AustLit

'The world's bestselling thriller writer teams up with Australia's bestselling crime writer for the latest action-packed instalment of the PRIVATE series.

'Even for Private Investigations, the world's top detective agency, it's tough to find a man who doesn't exist . . .

'Craig Gisto has promised Eliza Moss that his elite team at Private Sydney will investigate the disappearance of her father. After all, as the CEO of a high-profile research company, Eric Moss shouldn't be difficult to find.

'Except it's not just the man who's gone missing, all evidence he ever existed has vanished too. And there are powerful figures pulling the strings who want Moss to stay ‘lost'.

'But when a woman is found brutally murdered and a baby is missing, Private are suddenly drawn into another frantic search. And this is a case Craig has to throw everything into, because he may well be responsible for sending the killer straight to the victim's door . . . ' (Publication summary)

'When a girl's dead body is found in a toybox, forensic physician and pathologist Anya Crichton joins the police hunt in her home state of Tasmania for the girl's missing mother and sister.

'Staying with her increasingly erratic mother, Dr Jocelyn Reynolds, Anya fears the long shadow of her sister Miriam's disappearance has finally driven her mother past the brink of sanity.

'When tests conclude a virulent strain of food poisoning was responsible for the child's death, the deadly outbreak begins to spread. Anya pairs up with Internal Affairs detective Oliver Parke to unravel the sinister connections between the fatal epidemic, the shady deals of a multinational corporation and the alleged murder of a local scientist. Anya must uncover the truth before she is silenced - permanently.' (Publisher's blurb)

'Forensic physician Dr Anya Crichton is presented with a patient who has returned from her honeymoon with multiple sexually transmitted infections. Her husband has none of them. She tearfully denies having had any other partners and Anya believes her. Is this a medical phenomenon or has something more sinister taken place?

Anya's investigations into the case leads to a ground breaking study that attracts international attention. Her expertise leads to an invitation to New York to address over three hundred football players in the USA Professional League. The enigmatic private investigator Ethan Rye is assigned to assist Anya during the summit. When an alleged rape involving five football players takes place, Anya is commissioned to investigate. She is immediately thrust into a subculture of violence, sexual assault and drug abuse.

No one is what he or she seems. Anya soon discovers a devastating truth about the players that threatens to shut down the eight billion dollar football industry. Now lives, including her own, are in danger.....' (Publisher's blurb)

'Forensic pathologist Dr. Anya Crichton is incensed over the brutal crime, and she will do everything in her power to see that the three men responsible are punished severely. But the suspects, the Harbourn brothers, are part of a fanatically devoted family of criminals who are expert at sidestepping the law. And suddenly, people connected with the investigation and prosecution are turning up dead.

'In the face of an impending legal travesty Anya cannot let fear distract her. But it may be harder to remain calm in light of the nightmare the Harbourns' attorney unearths beneath the floorboards of his own house . . . ' (From the publisher's website.)

'Detective Kate Farrer returns to duty after three months of leave following her traumatic abduction. Fearing that she has lost her edge, she reluctantly partners homicide newcomer Oliver Parke, and they are thrown into the investigation of a woman burnt beyond recognition in a house-fire. The post-mortem reveals she had recently given birth, but there is no sign of the baby.

'With homicide short-staffed, Kate and Oliver are also ordered to look into the disappearance of a teenage girl. Suspicion falls on Mark Dobbie, a steroid user who is obsessed with the missing girl's sister. When the detectives find explicit photos of unconscious women in his home, they wonder if they have found their prime suspect.

'While the pressure to identify the charred body and find the teenage girl escalates, a quadriplegic is burnt to death in his bed. Shocking links to all three crimes emerge and Kate Farrer's past demons come back to haunt her. But she must fight them - her partner's life depends on it.' (Publisher's blurb)

'Detective Kate Farrer returns to duty after three months of stress leave. Fearing that she has lost her edge, she reluctantly partners homicide newcomer, Oliver Parke. They are immediately thrown into the investigation of a young woman who has been murdered and burnt beyond recognition. The post-mortem reveals she had recently given birth, but there is no sign of the baby.

With homicide short-staffed and overloaded, Kate and Oliver are also ordered to investigate the disappearance of a teenage girl. Suspicion falls on Mark Dobbie, a steroid user who is obsessed with the missing girls sister. When the detectives find drugs and photos of naked women in his apartment, they wonder if they have uncovered a serial date rapist-turned-murderer.

While the pressure to find the missing baby and teenage girl escalates, a young paraplegic is burnt to death in his home. Shocking links to all three crimes emerge and Kate Farrer's past demons come back to haunt her. But she must fight them - her partner's life depends on it.' Source: Back cover.

'Forensic physician Dr Anya Crichton has taken a part-time job at the Sexual Assault Unit. A deranged rapist is attacking women and Anya does all she can to help the victims, some of whom are too distraught to report the attacks to the police.

'Suspicion immediately falls upon Geoffrey Willard, recently released from prison for the rape and murder of a teenage girl decades earlier. Unravelling the forensic evidence, Anya knows she faces an enormous ethical dilemma. If her findings are correct, she is about to blow the whistle and ruin a fellow pathologist's career. In the process, Anya realises that she may be helping a rapist and murderer go free...'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'While investigating the drug overdose of a teenage girl, pathologist and forensic physician, Dr Anya Crichton, discovers striking similarities between the case and a number of apparent suicides. All of the victims disappeared for a period of time before taking their lives in desperate circumstances.

'As Anya delves deeper, the pathological findings point to the frightening possibility that the deaths are not only linked, but part of a sinister game. Nothing can prepare her for the role she is forced to take in the deadliest play of all...'

Source: Publisher's blurb.