Detective Dave Burrows

Returning to Perth after a near-fatal undercover case in outback Queensland, Dave Burrows, now a Detective Senior Constable in the stock squad, receives an ultimatum from his deeply unhappy wife, Melinda. Before Dave and Mel's problems can be resolved, Dave is sent to the far north of Australia on a stock theft investigation. He finds two cattle stations deep in a complex underbelly of racial divide, family secrets, long-repeated lies, kidnapping, and murder. Facing one of the biggest challenges of his policing life and the heartbreaking prospect of losing his family, Dave can't imagine things getting worse. However, there's a hidden danger, intent on revenge, coming right for him.

When 25 year old journalist Zara Ellison receives her mother's ominous text message, "Call me when you can," Zara knows it's not good news. Her brother is seriously unwell on their family farm 400 kilometers away and Lynda Ellison needs Zara's help at home. Two weeks later, Zara has left her much-loved city life and is unpacking boxes in her new, rather empty house in Barker. She'd been right in the thick of reporting on an explosive court case in Adelaide. Animal welfare activists had stormed a farm determined to do damage, but it had all gone wrong and one man had lost his life. The case threatened to divide city and country. And there'd been one mysterious man present who, over the five days of the trial, had come to Zara's curious notice. He seemed to have no reason to be there, no one knew him, nor could she find out anything about him. With her job on the Farming Journal, and an introduction to Detective Dave Burrows, his friendly wife Kim, and Dave's second-in-charge, Senior Constable Jack Higgins, Zara's stint in the country isn't as quiet as she'd feared. If only there was a miracle cure for her brother. After more terrible farming accidents and reports of unidentified drones flying over farmlands, Zara is shocked by a chance sighting of that mystery man from the courtroom and by witnessing Jack Higgins in a role she'd never have believed. What is the significance of the mystery man, and what is Jack playing at? Wrapped in a love of family, friendship, crime, and mystery, Starting From Now is another compelling and enjoyable novel from the authentic voice of Fleur McDonald.

"""Nobody does rural fiction quite like Fleur McDonald."" —Weekly TimesDetective Dave Burrows returns in the most compelling and exciting case of his early career.In Barrabine, as Dave's workload skyrockets, Melinda, Dave's wife, is unhappy about being left alone so much to raise their 18-month-old daughter, Bec. It's not how Dave wants it either, but complaints, leads, and crimes all have to be investigated—it's what he joined the force for.Melinda's interfering father isn't helping. He's never thought that Dave was right for his daughter and he's not shy about telling Dave what he's doing wrong. When things come to a head at home, Dave's policing mate, Spencer, comes up with a plan.In the most dangerous mission of his life, Dave knows what he's risking. If he's found out, he'll never see Melinda or Bec again. Of that he's sure."

'To Dave, the posting to Barrabine was exactly what he'd wanted - it was a town on the edge, the wild west. There would be excitement, mystery and intrigue here. Everything a detective looked for.' Detective Dave Burrows' first posting to the far west goldfields town of Barrabine in 1997 holds everything he's looking for, but Melinda, his wife of two weeks, is devastated at leaving behind her family, friends and career. More comfortable in heels than RM Williams, Melinda walked away from her much-loved job in the city as a paediatric nurse to follow Dave into the bush. Dave settles in easily to the plain-speaking toughness of his new town, determined to do well, knowing that Barrabine could be his stepping stone into the elite stock squad. But will his marriage last the distance? As Dave investigates reports of mysterious late-night trespassing, a missing person, and guns being drawn on strangers, a local prospector phones in with horrific news that could hold the key to everything. Fleur McDonald's bestselling rural storytelling takes her popular detective, Dave Burrows, back to his compelling and exciting beginnings.

Fleur McDonald has a wonderful way with telling rural stories in a special way ... A great summer read.' Samstillreading on Suddenly One Summer Ten years ago, thirty-year-old Chelsea Taylor left the small country town of Barker and her family's property to rise to the top as a concert pianist. With talent, ambition and a determination to show them all at home, Chelsea thought she had it made. Yet here she was, back in Barker, with her four-year-old daughter, Aria, readying herself to face her father, Tom. The father who'd shouted down the phone ten years ago never to come home again. With an uneasy truce developing, Chelsea and Aria settle into the rhythm of life on the land with Tom and Cal, the farmhand, who seems already to have judged Chelsea badly. Until a shocking discovery is made on the riverbed and Detective Dave Burrows, the local copper, has to tear back generations of family stories to reveal the secrets of the past. Chelsea just wants a relationship with her dad but will he ever want that too? Or will his memory lapses mean they'll never get that opportunity?

Detective Dave Burrows returns in a page-turning new novel of rural suspense from Voice of the Outback, Fleur McDonald. Detective Dave Burrows has longed for the top job in the Stock Squad but never thought he'd be acting in that role while his partner and best mate, Detective Bob Holden, is treated for melanoma. Bob is keen to get back on the road and Dave can't wait to go bush either, expecting the trip will be much the same as usual. But the trip doesn't play out that way. Multiple bomb blasts in the small country town of Kallygarn send shock waves through the state of Western Australia, and Dave and Bob are once again drawn into the criminal underworld.