Ngaire Blakes

Paul Worthington just confessed to a murder that never happened. Magdalene Lynton died forty years ago: a vivacious teenager who fell victim to a grotesque, accidental drowning. The coroner's office issued a verdict of death by misadventure and filed her case. The farming commune she'd lived within, splintered apart. Her body was left behind in a small, private cemetery encircled by acres of fallow ground. Until Paul Worthington confessed to her murder. Magdalene's case lands with Ngaire Blakes, a Maori detective recovering from a brutal stabbing. After fighting for the resources to investigate, Ngaire discovers that Paul's confession doesn't fit with the facts of Magdalene's death. The trouble is, neither does the original verdict. Together with her partner, Deb, Ngaire digs deeper into the case to uncover inconsistencies, lies, and mortal danger.

A killer won't stop until Ngaire Blakes is dead. Ngaire Blakes is trying to put her life back together. The ex-cop resigned from the police after a vicious assault left her battling PTSD. Dragged into a murder investigation, she's shocked to discover that all the evidence points to her. When the body count climbs, Ngaire flees to the cold comfort of her estranged father's hometown. In danger and not knowing who to trust, she severs contact with her closest allies and must learn to rely on herself if she's going to catch the killer before it's too late.

Sometimes a secret is all you have left. Detective Ngaire Blakes is back on the case when a skeletonized murder victim is discovered-a crime that took place during the Springbok Tours of 1981. A period that pitted father against son, town against city, and police against protestors. When the victim is identified as Sam Andie, a young African American man transplanted from the States to NZ by his family, Ngaire must investigate whether racial motives were behind the death. In line with evidence from the forensic pathologist, a police baton could easily have been the murder weapon. Or was his death connected to Sam's girlfriend-a young woman convicted of a savage double homicide in the same week that Sam disappeared? With files missing, memories hazy, and a strident false confession muddying the waters, Ngaire must sift through the detritus if she hopes to find the truth hiding deep beneath the lies.