With his PEA licence restored and strapped for cash, Cliff Hardy is reluctantly drawn into a scheme to claim the reward on a 17-year-old abduction case. Hardy is distracted by a hot new lover, but when one of the schemers turns up dead, the case gets his full attention. Who paid the cops to suppress the ransom note and how come they're always on jump ahead of Hardy? 'A true original...Corris portrayals of Australian crime stand out uniquely-forceful, hard-driven, compassionate.' James Ellroy Praise for THE WASHINGTON CLUB '...a taut, well conceived page turner...an intriguing...frequently amusing, well crafted detective story.' Stuart Coupe, THE SUNDAY AGE '...if racy...is more to your liking, then it's hard to go past Peter Corris and his private eye Cliff Hardy.' Chris Brice, ADELAIDE ADVERTISER '...a professional, distinctive piece of PI fiction which shows that Corris is still capable of mixing it with the younger Turks of Australian crime writing.' Jeff Popple, CANBERRA TIMES

Author Biography

Academic and Historian Peter Corris is Australia's best-known crime-fiction writer, and his creation, Cliff Hardy, is Australia's favourite private eye. He has won the Ned Kelly Lifetime Achievement Award for his contribution to Australian crime fiction. He has also written 25 other works of fiction, including historical novels and other series, and 12 works of non fiction, including the best-selling biography of Fred Hollows. His work has been translated into 14 languages.