Jack Irish - lawyer, gambler, finder of people who don't want to be found - is hunting down the villains who hijacked the winnings from his latest betting coup when he is hired by a mystery client to find missing barman Robbie Colburne. But Robbie turns up dead of a drug overdose. The case should be closed, but the dashing young barman was far from what he seemed, and the client wants to know more. As Jack explores the young man's past, he finds himself drawn into a deadly network of power, politics and money. In this world nothing can be taken at face value and everyone is expendable - including Jack.

Author Biography

Award-winning author Peter Temple has worked as a journalist, editor and teacher of journalism and editing. He has just been named joint-winner of the NED KELLY AWARD FOR BEST CRIME NOVEL 2001 for DEAD POINT. This is his second win in a row -- SHOOTING STAR won last year -- and his third Ned Kelly Award. 'Temple's work is spare, deeply ironic; his wit, like the local beer, as cold as a dental anaesthetic' - THE AUSTRALIAN 'Temple is as dark and mean, as cool and as mesmerising, as any James Ellroy or Elmore Leonard' - THE AGE