Bill Turner, an old man battling cancer, has gone missing from the West Hastings nursing home. The reverend Ray Riley, concerned for Bill's welfare, drives out to Bill's small rural property where he finds the old man's body lying under a scar tree beside a dry river bank. Strangely, Bill's corpse has fallen into a neatly cut one meter deep rectangular hole. A shallow grave of sorts. For the the police it's a simple suicide, but for the reverend Ray Riley Bill's death raises more questions than it answers. How did Bill, an old man with one leg, get from the nursing home to this secluded spot by the creek? How did he get the gun? What was the significance of the shallow grave where Bill's body had fallen? Had Bill dug his own grave?
Senior Constable Olivia Wagstaff, new to town, has questions of her own about the apparent suicide even though according to her senior officer it's case closed. As Olivia begins her own discreet investigation about the circumstances surrounding Bill's death she crosses paths with the reverend and they agree to work together in their search for answers. Ray uncovers a tragic family history and stumbles upon a mystery left unsolved - an old mystery that no-one wants to talk about. Olivia's investigations lead her down dusty backroads as she follows up on a series of petty crimes. These initially seem unconnected, but as she begins to uncover the truth Olivia and Ray face a race against time to stop a murder. Book length approx 75,000 words
