Pat Carson’s old eyes were on me, looking for something.

‘Man is born unto trouble,’ he said.

I said, ‘As the sparks fly upwards.’

Deep lines at the corners of his mouth. ‘Know your Job. Soldier. Policeman. Haven’t been a bloody priest too, have you?’

Anne Carson: fifteen, beautiful, wayward. Abducted.

The rich Carsons have closed ranks and summoned Frank Calder, subject to strict instructions. This is not the first kidnapping in the Carson family and hard lessons have been learned.

But are the two events connected? And is greed the motivation? Revenge? Or could it be something else? To find out, Frank Calder must go beyond his brief.

And his every step into the darkness may end a girl’s life.

First published two decades ago, this standalone crime novel is Peter Temple at his brilliant best.