through their setting…Cleary's writing is seamless and his plots imaginative and mature"
'Miami Herald'

"The business of a novelist is to tell a story, Jon Cleary has that talent in abundance"
'Sunday Express'

Matt Durban is a seasoned politician, a hardworking country boy now tipped to lead his party. The weekend before the big vote he's back in his hometown of Collamundra, canvassing support and catching up with family. His wife, Carmel, has been eternally supportive, a loyal partner during the trials and tribulations of life in the public eye. But she's also got political views of her own, and they aren't always appreciated by some of the bigger fish...Inevitably, the demands of Matt's career have tested their marriage, but he and Carmel strive together to make it work. But there are those who don't want Matt to become party leader, and they will stop at nothing to prevent it - even if that means going back decades and putting everything he's worked so hard to achieve at risk...