The Long Game

A tightly-wound debut crime novel set in Melbourne and surrounds, for fans of Sarah Bailey, Garry Disher and J. M. Green A summer of relentless heat. A local surfer named Ray Carlson is found dead in a house not far from Portsea back beach. There's a silver-handled kitchen knife deep in his chest, and blood everywhere. She is scarcely back from extended leave, and still wrestling with her demons, but Detective Sergeant Zoe Mayer is assigned the case, along with her offsider Charlie Shaw. And her service dog Harry, who goes everywhere with her, and has his own detective skills. There's an obvious suspect for the murder, and Zoe makes an arrest. But it's all too neat, and Zoe thinks she can a see a pattern forming, even if none of her colleagues believes her theory that the whole thing is a stitch up. Except now someone is trying to hunt Zoe down. Superbly plotted, and vividly set in the beachside suburbs and hilly retreats around Melbourne, The Long Game is a mystery about a tough and clever investigator who won't give up.