WINNER 2015 DAVITT AWARD READERS' CHOICE What will they risk for answers? Picturesque Daylesford has a darker side. Melbourne writer Georgie Harvey heads to the mineral springs region in central Victoria to look for a missing farmer, and soon links the woman’s disappearance with the unsolved mystery surrounding her husband. Meanwhile, maverick police officer and solo dad John Franklin is working a case that’s a step up from Daylesford’s usual soft crime: a stalker targeting single mothers. Georgie’s investigation stirs up long-buried secrets, and attracts enemies. When she reports the missing person to local cops, sparks fly between her and Franklin. Has he dismissed the writer too quickly? And what will the truth cost?

Will someone kill to keep their secret? Almost two years have passed since wildfires ravaged the tiny town of Bullock, and Melbourne journalist Georgie Harvey is on assignment in the recovering town to write a feature story on the anniversary of the tragedy. Across the state in Daylesford, police officer John Franklin is investigating a spree of vandalism and burglaries, while champing to trade his uniform for the plain clothes of a detective. When Georgie’s story and Franklin’s cases collide, she not only finds herself back in conflict with the man she’s been trying to forget, but also uncovers the truth about how the fires started. A secret someone might kill to keep. Sandi Wallace has mastered rural crime. -B Michael Radburn, author of The Falls A gripping twist on the bushfire threat all Australians live with. -Jaye Ford, author of Darkest Place

How could police lose three children? Three missing children. A wild storm. A long way from home. Melbourne journalist Georgie Harvey is on hand when three children disappear from a police-run camp in the Dandenong Ranges. When Daylesford cop John Franklin hears the news, he is on secondment 200 kilometres away. Feeling responsible for the young siblings, he abandons his post to join the search. Somebody saw the children. Somebody knows something. Every minute is vital. Frustration and desperation mount as the snap polar storm intensifies. Pushed to the outer by local detectives, Franklin and Georgie find cyber links to a serial predator and another missing girl. But even if they risk everything, can they avert tragedy?

How many lives can one incident shatter? For one Daylesford cop, this will be their last callout. Another may not make it. A third will call it quits. Black cloud on a winter’s morning signals what nobody could’ve seen coming. An anything-but-routine welfare check by two Daylesford police officers at a farm in Korweinguboora. A fatal house explosion that leaves a rural community reeling. Local cop John Franklin and Melbourne journalist Georgie Harvey are among the first responders at the property. The crime scene is compromised by fire and tonnes of water, and speculations run rife. Murder-suicide? Accident or sabotage? An isolated incident or just the beginning? As lives hang in the balance, Franklin seeks answers and someone to hold accountable while Georgie investigates her toughest story yet. But will one of them crack?