AustLit

'Ruth Jordan has been a battler all her life - until a surprise inheritance catapults her into a strange new world of affluence. Clinging to her roots, she cautiously uses her unaccustomed wealth and time to support other women doing it tough. And that's how Rachael Anders explodes into her life.

'Desperate to protect Rachael's three young boys from the destruction swirling around them, Ruth is sucked further and further into their troubled lives. At the same time she's forced to confront the heart-stopping ghosts of her own failed family ... and all the while she's tentatively edging towards a new relationship.

'With help from her friend Annie Bryce, Ruth gradually gains confidence to deal with the challenges she faces. Annie is a minor but pivotal character in this multi-layered novel, a sounding board for the many characters each in pursuit of the same elusive goal: their happiness.

'This is a complex, moving and intruiging novel from the author of the popular 'Annie Bryce' mystery series. '

'The twenty-two pieces in this slim collection are very varied. Some were written recently, while others took life during the last decade. Some are conventional stories. Others are short pieces which demonstrate how and where authors find their plots – some are reflections on travel experiences, and some are chance conversations; all of these could form the basis of a longer piece of fiction, and one day perhaps they may. Many are written from a woman’s point of view and focus on women’s lives; others flirt with the supernatural; still others offer a comment on the society in which we live. A collection to dip into.'

Source : publisher's blurb

'These eighteen stories are about how ordinary people can be driven to desperate acts. These criminal characters aren’t gangsters, or terrorists, or professional crooks, but simply ordinary people like you – until stuff happens to them, and they find their backs to the wall. Most of these stories were first published in the seven anthologies produced by CrimeWriters Queensland.'

Source : publisher's blurb

'Journalist Annie Bryce just can't help herself. On the run from a killer who wants her dead before she can testify in a murder trial, she and photographer Steve are hustled out of town for their own protection.

But even on the arid gemfields of central Queensland Annie's nose for mystery finds fertile ground. Probing the secrets of a long-dead wheeler and dealer in sapphires, she once again discovers that there's no escaping the dark shadows of the past...'(Publisher's blurb)