Sharp, clever Australian crime thriller constructed around the compelling set-up of Detective Ted Conkaffey being accused - but not convicted - of the abduction, rape and strangulation of a thirteen year-old girl. Now estranged from his family, Ted has moved to Crimson Lake, hoping to escape the constant harassment that comes with being tried for such a crime, but very aware that he could be rearrested at any moment. Ted lives a hermit’s life until he meets straight-talking, effervescent Amanda Pharrell. Being a convicted murderer who’s now working as a private investigator, she also knows a thing or two about being a pariah. She and Ted spark up a joshing, bickering, brilliantly evoked sibling-like relationship as they investigate the disappearance of a local bestselling author, Jake Scully. While forensic evidence confirms that Jake was eaten by a crocodile, how and why this happened is as clear as Crimson Lake’s murky waters.
The intense investigation uncovers a veritable viper's nest of secrets and, along the way, both Ted and Amanda discover some revelatory truths about each other’s cases, and the very final twist is a stroke of gasp-inducing genius. Menacing, absorbing and edgily entertaining, it’s no wonder Candice Fox is being celebrated as a new star of crime fiction. ~ Joanne Owen
12.46: 13-year-old Claire Bingley stands alone at a bus stop 12.47: Ted Conkaffey parks his car beside her 12.52: The girl is missing...Six minutes - that's all it took to ruin Detective Ted Conkaffey's life. Accused but not convicted of Claire's abduction, he escapes north, to the steamy, croc-infested wetlands of Crimson Lake. Amanda Pharrell knows what it's like to be public enemy no.1. Maybe it's her murderous past that makes her so good as a private investigator, tracking lost souls in the wilderness. Her latest target, missing author Jake Scully, has a life more shrouded in secrets than her own - so she enlists help from the one person in town more hated than she is: Ted Conkaffey. But the residents of Crimson Lake are watching the pair's every move. And for Ted, a man already at breaking point, this town is offering no place to hide...
'One of the best crime thrillers of the year.' -- Lee Child
'A bright new star of crime fiction.' -- James Patterson
'A masterful novel ... Definitely a writer to watch.' -- Harlan Coben
Author
About Candice Fox
Candice Fox is the middle child of a large, eccentric family from Sydney's western suburbs. The daughter of a parole officer and an enthusiastic foster-carer, Candice spent her childhood listening around corners to tales of violence, madness and evil as her father relayed his work stories to her mother and older brothers. Candice won back-to-back Ned Kelly awards for her first two novels Hades and Eden. She is also the author of the critically acclaimed Fall and co-writer with James Patterson of the Sunday Times Top Ten bestseller Never Never set in the Australian outback.
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