Cliff Hardy trades the mean streets of Sydney for the
Illawarra escarpment, a rugged undeveloped area of Australia, in
this latest hard-boiled detective novel. First hired by the
daughter of the late, wealthy Frederick Farmer to investigate his
mysterious and fiery death, Hardy is then called in on a second
case—the disappearance of the young daughter of Marisha Karatsky,
an exotic, dark-eyed interpreter who gets under Hardy's thick skin.
Questionable insurance agents and feral bikers round out the
colorful cast as Hardy battles through personal turmoil on the road
to justice.