AustLit

'Alone in the wilderness, they are picked off one by one ... Gripping, standalone romantic thriller from an author at the top of her game, for readers of The Dark Lake and The Dry.

'A tragic accident, a terrible crime, an unknown threat ...

'Scarred by a recent tragedy on Federation Peak, Tess Atherton is reluctant to guide a group of young hikers in the wild Tasmanian winter, but it seems safer than remaining amid the violence that threatens them in Hobart. Little does she know that she has brought the danger with her ...

'Detective Senior Sergeant Jared Denham is closing in on a serial killer, but someone doesn't want him getting to the truth and the case is becoming personal. He already owes Tess his life, and wants to return the favour - but when it comes to enemies, Jared may be looking in the wrong direction.

'Time is running out, and death is stalking them both ...'

(Publication summary)

'A lonely widow, a sinister act, a remote mansion with a dark past...

'After the violent death of her husband, Callie Jones retreats to a cottage in the grounds of an old mansion in Tasmania. The relative remoteness of the place and the wild beauty of the Tasmanian landscape are a balm to her shattered nerves and the locals seem friendly, particularly horseman Connor Atherton and his siblings at the nearby property, Calico Lodge.

'But all is not well: the old mansion has a sinister past, one associated with witchcraft and murder. As Callie is threatened by odd events in the night and strange dreams overtake her sleep, she begins to doubt her own sanity. What's really going on beneath the surface of this apparently peaceful town? Are her friends and neighbours really who they seem? As events escalate, Callie starts to realise that the mansion may hold the key to unlocking the mystery, but the truth might have as much power to destroy as it does to save.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Indiana O'Meara is no stranger to the forces of evil. Her own past is full of violence. Now a policewoman, Indy is always fighting to redeem herself and defeat the dark. So when girls begin to go missing at a remote cattle station in Tasmania, she is quick to agree to go undercover to investigate chief suspect Logan Atherton, the owner of Calico Mountain Lodge, even though last time she went undercover it came to a bloody end.

'But her early encounter with Logan reveals a man full of contradictions. His deep empathy for horses and those he cares for is obvious but he is also taciturn to the point of rudeness, and there is a strange atmosphere at the lodge. It doesn't add up.

'As Indy begins to dig deeper into the secrets at the lodge, she finds herself embroiled in a murderous web more complex and terrifying than she could ever have imagined…one that is linked to her own past.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.