AustLit

'Small Town. Big Secrets. The second Dana Gibson mystery.

'When child protection worker Dana Gibson arrives in the sleepy rural town of Killarney, she has one goal in mind- locate the whereabouts of foster child Jayden Maloney and return him to care. What she isn't anticipating is an unexpected attraction to her colleague's younger brother Sean, or to become embroiled in their simmering family feud. When criminal allegations surface against a member of the local parish and a police task force discovers an increase in drug trafficking across the border, Dana is forced to consider that Jayden's disappearance is not simply a case of a teen on the run. To complicate matters further, torrential rain leads the Condamine River to break its banks, and the town gets cut off.

'As Dana continues to ask questions, tensions peak with the rising flood waters and she soon realises that the tightknit community is not all that it seems. As long-held secrets start to unravel and loyalties are questioned, Dana must make a decision about who she can trust and how much she is willing to fight for what she believes in.' (Publication summary)

'Fleeing problems in her own marriage, child protection worker Dana Gibson leaves Sydney for a job in the Queensland town of Toowoomba. Her first house call is to nearby Crows Nest to assess the children of Sandra Kirby, which results in her getting both her new boss and a local detective offside. Dana soon learns that, in the country, city rules do not apply.

'When Sandra and her best friend are found shot dead, Dana is drawn into an investigation that will force her to strip away the friendly veneer of small-town life, while grappling with ghosts of her own. As buried secrets, bitter tensions and corruption come to light, how far will locals go to stop her uncovering the truth of what happened?' (Publication summary)