In the grip of a blistering Melbourne heat wave, a teenager is found dead in a St Kilda loading bay with a syringe hanging from his arm - is it an overdose or something more sinister? Assigned to the case, Detective Rubens McCauley soon finds himself up against a secret network of paedophiles, child abusers and underage prostitutes...brilliantly plotted, this is witty, gritty crime writing.
When the sun lowers itself into the bay and leaves the sky over St Kilda a dark crimson, it's beautiful and threatening at the same time. But the tourists don't see it that way. They only see the pretty colours and the calm water, the restaurants and the palm trees. They don't see the stabbings and the fights, the brawls and the rapes...
When a young runaway is found dead in St Kilda one morning, a syringe hanging out of his arm, no one is terribly shocked. A known junkie, the kid's criminal record was as long as the Scenic Railway. Even local detective Rubens McCauley is quick to conclude Dallas Boyd died of an accidental overdose.
But anomalies in the boy's death - and the haunting memory of a childhood friend - continue to nag at McCauley. Unable to shake his unease, he fights to revive the investigation. Case reopened, he soon finds himself enmeshed in a secret network of paedophiles, child abusers and underage prostitutes.
Forced to look evil in the eye, McCauley must conquer his own demons as he battles to find justice for a young boy he never met but has come to know intimately in death...
Brilliantly plotted, Blood Sunset is an accomplished and gripping crime novel made even stronger by the author's insider knowledge of the world he depicts.
