Trouble with the law, a missing sister, and a growing attachment to the wrong man—Evie Emerson has a dangerous path ahead of her... From a bestselling Australian author comes an exciting and twisty historical mystery and adventure.

The year 1871. Adelaide Greaves and her young son have found sanctuary in the Australian town of Maiden's Creek, where she works as a postmistress. The rough Victorian goldmining settlement is a hard place for a woman - especially as the other women in town don't know what to make of her - but through force of will and sheer necessity, Adelaide carves out a role. But her past is coming to find her, and the embittered and scarred Confederate soldier Caleb Hunt, in town in search of gold and not without a dark past of his own, might be the only one who can help. 

1898, South Australia. At the gateway to the Flinders Ranges lies Kanyaka Station, once a thriving sheep and cattle property, now abandoned and in ruins. But a discovery in her late mother's papers draws recently widowed Marcella Ross out to its remote landscape in search of clues to the disappearance of her Uncle Luca, an Italian immigrant whose fate seems to have been bound up in that of his mysterious partner—also long-since vanished. When Marcella is accosted by a daunting stranger, she discovers he too is entangled in the secrets of the past.

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 WA, and Dave and Bob are once again drawn into the underworld of crime.

When Sassi Stapleton receives a middle-of-the-night phone call to tell her that her beloved grandmother is unwell, she quickly puts her job on hold, packs her ute and sets off on the long drive home, knowing her grandfather will need her. Less than an hour away from Sassi's hometown, Barker, she swerves to miss a roo and her car rolls down an embankment. By the time Sassi is found, her grandmother has already passed away.

Since inheriting Nambina, the property that's been in her family for generations, Laura Murphy has worked wonders. Rather than just focus on farming she has set up a successful school teaching women the basics of managing a property—from fencing and mustering to handling the financial side of the business. But the notoriously self-reliant Laura is lonely and still scarred by a tragedy from her past. She's also grappling with the hostility of her nearest neighbor and former best friend, Meghan Hunter. The fact that Laura's ex-boyfriend Josh is Meghan's brother only makes things worse.

Alice Croydon has the perfect life: she has a large, close-knit family who loves her—even if they are sometimes a little too invested in her decisions—and she's about to marry her high school sweetheart Finn. Alice couldn't be happier. Except for the occasional niggle whenever she thinks about her career—or lack thereof. Fashion design has always been her passion, but living in the small north-western New South Wales town of Gunnindi doesn't offer much opportunity to pursue her dream. Until one day the unexpected happens.

When a 15-year-old girl fails to make it home after school, DI Heather Filson believes she’s dealing with just another teenage runaway. The girl’s grandfather, a notorious Glasgow gangster, disagrees. Convinced one of his underworld enemies has grabbed her, he’s prepared to bathe the city in blood in order to bring his princess home.

The owner of Settlers Bridge cafe, Ploughs & Pies, Samantha is short on confidence and big on regrets. Marrying young to fill the void left by an unhappy childhood, she still works in the same small town where she grew up, too filled with self-doubt and insecurity to ever risk spreading her wings. But, with the end of her abusive marriage, will she be forced to surrender everything that forms the foundations so important to her?

Charity Farrugia is too sensible to believe she'll find love in a paddock. After all, at thirty-four, she's the one with the secure career and the mortgage. The one who took on the job of raising her two sisters when Mom got sick. Everyone knows she's the practical one. The responsible one. Yeah, the boring one. But it would be neither safe nor prudent to let Faith and Hope spend a weekend in the country without her, would it?

Lancashire, 1895. When her controlling stepfather suddenly dies, it seems that Elinor Pendleton finally has a chance of freedom. But her hopes are soon dashed when she learns that the thuggish Jason Stafford has inherited every penny, and is determined to have Elinor too. Forced to flee with her maid, Maude, Elinor finds shelter with Maude's distant cousin in the remote village on the shore of Jubilee Lake. But Walter Crossley has troubles of his own. Having lost his closest family in a tragic accident, he needs one of his grandsons to return from America to inherit his farm.

Limestone Coast horticulturalist April Lacey is determined to lead her family's winery into the future. She dreams of opening a bed and breakfast at Lacewing Estate, but soon discovers the crumbling historic building and her father's reluctance to join the food tourism revolution are just the beginning of her uphill battle. English winemaker Connor Jamison has traveled to South Australia's iconic wine region to learn from the experts and carve a name for himself in the industry.

While very pretty, the tiny town of Melrose isn't where Erica thought she'd be at almost fifty. And working in a funeral home and suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, while navigating her grief as a recent widow, is not how she thought her life would look either. But she's committed to her lovely new boss, Walter, who gave her a chance when she so desperately needed it.

When marketing executive Tessa Mathison leaves London to attend her great-aunt's funeral in Australia, her life is in turmoil. An indiscretion during a boozy night out has resulted in Tessa's name being mud in London's cliquey marketing scene, and soon after she arrives in her homeland she discovers she's been sacked. Tessa's childhood home, Danjar Plains, is an isolated station which holds some bad memories for her. She plans to escape it as soon as the funeral is over, but then an unusual request in her Aunt Violet's will makes it impossible for her to leave.

Mia, a newly graduated constable, on her first post is assigned to Broad River, a small country town. And as certain as she is about her ability to do the job, on day one she's already in conflict with colleagues who believe that women shouldn't be coppers. It takes the shine off coming home, where her grandmother, Clara, is in the early stages of dementia.