A LOST CHILD. A BROKEN FAMILY. Ten-year-old Katie Blasko is missing.

Detective Sergeant Ellen Destry, alert to rumours of a child abuse ring operating on the Mornington Peninsula, is thinking abduction. But her colleagues are thinking bad family or truancy, and her boss is only thinking about the media. And everyone, including Destry, is wondering whether she's good enough to handle this without Detective Inspector Hal Challis.

Challis is miles away, summoned to his childhood home in the outback. When the body of his missing brother-in-law is found in suspicious circumstances, Challis has his own investigation to pursue. But without each other to lean on, both Challis and Destry may be running out of time...

From the multiple Ned Kelly Award-winning author of Consolation and Sanctuary comes the fourth Hal Challis investigation, for readers of Jane Harper, Ian Rankin and Chris Hammer.